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French and Italian at The Ohio State University

Undergraduate Studies

French Honors Program

The Honors Program is for students who seek greater challenges than are afforded in the regular major. There are two ways to pursue Honors, the Honors Contract and the Senior Thesis. Both allow the student wide latitude in the choice of courses, while requiring that the program be significantly stronger than the traditional major. Students who wish to join the Honors Program should schedule an appointment in the ASC Honors Advising Office (207 Enarson Hall).

Honors Contract

The Honors Contract is the mechanism that allows students to develop a liberal arts curriculum which, when approved by the ASC Honors Committee, admits them to candidacy for graduation with honors in the Liberal Arts. The Contract is likely to include honors courses, upper-level courses to meet Liberal Arts Core or Liberal Arts Requirements, seminars, advanced course sequences, and, often, more than the minimal number of hours required for the degree. The major area of emphasis may be a single discipline or a combination of disciplines.

An Honors Contract is arranged in close consultation with the Honors adviser. To graduate with honors in the Liberal Arts students must complete the Contract and graduate within the top 25% of their graduating class (approximately 3.13). "With honors in the Liberal Arts" is designated on the transcript.

The Senior Honors Thesis

The second option requires a thesis or report on a special topic of the student's choice written under the supervision of a faculty member. The student takes many of the normal courses for the major, but during the senior year, registers for a minimum of eight hours credit under the departmental thesis number, while preparing the thesis. The thesis may involve from one to three quarters of work, and can be for as many as 15 hours of credit. It is followed by a one-hour oral examination on the general topic of the thesis before three faculty members, two from the French and Italian faculty and one from another discipline or department. Normally, the French and Italian Honors adviser should be one of the French and Italian faculty on the examining committee. Students who complete and successfully defend the thesis will graduate with distinction if their cumulative point-hour ratio is in the top 25% of their class and their major point-hour ratio is a minimum 3.5.

Undergraduate Research Scholarships and Small Grants

Each spring and autumn, the Honors Office in Arts and Sciences administers a competition for a $2000 tuition scholarship for students who are candidates for graduation with distinction. Deadlines for submitting proposals to the ASC Honors Advising Office (207 Enarson Hall) are mid-April and mid-November for the spring and autumn competitions. Proposals for The Pressey Honors Grant of up to $350 may be submitted at any time during the year by students who are candidates for graduation with distinction. Submit your proposals to University Honors, Honors House, 220 West 12th Avenue.

Departmental Honors Courses