Application for Admission to the
Honors Program in the Department of History, updated July 21, 2015
DUE FRIDAY, OCT. 2, 2015, BY 3:00 P.M., IN THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT OFFICE. Hand in this form
and other materials to Heidi Welch, Office Assistant, Benson Hall Room #227. You may also send them as email
attachments to Mrs. Welch at Heidi.welch@vanderbilt.edu .
Name ________________________________________
Date ______________
Student ID # _______________________Preferred e-mail address __________________________
Recommending faculty member from History Department: __________________________
*(Please ask the faculty member to e-mail a letter of recommendation to Professor Samira Sheikh at samira.sheikh@vanderbilt.edu, with a
copy to Heidi.welch@vanderbilt.edu, by 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 2.)
Note: Economics and History majors should request a second letter of recommendation from a faculty member in economics.
State your overall GPA here ______ State your GPA for the History major here_______
Students majoring in Economics & History: please give both your GPA in the interdisciplinary major and your
GPA in history courses here: ___________________
Any student who plans to study abroad during the spring semester of the junior year must check here_____. In
such cases, admission to the program is provisional, pending review of the student’s record for the junior year and
submission of a successful thesis prospectus, due no later than June 15, 2016. Students in this situation should
remain in regular contact with the instructor of History 3980 over the course of the semester.
Please attach:
●A print-out of your most current degree audit form showing courses counting toward your major. Using the
degree audit on YES, "collapse" everything except expand the "GPA in History" tab before printing. Make sure the
history courses, with grades, shows up before printing out. Students in one of the interdisciplinary programs should
show courses counting toward the major, as well as any history courses not included there. If you are submitting
your application by email, attach a scan of the audit form.
●A paragraph of no more than 250 words describing your area of historical interest as specifically as possible. If
you plan to work in an area for which the principal primary sources are not in English, you should be able to read
sources in the original language. Before submitting your application, consult with a faculty member in history
with relevant expertise about possible topics, the availability of sources, and language skills (where applicable).
You should also feel free to consult with the Director of the Honors Program.
●A sample of your best writing to date from a history class.
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Students in the history honors program write a thesis on a topic of their choice, based on original research. The skills in
research and writing that they acquire will later serve them well in a broad range of occupations.
Each student will be assigned a faculty mentor with appropriate expertise. All students take a three-semester sequence of
courses in which they get feedback on their work from fellow students and the course instructor. In History 3980, the Junior
Honors Seminar, they deepen their understanding of historical research, analysis, and writing and produce a proposal for the
thesis. History 4980-4981, the Senior Honors Seminar, is devoted to the presentation and discussion of draft chapters of
theses in progress. In the spring semester of the senior year, History 4999 recognizes the effort required to complete the
thesis by conferring an additional 3 hours of credit; it does not involve additional class meetings. In all, students receive 12
hours of credit for the honors program, all of which count toward the 30 hours required for the history major.
Theses will be e-archived at the Vanderbilt Library and will be accessible on the Web for years to come. One honors student
will receive the Dewey Grantham Award, presented for the best honors thesis in the History Department. It comes with a
cash award of $500 and will be announced on our Web pages and mentioned in the Commencement Program. Since the
inception of the honors program in 1985, 163 history majors have successfully defended an undergraduate honors thesis.