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Welcome!
The decision whether or not to write a senior thesis and to pursue
an honors degree in Government will have important consequences for
your final year at Harvard. Since writing a thesis may be quite different
from anything else that you have undertaken in the past, you may well
be wondering whether or not you are up to the task, or even whether
writing a thesis is the best way for you to culminate your academic
program at Harvard.
These are very real questions that have to be decided appropriately
by each individual. We in the Undergraduate Program would like to help you
make a choice about the honors program that is suited to your particular
needs and interests. The Senior Honors Handbook is meant not only to
answer your procedural and substantive questions about thesis writing
and honors determination, but also to provide you with the knowledge
and experiences of past seniors concerning the senior honors thesis.
We urge you to read through the entire Handbook now and refer to it
throughout the thesis process. We have made every effort to address
the problems and questions that you are likely to encounter in the year
ahead. A careful reading now may help you approach the thesis process
in a more productive way and is certain to help you avoid common mistakes
and pitfalls. The Handbook is organized to correspond to the traditional
thesis calendar. It takes you through the process in stages, from the
initial stage of selecting a topic and advisor, to the final step in
the honors determination process. We hope you find it helpful, but we
also want to remind you that our door is always open.
The First Stage: Finding A Topic And Advisor
The first question that potential thesis writers ask themselves is:
"What is a senior thesis?" The next two are "When do
I start?" and "How do I choose a topic?" This is one
of the hardest stages of thesis writing, and probably the most confusing.
The Second Stage: Research & Writing
Researching and writing is the longest part of the thesis project. In
addition to the actual library or field research and subsequent writing,
it includes the refinement of your topic and the development of a working
relationship with your advisor. It lasts from June to late February,
when editing and revision begin in earnest.
The Third Stage: Your Final Product
The final month separates the excellent thesis from the good, and the
good from the mediocre. It is also an opportunity to find out who your
friends really are, as you call in every chit you have in return for
help with editing, checking citations, proofreading, and printing. This
chapter covers everything that should happen after you complete your
first draft in late February and before you turn in your thesis in mid-March.
This final month of editing, revision, and proofreading is usually the
most hectic - even when you are on target. If you are running late,
things are liable to be even more rushed. Once again, the key to survival
is organization.
The Final Stage: Honors Determination
Once you have submitted your thesis, all is not yet over. You must wait
for your thesis to be graded and returned. Still remaining for some
students are Oral Exams, after which all students wait for their Departmental
and College honors to be determined. This part of the Handbook deals
with each of these in turn.
Grading
Standards and Ranking
Honors Determination
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