Honors Senior Essay

Guidelines and Requirements

One of the requirements of Honors Political Science major is the senior essay. All Honors majors must complete and receive a passing grade on the essay in order to graduate. The essay can be written in a seminar or in PLSC 4800, or, in the case of a year-long essay, in PLSC 4900/4901 or PLSC 490/4903. The student is responsible for becoming familiar with the Department guidelines and requirements for the senior essay. That information is available here.

Forms & Deadlines

Seniors planning to write an honors senior essay must complete the following two forms in order to be admitted into senior essay seminars:

Senior Essay Prospectus
Political Science Honors Track Application
Deadlines

Year Long Senior Essay

Most majors write a one–semester senior essay. Some, however, choose to write a two–semester essay, which is done in PLSC 490a/491b or PLSC 490a/493b (for Intensive Majors - see below).

Application for Senior Essay

Juniors wishing to write a two–semester essay in their senior year in PLSC 490a/491b must submit the Yearlong Senior Essay form. The form must be signed by a faculty adviser who has agreed to supervise the student’s essay. It should be accompanied by a 1–2-page statement of the research project and an up–to–date, unofficial transcript.

Deadlines for applications
Senior Essay Prospectus Forms

Intensive Majors

The Intensive Major writes a year-long senior essay in PLSC 490a/493b, which is preceded by PLSC 474b (Directed Reading and Research for Junior Intensive Majors) in the Spring semester of the junior year.
Juniors wishing to pursue an Intensive Major must submit an application.

Intensive Majors must also submit a Yearlong Senior Essay Prospectus. All forms and deadlines are available online.

Click here for important information on the year-long senior essay.

Rev. 05-21-25