T
he concept of the honors thesis cuts across the practices of individual disciplines and transcends regional and national dif- ferences, in part because the concept of the honors thesis is directly connected to the earliest stages of university education in Europe and its evolution since then throughout the world. The medievaldisputatio—a discussion and debate of texts, issues, or intellectual
propositions, i.e., “theses”—was frequently the concluding element for a series of university lectures. Medieval universities embraced this public demonstration of mastery as an appropriate means of testing a student’s knowledge and skills.
By the Reformation, the disputatio had begun its evolu- tion beyond a demonstration of dialectal skills and articulation of received ideas. Increasingly, it functioned as an exploration of genuine problems, a type of intellectual inquiry often focused on defending truths against counterarguments. Not long afterward, it was adapted into a written form, first as a summary of the oral
disputatio and then as the preferred form for printed treatises, espe-
cially when they focused on innovative ideas, controversial topics, or the results of personal research. Today, the various practices now seen as the concluding element of university education at the bach- elor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels—thesis, dissertation, and oral defense—derive from the disputatio, the capstone element in the early university. And even more importantly, the academic world still shares the conviction that a thesis requirement is appropriate for superior students concluding programs of advanced study.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a strong reform movement developed in American higher education. Some educators were concerned that the standardized curriculum at American colleges and universities was fostering mediocrity rather than excellence. Student learning, they believed, would be much improved by enriching the coursework in a student’s major and minor disciplines, especially through more individualized instruction, small seminars, in-depth elective study, and a focus on student research. (For more, see Haskins, The Rise of Universities, and Guzy, Honors Composition: Historical Perspectives and Contem-
porary Practices.)
Both the development of honors programs and the introduc- tion of the honors thesis for superior undergraduate students resulted from these reform efforts. A few institutions implemented comprehensive curricular reforms to foster such enrichment. Most notably, in 1922, Frank Aydelotte, who had been one of the first Rhodes Scholars and had been impressed with the Oxford approach to education, introduced a number of small, elective departmental seminars for superior students at Swarthmore College, replacing the standard required courses in the participating departments. Although other elements of honors work at Swarthmore, such as the substitution of comprehensive senior exams for seminar grades and an extensive reliance on external examiners, have been diffi- cult for most institutions to follow, Aydelotte’s conception of small honors seminars emphasizing in-depth study, interactive discus- sions, and close faculty-student relationships became the model for honors seminars across the country.
The majority of American colleges and universities attempting to implement honors education, however, focused on the under- graduate thesis. Starting in 1883, the University of Michigan gave honors recognition at graduation to students who had completed an undergraduate thesis and an approved selection of courses. By the 1920s, honors enrichment was taking place in undergraduate curricula nationwide, and an honors thesis course was adopted at one institution after another as a means to this end. When the National Research Council surveyed honors options for superior students at the member institutions of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, Aydellote was asked to edit the results of the survey. His report, published in 1924 in the Bulletin of the
National Research Council, showed that while 9 institutions had
attempted to create an alternative curriculum for honors students as Swarthmore had done, many more—80% of the institutions (36 out of 45)—had added the honors thesis as their primary focus of enrichment. When Aydellote completed a similar survey the next year, the numbers had roughly doubled in all areas, but the ratios remained the same, with about 75 institutions requiring an under- graduate thesis for honors graduation.
Almost a century after Aydellote’s surveys, honors enrichment is firmly established in the majority of American colleges and uni- versities, in many two-year and technical colleges, and in many institutions of higher learning throughout the world. Clearly, the conception of student-as-junior-researcher, inherent in the model of the nineteenth-century German research university and especially fostered by the educational principles associated with Wilhelm von Humboldt, principally the unity of teaching and research and the importance of student freedom in choosing subjects to be studied, continues to be of widespread importance in the honors commu- nity (Albritton 2006). The honors thesis is the clearest embodiment of this educational paradigm, offering learning through research, incorporating close faculty mentoring, and honoring the indepen- dent work and original insights of student researchers.
Unfortunately, at the same time many pressures are work- ing against the traditional, liberal-arts-based honors thesis and expensive faculty mentoring of individual student researchers. The pressures for mass education, the use of adjuncts and support staff as replacements for full-time faculty, the increasing professional (rather than research) focus in some areas of disciplinary work, and the movement towards online learning have often reduced the personal contact between tenure-track faculty members and stu- dents. Moreover, students’ undergraduate careers are increasingly disjointed; spread over multiple institutions, commonly incorpo- rating internships and foreign study experiences; and sometimes interrupted by childrearing, work, or a change in career interests. Consequently, many institutions struggle to incorporate a solid honors thesis into this new learning environment, even for a lim- ited number of superior students.
Yet, the undergraduate thesis, in general, and the honors thesis, in particular, still retain many advantages in this context. Undergraduate thesis requirements ensure that a productive and personal faculty-student mentorship is a significant part of stu- dents’ advanced studies in their disciplines, especially when many of their other studies have been in large classes or online. Moreover, it is not inconceivable that the honors thesis may emerge both as a valued integrative experience for the diverse elements of students’ academic careers, as an interactive experience in which students become research partners with their faculty mentors, and as a cap- stone course that enables the graduating institution to assess (and perhaps certify) total student learning and the level of student achievement.