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Honors Program

When you write an honors thesis, you have freedom to define your own terms, follow your own muse, in a way that is more typical of graduate school. Rather than handing in a paper at the end of a semester, and more or less forgetting about it, you have the chance to really craft a fine piece of substantial writing. You can feel that you are really getting to the bedrock of an issue, a superior command of the literature, and a confidence to speak as an expert. Please do not underestimate the work involved, throughout the senior year, including having a first draft by the end of the Fall semester or early in the Spring.

To participate in the Department of Religion Honors Program, students must:

(a) have a cumulative average of 3.50 at the end of their first three years of study, and

(b) come to an agreement with a member of the faculty of the Department, regarding the work to be done during the student’s senior year. Because of sabbatical leaves and other commitments, a faculty member may not be able to direct a thesis in a given year. Students interested in the Honors Program should be in contact with the faculty member(s) as early as possible.

Students will choose a thesis director from the faculty in the Department. In consultation with this director, students will choose two additional faculty members to serve on their Honors committee. The director will guide the student's independent research on a topic of the student's choosing. The student is encouraged to consult with the additional committee members, especially during the final semester of the work. The entire committee will judge the quality of the completed Honors Thesis and the student's defense of the thesis in an oral examination. A minimum of two successive semesters of Honors Directed Reading (REL 495R) is required for the Honors degree. The Department strongly encourages the student to find and take a graduate seminar related to the Honors topic, if available. The Honors committee must include one member from outside the Department of Religion and, in the case of a joint major, the committee must include one faculty member from each department and a third faculty member from outside both departments.

Successful Honors candidates are awarded the degree with Honors, High Honors, or Highest Honors. The degree of Honors is awarded for satisfactory completion of the Honors Program while High Honors are given for an outstanding achievement and Highest Honors for an exceptional performance of a quality suitable for publication.

Fourragères signifying honors are presented to qualifying graduating seniors to be worn at Commencement.

Recent honors theses include:

• “The Ethics of HIV Drug Research in South Africa.”
• “My Lord’s Coming Again: Biblical Interpretation Through Slave Songs.”
• “Religion in the River: The Unconventional Religion of Whitewater Raft Guides.”
• "Re-inventing Tevillot: An Exploration of Non-traditional Mikvah Use."
• “Sounding Suffering and Redemption: An Exploratory and Creative Discussion of George Herbert, Charles Wesley, and Fred Pratt Green.”
• The Idea of the Religious Path: A Comparative Study of Atisha’s Bodhipathapradipa and Kshemaraya’s Pratyabhijnahrdayam.”
• “Rastafarian I-and-I Communotheism: A Theological Anthropology for Black Women and Men—Sinning, Being, and Bewitching in Liminal Spaces.”
• “Feminist Critique of the Christian Theology of Displacement—Pre-Nazi Germany”
• “Run Over by the Great Vehicle: The Buddha's Disciple Sariputra as a Character in the Vimalakistinirdesa and the Lotus Sutra.”
• “To Us, Chairman Mao Was God: Exploring the Cultural Revolution as a Religious Phenomenon, 1955-1976.”

Prof. Eric Reinders is the Department’s Honors Coordinator for 2009-2010. His office is: Callaway Center S202. Email: ereinde@emory.edu. (Prof. Reinders with honors student wearing fourragères on Commencement day.)