In their senior year, Honors students have a variety of capstone senior thesis experiences to choose from:
- HNRS A397/A497: Honors Independent Study (3-6 credits)—A course proposed by the student or Honors Instructor and approved by the University Honors Dean. Students are required to complete all lower-division Honors courses in order to register for this course.
- HNRS A490: Senior Honors Seminar (6 credits)—A two-semester-long interdisciplinary seminar. Topics change every year. Registration for this course is in the fall semester only. Final grades will appear on the fall semester transcript after successful completion of the course at the end of the spring semester.
- HNRS A499: Honors Thesis (3-6 credits)—The focus of this course is to articulate a researchable idea or develop a creative idea to fruition appropriate to the student’s discipline. Students design or undertake a method of information gathering or creative presentation or performance that sheds light on the articulated idea. Finally, students report findings and draw valid conclusions based on new research or demonstrate these findings through creative presentation. Students are required to complete all lower-division Honors courses in order to register for this course.
To satisfy senior requirements, a student may choose one of the following plans:
- HNRS 490: Senior Honors Seminar (6 credits)
- HNRS 499: Honors Thesis/Project (6 credits)
- HNRS 497: Independent Study (3 credits) OR a course approved by the Honors Program Director AND HNRS 499: Honors Thesis/OR a departmental thesis/project (3 credits, minimum)
- An upper-division course listed as a specific departmental honors requirement (3 credits) AND HNRS 499: Honors Thesis/Project OR a departmental thesis/project (3 credits, minimum)
"I think the most exciting thing about teaching – in Honors and at UAA generally – is seeing students connect course content to their own lives; they move from studying something apart and outside themselves to seeing it as part of themselves, and themselves as part of a much bigger world of ideas and values.”
- Tracey Burke, University Honors Program Faculty
