Undergraduate

Honors Program

OVERVIEW

Students who enroll in the English Honors program are able to enroll in our advanced Honors seminars, offered each semester. These are small, special-topics courses that offer greater intellectual challenges, stimulating discussions, and closer contact with faculty. Topics have included:

  • Irish Dramatic Revival (Spring '25)
  • Transformations of the Medieval (Fall '24)
  • Nineteenth-Century Women Writers and Social Justice (Spring '24)
  • Speculative Fiction and Fantasy
  • African-American Women Writers
  • Literature, Gender, and Sexuality
  • Nineteenth Century Literature and Adaptation
  • Worldbuilding and Enchantment
  • The Literature of Horror
  • Comics and Graphic Literature
  • Rebooting Beowulf and Challenging Chaucer: Medieval and Modern Authors in Conversation

English Honors also offers these other opportunities for advanced scholarship: 

  • Community-building with a small group of fellow students who share your interests, abilities, and goals
  • The option to take a graduate English course, by permission of the instructor
  • Development of your creativity, initiative, and sophisticated critical skills
  • Enhanced preparedness for graduate scholarship or advanced professional study

Undergraduate honors faqs

How do I know if I’m eligible for English Honors?

You are eligible for English Honors if you:

  • are an English major (Creative Writing or Literature) or a PTC major
  • will have completed at least 60 hours of course work by the end of this semester
  • have at least two non-summer semesters remaining before you plan to graduate
  • have a GPA of at least 3.30 within the major
  • have an overall GPA of at least 3.00

How do I apply for English Honors?

Applying for the English Honors program is easy and straightforward! If you meet the eligibility requirements above, please just:

  • Fill out the short Application Form
  • Ask two members of the English Department faculty to endorse your Honors application. These should be instructors with whom you have taken at least one course and who know your work. You will list their names on the application form, but please verify with them that they support your application before you list their names.

How do I complete the English Honors program?

You can choose to complete the nine-credit-hour English Honors program in a variety of ways, tailored to your individual interests and skills. All students MUST complete at least one English Honors Seminar (ENG 4935 or ENG 4936). In addition, you may choose ANY TWO of the following options:

  • Taking a second Honors seminar
  • Writing an undergraduate Honors thesis or creative project
  • Taking a graduate course for Honors credit (with the instructor’s permission)
  • Doing Honors-level work in a regular English course (by contract with the instructor)

CONTACT

Emily Jones, PhD
Honors Director
Director of Undergraduate Studies  
egjones@usf.edu

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