Honors
Why do Honors?
The Honors Program in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences is intended to provide outstanding students majoring in Psychology with opportunities to become involved in original research and scholarship. This experience gives students an opportunity to integrate what they have learned by designing their own projects. The Honors Program contributes to the development of skills that will be useful in a broad range of later endeavors and is an advantage for entrance into graduate and professional schools. Above all, the Honors Program gives qualified and motivated students an intensive exposure to scholarly work. This program has two major components.
What is the Honors Program?
The Honors Thesis is usually an empirical research project that is planned and conducted with the student's faculty mentor; it may also be a scholarly paper that reviews a major research area. Students must complete a two-semester sequence, PSYC 405 (3 credit hours) and PSYC 406-WR (3 credit hours), in that order, which is the class designation for preparing the thesis proposal (405) and writing the thesis itself (406). For research-based theses, a research plan is decided upon with the faculty mentor and guidance on its format is provided early in the Honors Seminar. Over the course of at least two semesters, the proposed research is conducted, data are analyzed, and a report of the work is prepared (the thesis). The program culminates in an oral defense of the thesis, administered by the student's Honors Thesis committee, consisting of their faculty mentor and two other faculty members.
The Honors Seminar (PSYC 400) meets for one hour per week (one credit hour) under the supervision of the Honors Coordinator. Students are guided in their research and future professional efforts and discuss their projects. Students take this seminar concurrently with PSYC 405 and PSYC 406, for both semesters.
You must complete the two-semester Psychology Honors sequence (Psych 405 and 400; Psych 406 and 400) in order to qualify for Honors in the Psychology Department. This applies to all students, including those in the University Honors program. You may, of course, at any time prepare a significant research paper under the supervision of Psychology faculty member without completing the Psychology Honors program sequence and without being in University Honors. You would do this for credit through registering for Psych 401 or 402 and making arrangments with your faculty mentor; you could also complete such a project without credit, with the argreement of your faculty mentor. Such a project could qualify for A&S Honors requirements if it were submitted to the University Honors department and met their guidelines. In other words, students may be in BOTH Psychology Honors and University Honors, in EITHER Psychology OR University Honors, and also can qualify for A&S Honors on graduation without being in either program.
Requirements for admission into the Honors Program
You must:
- Be accepted as Psychology major [PLEASE NOTE: the transcript designation that a student has declared psychology as a major is not the same thing as having been officially accepted into the major. In most instances, a student accepted into the major will have received an email notifying acceptance into the major].
- Have taken at least 18 credit hours in psychology
- Have a GPA in Psychology classes at UofL of 3.4 or higher
- Have an overall University of Louisville GPA of 3.0 or higher
University Honors Program vs Psychology Honors Program vs Arts & Sciences Graduation Honors
There are two honors programs available to qualified psychology majors: the University Honors Program and the Psychology Honors Program. Please note that the University and Psychology Honors programs are different and have somewhat different criteria for acceptance. Students can complete either one (although this is less common) or both programs.
The criteria for graduating with honors in the College of Arts and Sciences (cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude) are different from those of either honors programs and are as follows:
Cum laude : expanded GPA of 3.5 and no thesis required
Magna cum laude expanded GPA of 3.75 and no thesis OR expanded GPA of 3.65 and a University thesis
Summa cum laude: expanded GPA of 3.75 AND a University thesis
The Psychology Honors Program thesis can be used to satisfy both the Arts and Sciences thesis and/or the University Honors thesis requirement. Please note: you are not required to have been in the University Honors Program to submit an A&S thesis for eligibility for graduation honors. However, to use the Psychology Honors thesis to meet the A&S requirements for honors at graduation as listed above, a proposal must be submitted to the Arts and Sciences honors thesis committee for approval. This does not happen automatically as part of the Psychology Honors program. Details, including committee composition and deadlines for proposal submission and oral defense, are available at Guidelines for A&S Honors Thesis.
To apply for the Honors Program:
Please download the application and turn in a completed hard copy with an unofficial transcript to Dr. Lewine. You will receive an official response usually within a week of the application submission.
For further information, contact:
Rich Lewine, Ph.D.
Honors Coordinator
Dept. of Psychological & Brain Sciences
343 Life Sciences Bldg
