Departmental Advising & Honors

Departmental Honors
Departmental honors in philosophy are based upon three criteria: 

1. general performance in philosophy courses, 
2. written work in philosophy and 
3. the ability to articulate philosophical ideas orally. 

First, students must achieve at least a 3.60 grade point average in philosophy courses. Second, those who do so and want to be considered for departmental honors should submit an example of their philosophical writing to the department chairperson early in the semester in which they expect to graduate. Normally this would be a substantial paper written in PHL 465 or PHL 395, but two or three papers written in other philosophy courses will be acceptable. Third, if this work is judged to be of sufficiently high quality, it will be read by the rest of the department, and a conference with the student will be arranged to give him or her an opportunity to discuss the paper (or papers) further with the faculty. The decision to award honors will then be made by the faculty based on all three criteria. Deadlines for submission: October 15 for the fall semester, February 15 for the winter semester.