Application to the Major, Qual and Thesis
As noted in the Requirements, early consultation with a member of the History and Literature committee is important for a student considering this major in order to determine whether the student qualifies for the major and to allow time to plan a program.
To be admitted to the History-Literature program, a student will need to petition in the spring of their sophomore year. The petition must be submitted no later than April 1st of the sophomore year, for Fall/Spring graduates, and November 15 for Spring/Fall graduates. The petition should inform the History and Literature Committee of the following:
- What are your proposed areas(s) of focus?
- Why are these suited to the interdisciplinary major rather than to one department?
- What potential topics might you write about in your thesis?
- How does your coursework support your major and potential thesis topics, as described?
The History-Literature Committee will devise a specific junior qualifying examination for each student accepted into the program. This examination serves to certify the readiness of the student for the project that has been proposed. Typically, the qual (and the thesis), while drawing on the tools and methods of both history and literature, leans more to one than the other, in line with the proposal, but in all cases will evaluate the students readiness to do research that ties together history and literature.
For the senior thesis, the student will have a primary adviser in the field to which the project leans more, and a secondary adviser in the other field.