Honors in Discipline
The History Department at East Tennessee State University offers an Honors-in-Discipline (HiD) Program designed to challenge outstanding history majors and minors. The program combines 21 hours of intensive honors and honors "enriched" courses, and enables students to explore their research interests by completing a capstone honors thesis research project.
Several scholarship opportunities exist for History HiD students, including out-of-state
tuition waivers and travel grants. Scholarships are also available for in-state students.
History HiD provides dedicated students important training enabling them to prepare
for graduate and professional work.
Several of the HiD courses fulfill general education, writing-intensive, oral-intensive, and technology-intensive requirements.
Contact:
Dr. John M. Rankin
rankinj@etsu.edu
Rogers Stout Room 106
Admissions
Admissions Requirements
Entering Freshmen: Freshmen entering the Honors-in-Discipline (HiD) Program of the Department of History
must have a high school GPA of 3.2 overall or an ACT composite score of 25 or greater.
Continuing Students: Entrance of students after their Freshman year will be based on their academic performance at ETSU. To be admitted into the History HiD Program students must have an overall GPA of 3.2 and a GPA of 3.5 in history courses.
Transfer Students: Entrance of transfer students into the History HiD Program of the Department of History will be based on their academic performance at their previous college, university, or community college. To be admitted students must have an overall GPA of 3.2.
Students seeking admission should submit an application form along with an essay (300-500 words) describing a favorite historically themed book or movie and its relevance to their aspirations in the field of history.
To apply, download the Application Form and submit it to
Dr. John M. Rankin
HiD Co-Coordinator
History Department, ETSU
Box 70672
Johnson City, TN 37614-1709
Requirements
Completion Requirements
To complete the History HiD Program, students must fulfill the requirements of the
History major, including the following courses:
History 1110/1120 World History
History 2010/2020 U. S. History
History 3410 Historical Methods
History 4018-088 Honors Thesis (6 hours)
Students must maintain a course load of at least 12 hours per semester (15 for scholarship students).
Students must complete 15 hours of any 3000- or 4000-level honors or honors "enriched" courses.
Students must complete an honors senior thesis.
Thesis
Honors Thesis
The Honors Thesis offers students the opportunity to explore their research interests in history and work with a major professor in their field of study.
The thesis is undertaken in capstone courses directed by a faculty member in the Department of History.
The student's advisory committee will consist of the thesis director and two additional faculty members (one from another department).
The thesis project should be a year-long, 6 credit hour endeavor begun in the Senior-year Fall semester (3 credits) and completed during the following Spring semester (3 credits).
The thesis project may be a research paper. Alternatively the thesis project may, for example, explore another culture through a study abroad program, with the student providing analyses and conclusions about the experience of the culture through art, film, etc. The student's advisor must approve the format of the thesis project.
The student will make a public presentation of the thesis project and give copies of it to the History Department, the University Honors Program, and (if required) to the Sherrod Library.
In consultation with the HiD Director, students may develop an interdisciplinary topic combining as many as two major fields of study.
View the Recommended Thesis Timetable, and the Thesis Formatting Guidelines