Departmental Honors in Geography

A student may graduate with Geography Departmental Honors by completing the following requirements:

1. The student must be a declared Geography major by the beginning of his or her senior year. The student must have a grade point average of 3.5 in major courses and a 3.0 grade point average overall at the beginning of the second semester of his or her senior year.

2. The student must choose a Thesis Advisor during the first semester of his or her senior year. The student and the Thesis Advisor will select a three person committee including at least one Geography faculty member in addition to the Advisor. The third committee member may be selected from outside of the Geography Department.

3. Through consultation with the Thesis Advisor, the student must write a detailed proposal of the thesis project and submit the proposal to all committee members by the end of the first semester of the student's senior year. The proposal must include, but is not limited to: a geographic research question, a literature review, a proposed methodology along with justification for that methodology, a timetable for completion of the project, assessment of resource needs, and a bibliography. 4

4. During the second semester of the senior year, the student must register for a three credit independent study course in Geography with the Thesis Advisor. While the student is working on the thesis, he or she will consult with the Thesis Advisor at least once every two weeks. It is at the discretion of the Thesis Advisor to determine when drafts of the thesis are due.

5. The student must submit one final copy of the thesis to each of the committee members on or before the date which falls exactly three weeks before the first day of final examinations at the end of the second semester of the student's senior year.

6. The student must defend the thesis to all members of the committee approximately two weeks after submitting the thesis and before the beginning of final exams.

7. It is at the discretion of the members of the committee members to determine whether the student's thesis and defense constitute Departmental Honors.

8. If the thesis and defense are determined to constitute Departmental Honors, the student will be so commended at the University of Mary Washington commencement.

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Feel free to use the "Comments or Questions?" link below if you have any questions.