Honors Thesis

Are you interested in pursuing departmental Honors in Anthropology or in Anthropology & Public Health?

In brief…

• Departmental honors involves two semesters of independent research (beyond other major requirements), the writing of an honors thesis, and the successful completion of a viva (oral examination).
• If you are interested in earning departmental honors, you should talk with your major advisor no later than the end of your junior year.
• You may also be invited to pursue departmental honors if your major GPA is 3.5 or higher.
• Upon approval to pursue departmental honors, you will work with a thesis advisor to develop a thesis proposal and to seek – prior to starting fieldwork – Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval or an exemption prior to starting fieldwork.

IRB Research Proposal Form (pdf)

Anthropology and IRB

The Department of Anthropology has drafted guidelines entitled Ethnographic Research and IRB (pdf) which are intended to help inform the process of IRB oversight of ethnographic research that is conducted for the purposes of the ongoing research of our department faculty and students.

If alternative consent procedures are merited, the Guidelines to Alternative Consent and Risk Reduction Procedures for Ethnographic Research (pdf) can be a good start to think through materials to be included in an IRB proposal submission.

For greater depth see Departmental Guidelines for Honors in Anthropology.

Departmental Honors

Students Awarded Anthropology Departmental Honors (Google Doc)