Contact:
Carolyn Lipson-Walker
Academic Advisor
Assistant Director for Communication & Student Affairs
Jewish Studies
Goodbody 308
856-6012
clipsonw@indiana.edu
1. How is your honors degree program administered? Is there a specific
person who acts as coordinator? Is there a faculty committee?
Carolyn Lipson-Walker, academic advisor and assistant director. The
standing
committee consists of Steven Weitzman, director, and Jeffrey Veidlinger,
associate director. Each student puts together his/her own committee in
consultation with the thesis director. The committee is made up of the
thesis director and two additional Jewish Studies faculty members.
2. What are the requirements for admission into your honors program?
How are students recruited for your program? May students recommend
themselves?
Enrollment in the Jewish Studies honors program requires a 3.5 GPA in
Jewish Studies and a 3.5 GPA overall. Students must be pursuing a Jewish
Studies major and all students entering the Jewish Studies major are
informed about the Honors Program option. Outstanding students are
encouraged to participate, particularly those planning an academic
career. Students may recommend themselves for the program, and in all
cases thus far have done so. They must be approved by the program
director or honors advisor.
3. How does a student graduate with honors from your department?
To receive an Honors degree in Jewish Studies, a student must present a
25-50 page thesis judged acceptable by his/her thesis committee.
Following the oral defense, the thesis committee will submit written
reports to the thesis director. Based upon these reports, the thesis
director will determine whether the candidate should graduate with Honors
in Jewish Studies. The thesis director is responsible for assigning a grade.
4. What courses do students take as juniors and before in order to
prepare for working on the senior project? How are these honors seminars
and courses typically conducted? What are the usual requirements in such
courses?
Honors students enroll and complete both JSTU-H 399 Readings for Honors
in
Jewish Studies (3 cr.) typically in the penultimate semester before
graduation and JSTU-H 499 Honors Thesis (3-6 cr.) in the final semester
before graduation. During JSTU-H 499, the honors student completes the
thesis representing a significant proportion of original research.
Before being authorized to register for JSTU-H 399 Readings for Honors
in
Jewish Studies a student fills out the Honors Thesis Contract. Filling out
the thesis contract entails a decision concerning the general focus of the
thesis, discussion with a Jewish Studies faculty member who agrees to
serve as the thesis director and approves the perspective of the project,
compilation of a bibliography of readings for H 399, the writing of a
one
page description of the thesis project, and the approval of the thesis
director who signs the thesis contract. Students who plan to take
JSTU-H 399 in the fall should ask their thesis director to recommend
summer
reading.
During H 399, the honors student, in consultation with the thesis
director
should conceive a method and structure for the thesis. By the middle of
the semester of H 399, the candidate must complete a brief (2-3 page)
prospectus which should be accompanied by a bibliography of completed and
projected reading.
5. Are there departmental resources available to support internships or
research projects related to the senior project?
We have a research internship and in some years
students have written their theses under the direction of those faculty
members for whom they were interning. This is not always the case
though. Most of our academically outstanding students apply for and
receive annual Jewish Studies scholarships.
6. How might the work required for earning an honors degree be
particularly beneficial in future endeavors?
It is quite beneficial, particularly for those students who plan to pursue
graduate
degrees, to prepare a thesis.
7. What are the advantages for students who pursue the honors degree
compared to a regular degree in your area?
Certainly, the close mentoring with a faculty member and the chance to
engage in research, some primary research, and the thesis writing
process--with its drafts, corrections, and exchanges with faculty--is
tremendously advantageous for serious students.
