International Relations Honors Seminar
MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Am I eligible?
All senior IR majors with a GPA of 3.5 or higher are eligible to enroll in the Honors Seminar. Any student who attains the cumulative grade point average required for honors in the College of Letters and Science will receive Honors at graduation.[1] Only students who are seniors, are eligible by grade point average and who enroll in IRE 194, complete the two-quarter sequence, and produce a thesis are eligible for High Honors and Highest Honors in International Relations.
When does the seminar take place and how do I enroll?
The IR Honors Seminar is a two-quarter sequence, taking place each fall and winter. Check the fall quarter directory to see when IRE 194H is offered and attend the first class.
How will I be graded?
Students must complete both quarters (4 units per quarter) in order to get credit for the Honors Seminar. Grading is “in-progress” meaning that your fall grade will be an IP, and when you complete the winter quarter, both your fall and winter quarter grades will convert to the letter grade you earned. Incompletes have been granted in only the most unusual of personal circumstances. It is not a good idea to take an incomplete, but if you do get approval from the instructor to do so, note that at the end of the following fall quarter, your IP will convert to an F unless the thesis has been turned in at least two weeks prior to the end of the quarter for the instructor to evaluate. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure this deadline is met. Once the IP converts to an F, there is no recourse for changing the grade.
Students receive a letter grade for the class, and if they have completed a satisfactory thesis, they will receive High Honors. Highest Honors is reserved for those theses that make innovative contributions, or that are of a sufficiently high level of analytical and methodological rigor. On average in the past, one member of the seminar has received Highest Honors.
What is the format of the class?
The class is run in a seminar format. During fall quarter, we meet once a week for 2 hours. Students develop a highly detailed research design which will guide them as they conduct research and write up the thesis in the winter quarter. The instructor will provide you with a detailed set of tasks to aid you in developing the research design and with clear deadlines for completing each of these tasks. The goal is to produce a thesis that emulates research at the graduate level. The thesis is not simply a narrative, nor is it merely descriptive. It must be analytical, testing different theories with rigorous application of social scientific methods. I can virtually guarantee it will be nothing like any paper you have written at the undergraduate level.
Throughout the fall quarter, students will xerox their in-progress research designs and disseminate them to other members of the seminar before class meets, and then present those research designs to the rest of the class. All other seminar participants are responsible for reading their classmates’ work ahead of time, writing a brief written critique, bringing two copies of those critiques to seminar (one for the author of the research design and one for me), and offering verbal feedback in the seminar. Students are encouraged to bring specific questions and problems they are having to the class for discussion and feedback.
By the end of fall quarter, you will have completed a well-developed research design. This will guide you as you conduct research and write up your thesis winter quarter. Undoubtedly, once you get into the data, the research design will change. This is part of the process. During winter quarter, we usually meet every other week and use these meetings for students to raise specific problems they are encountering. There is no specific format or assignment for these meetings. It is solely for your benefit. We meet as frequently as the students like. I encourage students to turn in their drafts in-progress, in whatever stage they are, at least every three weeks so that I can provide feedback. I also strongly encourage students to seek advice and guidance from other faculty on campus with substantive expertise in their area. Getting regular feedback from several different people, including your peers in the seminar, is indispensable for writing a good thesis.
How much time does it take?
Lots!!! Students who sign up for the honors seminar are expected to make the appropriate commitment of time. Incompletes are given in only the most unusual circumstances. Those who have completed the Honors sequence find it one of the most challenging experiences of their undergraduate career, yet also one of the most rewarding. You must be willing to devote the time that it takes to produce a thesis. If you are contemplating graduate school, your thesis will serve as an exemplary writing sample.
How long are the theses?
They tend to average between 50 and 70 pages. Occasionally, a student will produce a thesis of 150 pages! But more is not always better. Usually it indicates a lack of rigorous focus. Strive for quality, not quantity.
What can I do NOW to prepare if I am interested in enrolling in the fall?
Right now, you can begin to think of your topic. Of course, it must be international in orientation. Once you have the topic, say ethnic conflict, begin generating questions that are do-able, meaning not too huge. After all, this is an undergraduate thesis. You want to complete it by the end of winter quarter, and you want to make sure you can get access to the information you need to conduct your research. Also, think in terms of “why” questions, meaning not what happened, but why it happened, that is, “What was [were] the cause[s]?,” not “What was the problem?” Try to generate a half dozen questions and in the seminar, we’ll talk about how to select a “good” question.
Once you have a topic area, begin doing background reading. I particularly encourage students to read relevant articles from social science journals to see how other scholars have tackled the topic and what theories they have used. This is a good way to get a handle on the theories that speak to your topic. If you do these tasks, you will be well set for fall quarter.
[1]. The specific GPA required is calculated at the end of each winter quarter and varies according to the number of units taken at UC Davis. Please consult the General Catalog and the College of Letters and Science for details.