Students pursuing honors must have a record of all A’s or a final grade of S with distinction in courses they have as S/NC. Typically, the honors thesis is a major research paper of approximately 40 to 80 pages in Spanish, depending on the topic and treatment necessary. Alternatively, a student may, with prior permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, present a film, gallery exhibition, or other appropriate project, together with a paper that clearly demonstrates the academic foundations and relevance of the project.
Students should begin thinking about an honors thesis or project in their third year at Brown. Those who study in Spain or Latin America in the spring of their junior year may want to write to professors they are considering working with, indicating their potential thesis interests. Ideally, students will begin to research topics and prepare a reading list for the thesis during the summer before their senior year.
Thesis Readers
The department expects students to have two readers for their honors thesis or project. Typically, the advisor for the project will be a faculty member in Hispanic Studies; the second reader can be another member of the Hispanic Studies faculty or come from a different department.
Honors Timeline
Students planning to write an honors thesis in Hispanic Studies must submit their application to the honors program by the end of the third week of semester 7. The application will include a brief description of the project and the signature of the intended thesis advisor.
Students admitted to the program will subsequently submit an honors proposal consisting of the title, abstract, and bibliography of their project, along with the name and signatures of their advisor and second reader by October 15 (semester 7).
Students are expected to develop 1) a detailed outline, 2) at least 15 pages of polished writing from one of their thesis chapters, and 3) a bibliography for their project. These materials must be submitted to the primary advisor and second reader by December 15 (semester 7).
The second semester (semester 8) is devoted to completing the writing or the project. Students will register in HISP 1990, Independent Study. Note that Independent Study courses devoted to writing an honors thesis will count towards the general credit requirement for graduation but will not be counted towards the requirements of the concentration.
A complete draft of the thesis or project must be submitted to the primary advisor and second reader by 5:00 p.m. EST on the Friday before Spring Break. The advisor and second reader will provide timely feedback to allow the student to revise and finalize the thesis before the submission deadline.
The final, complete honors thesis or project must be submitted by April 15 at 5:00 pm EST. Students are required to submit three printed copies of the finalized honors thesis: one for the primary advisor, one for the second reader, and one for the department. Additionally, a PDF version of the thesis must be emailed to the Department Academic Coordinator and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students are also expected to upload the PDF to the Brown Digital Repository.