The purpose of the honors program is to extend and deepen work done in Art History classes. The honors thesis topic typically emerges from prior coursework; it should be focused and have clear parameters. Ordinarily, an honors thesis is not an exploration of an area the student has never studied.

Admission to the Honor Program

The minimum requirement for admission to the honors program is an overall GPA of 3.5 and at least 3.5 in Art History courses. Students must complete at least five Art History courses at Stanford by the end of their junior year, and four must be completed by the end of winter quarter; with the advisor’s approval, two of these courses may be taken at an overseas campus or Stanford in Washington. Students interested in pursuing honors should consult a potential thesis advisor on the Art History faculty during autumn quarter of the junior year. Thesis advisors must be in residence during autumn quarter of the student’s senior year, and it is recommended that they be in residence throughout the senior year. Students considering honors should contact the Director of the Honors Program in their junior year as soon as they consider writing an honors thesis. Those wishing to do so must announce their intention to write an honors thesis by submitting an intent form signed by their thesis advisor (who need not be the student’s academic advisor) by February 1 of their junior year.

Submission of the Thesis Proposal Package

Candidates for the honors program must submit a five-page (double-spaced) thesis proposal, including bibliography and illustrations, and one completed paper that demonstrates the student’s ability to conceptualize and write cogently about art historical issues. A complete application is due to the proposed thesis advisor on March 1. The deadline for submitting the complete package to the department’s Student Services Specialist is the first day of spring classes of the candidate’s junior year. Upon approval by most of the faculty at its regular meeting in early April, the candidate is accepted into the honors program.

Research and Writing of the Honors Thesis

Once admitted to the honors program, students work with the director of the honors program and their thesis advisor to define the scope of the study, establish a research and writing timetable, and enlist one other faculty member, ideally but not necessarily in the Department of Art and Art History, to serve as a second reader. The summer between junior and senior years is usually devoted to refining the topic and pursuing off-campus research. Students are encouraged to apply for VPUE research grants to help finance trips or expenses related to research for their honors thesis.

During their senior year, students must register for ten units of course Honors Thesis Writing, five units of which may count towards the student’s concentration in Art History. Students must register for two to five units each quarter during their senior year, for a total of ten units.

Submission and Approval of the Honors Thesis

With the guidance of the Honors Program director, students and thesis advisors should plan their work so that a final draft is submitted to the thesis advisor and the second reader by April 15 of the senior year. The final copy of the thesis is due to the department’s Student Services Specialist by May 1 - there are no extensions beyond this date. The thesis advisor assigns a letter grade; the advisor and the second reader must approve the honors thesis to qualify the student to graduate with honors.

ARTHS-BA - Art History (BA)

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