Honors Option

If you are a UGA student enrolled in the Honors College, you probably want to know whether you can take one of my upper-division courses for honors credit (aka "do the Honors Option"). The short answer, usually, is yes. For all Honors Option students, I require that you do 10 pages of extra formal writing (or its intellectual equivalent - more on that in a moment) and maintain a high level of performance (equivalent to high B and A work) throughout the course. If you do not complete the extra 10 pages of work and/or do not do exemplary work throughout the course, I simply won't sign off on the Honors Option completion form at the end of the semester.

So what does "10 pages of writing or its intellectual equivalent" look like? Some students decide to divide their 10 pages between the already-assigned essays; others choose to add their 10 pages onto their final (research) essay; others yet opt to write an additional 10-page essay. Note, howevver, that I am open to alternate ways of demonstrating the "intellectual equivalent" of those 10 pages. I've had students make (intellectually sophisticated) movies in lieu of essays, create computer games, and even play computer games (more accurately, compare the narrative structure of newly-released games to the narrative structures we were exploring in class) for credit. So feel free to think creatively about how you can advance your understanding of medieval literature through your Honors Option project.

For the sake of the Honors Option form, you can simply write "10 extra pages of formal writing or its intellectual equivalent" in the appropriate field of the form. For the sake of your grade, however, you will need to let me know (via email) exactly what you want to do for your project within the first month of the course.

If you are asking to do your Honors Option in a split-level course (that is, a course that has graduate students and undergraduates in the same section), I will give you the option of doing the same work as the graduate students. Keep in mind that, if you go that route, I will expect of you the same intellectual investment and sophistication that I expect of MA students -- that's a higher standard than what is set for Honors Option credit, but it also gives you a taste of the expectations for graduate school (which is a  good experience to have).

Finally, if you are interested in doing a Directed Reading with me within the department (note that this option is open to ALL majors), we will need to start discussing your project early in the previous semester -- the paperwork takes time. So if that's of interest, drop me an email sooner rather than later and we'll talk about your interests. Please note that I am most likely to say yes if you are continuing work done for me within a class setting; that allows you to level up faster, and do more advanced work, in the Directed Reading.