Honors Majors

Honors Majors will register for one-credit of Seniors Honors Study in Philosophy during the Spring term of their senior year. Senior Honors Study does not count toward fulfilling the eight credit requirement for the major. External examiners will set questions and specify additional readings (3-4 articles or book chapters) for each preparation that is to be examined. These questions will be available to students by the end of the Fall term. Honors majors will choose one question for each preparation. They will then produce for each preparation an independent essay of no more than 4,000 words in response to the question they have chosen.

It is expected that these essays will demonstrate initiative in engaging with problems and texts and that they will develop lines of argumentation beyond what is normally expected of papers produced for seminar discussion. The preparation of the essays will not be supervised by members of the faculty. Conversation among students who are preparing these essays is encouraged, but each student must produce and independent, original essay. The essays must be submitted to the department to be sent to the external examiners by the beginning of the written examination period. There will be no further written examination of preparations beyond these independent essays. An examiner will conduct a 60 minute oral examination for each preparation on both the independent essay and the materials considered in the preparation (typically all the materials listed on the syllabus for the related seminar).

Starting with the class of 2026 - There is a limit to the number of cross-listed courses that students can count toward the major and minor-
- Majors (honors and course) can only count two cross-listed courses
- Honors minors can only count one
- Course minors have no restrictions

  • Student wishing to add a major or minor in Philosophy must do so by the end of the add/drop period of the Fall term of the senior year.
  • Philosophy students changing their program from course to honors (or honors to course) must do so by the end of the add/drop period of the fall term of the senior year.
  • Philosophy honors students must declare their honors preparations by the end of the add/drop period of the Fall term of senior year.
  • Students wishing to drop an honors major or minor must do so by the end of the add/drop period of the fall term of the senior year.