by Emily Rapoza
“So what are your plans this weekend?”
This question used to be answered with fun plans, like hanging out with friends, going to the movies, running around the Quad at 2 A.M. or even just catching up on sleep. Recently, however, something has entered into my realm of consciousness that has struck all potential plans out of existence: my honors thesis.
In all sincerity, the creation of an honors thesis is not awful. In fact, if someone is passionate about his or her topic, it can be a lot of fun. It offers the chance to delve deeper into a personal love or interest of something. The one question I hear from those frantic about their final honors project is “where do I start?” My best advice is to look at the honors classes required.
Because I will be graduating early, I had a shortened timeline in selecting my topic for a thesis. It was not on my radar at all until one day in Dr. Brent Blackwell’s Honors 296 class. As a history major with a severe case of math and science-phobia, Inquiries into the Physical Sciences was what I thought would become the bane of my existence.
I soon found that Honors 296 was a blast. It was an opportunity for me to look at how math and science played into everyday aspects of life. The one class that thoroughly held my interest was on the issue of morality and Nazi science
experimentation. Dr. Blackwell presented the Nazi experiments as perfect in the following of scientific theory and in the presentation of their findings. Never had it dawned on me that an aspect of Nazism could be almost justifiable. That is when I knew what I wanted my thesis to be on.
The nice thing about having a class on my thesis’ topic is it allows me to have a slight bit of foundation, as well as a thesis adviser who understands where my curiosity comes from.
“I thought the idea was a great one,” Blackwell said. “Rarely will you find an honors professor who is not totally on board with an idea.”
Writing a thesis is extremely time consuming, even if you get an early start and have everything planned out. None of this came as a surprise to me, but what I did not expect were the odd looks in the library and the “let’s wait for the next elevator” comments as I was carrying around a stack of Nazi books. These odd interactions are why I beg honors students to pick a subject they love and are highly interested in.
As a senior, I spend a lot of time with my thesis, including date nights of Nazi documentaries and grabbing Starbucks with dozens of online articles.
The honors thesis gives students the opportunity to avoid a traditionally researched project and instead combines interest, hands on experience, and creativity, and presents them all in a non-traditional way. The open parameters of the project also allow for all the analytical skills learned in the humanities sequence and other honors courses to be utilized and, quite frankly, shown off to the college.
“There’s so much flexibility with an Honors thesis. It allows for a lot of creativity and fun,” encourages Blackwell.
The writing of my thesis, though it sounds daunting to those not tasked with this duty, is an opportunity for me to prove my skills as an undergraduate and prove that I can practically apply myself to my major.
So when people ask what I’m doing this weekend, my response tends to be “The usual, writing my thesis, taking a nap, maybe a movie.”
This question used to be answered with fun plans, like hanging out with friends, going to the movies, running around the Quad at 2 A.M. or even just catching up on sleep. Recently, however, something has entered into my realm of consciousness that has struck all potential plans out of existence: my honors thesis.
In all sincerity, the creation of an honors thesis is not awful. In fact, if someone is passionate about his or her topic, it can be a lot of fun. It offers the chance to delve deeper into a personal love or interest of something. The one question I hear from those frantic about their final honors project is “where do I start?” My best advice is to look at the honors classes required.
Because I will be graduating early, I had a shortened timeline in selecting my topic for a thesis. It was not on my radar at all until one day in Dr. Brent Blackwell’s Honors 296 class. As a history major with a severe case of math and science-phobia, Inquiries into the Physical Sciences was what I thought would become the bane of my existence.
I soon found that Honors 296 was a blast. It was an opportunity for me to look at how math and science played into everyday aspects of life. The one class that thoroughly held my interest was on the issue of morality and Nazi science
experimentation. Dr. Blackwell presented the Nazi experiments as perfect in the following of scientific theory and in the presentation of their findings. Never had it dawned on me that an aspect of Nazism could be almost justifiable. That is when I knew what I wanted my thesis to be on.
The nice thing about having a class on my thesis’ topic is it allows me to have a slight bit of foundation, as well as a thesis adviser who understands where my curiosity comes from.
“I thought the idea was a great one,” Blackwell said. “Rarely will you find an honors professor who is not totally on board with an idea.”
Writing a thesis is extremely time consuming, even if you get an early start and have everything planned out. None of this came as a surprise to me, but what I did not expect were the odd looks in the library and the “let’s wait for the next elevator” comments as I was carrying around a stack of Nazi books. These odd interactions are why I beg honors students to pick a subject they love and are highly interested in.
As a senior, I spend a lot of time with my thesis, including date nights of Nazi documentaries and grabbing Starbucks with dozens of online articles.
The honors thesis gives students the opportunity to avoid a traditionally researched project and instead combines interest, hands on experience, and creativity, and presents them all in a non-traditional way. The open parameters of the project also allow for all the analytical skills learned in the humanities sequence and other honors courses to be utilized and, quite frankly, shown off to the college.
“There’s so much flexibility with an Honors thesis. It allows for a lot of creativity and fun,” encourages Blackwell.
The writing of my thesis, though it sounds daunting to those not tasked with this duty, is an opportunity for me to prove my skills as an undergraduate and prove that I can practically apply myself to my major.
So when people ask what I’m doing this weekend, my response tends to be “The usual, writing my thesis, taking a nap, maybe a movie.”