Departmental Honors Program

The departmental honors program recognizes outstanding students graduating in a major from the Department of Spanish & Portuguese whose course of study has gone beyond what is required for the major. These students are given the opportunity to formulate a research project on the basis of their coursework and special interests, in consultation with an appropriate faculty mentor who then guides the student throughout the project. 

Eligibility

Students may be eligible for Departmental Honors if they meet all of the following requirements prior to enrolling in departmental honors courses:

• Completed a minimum of six upper-division major courses
• Obtained a 3.7-grade point average or better in those six courses

Eligibility must be verified by the departmental counselor.

Departmental Honors Expectation

Once a student is notified that they are eligible to pursue departmental honors, they can proceed with finding a faculty mentor related to their topic in the department. The student must then complete the following:

• Enroll in Portuguese 198A and 198B or Spanish 198A and 198B in consecutive quarters 
• Receive approval of the honors thesis by the faculty mentor

Portuguese 198A and Spanish 198A are 4-unit courses in which students research and prepare a draft of a thesis on a selected topic; Portuguese 198B and Spanish 198B are 2-unit courses in which students complete the final thesis draft of approximately 25-30 pages. Please note that Portuguese 198A-198B and Spanish 198A-198B may not be applied toward the major credit.