HON 3100 - 3101: ADVANCED READINGS - GENERAL DESCRIPTION
PROCEDURES AND PURPOSES
The two Advanced Readings courses (one credit-hour each) are designed to introduce students to the area of
scholarship or research field in which their Honors Program thesis projects will be undertaken. The readings (and/or
an equivalent set of laboratory procedures) are arranged by contract with an individual faculty member, usually a
professor in the student’s declared departmental major or field of expertise.
An Advanced Readings contract does not entail any obligation for the professor to become the director of the actual
Honors thesis. Some students may choose to undertake the second Readings course, if taken in a subsequent term,
with a different professor. Most students, however, elect to work with the same professor for both Readings courses
(whether taken together or in different semesters) and, thereafter, for the senior-year thesis hours.
The readings and research should provide students with a solid foundation in a specific area of an academic discipline
and should familiarize them with some current methodologies, debates, and problems under investigation in that area.
They should enable the student to identify and refine an original research agenda or performance design for the Honors
thesis project. For that reason, a major task in HON 3101 is to submit a completed thesis proposal, signed by the
faculty member who has agreed to serve as the project’s director. Many professors will also expect written work
toward the thesis project (e.g., a working first chapter) to be submitted by the end of HON 3101.
Students enrolled in HON 3100 and/or 3101 during each spring semester will be introduced to research methods and
general thesis-writing strategies through an Honors Proseminar series, which supplements the discipline-specific work
done by each student and faculty mentor. Those few students who take both Readings courses in the summer and/or
fall terms should talk with a program director about the content of the Proseminar.
EXTENT AND EVALUATION
Typical reading lists for each of the Readings courses often range from 1000 to 2000 total pages, with various
combinations of books and articles composed of primary and secondary sources. (A mentor may devise a set of
laboratory or field-work procedures, roughly equivalent in scope, to supplement or to substitute for a reading list.) The
student’s progress is usually evaluated through a series of discussions with the mentor. The specific extent of the
readings or laboratory work, along with specific strategies for reporting and evaluation, remain at the discretion of that
mentor, and all of these expectations should be clearly indicated in the initial contract.
A letter grade is assigned for each of these one-hour Readings courses. Toward the end of the semester, the Honors
Program office will, through e-mail, contact faculty mentors to request a grade report form. Faculty mentors will send
student grades to Dr. Wisely, who will then submit them to the University.
CONTRACTS AND DEADLINES
Contracts for the Advanced Readings courses should be arranged and filed in the Honors office by the deadline stated
on the Readings syllabi. If possible, students should try to initiate conversations with faculty in their research fields
about possible thesis topics and introductory readings or lab work during the semester prior to HON 3100.
Ideally, both Advanced Readings courses should be completed during the junior year (3rd and/or 4th semester before
graduation). The Readings courses will precede the Honors Thesis courses usually taken in the senior year, HON
4V87, for a total of four credit hours (i.e., 2 credit hours of the thesis in the fall and 2 credit hours of the thesis in the
spring of the senior year). In any case, HON 3100 must be completed before the student takes any senior-level Honors
Thesis hour; and HON 3101 without exception must be completed before the graduation semester begins.
Students may not need to be in residence at Baylor to carry out these courses, so long as the agreements for discussion
with the professor can be met. For example, some students complete readings during study-abroad programs.
QUESTIONS? CONTACT:
Dr. Andrew Wisely, Director of Honors Program
Morrison Hall 203.5
Andrew_Wisely@baylor.edu