EIU Department of English

Departmental Honors

Welcome to the English Honors Program! Honors study in your major facilitates deeper engagement with course material and provides the opportunity to complete a focused, individual research project. If you are eligible, you will receive a letter from the Departmental Honors Coordinator (DHC) inviting you to enroll in the English Honors Program. The first step is to meet with the DHC. If you are interested but have not received an acceptance letter, we invite you to drop by to discuss the possibilities Honors could open up for you.

Departmental Honors students are eligible for priority registration. They are also eligible to apply for several grants and fellowships, including The Sandra and Jack Pine Honors College Continuing Student Scholarship and the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Grant.

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REQUIREMENTS: Honors in English requires 12 credit hours which become part of your English major:

• One Honors English course (excluding 2091G, 2099G, 3090G). With some exceptions, this course is usually either ENG3099G (Honors Myth & Culture) or ENG3892 (Honors Shakespeare).
• One graduate seminar of your choosing (see below)
• ENG 4444 (Independent Study)
• ENG 4644 (Honors Thesis)

Enrollment in a graduate seminar is limited to students with senior status and requires submission of a one or both of the forms linked below to the Graduate School which allow an undergraduate honors student to enroll in a graduate course. 

• Graduate Study Options for EIU Seniors (honors or reserve credit)
• Waiver of the 90-semester hour policy for undergraduate honors students
• Current Graduate Course options

English 4444 and 4644 are taken in consecutive semesters, typically your senior Fall and Spring. In this way, these courses comprise a yearlong thesis experience. To begin, you and a faculty adviser of your choice will work together to develop an idea for a thesis research project. In ENG4444 (Independent Study), you will do the reading and research necessary to lay the groundwork for ENG4644 (Honors Thesis) where you will write your thesis. English faculty adhere to the following guidelines when directing an Honors thesis.

Early in the semester that you plan to complete your thesis and/or graduate, you must contact the Honors College to inform them of your plans. The thesis should be completed no later than early in finals week. The required title page must be completed and signed by the DHC, your thesis advisor, and the English Department Chair.

• Thesis Title Page document

One copy of the completed thesis should be submitted to the DHC and another to the Sandra and Jack Pine Honors College.

[NOTE: THESE REQUIREMENTS MAY VARY IF YOU ARE GRADUATING UNDER AN OLDER CATALOG. CHECK WITH THE DEPARTMENTAL HONORS COORDINATOR AND YOUR ADVISOR IF THIS IS THE CASE.]