Department of Science and Technology Studies

Honors Program

The Honors Program is designed to challenge academically talented undergraduate students whose major is Biology & Society. Students who enroll in the honors program are given an opportunity, with faculty guidance, to do independent study and research dealing with issues in biology and society. Students participating in the program should find the experience intellectually stimulating and rewarding.

Selection of Students

Biology & Society majors are considered for entry into the honors program at the end of the second semester of the junior year. Application forms for the honors program are available in the Biology & Society office, 306 Rockefeller. The Biology & Society honors program is available to Biology & Society majors from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Agriculture and Life Sciences. Biology & Society majors in the College of Human Ecology must be selected by an honors committee within their college. To qualify for the Biology & Society honors program, students must have an overall Cornell cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.30, have formulated a research topic, and have found a project supervisor and a second faculty member willing to serve as advisors. Both must hold academic appointments at Cornell, and at least one must be a member of Biology & Society. Applications will be reviewed by a committee headed by the director of undergraduate studies, who will notify students directly of the outcome. Students will be permitted to register for the honors program only by permission of the department. Students must enroll for two semesters, each time for four credits. At the end of the first semester, the student will receive a grade of "R" for satisfactory progress. The grade recorded at the end of the second term evaluates the student's performance in the course for the entire year. CALS and CHE students may enroll in ALS 4991 and HE 4991 the same way to receive credit from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Human Ecology, respectively.

If, after admission to the honors program, a student fails to maintain a high scholastic average, or for any other reason is considered unsuited for honors work, the student reverts to candidacy for the regular Bachelor's degree. The student who does not continue in the honors program must change the first semester to Independent Study in order to and receive a grade.

Students are required to complete two semesters of honors project research and to write an honors thesis. The project must include substantial research and the completed work should be of wider scope and greater originality than is normal for an upper-level course. Additionally, as part of the first semester of honors work (BSOC 4991, ALS 4991, or HE 4991), students are required to attend an honors seminar, which covers basic research skills. A preliminary paper and bibliography on the student's project is due by the end of the fall semester.

The student has primary responsibility for constituting a committee of two faculty advisors, formulating ideas, developing the proposal, carrying out the study, and preparing a suitable thesis. Honors projects will be carried out under the direction of the two advisors mentioned above. The project supervisor should be expert in the topic and willing to serve as the primary advisor. In the second semester of the senior year, the director of undergraduate studies will appoint a third reader of the completed honors thesis.

Students must register for the total credits (8) for the whole year, 4 credits each semester in Biology & Society/ALS 4991, Honors Project I and II. Students should note that BSOC/ALS/HE 4991 may not be used to fulfill any major requirements. The student and the project supervisor must reach clear agreement at the outset as to what sort of work will need to be completed during the first semester. Minimally an honors thesis outline and bibliography should be accomplished. At the end of the first semester, a grade of "R" will be assigned to note satisfactory progress. The advisors, in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies, will evaluate whether or not the student should continue working on an honors project. The student who does not continue in the honors program must change the first semester to Independent Study in order to receive a grade. The grade recorded at the end of the second term evaluates the student's performance in the course for the entire year.

Students should meet regularly with the project supervisor during the period of research and writing for the honors thesis. The responsibility for scheduling these meetings, and for carrying out the research in timely fashion, rests with the student. Advisors are expected to make themselves available for discussion and to offer advice on the plan of research, as well as provide critical and constructive comments on the written work as it is completed. They are not expected, however, to pursue students to ensure that the research and writing are being done on schedule.

There is no prescribed length for a thesis, since different topics may require longer or shorter treatment, but the thesis should be a substantial body of work. We have found that the thesis is normally in the range of 70 - 100 double-spaced typed pages. The thesis must be completed in a form satisfactory for purposes of evaluation and submitted by April 15* to the two thesis advisors and to a third faculty member appointed by the director of undergraduate studies. The candidate must meet with the three readers for a formal defense of the thesis by April 29. * CALS students must follow the requirements set forth by Dean Viands for formatting, binding, and submitting their honors thesis. Please see Sue Sullivan or Ann Gantner in CALS for further information. Human Ecology students should contact Professor Kay Obendorf for further information.

One copy of the completed and defended thesis (suitably bound in a plastic or hard-backed cover), together with the advisors' recommendations, must be submitted to the undergraduate coordinator in 306 Rockefeller Hall by May 13. *

Following the formal thesis defense, the thesis advisors will submit to the director of undergraduate studies a recommendation to include: 1) the evaluation of the honors thesis by the three readers; 2) an evaluation of the student's academic record in the Biology & Society major; and 3) a recommendation for or against awarding honors, as well as a recommendation for the level of honors.

As the director of undergraduate studies may have little knowledge of the subject area of the thesis, recommendations should be carefully prepared to help ensure consistency within the Honors Program. If there is disagreement among the readers, the director of undergraduate studies will make the final decision after consultation with the interested parties.

Last week of second semester junior year:    Application for honors program submitted to 306 Rockefeller Hall.

April 15*:   Thesis completed in a form satisfactory for evaluation and submitted to the three readers

April 29*:   Thesis defense accomplished

May 13*:   Bound copy of completed and defended thesis submitted to the undergraduate coordinator in 306 Rockefeller Hall

* If these dates fall on a weekend, the deadline will be the previous Friday.

Contact Information

Sue Sullivan
Undergraduate Program Coordinator
The Biology & Society Major
Dept of Science & Technology Studies
306 Rockefeller Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
Telephone: (607) 255-6047
Email: sfc1@cornell.edu