brown cs honors thesis

The College

Graduating with honors.

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You may qualify for a Latin honor at graduation or may apply for honors within your concentration.

University Honors

Because the Brown curriculum has traditionally placed greater weight on the act of learning than on external marks of success, the University grants only one honor at commencement:  magna cum laude . Brown's Faculty Rules stipulate that this distinction should be awarded to no more than 20% of the graduating class each year.

Magna is determined not on the grade point average (which Brown does not calculate) but on the percentage of ‘A’ grades and marks of ‘S with distinction’ that a student receives in courses taken at Brown. The distinction mark is not noted on the external transcript; however, it is taken into account by the Committee on Academic Standing when determining the recipients of magna cum laude each year.

The  Registrar's website  contains more information about computing honors at graduation.

Honors in the Concentration 

Every concentration program allows eligible students to pursue honors in the concentration. Students usually apply for honors in the junior year. Admission into honors is usually based on grades and an honors thesis proposal. Concentration honors are awarded to students whose honors theses meet the criteria established by the academic department.

The pursuit of honors in an academic concentration is an opportunity for intensive engagement. The process of designing a research project, practicing disciplinary ways of thinking, and presenting one's research to others develops expertise and heightened communication skills as well as deepened relationships with a faculty mentor. An honors project prepares students for entry into graduate study and other professions beyond Brown, while also clarifying and culminating the undergraduate experience.

All departments have requirements and deadlines for entry, submission, and awarding of honors. These requirements are approved by the College Curriculum Council (CCC) and published in the University Bulletin. They are also posted on concentration websites. Honors criteria include specific requirements for each of the major stages of the process: becoming an honors candidate; pursuing, completing, and submitting the honors project; and evaluating the candidate’s completed work.

The College Curriculum Council has endorsed a set of best practices  and guidelines on grades used for honors eligibility to ensure clarity and consistency across the University.

Students completing more than one concentration who are interested in pursuing honors in more than one concentration may find additional information  here .

Midyear Completers

Concentrations typically establish distinct deadlines for students completing degree requirements in December ("midyear completers," often referred to colloquially as ".5ers") – this is also a best practice. Each year, academic programs and departments must  provide the names of Honors candidates who completed degree requirements in the summer, fall, and spring semester by the published deadline prior to May Commencement.

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Students may apply for honors in the concentration by meeting requirements including completion of a strong senior thesis.

Concentrators seeking to graduate with honors must fulfill the following requirements: have a minimum grade point average of more As than Bs, receive approval for their thesis proposal (completed in the sixth semester), and most importantly research and write an original Senior Thesis that meets or exceeds the standards established in the Department Rubric.

Honors are awarded on the basis of thesis quality. Writing a thesis does not guarantee that a student will receive honors. At the same time, students may elect to write a Senior Thesis and receive course credit even if they do not qualify for honors so long as they follow the procedures below.

Thesis Application

Frequently Asked Questions

In your junior year, you must secure a Thesis Advisor, develop a research question and research plan that you will investigate during your senior year, and apply to write a thesis by the first Friday in May. You will work on your senior thesis as part of the Senior Seminar (EDUC 1900) in the fall. Then, you will enroll in EDUC 1991 for independent study credit in the spring (this must be above and beyond the 10-course minimum requirement for education studies concentration). You will also meet regularly with your Thesis Adviser who will supervise your research and writing. 

Senior theses are due on the second Friday in April .

Most senior theses do receive honors but writing a senior thesis does not guarantee it. The thesis must meet or exceed the standards set forth in the Department Rubric for Honors and you must meet the minimum grade point average (more A’s than B’s in education studies courses). Your thesis will be evaluated by your Thesis Advisor and an additional faculty reader and who will provide you with written feedback. Even if you do not receive honors, you can still receive course credit for EDUC 1991. 

Any full-time teaching member of the Education Department faculty can be a Thesis Advisor if they are on campus for the year. Faculty on sabbatical cannot serve as a Thesis Advisor. Part-time or non-teaching faculty may serve as a Co-Thesis Advisor but may not be the sole director for a senior thesis.

Regularly—once every other week or even once a week. At the beginning of the year, you should set up a schedule that establishes a regular meeting time. It may not always be necessary to meet in person—emails and telephone are often helpful—but it is always good to have a date and time set aside when you know you can talk to your Thesis Advisor. 

Absolutely. You should seek out and consult faculty inside and outside the Education Department who have expertise on your topic, preferably early in the project, and their advice and help should be acknowledged in the preface of the thesis’ final draft.

You are required to write a progress report for the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS), signed by your Thesis Advisor by the end of the fall semester that outlines your progress. You may also be required to meet with the DUS to discuss that progress at this time. Furthermore, in May you will be invited to present your thesis to the Education Department faculty and students.   

An electronic copy of the thesis is due the second Friday in April .  Working backward from the specified due date should help you and your Thesis Advisor set up a schedule for research and writing across two semesters.

An Honors thesis must ask an original research question, answer it with appropriate evidence, and place that work within relevant scholarly literature. An unorthodox format is unlikely to be able to do these things and satisfy the requirements of the Department Rubric for Honors and will consequently not be approved. A senior thesis cannot be a normative question, creative project, or policy advocacy, and it must do more than summarize what scholars already know; it must conduct original research. If you are interested in doing a different kind of project or an unorthodox format, you should consider doing a capstone project instead. 

You should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies .

• Start thinking about a Senior Thesis early. It takes time to design a good research project. Choose classes your junior year that help you prepare for a senior thesis by introducing you to topics, methodologies, and/or faculty with which you might like to work. Start thinking in terms of research questions instead of topics. 
• Spend time and energy creating a good research design at the beginning. This means that you should refine your question, identify and begin reading relevant scholarship on the topic, identify your data source and make sure you can access and use it (and look at it—make sure it has the info you think it does), and think carefully about your methodology—how you will answer your question and the strengths and weaknesses of that approach. This should be done before the start of senior year—preferably during junior year but at least by the end of the summer right before senior year.
• Establish a clear work plan and timetable that gives adequate time for revisions in partnership with your Thesis Advisor. Make sure that your writing schedule allows the Thesis Adviser enough time to read the penultimate draft and get final suggestions to you. (In other words, get it to your adviser AT LEAST two weeks before the final draft is due and closer to a month if possible).
• Start writing early! Don’t wait until the spring semester to start writing. Writing can help clarify your thinking and reveal holes in your evidence and arguments. Writing is also hard work and to do it well requires some time and a lot of feedback and revision.  Even if you are still collecting data, try to start writing in the fall. Write the literature review or the methodology section. If you are writing an education history thesis, aim to write a draft of the first chapter before winter break.
• If there is even a slight possibility that you will need IRB clearance for your research, get started on obtaining it IMMEDIATELY. Your Thesis Adviser will help you to determine whether IRB approval is necessary and should guide you through the process if it is. 
• Winter break is a crucial time to make progress on your thesis. Don’t waste it! 

Helpful Tips

• Students apply to write a thesis at the end of their sixth semester.  They must secure a Thesis Adviser, develop a research question and a plan to investigate it in consultation with their adviser and submit the application form to the Department Honors Adviser by the deadline in early May. Students will be notified within two weeks whether their proposal has been approved, denied, or provisionally approved.  In the event of provisional approval, students will have to further develop their research proposal and re-submit an application by September 15 of their senior year. 
• In the Fall of senior year, students enroll in the senior seminar, meeting regularly with their Thesis Adviser (weekly or biweekly) as they research and begin writing the thesis. The student and adviser should develop a work plan and timetable from the outset (see recommended timetable below) and file it with the Honors Adviser by October 1. Students should also meet with other faculty with expertise in their topic, research methods, and/or scholarly literature for advice and feedback.
• At the end of the fall semester, students must submit a progress report to the Honors Adviser signed by their Thesis Adviser that details their progress on the thesis, including the research they have undertaken, their preliminary findings, the work they have left to do, and plan for completing it, and any challenges they have encountered. A meeting with the Honors Adviser may also be required.
• In the Spring, students will enroll in EDUC 1991 for credit with their Thesis Advisor and continue to meet regularly. It is recommended that students submit preliminary drafts for feedback to their Thesis Advisor and build in time for significant revision before the final thesis is due.
• The Senior Thesis is due the second Friday in April . The thesis will be evaluated according to the Department Rubric by the Thesis Advisor and by one other faculty member chosen by the Honors Adviser for their expertise.  If these faculty members recommend Honors and all other requirements are met (more A’s than B’s, all concentration requirements satisfied), students will receive Honors in the concentration. They will be notified in the first week of May. 
• Students are invited and encouraged to share their research by presenting their thesis to Education Department faculty, fellow students, friends, and families in May. 

JUNIOR YEAR

Fall semester Begin thinking about a research topic. Choose courses and/or design an independent study that helps you build the knowledge and skills to undertake a senior thesis, and introduce yourself to faculty with whom you might want to work. If you haven’t already done so, take a methodology course.   

Spring semester Work to transform a research topic into a research question. Start reading the scholarly literature around your topic/research question. Approach a professor to be your Thesis Adviser and work out a research plan. If your project requires IRB approval, begin the process. 

By Friday of the first week of May Submit your application to write a senior thesis to the Honors Adviser with a strong research plan, a preliminary bibliography, transcript, and the signature of your adviser. 

SENIOR YEAR

Over the summer Conduct your literature review and refine your research plan.  If you are able, identify and begin working with your data. Secure IRB approval. 

September Meet with your Thesis Adviser and develop a work plan and timetable for the year, working backward from the due date. Create a tentative outline and plan a schedule for writing that builds in substantial time for multiple revisions. Submit a copy of this work plan to the Honors Adviser by the end of the month.

October-November Conduct research and meet regularly with your Thesis Adviser (weekly or biweekly) to discuss your progress. Start writing! 

December Continue research and submit a draft to your Thesis Adviser of chapter 1 and/or the literature review. Submit a progress report to the Honors Adviser.

January Research, data analysis, and writing! Submit a draft of chapter 2 to your Thesis Adviser by the end of the month.

February Finish research and analysis and submit chapter 3 to your Thesis Adviser by the end of the month. 

March Revise chapters according to your Thesis Adviser’s feedback and produce a penultimate draft, including introduction and conclusion, by the end of the month for final feedback from the Thesis Adviser.  April Finish final revisions on the thesis and submit an electronic copy to the Education Department by the second Friday in April. 

The thesis is evaluated by two faculty members, your Thesis Adviser, and one additional faculty member chosen by the Honors Adviser based on expertise. The readers submit a written evaluation and determine whether to award honors.

Early May Thesis presentations to the Education Department faculty and fellow students. Friends and family are invited to attend.  

“They Want One Thing But In Reality, They Make it Impossible:” A Case Study on Immigrant Adolescents in the French Public School System"

"Justice-Oriented Pedagogy: A Study of Three ‘Badass Teachers’"

“To Fix a Broken City:” Home Rule and the Origins of School Choice in Washington, D.C.

"To Intervene Or Not To Intervene: Supporting Preschoolers’ Social Play in a Public Setting"

"Exploring the Educational Pathways of Teen Mothers: Understanding Young Women’s Perceptions and Navigations of School and Motherhood In Urban Rhode Island"

"Relationships in Transformation: A Study of Teacher Buy-In to Turnaround Efforts at Central Falls High School, Rhode Island"

"Reframing the 'Does Money Matter?' Debate: A Look at Spending on Professional Development and Non-Cognitive Outcomes"

"In Thirty Miles and Thirty Months: A Comparison of the 1968 Black Student Walkout at Brown University and the 1971 Administration Building Takeover at the University of Rhode Island."

Applied Mathematics

Concentrations

• Applied Mathematics (APMA)
• Applied Mathematics & Biology (APMA-Bio)
• Applied Mathematics & Computer Science (APMA-CS)
• Applied Mathematics & Economics (APMA-Econ)

Declaring APMA or APMA-Bio

• Fill out the declaration program plan in ASK . This is easy to change later, so it is fine if you put something that you are unsure about.
• Select a preferred advisor in ASK or choose Matthew Harrison if you have no preference. We try to honor advisor preferences, but we cannot always do this because we need to distribute the advising load among several faculty. If you have a strong advisor preference it can be helpful to connect with your preferred advisor before submitting your declaration.
• Submit your declaration in ASK and we will be in contact with you.

Declaring APMA-CS

• Decide whether you want to be advised within APMA or CS. This decision has no real bearing on your concentration (and you can change it in the future), but may be important to you if you feel more at home (or want to feel more at home) in one of the departments.
• If you want to be advised within CS, then follow the instructions for declaring a CS concentration here: [ link ] Indicate a faculty member from CS as your preferred concentration advisor, or contact Professor Thomas Doeppner to discuss the choice of concentration advisor.
• If you want to be advised within APMA, then follow the instructions above for declaring APMA or APMA-Bio.

Declaring APMA-Econ

• Decide whether you want to be advised within APMA or Econ. This decision has no real bearing on your concentration (and you can change it in the future), but may be important to you if you feel more at home (or want to feel more at home) in one of the departments.
• If you want to be advised within Econ, then follow the instructions for declaring an Econ concentration here: [ link ]

Concentration requirements

• The official concentration requirements are detailed in the University Bulletin [ link ]

APMA - https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/apma/

APMA-Bio - https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/apmb/

APMA-CS - https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/apmc/

APMA-Econ - https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/apme/

• We try to implement these in ASK as faithfully as possible, but sometimes there are requirements in the Bulletin that are not easy to implement in ASK. Please contact [email protected] if you find a discrepancy between the Bulletin and ASK.

Course substitution considerations

• Course substitutions are approved by concentration advisors on a case-by-case basis taking into account a student’s entire course plan. Just because a course substitution is approved for one student does not mean that it will be approved for another, because those students may have different course plans.
• For joint concentrations, concentration advisors must also confer with the other department regarding substitutions for the other department’s courses.
• As a general rule, concentration requirements that list specific courses tend to be inflexible. The main exception to this is for calculus and linear algebra.
• Calculus and linear algebra substitutions: If students have taken a required calculus or linear algebra course prior to matriculating at Brown and they cannot obtain transfer or AP credit for this course, then many concentration advisors will allow the calculus or linear algebra course to be replaced with a higher level APMA or Math course that builds on calculus or linear algebra, respectively, and that is not used elsewhere in the concentration. Calculus or linear algebra substitutions still require concentration advisor approval, though.

Writing requirements

• University writing requirements are detailed here: [ link ]
• APMA, APMA-CS, and APMA-Econ require that students satisfy both writing requirements using approved courses as detailed here: [ link ]
• APMA-Bio allows students to satisfy the 2nd writing requirement using either an approved course [ link ] or by submitting a writing sample in accordance with the policies for other Biology concentrations. The details of how to submit a writing sample are detailed here: [ link ] Note that using a writing sample requires pre-approval from the concentration advisor prior to doing the writing.
• Whenever possible, we encourage students to satisfy the 2nd writing requirement within the concentration. APMA 1971 (Independent study) is always WRIT designated. Some upper-level APMA courses and senior seminars are also WRIT designated, depending on instructor preference.
• Each of the APMA-related concentrations allow exceptional students to pursue honors. 
• The primary requirements are (1) excellence in grades, (2) completion of two independent study courses, and (3) an honors thesis describing the research done in the independent study courses. 
• APMA honors requirements are detailed here: [ link ]
• APMA-Bio students pursue honors within APMA and they should follow the requirements here: [ link ]
• APMA-CS students can choose to pursue honors within either APMA or CS, but their primary thesis advisor must be in the department that they choose. The requirements for APMA honors are here: [ link ] The requirements for CS honors are here: [ link ]. Regardless of the department, APMA-CS honors students must email a copy of their thesis to Applied Math. Details are on the APMA honors page: [ link ]  
• APMA-Econ students can choose to pursue honors within either APMA or Econ, but their primary thesis advisor must be in the department that they chose. The requirements for APMA honors are here: [ link ] The requirements for Econ honors are here: [ link ]. Regardless of the department, APMA-Econ honors students must email a copy of their thesis to Applied Math. Details are on the APMA honors page: [ link ]  
• All honors students in APMA-related concentrations must take 2 semesters of independent study courses with their honors thesis advisor. For APMA advisors, these are APMA 1970 and APMA 1971. APMA 1971 is WRIT designated, which allows honors students to use part of their honors thesis writing to satisfy the 2nd WRIT requirement. (Note that the 2nd WRIT cannot be satisfied in the final semester, so APMA 1971 would normally be taken in the 7th semester.)

Double concentrations

• Information about double concentrations can be found here: [ link ]
• APMA-related concentrators are allowed at most two courses of overlap with a second concentration, excluding calculus and linear algebra.

Transfer credits

• Pre-matriculation concentration credits. Courses must be approved for equivalency, but the number of courses that can be used for concentration credit is unlimited.
• APMA - no limit
• APMA-Bio - no limit
• APMA-CS - limit of 2 (A.B.) or 3 (Sc.B.) total in the concentration [ link ]

APMA-Econ - limit of 2 per semester and 1 per summer [ link ]

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Student’s Senior Thesis Becomes Gates Foundation-Funded Project

• Posted by Jesse Polhemus
• on May 31, 2016

by Kevin Stacey (Science News Officer, Physical Sciences)

For most students a senior thesis represents a valuable learning exercise and the culmination of several years of careful study. Brown University senior Wilson Cusack’s was certainly both of those, but it’s also about to be an international agricultural technology project sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Cusack worked with Aselisewine Wisdom, a recent graduate of University for Development Studies in Navrongo, Ghana, to field test the platform last January.

For his honors thesis, Cusack developed a text message platform that connects farmers with goods to sell to buyers looking to purchase them. He thought the platform could fill a need for rural farmers in the developing world who often have trouble finding buyers and getting a fair price for what they grow. The Gates Foundation agreed, awarding Cusack and his company, Trade, $100,000 to implement the platform in Ghana.

For the 23-year-old native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, the grant helps to launch an idea that started cooking before he got to college. “It’s kind of amazing how full-circle it’s come,” Cusack said.

During a gap year between high school and college, Cusack spent some time living in Guatemala and India where he worked on various development projects. He saw firsthand the crushing poverty faced by many small-scale farmers in the developing world.

“Pretty much everywhere I went in India, agriculture came up as a problem,” Cusack said. “That year, on average, a farmer committed suicide almost every 30 minutes.”

He spent a lot of his time in India visiting markets and talking to farmers. He started to get a sense that many farmers — especially those living in remote locations — were simply having trouble finding buyers for their goods. And when a farmer did find a buyer, it was usually a trader who would pay a fraction of what those goods were actually worth and then resell them in a market for a huge profit.

“I had this really simple idea,” Cusack said. “Why can’t farmers text in to a platform and say what they want to sell and be connected with a buyer who texts in to say what they want to buy?”

Such a platform, if widely adopted, could bring together farmers and buyers who would never have crossed paths otherwise. It would also bring a bit of transparency to the pricing of goods, potentially helping farmers get more for their crops.

Cusack kept the idea in mind and started reading up on commodity markets and supply chains. The summer before his sophomore year, he worked with Eleni Gabre-Madhin, an economist who had led a team that created Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, the second commodity exchange in Africa. After coming to Brown as a transfer student in 2013, Cusack interned at the agriculture technology company FarmLogs and with the food-processing firm Cargill.

“I spent a lot of time trying to get people to convince me that this cell phone platform wouldn’t work,” Cusack said. “But people just convinced me more that it would work and that it was a good idea.”

He decided he would pursue the idea as his honors thesis, working with professors Rodrigo Fonseca in computer science and Andrew Foster in economics.

Cusack set to work developing the code for the platform, which he designed to make transactions as quick and easy as possible. In just a few texts, farmers can enter the market with what they have to sell and how much they want for it. Buyers can do the same for what they’d like to buy and how much they’ll pay. A matching algorithm then finds the best pairings based on quantities to be traded and the asking and sell prices.

Once he had a working version of the system, the big question became whether people would actually use it, and there was only one way to find out. This past January, Cusack headed to Ghana to see if he could talk some farmers and traders into using the system.

Cusack chose Ghana for several reasons. English is pervasive there, so language wouldn’t be too much of a problem. The country also has 116 percent cell phone penetration — more cell phones than people. Professors at Brown and elsewhere helped put Cusack in contact with professors and students in Ghana to help get the project off the ground.

It didn’t take long to find a few farmers and traders willing try it.

A successful trade completed through the platform.

“I went to villages and told farmers that I would buy from them right then, paying above market, if they used the platform to facilitate the transaction,” Cusack said. “I then went to buyers in the urban markets and told them that I would sell to them right then, below market, if they used the platform to facilitate the transaction.”

He then told everyone he’d worked with that if they had anything they wanted to buy or sell over the next few days, they could use the platform on their own. That was really the big test: Would people use the platform without Cusack standing in front of them as the buyer?

Over the next week, farmers began independently texting their goods and asking prices to the platform. Buyers texted their bids, and in short order the system had facilitated the trade of around 500 kilograms of maize.

“People who had used it were excited about it,” Cusack said. “In that respect, the trip was a really big success.”

Now that he knew he had a platform people would use, it was time to refine the matching algorithm and write up the thesis. He wanted to add a parameter to the algorithm that took the locations of buyers and sellers into account when making a match. He also wanted to make sure could run efficiently and make matches quickly. That made the algorithm much more complex than the original.

“It was funny because when we started this we wondered if there was really enough technical meat here for this to be a computer science thesis,” Cusack said. “But when I came back in the spring, I realized I actually had a real-deal computer science problem because I could have spent an entire year just thinking about the matching algorithm.”

Cusack is still working to refine and expand his algorithm. He’s now working to loop transporters into the mix so they can bid to move goods once deals have been struck. That, he says, will be a critical new part of the platform moving forward. 

Grand Challenges

In the midst of working on the project, Foster mentioned that the project would be a nice fit for the Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations program. One of the challenges in the latest round of the program sought projects that dealt with the delivery and use of digital financial services.

The first iteration of the platform, then called xChange. 

Cusack applied and the project ended up as one of 43 projects selected for funding out of nearly 1,400 applications.

With that funding in place, Cusack will move to Ghana this summer to set up a full-scale pilot of the project. The money will cover his living expenses and the cost of hiring technical and managerial staff, among other things.

It will make for a whirlwind few months.

“I'm packing a lot of big life stuff in,” Cusack said. “I graduate May 29th, get married June 4th, and then will move to Ghana full-time end of July.”

He admits that prospect of moving to a new continent to set up a complex project is mildly terrifying, but having the support of his fiancée helps a lot, he said. He had been planning to do this whether the Gates Foundation supported it or not, but the funding makes things much easier.

“The stamp of approval is really helpful,” Cusack said. “There’s suddenly a bunch of people who didn't want to talk to me before who do now. It also helps to validate that this is maybe a decent idea, and that someone outside my mom and me believes in it.”

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The joint Computer Science-Economics concentration exposes students to the theoretical and practical connections between computer science and economics. It prepares students for professional careers that incorporate aspects of economics and computer technology and for academic careers conducting research in areas that emphasize the overlap between the two fields. Concentrators may choose to pursue either the A.B. or the Sc.B. degree. While the A.B. degree allows students to explore the two disciplines by taking advanced courses in both departments, its smaller number of required courses is compatible with a liberal education. The Sc.B. degree achieves greater depth in both computer science and economics by requiring more courses, and it offers students the opportunity to creatively integrate both disciplines through a design requirement. If you are interested in declaring a concentration in Computer Science-Economics, please refer to this page for more information regarding the process. For more information about the CS Pathways, see this  page.

Standard Program for the Sc.B. degree.

Standard program for the a.b. degree:.

Students who meet stated requirements are eligible to write an honors thesis in their senior year.  Students should consult the listed honors requirements of whichever of the two departments their primary thesis advisor belongs to, at the respective departments' websites. If the primary thesis advisor belongs to Economics (Computer Science), then students must have a reader in the Computer Science (respectively, Economics) department.

Professional Track

The requirements for the professional track include all those of the standard track, as well as the following:

Students must complete full-time professional experiences doing work that is related to their concentration programs, totaling 2-6 months, whereby each internship must be at least one month in duration in cases where students choose to do more than one internship experience. Such work is normally done at a company, but may also be at a university under the supervision of a faculty member. Internships that take place between the end of the fall and the start of the spring semesters cannot be used to fulfill this requirement.

On completion of each professional experience, the student must write and upload to ASK a reflective essay about the experience addressing the following prompts, to be approved by the student's concentration advisor:

• Which courses were put to use in your summer's work? Which topics, in particular, were important?
• In retrospect, which courses should you have taken before embarking on your summer experience? What are the topics from these courses that would have helped you over the summer if you had been more familiar with them?
• Are there topics you should have been familiar with in preparation for your summer experience, but are not taught at Brown? What are these topics?
• What did you learn from the experience that probably could not have been picked up from course work?
• Is the sort of work you did over the summer something you would like to continue doing once you graduate? Explain.
• Would you recommend your summer experience to other Brown students? Explain.

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Based on their academic performance up to the end of the junior year, students may apply for admission to the Honors Program.

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Honors are granted by the University to students whose work in a field of concentration has demonstrated superior quality and culminated in an 'Honors Thesis of Distinction'.

Honors recipients in the School of Engineering must meet the following criteria:

• Demonstrate a strong academic record through the 7th semester through 60% A’s or “S with Distinction” in the 21 required courses in engineering ScB, as declared in ASK  ( NOTE: "S with Distinction" is not visible on the Brown transcript or in ASK. Please inquire with the Registrar or Student Affairs.)
• Propose and execute an independent research project under the guidance of a faculty member
• Complete a written thesis to the satisfaction of the Honors Program Committee
• Give a scientific/technical presentation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium
• Fulfill all deadlines for applying for or completing honors to the satisfaction of his/her research advisor and the Honors Program Committee

The following guidelines are for non-BME concentrators. Students concentrating in Biomedical Engineering should review the  guidelines for BME concentrators . 

If you wish to participate in the honors program, you will need to:

• Meet the cutoff of 60% A's or “S with Distinction” through the 7th semester through the 21 required courses in engineering ScB, as declared in ASK  ( NOTE: "S with Distinction" is not visible on the Brown transcript or in ASK. Please inquire with the Registrar or Student Affairs.)
• Select a thesis topic and find a thesis advisor
• Submit the application form (which must be signed by your advisor)
• Receive notification that you have been accepted into the program (note that acceptance does not guarantee that you will be awarded honors at graduation)
• Select a reader for your thesis
• Complete your thesis, and submit it to your advisor and reader
• Give a presentation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium

Contact information for the honors thesis committee

Relevant deadlines are listed in the table below. Failure to meet any of these deadlines is grounds for dismissal from the honors program. Note that these deadlines are intended for students graduating in four years. Students with different graduation timelines who would like to pursue Honors should contact a member of the Honors Program Committee to discuss alternative plans.

Grade Used to Determine Eligibility for Honors

The minimum grades for admission to the Engineering Honors Program is 60% A’s or “S with Distinction” through the 21 required courses in engineering ScB, as declared in ASK  ( NOTE: "S with Distinction" is not visible on the Brown transcript or in ASK. Please inquire with the Registrar or Student Affairs.)

• Due to COVID-19, students have the option not to count their grades from Spring 2020 towards honors. If students choose this option, NONE of the grades from concentration coursework in Spring 2020 will be included in the percentage calculation.
• We will calculate the percentage of A’s and “S with Distinction” in courses that are required to satisfy engineering concentration requirements, as listed on your approved engineering concentration form. It is important to make sure that your concentration form is up-to-date at the time of application. Humanities courses are not included in the calculation.
• We will calculate the percentage of A’s and “S with Distinction” in courses at the beginning of the fall semester of senior year to determine acceptance into the program (The percentage may be slightly below 60%  if the seventh semester is expected to bring it above the threshold).
• Find more information on S with Distinction grades  here  or email the  Registrar's Office .
• Courses not taken at Brown will not be included in the percentage calculation.

If you do not fully meet these criteria, you may petition the Honors Committee to consider other evidence of academic accomplishments, such as significant project work completed in collaboration with a faculty member. One or more letters of recommendation from faculty should accompany such a petition, which may be referred to the Concentration Committee for a final decision.

Selecting a thesis topic and an advisor

Your thesis could address a basic experimental, theoretical or computational research problem, or a major independent design project. You may propose your own idea, which could be based on course-work or an internship; or develop a thesis topic based on an on-going research area at Brown. Your thesis topic should be distinct from any project work undertaken during required engineering courses.

To design a thesis program, you should work with a faculty member with expertise in your area of interest who can act as your thesis advisor. You can approach faculty members from whom you have taken classes, or use the faculty research pages to identify someone with relevant experience. If you have difficulty finding a research advisor, schedule a meeting with a member of the Honors Committee.

• You must identify a thesis advisor when you submit your honors proposal during the first semester of your senior year.
• Your thesis advisor must be an engineering faculty member. In cases of cross-disciplinary research students may be co-advised, so long as one faculty member is in engineering and/or biomedical engineering.
• It is very helpful to start planning your honors research project well before the start of senior year. Many honors candidates perform research over the summer before senior year, although this is not required. Many students also take independent study courses during sophomore or junior year, which is a great way to initiate a relationship with a potential research advisor. It is never too early to begin thinking about the process, and students of all levels are invited to attend the Honors Information Session at the start of the fall semester.

Completing your honors program

Honors candidates work closely with their advisors and/or research lab throughout their senior year. Writing a thesis can be a significant undertaking, and it is helpful to be able to be able to spread the workload over several months rather than to try to complete it at the last minute. It can be helpful to register for an independent study course that focuses on your thesis topic (but note that only one independent study can be used for concentration credit).

Admission to the Honors Program does not guarantee that a student will receive Honors upon graduation. Recommendation for this distinction by the School of Engineering is contingent on demonstrable academic excellence throughout the senior year. The candidate’s thesis advisor will make recommendations to the Honors Committee regarding their advisee's progress toward achieving the honors thesis requirements.

Choosing a Reader

In addition to a research advisor, each honors candidate must also ask an expert in his or her field of research to be a “reader”. The reader’s responsibilities are to read the written thesis, attend the student’s presentation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, and offer general guidance in both of these areas.

The reader is commonly a member of faculty, but this is not a requirement so long as the reader is capable of assessing the student’s research. Non-faculty readers will require Honors Committee approval. The honors thesis advisor often helps candidates choose a reader. However, it is the honors candidate’s responsibility to approach potential readers by clearly communicating the thesis topic and outlining the reader’s responsibilities. A confirmed reader is due to the honors committee in March.

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Students will be required to present their research in an oral presentation at a research symposium at the end of their eighth semester. Details will be provided at the beginning of the eighth semester.

Honors Form

• Application for Honors

Department of English

The honors program.

• Undergraduate Studies

The Honors Program is for students who have been highly successful in their English concentration coursework and would like the opportunity to pursue an in-depth research project.

Requirements

Students may pursue honors in either the English or Nonfiction Writing tracks. The course requirements for the Honors Program are the same as those for the regular concentration, with the following additions:

• At least three upper-level seminars or comparable small courses in which students have the opportunity to do independent research, take significant responsibility for discussion, and do extensive scholarly and critical writing. Students are encouraged to include at least one graduate seminar in their program. 
• During the senior year, honors candidates must complete two additional thesis writing courses beyond the ten courses required by the regular concentration:

English Honors Courses

• ENGL 1991: Senior Thesis Seminar in English
• ENGL 1992: Senior Honors Thesis in English

Nonfiction Honors Courses

• ENGL 1993: Senior Honors Seminar in Nonfiction Writing
• ENGL 1994:Senior Honors Seminar in Nonfiction Writing
• Honors candidates must continue to receive more As than Bs in courses taken as part of the concentration.  Courses completed with a grade of C will not count toward an Honors concentration. A student who receives such a grade and wishes to continue in the program must complete a comparable course with a grade higher than C.

The Honors Thesis

The Honors thesis is an extended essay, usually between 50-80 pages, written under the supervision of a faculty advisor and second reader. (Where appropriate, the advisor or the reader, but not both, may be in another department.) The thesis may be an interdisciplinary or creative project, but it is usually an essay on a scholarly or critical problem dealing with works of literature in English. The specific topic and approach of the thesis are worked out between the student and the thesis advisor, with assistance from the student's second reader. This process should begin in the latter part of the student's junior year.

A good way to get an idea of what sorts of projects are possible is to visit the English department page on the Brown Digital Repository  site, which stores theses from previous years, or to meet with the Honors Director.

A prospectus describing the project and endorsed by the faculty advisor must be submitted to the Honors Director at the beginning of the senior year. A full list of dates and deadlines for each of our honors programs can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section below. 

Eligibility

Admission to the English Honors Program depends on evidence of ability and promise in the study of literature. To be eligible for admission, students must have received more As than Bs (and no Cs or below) in concentration courses completed. Students must complete an application; supply a brief writing sample, and request two letters of recommendation from English faculty with whom they have taken courses. If necessary, letters may come from faculty in related departments. Letters from teaching assistants may only serve as supporting recommendations. Candidates must also submit a one-page project proposal signed by the faculty member who has agreed to serve as the thesis advisor. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Interested students should apply during the spring semester of their junior year. Applications open in January and close in April.

Yes!  December or mid-year graduates who wish to apply to honors have two options, but the first is highly encouraged:  

In their 5th semester (Spring), students apply to the honors program along with the other juniors. Accepted students will be incorporated into the regular honors cohort and must meet the same deadlines: i.e. they must complete their theses at the same time as the other honors students (though for mid-years this will be at the end of their 7th semester). They register for ENGL 1991 English Honors Seminar in the Fall, and ENGL 1992 Senior Honors Thesis in the Spring.

In the 7th semester (the Spring of their final year), students take an independent study with their thesis advisor, under whose direction they will begin to research and write their theses. This course must be taken S/NC. Mid-year graduates should consult with the Honors Director for information about deadlines.

The Honors Committee evaluates the applications and informs students by letter about the decisions during the first week of pre-registration.

Your thesis should be written according to MLA guidelines including title page, footnotes or endnotes, and bibliography. Margins should be one and a half inches on the left, and one inch on the right, top, and bottom of the page. Page numbers must be included.

A sample title page and permission page can be found here and must be included in your final draft. Be sure to sign the second page where indicated.

Friday, September 22

Revised and signed PDF prospectus is due via Google form. The advisor and second reader must e-sign prospectuses.

November 7-14

Register for ENGL 1992 (Senior Honors Thesis) for Semester II. Professor Khalip will issue registration overrides via the CAB.

Wednesday, December 13

Minimum of 25-30 PDF pages due via Google form.

Friday, March 1

Student ASK concentration plans must be updated and advisor-approved to reflect courses counted toward concentration.

Tuesday, March 5

A full draft of thesis in PDF format is due via Google form.

Tuesday, April 9

The final thesis is due in PDF format via Google form. BDR submission is optional.

Late theses cannot be accepted for honors after the deadline ; students who hand in theses after the deadline but before the end of the term will receive a grade for the thesis course, but they will not be eligible for departmental honors.

Register for ENGL 1992 (Senior Honors Thesis) for Semester II. Professor Egan will issue registration overrides via the CAB.

Friday, October 20

Application submission deadline. The application cycle opens in May and closes in October.

Friday, January 26

Revised and signed PDF prospectus is due in person to honors directors Jim Egan and Jacques Khalip. Must be signed by advisor and second reader.

Friday, May 3

Minimum of 25-30 Word or PDF pages due to advisor, second reader, and program directors with APC cc'd.

Friday, October 11

FULL DRAFT of PDF copy thesis is due to advisor, second reader, and program directors with APC cc'd.

Friday, November 15

Final PDF copy of thesis is due to advisor, second reader, program directors with APC cc'd. BDR submission is optional.

Late theses cannot be accepted after the deadline . Students who hand in a thesis after the deadline but before the end of the term will receive a grade for their thesis course but will not be eligible for departmenal honors.**

Additional Information

Concentration, english for first-years, english dug.

IAPA Honors Research

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Dissertations & theses

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Carina Cournoyer

• Brown Theses and Dissertations This link opens in a new window Search or deposit Brown dissertations and theses. more... less... The Brown University Theses and Dissertations database includes over 15,000 records for dissertations written and submitted in fulfillment of Brown University degree requirements from 1893 to 2000. Included are undergraduate honors theses, master's theses, and doctoral dissertations. Records include the author's name, thesis title, degree awarded, year, granting department, and when available, thesis advisor. [This resource is publicly available.]

See the University Archives and Manuscripts page by University Archivist Jennifer Betts.

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Undergraduate Honors Theses

Ahluwalia.Anika

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Zhou.Zhiyuan

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Senior Thesis

• Undergraduate
• Senior Capstone

There is no requirement for people concentrating in Philosophy to write an Undergraduate Honors Thesis; some people do so, many people don't.

To be eligible to write an Honors Thesis, you must have completed at least six courses toward the concentration by the beginning of your penultimate semester and have received a grade of A or Satisfactory with Distinction in more than half of them.

To write a thesis, you need a topic and an Advisor and a suitable amount of time. There is no single model to follow, but one standard approach is this. You'd work on the thesis during the two semesters of your Senior Year. In the first semester, you might work through a reading program with the advice of your Advisor, meeting with her or him three or four times in the semester and writing two or three pieces of work—for example, discussions of existing publications in the field and sketches of your own responses to them. Over the break you'd pull together a plan for the thesis itself. In the second semester, you'd write a first draft of the thesis and then a final draft—expecting, of course, that you would continue to do some new reading, and that you might need to be flexible with your original plan.

The thesis itself is due about April 15th. More exactly, the thesis is due two weeks before the Friday on which the Reading Period begins.

For those who complete their thesis in the Fall, the same rule applies, more or less: The thesis is due two weeks before reading period begins. That date, though, usually falls during Thanksgiving break; if so, the thesis will be due on the Wednesday on which Thanskgiving break begins.

It is possible in principle to choose a topic which you don't know much about in advance; but typically the result of that is that you have to spend a larger amount of time reaching base camp, so to speak—getting a decent grasp of existing approaches to the topic—and you have less time for heading up to the summit—developing ideas of your own. Many of the best theses come when a student has already got some idea of a problem area, e.g. from a 1000 level course that might have spent a week or two on the detailed topic in question, and might have introduced the class to materials and methods used in related areas that might constitute a useful tool-kit for this topic too. If you already know a bit about the existing approaches to the topic, but have a feeling that you're not quite satisfied with any of them, then you're probably in a good position to go deeper into it, researching further proposals from other people and working out a distinctive contribution of your own.

When you have a first idea of the area in which you'd like to work, you can approach a potential advisor directly, e.g. by e-mail or in Office Hours, or you can discuss the matter with your Concentration Advisor, who should be able to point you towards Faculty Members with interests in areas close to your proposed topic. Don't let your ideas become too fixed too early: often a good discussion will leave you thinking of unexpected directions you'll want to head off in. The normal time for approaching an Advisor is in the first week of the first semester of your Senior Year (or a few days earlier), or at the end of the last semester of the Junior Year.

The standard thing is to register for a reading course, PHIL 1995 Senior Thesis, either for the first semester alone or for both first and second semesters, with the permission of the Advisor in question. (Note that PHIL 1995 takes on a different section number according to who the Advisor is.)

You can register for PHIL 1995 just for one semester (followed by registering for either 3 or 4 classes in the other semester). Alternatively, you can register for PHIL 1995 for a second semester. Which you do is a matter for negotiation with your advisor, taking into account, e.g. the number of meetings, and the amount and scope of reading and writing that is done. Obviously the work-load for a Reading course needs to be about the equivalent of a normal course.

There's no standard length, but 40–50 pages of carefully-argued material would for many topics be a good target.

Two copies of the Thesis are due by the Friday two weeks before the Friday on which the Reading Period begins, which will usually fall close to April 15th. They are to be handed in to the Thesis Advisor. Theses should be computer-printed, on one side only of paper; they do not need to be bound. Some people like to present them in a special folder or binder; this is fine, but not required.

There is usually no oral defense of the thesis. The Thesis Advisor will normally be one Reader of the thesis; there will be a second Reader too, appointed by the Concentration Advisor in consultation with the Thesis Advisor.

Department of Economics

• Undergraduate
• Concentrations

Applied Mathematics-Economics Concentration

Economics offers joint concentrations with Applied Math, Computer Science, and Mathematics. The philosophy of this program is to provide sufficient command of mathematical concepts to allow pursuit of an economics program emphasizing modern research problems. Economic theory has come to use more and more mathematics in recent decades, and empirical research in economics has turned to sophisticated statistical techniques. The applied mathematics-economics concentration is designed to reflect the mathematical and statistical nature of modern economic theory and empirical research.

This concentration comes in two flavors, or tracks. The first is the advanced economics track, which is intended to prepare students for graduate study in economics. The second is the mathematical finance track, which is intended to prepare students for graduate study in finance, or for careers in finance or financial engineering. Both tracks of the applied mathematics-economics concentration have A.B. degree versions and Sc.B. degree versions. Also note that for each degree version and track there is a  parallel professional track , which differs from the regular track by requiring completion of two internship or similar experiences. 

It is strongly recommended to those considering applying to a Ph.D. program in economics to write an  honors thesis  or at least to conduct some research with a faculty member that can be credited as a  senior capstone project .  Doing so will help the student obtain a better sense of what scholarly research in economics is like, and should have the extra benefit of leading to a relationship with a faculty member who will know you well enough to write a letter of recommendation for you, an important part of your application package.  We encourage all students in this concentration to write a thesis or complete a capstone project.

Requirements

• A.B. degree in Advanced Economics track
• Sc.B. degree in Advanced Economics track
• A.B. degree in Mathematical Finance track
• Sc.B. degree in Mathematical Finance track

Computer Science-Economics Concentration

The joint computer science-economics concentration exposes students to both theoretical and practical connections between computer science and economics. The intent of this concentration is to prepare students for either academic careers conducting research in areas that emphasize the overlap between the two fields; or professional careers that incorporate aspects of economics and computer technology.

The concentration is offered in two versions, the  A.B.  and the  Sc.B. While the A.B. degree allows students to explore the two disciplines by taking advanced courses in both departments, its smaller number of required courses is compatible with a liberal education. The Sc.B. degree achieves greater depth in both computer science and economics by requiring more courses, and it offers students the opportunity to creatively integrate both disciplines through a design requirement. Also note that for each degree version there is a  parallel professional track , which differs from the regular track by requiring completion of two internship or similar experiences.

• A.B. degree
• Sc.B. degree 

Mathematics-Economics Concentration

Designed to give a background in economic theory plus the mathematical tools needed to analyze and develop additional theoretical constructions. Emphasis is on the abstract theory itself. Like the Applied Math – Economics concentration, this concentration can also prepare a student to go on to the study of economics at the graduate level. Concentrators are urged to write an  honors thesis  or engage in a  capstone research project . 

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Brandon Brown Defends Honors Thesis Visualizing Renewable Potential in Colorado

Geography offers academic experiences for students in environmental science, social sciences, and cartographic practices. Sarah Schlosser coordinates the GIS certificate which will familiarize students with RStudio, Python, and ArcGIS Pro for mapping platforms. Professor Taneesha Mohan coordinates internships for the department while teaching courses on methods and skills for socially conscious research. Professors John Adler and Rachel Isaacs teaches remote sensing and mapping climate change, both giving students the opportunity to implement remotely sensed imagery into their map products. Professor Stefan Leyk organizes the GIS Track of the Geography major with a heavy emphasis on spatial analysis, modeling, and programming. Studying Geography taught GIS methods I apply in my Honors thesis for clean energy site selection with an environmental justice lens.

The goal of my Honors thesis is to illustrate wind and solar energy potential in the state of Colorado, with the possibility of remediating contaminated environments on EPA REPower sites within Energy Communities. It is important to consider land ownership, indigenous sovereignty, economic policy at state and federal levels, solar and wind resourcing data, and potential environmental impacts. Qualifying advanced energy projects focus on commercial viability, greenhouse gas impacts, domestic labor/manufacturing, and community engagement.

A federal interagency working group has created the Energy Community initiative, geographic identification of areas for reinvestment as power sources are decarbonized. The EPA has designated contaminated sites with potential remediation efforts of renewable development called REPower sites. The Tribal Government territories of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain are officially recognized Southwestern Colorado. Solar and wind data is provided by NREL’s archived RE-Atlas. By further honing in on EPA REPower sites within Energy Communities we can affordably remediate contaminated lands while decarbonizing power sources with qualifying advanced energy projects. My research uses multivariate criteria analysis of ethical, economic, policy, and environmental data to make recommendations for the initiative.

Recently passed, the Colorado Clean Energy Plan is a policy mandating Xcel Energy to reduce statewide energy-based carbon emissions 80% by 2030 as compared to 2005 levels. Greenfielding is a term I use to describe geographic areas which contain both the highest wind potentials and the highest solar potentials in their region. Below you will find a map of Colorado I made taking each criteria into account. I successfully defended my Honors thesis on April 8!