honors carolina senior thesis

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Honors Carolina is a four-year academic program geared toward the top 10 percent of undergraduates at UNC and promises those students a guided journey toward a successful career and purposeful life.  It is the University's way of investing in truly exceptional students by providing academic and non-academic challenges and opportunities, both inside and outside the classroom.

From the moment they step foot on campus, our students join a diverse community of scholars and friends. Approximately 2,100 students are currently members of Honors Carolina, and enjoy access to more than 200 small courses, award-winning faculty, and priority registration. Our unparalleled commitment to global learning offers students a doorway to the world through courses, internships, and research for academic credit.

The Honors Carolina "Go Anywhere" initiative is a comprehensive plan to elevate the program's reputation among industry leaders, position it as a destination of choice for top recruiters, and prepare students to seize opportunities before them through intensive advising and coaching. In fact, our academic advisors, career coaches, and alumni mentors are with students every step of the way. Through a diverse roster of co-curricular programs, students explore their interests; prepare for life after graduation; and connect with students, faculty, alumni, and leaders around the globe. Some enrolling first-year students are invited to participate immediately in Honors Carolina. Other students may apply to the program at the beginning of their second semester or first year of study. Details of the application process are available on the  Honors Carolina  website. Honors Carolina students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.000 or higher and complete a minimum number of honors credit hours by graduation in order to receive the “Honors Carolina Laureate” distinction on their transcript.

To graduate from the University with  honors or highest honors , students must complete a senior thesis in their academic major. Senior honors thesis programs are offered in nearly 50 departments, curricula, and professional schools throughout the University. Interested students should consult with the honors advisor in their major about department-specific requirements.

Visit Program Website

218 E. Franklin Street

(919) 966-5110

Peter T. Grauer Associate Dean for Honors Carolina

James Leloudis

[email protected]

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Honors Theses

What this handout is about.

Writing a senior honors thesis, or any major research essay, can seem daunting at first. A thesis requires a reflective, multi-stage writing process. This handout will walk you through those stages. It is targeted at students in the humanities and social sciences, since their theses tend to involve more writing than projects in the hard sciences. Yet all thesis writers may find the organizational strategies helpful.

Introduction

What is an honors thesis.

That depends quite a bit on your field of study. However, all honors theses have at least two things in common:

• They are based on students’ original research.
• They take the form of a written manuscript, which presents the findings of that research. In the humanities, theses average 50-75 pages in length and consist of two or more chapters. In the social sciences, the manuscript may be shorter, depending on whether the project involves more quantitative than qualitative research. In the hard sciences, the manuscript may be shorter still, often taking the form of a sophisticated laboratory report.

Who can write an honors thesis?

In general, students who are at the end of their junior year, have an overall 3.2 GPA, and meet their departmental requirements can write a senior thesis. For information about your eligibility, contact:

• UNC Honors Program
• Your departmental administrators of undergraduate studies/honors

Why write an honors thesis?

Satisfy your intellectual curiosity This is the most compelling reason to write a thesis. Whether it’s the short stories of Flannery O’Connor or the challenges of urban poverty, you’ve studied topics in college that really piqued your interest. Now’s your chance to follow your passions, explore further, and contribute some original ideas and research in your field.

Develop transferable skills Whether you choose to stay in your field of study or not, the process of developing and crafting a feasible research project will hone skills that will serve you well in almost any future job. After all, most jobs require some form of problem solving and oral and written communication. Writing an honors thesis requires that you:

• ask smart questions
• acquire the investigative instincts needed to find answers
• navigate libraries, laboratories, archives, databases, and other research venues
• develop the flexibility to redirect your research if your initial plan flops
• master the art of time management
• hone your argumentation skills
• organize a lengthy piece of writing
• polish your oral communication skills by presenting and defending your project to faculty and peers

Work closely with faculty mentors At large research universities like Carolina, you’ve likely taken classes where you barely got to know your instructor. Writing a thesis offers the opportunity to work one-on-one with a with faculty adviser. Such mentors can enrich your intellectual development and later serve as invaluable references for graduate school and employment.

Open windows into future professions An honors thesis will give you a taste of what it’s like to do research in your field. Even if you’re a sociology major, you may not really know what it’s like to be a sociologist. Writing a sociology thesis would open a window into that world. It also might help you decide whether to pursue that field in graduate school or in your future career.

How do you write an honors thesis?

Get an idea of what’s expected.

It’s a good idea to review some of the honors theses other students have submitted to get a sense of what an honors thesis might look like and what kinds of things might be appropriate topics. Look for examples from the previous year in the Carolina Digital Repository. You may also be able to find past theses collected in your major department or at the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library. Pay special attention to theses written by students who share your major.

Choose a topic

Ideally, you should start thinking about topics early in your junior year, so you can begin your research and writing quickly during your senior year. (Many departments require that you submit a proposal for an honors thesis project during the spring of your junior year.)

How should you choose a topic?

• Read widely in the fields that interest you. Make a habit of browsing professional journals to survey the “hot” areas of research and to familiarize yourself with your field’s stylistic conventions. (You’ll find the most recent issues of the major professional journals in the periodicals reading room on the first floor of Davis Library).
• Set up appointments to talk with faculty in your field. This is a good idea, since you’ll eventually need to select an advisor and a second reader. Faculty also can help you start narrowing down potential topics.
• Look at honors theses from the past. The North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library holds UNC honors theses. To get a sense of the typical scope of a thesis, take a look at a sampling from your field.

What makes a good topic?

• It’s fascinating. Above all, choose something that grips your imagination. If you don’t, the chances are good that you’ll struggle to finish.
• It’s doable. Even if a topic interests you, it won’t work out unless you have access to the materials you need to research it. Also be sure that your topic is narrow enough. Let’s take an example: Say you’re interested in the efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and early 1980s. That’s a big topic that probably can’t be adequately covered in a single thesis. You need to find a case study within that larger topic. For example, maybe you’re particularly interested in the states that did not ratify the ERA. Of those states, perhaps you’ll select North Carolina, since you’ll have ready access to local research materials. And maybe you want to focus primarily on the ERA’s opponents. Beyond that, maybe you’re particularly interested in female opponents of the ERA. Now you’ve got a much more manageable topic: Women in North Carolina Who Opposed the ERA in the 1970s and 1980s.
• It contains a question. There’s a big difference between having a topic and having a guiding research question. Taking the above topic, perhaps your main question is: Why did some women in North Carolina oppose the ERA? You will, of course, generate other questions: Who were the most outspoken opponents? White women? Middle-class women? How did they oppose the ERA? Public protests? Legislative petitions? etc. etc. Yet it’s good to start with a guiding question that will focus your research.

Goal-setting and time management

The senior year is an exceptionally busy time for college students. In addition to the usual load of courses and jobs, seniors have the daunting task of applying for jobs and/or graduate school. These demands are angst producing and time consuming If that scenario sounds familiar, don’t panic! Do start strategizing about how to make a time for your thesis. You may need to take a lighter course load or eliminate extracurricular activities. Even if the thesis is the only thing on your plate, you still need to make a systematic schedule for yourself. Most departments require that you take a class that guides you through the honors project, so deadlines likely will be set for you. Still, you should set your own goals for meeting those deadlines. Here are a few suggestions for goal setting and time management:

Start early. Keep in mind that many departments will require that you turn in your thesis sometime in early April, so don’t count on having the entire spring semester to finish your work. Ideally, you’ll start the research process the semester or summer before your senior year so that the writing process can begin early in the fall. Some goal-setting will be done for you if you are taking a required class that guides you through the honors project. But any substantive research project requires a clear timetable.

Set clear goals in making a timetable. Find out the final deadline for turning in your project to your department. Working backwards from that deadline, figure out how much time you can allow for the various stages of production.

Here is a sample timetable. Use it, however, with two caveats in mind:

• The timetable for your thesis might look very different depending on your departmental requirements.
• You may not wish to proceed through these stages in a linear fashion. You may want to revise chapter one before you write chapter two. Or you might want to write your introduction last, not first. This sample is designed simply to help you start thinking about how to customize your own schedule.

Sample timetable

Avoid falling into the trap of procrastination. Once you’ve set goals for yourself, stick to them! For some tips on how to do this, see our handout on procrastination .

Consistent production

It’s a good idea to try to squeeze in a bit of thesis work every day—even if it’s just fifteen minutes of journaling or brainstorming about your topic. Or maybe you’ll spend that fifteen minutes taking notes on a book. The important thing is to accomplish a bit of active production (i.e., putting words on paper) for your thesis every day. That way, you develop good writing habits that will help you keep your project moving forward.

Make yourself accountable to someone other than yourself

Since most of you will be taking a required thesis seminar, you will have deadlines. Yet you might want to form a writing group or enlist a peer reader, some person or people who can help you stick to your goals. Moreover, if your advisor encourages you to work mostly independently, don’t be afraid to ask them to set up periodic meetings at which you’ll turn in installments of your project.

Brainstorming and freewriting

One of the biggest challenges of a lengthy writing project is keeping the creative juices flowing. Here’s where freewriting can help. Try keeping a small notebook handy where you jot down stray ideas that pop into your head. Or schedule time to freewrite. You may find that such exercises “free” you up to articulate your argument and generate new ideas. Here are some questions to stimulate freewriting.

Questions for basic brainstorming at the beginning of your project:

• What do I already know about this topic?
• Why do I care about this topic?
• Why is this topic important to people other than myself
• What more do I want to learn about this topic?
• What is the main question that I am trying to answer?
• Where can I look for additional information?
• Who is my audience and how can I reach them?
• How will my work inform my larger field of study?
• What’s the main goal of my research project?

Questions for reflection throughout your project:

• What’s my main argument? How has it changed since I began the project?
• What’s the most important evidence that I have in support of my “big point”?
• What questions do my sources not answer?
• How does my case study inform or challenge my field writ large?
• Does my project reinforce or contradict noted scholars in my field? How?
• What is the most surprising finding of my research?
• What is the most frustrating part of this project?
• What is the most rewarding part of this project?
• What will be my work’s most important contribution?

Research and note-taking

In conducting research, you will need to find both primary sources (“firsthand” sources that come directly from the period/events/people you are studying) and secondary sources (“secondhand” sources that are filtered through the interpretations of experts in your field.) The nature of your research will vary tremendously, depending on what field you’re in. For some general suggestions on finding sources, consult the UNC Libraries tutorials . Whatever the exact nature of the research you’re conducting, you’ll be taking lots of notes and should reflect critically on how you do that. Too often it’s assumed that the research phase of a project involves very little substantive writing (i.e., writing that involves thinking). We sit down with our research materials and plunder them for basic facts and useful quotations. That mechanical type of information-recording is important. But a more thoughtful type of writing and analytical thinking is also essential at this stage. Some general guidelines for note-taking:

First of all, develop a research system. There are lots of ways to take and organize your notes. Whether you choose to use note cards, computer databases, or notebooks, follow two cardinal rules:

• Make careful distinctions between direct quotations and your paraphrasing! This is critical if you want to be sure to avoid accidentally plagiarizing someone else’s work. For more on this, see our handout on plagiarism .
• Record full citations for each source. Don’t get lazy here! It will be far more difficult to find the proper citation later than to write it down now.

Keeping those rules in mind, here’s a template for the types of information that your note cards/legal pad sheets/computer files should include for each of your sources:

Abbreviated subject heading: Include two or three words to remind you of what this sources is about (this shorthand categorization is essential for the later sorting of your sources).

Complete bibliographic citation:

• author, title, publisher, copyright date, and page numbers for published works
• box and folder numbers and document descriptions for archival sources
• complete web page title, author, address, and date accessed for online sources

Notes on facts, quotations, and arguments: Depending on the type of source you’re using, the content of your notes will vary. If, for example, you’re using US Census data, then you’ll mainly be writing down statistics and numbers. If you’re looking at someone else’s diary, you might jot down a number of quotations that illustrate the subject’s feelings and perspectives. If you’re looking at a secondary source, you’ll want to make note not just of factual information provided by the author but also of their key arguments.

Your interpretation of the source: This is the most important part of note-taking. Don’t just record facts. Go ahead and take a stab at interpreting them. As historians Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff insist, “A note is a thought.” So what do these thoughts entail? Ask yourself questions about the context and significance of each source.

Interpreting the context of a source:

• Who wrote/created the source?
• When, and under what circumstances, was it written/created?
• Why was it written/created? What was the agenda behind the source?
• How was it written/created?
• If using a secondary source: How does it speak to other scholarship in the field?

Interpreting the significance of a source:

• How does this source answer (or complicate) my guiding research questions?
• Does it pose new questions for my project? What are they?
• Does it challenge my fundamental argument? If so, how?
• Given the source’s context, how reliable is it?

You don’t need to answer all of these questions for each source, but you should set a goal of engaging in at least one or two sentences of thoughtful, interpretative writing for each source. If you do so, you’ll make much easier the next task that awaits you: drafting.

The dread of drafting

Why do we often dread drafting? We dread drafting because it requires synthesis, one of the more difficult forms of thinking and interpretation. If you’ve been free-writing and taking thoughtful notes during the research phase of your project, then the drafting should be far less painful. Here are some tips on how to get started:

Sort your “evidence” or research into analytical categories:

• Some people file note cards into categories.
• The technologically-oriented among us take notes using computer database programs that have built-in sorting mechanisms.
• Others cut and paste evidence into detailed outlines on their computer.
• Still others stack books, notes, and photocopies into topically-arranged piles.There is not a single right way, but this step—in some form or fashion—is essential!

If you’ve been forcing yourself to put subject headings on your notes as you go along, you’ll have generated a number of important analytical categories. Now, you need to refine those categories and sort your evidence. Everyone has a different “sorting style.”

Formulate working arguments for your entire thesis and individual chapters. Once you’ve sorted your evidence, you need to spend some time thinking about your project’s “big picture.” You need to be able to answer two questions in specific terms:

• What is the overall argument of my thesis?
• What are the sub-arguments of each chapter and how do they relate to my main argument?

Keep in mind that “working arguments” may change after you start writing. But a senior thesis is big and potentially unwieldy. If you leave this business of argument to chance, you may end up with a tangle of ideas. See our handout on arguments and handout on thesis statements for some general advice on formulating arguments.

Divide your thesis into manageable chunks. The surest road to frustration at this stage is getting obsessed with the big picture. What? Didn’t we just say that you needed to focus on the big picture? Yes, by all means, yes. You do need to focus on the big picture in order to get a conceptual handle on your project, but you also need to break your thesis down into manageable chunks of writing. For example, take a small stack of note cards and flesh them out on paper. Or write through one point on a chapter outline. Those small bits of prose will add up quickly.

Just start! Even if it’s not at the beginning. Are you having trouble writing those first few pages of your chapter? Sometimes the introduction is the toughest place to start. You should have a rough idea of your overall argument before you begin writing one of the main chapters, but you might find it easier to start writing in the middle of a chapter of somewhere other than word one. Grab hold where you evidence is strongest and your ideas are clearest.

Keep up the momentum! Assuming the first draft won’t be your last draft, try to get your thoughts on paper without spending too much time fussing over minor stylistic concerns. At the drafting stage, it’s all about getting those ideas on paper. Once that task is done, you can turn your attention to revising.

Peter Elbow, in Writing With Power, suggests that writing is difficult because it requires two conflicting tasks: creating and criticizing. While these two tasks are intimately intertwined, the drafting stage focuses on creating, while revising requires criticizing. If you leave your revising to the last minute, then you’ve left out a crucial stage of the writing process. See our handout for some general tips on revising . The challenges of revising an honors thesis may include:

Juggling feedback from multiple readers

A senior thesis may mark the first time that you have had to juggle feedback from a wide range of readers:

• your adviser
• a second (and sometimes third) faculty reader
• the professor and students in your honors thesis seminar

You may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of incorporating all this advice. Keep in mind that some advice is better than others. You will probably want to take most seriously the advice of your adviser since they carry the most weight in giving your project a stamp of approval. But sometimes your adviser may give you more advice than you can digest. If so, don’t be afraid to approach them—in a polite and cooperative spirit, of course—and ask for some help in prioritizing that advice. See our handout for some tips on getting and receiving feedback .

Refining your argument

It’s especially easy in writing a lengthy work to lose sight of your main ideas. So spend some time after you’ve drafted to go back and clarify your overall argument and the individual chapter arguments and make sure they match the evidence you present.

Organizing and reorganizing

Again, in writing a 50-75 page thesis, things can get jumbled. You may find it particularly helpful to make a “reverse outline” of each of your chapters. That will help you to see the big sections in your work and move things around so there’s a logical flow of ideas. See our handout on  organization  for more organizational suggestions and tips on making a reverse outline

Plugging in holes in your evidence

It’s unlikely that you anticipated everything you needed to look up before you drafted your thesis. Save some time at the revising stage to plug in the holes in your research. Make sure that you have both primary and secondary evidence to support and contextualize your main ideas.

Saving time for the small stuff

Even though your argument, evidence, and organization are most important, leave plenty of time to polish your prose. At this point, you’ve spent a very long time on your thesis. Don’t let minor blemishes (misspellings and incorrect grammar) distract your readers!

Formatting and final touches

You’re almost done! You’ve researched, drafted, and revised your thesis; now you need to take care of those pesky little formatting matters. An honors thesis should replicate—on a smaller scale—the appearance of a dissertation or master’s thesis. So, you need to include the “trappings” of a formal piece of academic work. For specific questions on formatting matters, check with your department to see if it has a style guide that you should use. For general formatting guidelines, consult the Graduate School’s Guide to Dissertations and Theses . Keeping in mind the caveat that you should always check with your department first about its stylistic guidelines, here’s a brief overview of the final “finishing touches” that you’ll need to put on your honors thesis:

• Honors Thesis
• Name of Department
• University of North Carolina
• These parts of the thesis will vary in format depending on whether your discipline uses MLA, APA, CBE, or Chicago (also known in its shortened version as Turabian) style. Whichever style you’re using, stick to the rules and be consistent. It might be helpful to buy an appropriate style guide. Or consult the UNC LibrariesYear Citations/footnotes and works cited/reference pages  citation tutorial
• In addition, in the bottom left corner, you need to leave space for your adviser and faculty readers to sign their names. For example:

Approved by: _____________________

Adviser: Prof. Jane Doe

• This is not a required component of an honors thesis. However, if you want to thank particular librarians, archivists, interviewees, and advisers, here’s the place to do it. You should include an acknowledgments page if you received a grant from the university or an outside agency that supported your research. It’s a good idea to acknowledge folks who helped you with a major project, but do not feel the need to go overboard with copious and flowery expressions of gratitude. You can—and should—always write additional thank-you notes to people who gave you assistance.
• Formatted much like the table of contents.
• You’ll need to save this until the end, because it needs to reflect your final pagination. Once you’ve made all changes to the body of the thesis, then type up your table of contents with the titles of each section aligned on the left and the page numbers on which those sections begin flush right.
• Each page of your thesis needs a number, although not all page numbers are displayed. All pages that precede the first page of the main text (i.e., your introduction or chapter one) are numbered with small roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.). All pages thereafter use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.).
• Your text should be double spaced (except, in some cases, long excerpts of quoted material), in a 12 point font and a standard font style (e.g., Times New Roman). An honors thesis isn’t the place to experiment with funky fonts—they won’t enhance your work, they’ll only distract your readers.
• In general, leave a one-inch inch margin on all sides. However, for the copy of your thesis that will be bound by the library, you need to leave a 1.25-inch margin on the left.

How do I defend my honors thesis?

Graciously, enthusiastically, and confidently. The term defense is scary and misleading—it conjures up images of a military exercise or an athletic maneuver. An academic defense ideally shouldn’t be a combative scene but a congenial conversation about the work’s merits and weaknesses. That said, the defense probably won’t be like the average conversation that you have with your friends. You’ll be the center of attention. And you may get some challenging questions. Thus, it’s a good idea to spend some time preparing yourself. First of all, you’ll want to prepare 5-10 minutes of opening comments. Here’s a good time to preempt some criticisms by frankly acknowledging what you think your work’s greatest strengths and weaknesses are. Then you may be asked some typical questions:

• What is the main argument of your thesis?
• How does it fit in with the work of Ms. Famous Scholar?
• Have you read the work of Mr. Important Author?

NOTE: Don’t get too flustered if you haven’t! Most scholars have their favorite authors and books and may bring one or more of them up, even if the person or book is only tangentially related to the topic at hand. Should you get this question, answer honestly and simply jot down the title or the author’s name for future reference. No one expects you to have read everything that’s out there.

• Why did you choose this particular case study to explore your topic?
• If you were to expand this project in graduate school, how would you do so?

Should you get some biting criticism of your work, try not to get defensive. Yes, this is a defense, but you’ll probably only fan the flames if you lose your cool. Keep in mind that all academic work has flaws or weaknesses, and you can be sure that your professors have received criticisms of their own work. It’s part of the academic enterprise. Accept criticism graciously and learn from it. If you receive criticism that is unfair, stand up for yourself confidently, but in a good spirit. Above all, try to have fun! A defense is a rare opportunity to have eminent scholars in your field focus on YOU and your ideas and work. And the defense marks the end of a long and arduous journey. You have every right to be proud of your accomplishments!

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Atchity, Kenneth. 1986. A Writer’s Time: A Guide to the Creative Process from Vision Through Revision . New York: W.W. Norton.

Barzun, Jacques, and Henry F. Graff. 2012. The Modern Researcher , 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Elbow, Peter. 1998. Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process . New York: Oxford University Press.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. 2014. “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing , 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Lamott, Anne. 1994. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life . New York: Pantheon.

Lasch, Christopher. 2002. Plain Style: A Guide to Written English. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Senior Theses

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

Zeitgeist of the 2010s and Impact on Fashion Trends , Sophie Scott Anderson

Elevating Academic Administration: A Comprehensive Faculty Dashboard for Tracking Student Evaluations and Research , Musa M. Azeem

The Arabic Influence on the Spanish Language: Sociocultural Mechanisms of Language Change Under Islamic Rule in the Iberian Peninsula , Reagan Borland

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The Individuality of Bereavement: A Phenomenological Analysis of Sudden Loss Trauma on Young Adults , Teaghan B. Brosokas

‘Kazakh Means Freedom’ - Kazakh Language Policy and National Identity Before and During the Ukraine War , McLean T. Brown

Barriers to Baseball: A Comprehensive Analysis of Factors That Impact Contract Value in Major League Baseball , Ryan A. Crowl

Trois Chansons de Bilitis and Estampes–The Symbolist Movement and the Works of Claude Debussy , Emma J. Devine

"Fueling for a Healthy Life:" A Cooking Class for Adolescent and Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors , Hope Dominique

Lyraquist: Language Learning via Music App , Vivian D'Souza, Siri Avula, Mahi Patel, Tanvi Singh, and Ashley Bickham

A Third Way: Christian Philosophy of Music , Eric S. Gardner

A Historical Analysis of Health Institutions, Professionals, and Advocates in the Civil Rights Movement in Columbia, South Carolina , Anusha Ghosh

Twisted Threads: A Novel and Exploration of Fraternity Culture and Race , Christian S. Golden

”To Be or Not to Be – It’s Good”: Actor and Student Experiences in a Drama Club for People with Aphasia , Jade K. Hannan

Investigating the Expression of GROWTH-REGULATING FACTOR 2 (GRF2) in Arabidopsis thaliana , Sophia S. Henry

A Comparison of Health Outcomes in Bare-Metal Stenting Versus Drug-Eluting Stenting , Ryan Hill

The Use of Figurative Suicidal Language by College Students and its Impact on Mental Health and Suicide Stigma , Makayla Hooker

The Contribution of the South Carolina Technical College System to Human Capital, Labor Force Participation, and Employment , Justin Land

Design of a Launchable Remote-Controlled Rover and Protective Aeroshell , Matthew Loewer, Colby Weeks, Lake Williams, and Jackson Zazzaro

Characterization of RNA Binding Proteins Regulating Axonal Localization of Prenyl-Cdc42 mRNA , Ashley I. Loomis

A Longitudinal Study of the Development of Social Anxiety in Young Autistic Children , Gillian K. Marshall

Focus Group and Survey Responses to Postural Feedback During Creative Movement Exploration , Mary C. Matthews

Spectre of Justice: Russian Reform in the Courtrooms of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy , Abby Moore

Meme Stocks, Robinhood, and Wall Street: Retail Investors and Changing Market Dynamics , Nick Murray and Spencer Brosnan

Learning Through Leading: A Survey Based Analysis of the Impact of Leadership Activity at the University of South Carolina on Career Outcome , Rebecca Ann Naglieri

Deciphering the Functional Connections between the Nuclear Paraspeckle and RAD51 Homologous Recombination Proteins using a Yeast Protein Interaction System , Eric J. Nutz

Motivations Behind the Rise and Success of Homeopathy in India , Kavya Patchipulusu

Analyzing Colonial South Carolina's Trade Landscape Through the Ricardian Model , Dylan M. Peddemors

The Health Effects of Chocolate: A Literature Review , Erika A. Pierce

Music as a Coping Mechanism: Clinical Implications of How College Students Utilize Music to Cope with Anxiety, Depression, and Daily Stressors , Karly Pikel

Elucidating the Role of Protease-Activated Receptor 2 in Elastase-Induced Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms , John Pitstick

AI's Influence in the Sports Media Industry , Hanna Schatteman

Exploratory Multiple Regression Analysis of Predictive Factors on Pediatric Concussion Recovery , Jaimeen Shah

The Effect of Dental Insurance Coverage and Economic Fluctuations on Oral Health Outcomes in the United States , Laura Singletary

Facing Two Fronts: Asian Americans Grappling with COVID-19 and Xenophobic Tensions , Matthew Soos

The Impact of Individual Culture on Purchase Decisions of Fast Fashion in Brazil , Lucie S. Speck

Decoding Implant-Related Sickness: Unraveling the Complexities of Breast Implant Illness , Madison M. Stewart

Innovative Retail: A Framework for the Future of Brick-and-Mortar Retail in an Omnichannel Market , Mallory S. Strmel

From Cough to Crip: The Development of Codeine from a Purely Medical Substance into a Popular Recreational Drug , Rhett C. Vaughn

Adherent-Invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) Promotes Mild Colitis in the C57BL/6 IL-10 KO Mouse Model of Crohn's Disease , Sarah SM Zaw

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Black and Battered: The Impact of the Violence Against Women Act on Women of Color , Antonia D. Adams

templates to transition: making solar-generated electricity accessible for lagos residents , Adeola O. Adebajo

Around the Table: A Comparative Study on the Commensality of American and Italian Culture and Its Implications on Wellbeing , Joy Bernal

That’s MY Deity: An Examination of Online Lokean Cultures through Log-Linear Modeling , Mary Bernstein

Immunohistochemical Investigation of WWP1 Expression During Embryonic Heart Development and Its Implications for Cardiac Aging , Savannah L. Bowers

Institutional Intervention in DAT Preparation Among Undergraduate Pre-Dental Students , Remi Brebion

Atomic Utopia: Nuclear Power at the Oconee Power Station in Seneca, South Carolina , Dalton Bridges

Unlikely Heroes: Self-Reflexivity, Comedy, and Reflective Nostalgia in Post-Unification German Film , Lindsay Carney

Mutating Tetur02g09850 Originated From Spider Mites to Enhance Crystallization , Hayley Cash

Bad Blood: Octavia E. Butler Takes a Bite out of Gender and Racial Stereotypes in Fledgling , Abigail Cole

Our Social Packaging: How Labels in Society Affect our Perceptions of Ourselves and What This Implicates for the Overdiagnosis and Self-diagnosis Crisis in Mental Health Conditions , Alexandra X. Cortez

Accessibility of Medical School to Students with Physical Disabilities , Shelby A. Cowan

Making Music Social: Creating a Spotify-Based Social Media Platform , Dalton J. Craven

Assessing the Threat of Social Media to National Security: Information Operations in the 21st Century , Brendan M. Cullen

Motivations and Barriers in College Students for Coffee Consumption from Coffee Shops: A Podcast , Khushi Dave

The Impact of Candidate Sex on Electoral Success in Nonpartisan State Supreme Court Elections , Emma Dickson

Using Podcasts to Bring National Estuarine Research Reserves into the Classroom for Grades 6-12 , Kaitlyn M. Dirr

The Ethical Challenges of Newborn Screening Programs in the United States , Devin Donovan

Free Money: The Feasibility of Implementing a Universal Basic Income in the United States , Chase H. Dorn

Country-of-Origin Information Reports: The Political and Legal Geographies of Central American Migrants , Elise Dosch

Robert Burns’ Poetic Style Through his Poetry, Songs, and Correspondence , Abigail Druckenmiller

Why Word Problems are Hard for High School Math Students: Problem Formulation and Disciplinary Literacy , Emily Charlotte Elliott

The Americans Progress Forgot? An Interdisciplinary Study of the Role of Media in Opiate Politics , Rachael M. Erickson

The Influence of TikTok And Social Media On Body Dissatisfaction And Disordered Eating Behavior In College-Aged Women , Ariana R. Faraci

Toxic Positivity and Perceptions of Mental Health , Madeline E. Feltner

A Comparative Investigation of Tonal Memory Improvements with Electronic and Vocal Pitch Stimulus Training , Grayson M. Fletcher

Girls Just Want to be Safe: An Analysis of Drugged Drinking and Prevention Amongst Students at the University of South Carolina , C. Gray Forsberg

An Exploration of the Social and Economic Factors that Influence the Mental Health of LGBTQ College Students , Alexandria MH Fossum

Noodz: A Strategic Communication Plan for a Startup Restaurant Targeting the College Market , Payton M. Fronapfel

Analyzing the Impact of Salary Discrepancies Between Professional Sports Organizations , Benjamin R. Garner

Mapping Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in South Carolina Surface Waters: Are there Hotspots? , Thomas C. Geiger

Fixing the System: A Comparative Review of the United Kingdom, Germany, and United States’ Healthcare Systems and Lessons Learned for Potential Improvements in the United States , Jessica Goddard

The Future of Bail Reform in the United States , Mary Gorham

Local Translation and Focal Adhesions are Dysregulated in Down Syndrome , Ashlyn Gotberg, Nikita Kirkise M.S., and Kristy Welshhans Ph.D.

Hard Seltzers in Europe: A Sparkling Opportunity? An Analysis of the Market Potential for Hard Seltzers in Europe , Amanda R. Harper

A Comparative Analysis of Adolescent Pregnancy Patient Outcomes In The United States and United Kingdom Healthcare Systems , Liza Hopper

"The Opium of the People" - The Effects of Soviet State Atheism on the Muslims of Central Asia , Joshua Hughes

Temperature Effects on Yield of Ideal Wheat Cultivars , Jeffrey Jiang

Humanity's Fate: An Analysis of Speculative Human Evolution in Literary Fiction , Celeste T. Johnson

The Effects of Mental Health Literacy and Perceived Social Support on Mental Health Stigma Across Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States: A Survey-based Analysis , Isabel R. Jordan, Dan Cooper, and Jayxa Alonzo

Consumers and Eco-labels: A Quantitative Analysis of the Effects of Various Sustainability Certification Models on Consumer Opinions , William F. Joseph

Role of Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Receptor Signaling in the Suppression of Punished Reward Seeking , Grace M. Joyner and Anna Caroline Toburen

Balancing Conservation and Enjoyment: A Case Study of Sustainable Tourism in Yellowstone National Park , Rachel E. Killen

Psychosocial Outcomes of African American Traumatic Race-Based Stress , Zenith Lamb

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Emergency Department Visits for Asthma: A Scoping Review , Peyton Law and Robin Dawson

Comparative Medicaid Policy Analysis Related to Maternal and Infant Birth Outcomes in South Carolina , Cassidy L. Lena

The Economics of Mass Incarceration: How Imprisonment Due to Drug Offenses Impacts the Economy of Texas , Leah N. Letterhos

Understanding Gentrification Outside of the Global Neoliberal Perspective in Hong Kong , Ivy Lu

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Vaccination Rate among the Latino Population in South Carolina , Brynn E. Lynagh

Moral Injury to Inform Analysis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder , Amanda Julia Manea

Parenting During a Pandemic: Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Development , Jessica A. Manes

Heroes or Villains: Modern Rappers and their Effect on Young Adult Males , Jared J. McCabe

Understanding Pressures College Women Feel to Have Sex , Hannah L. McCrone

Racial Differences in Hormonal Contraception Use and Accessibility Among University of South Carolina-Columbia Undergraduate Women , Ian L. Mencken

Avian Scavenging in the Forensic Context , Austin Millwood

The Benefits and Implementation of Open Science Practices in Exercise Science Research , Brendan Moore

The Virtual Classroom: What can be Learned from the COVID-19 Lockdown , James L. Nations

The Associations of Built Environments on College Students' Physical Activity Levels , Catherine M. Neel

Accuracy of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Vancomycin and the Pharmacist Role: A Retrospective Case-series , Kateryna Parkhomenko

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Undergraduate Honors Thesis

About the senior honors thesis.

An honors program is available to IS majors who have demonstrated their ability to perform distinguished work. The Honors Thesis allows exceptional students in the undergraduate major to demonstrate the ability to treat a problem in a substantial and scholarly way.  Students write an honors thesis on a topic related to information science and defend it before a faculty committee.  They may graduate with honors or highest honors; this designation is printed on the final transcript and diploma.

Registering for an Honors Thesis at SILS

Registering for Honors at SILS requires an application . The application should be submitted to the Undergraduate Student Services Manager prior to  April 1 during the year in which the student plans to register for INLS 691H.

To conduct an Honors Thesis in Information Science, students must complete INLS 691H (offered in the Fall) and INLS 692H (offered in the Spring).  To be considered for admission into this course of study, students must meet the following course requirements and submit an application.

Course Requirements

The requirements for conducting an Honors Thesis in Information Science include having taken at least four INLS courses, including two numbered higher than 299, and having a total INLS GPA of at least 3.5.  The student should have an overall GPA of at least 3.3.

Application & Schedule

Prior to april 1st (effective for the fall semester).

•  Provide a list of all courses taken by the student, along with the grades earned in those courses.  A print out from Carolina Connect is sufficient documentation.  Students are not required to request an official transcript from the registrar.
• Create a one-page proposal including a one paragraph description of the research topic, several questions related to the topic (i.e., what you want to discover or learn), and a short list of approximately five sources related to the topic. Also, add the name of the SILS faculty member you would like to serve as you advisor on this document.
• Gather the name of a SILS faculty member the applicant would like to serve as his/her advisor.  (It is required for the student to talk this over with the faculty member first and ensure they are in agreement to advise your Honors Thesis)
• The application will be submitted using the following form: SILS BSIS Honors Application 
• The advisor and the DUS, in consultation, will decide whether the student will be permitted to register for INLS 691H, and also whether the proposed advisor will serve as the Thesis Advisor.
• Once approved, you will be enrolled in INLS 691H for the Fall semester.

Prior to your registration period for the Spring semester

• If satisfactory progress is made, you will submit the Courses Requiring Instructor Permission form to be enrolled for the corresponding course
• Once approved, you will be enrolled in INLS 692H for the Spring semester
• Submit your final project to the Honors Carolina office by the required deadline; failure to submit your final Honors thesis will result in you not receiving Honors recogntion on your official record – Honors Carolina

Course Sequence

The honors program consists of two courses:   INLS 691H – Research Methods in Information Science, and INLS 692H – Honors Thesis in Information Science. INLS 691H will be taken in the fall of the senior year.  In this course, each student selects a research topic of interest, learns about research methods, and writes a research proposal.  Assuming satisfactory completion of INLS 691H , students register for INLS 692H in the spring of their senior year.  You must submit the form Courses Requiring Instructor Permission prior to your registration period to be enrolled for INLS 692H

Each student should select a thesis advisor based on mutual interest in the topic, and the availability of the faculty member to advise the student during the thesis work.  The student and advisor should meet regularly to discuss the student’s research and writing.

• The student’s thesis advisor, chosen when submitting the Honors Thesis application
• A second reader, identified jointly by the student and advisor, and
• The SILS Director of the honors program (Director of Undergraduate Studies)

The thesis must be completed and circulated to the thesis committee by the end of March, and the oral defense of the thesis must take place in the middle of April (exact dates will be based on the registrar’s calendar for the year).  The final approved copies of the thesis must be submitted to the SILS office; the due date will be communicated to those in the honors program, and it is always before the end of the semester.

Students who complete a high-quality thesis will graduate with honors; those whose thesis is exceptional will graduate with highest honors.  The SILS Director of the honors program will assemble all thesis advisors and second readers to evaluate the theses to be considered for honors each year.

BSIS Honors Thesis titles from the past:

• Student and Faculty Perceptions, Attitudes and Use of Wikipedia by Alexander Foley (BSIS ’08)
• Cognitive Strategies for Constructing and Managing Passwords for Multiple Accounts by Julia Kampov-Polevoi (BSIS ’08)
• Illusionary Privacy in the Digital Landscape:  Identity, Intellectual Property and Privacy Concern on Facebook by Elizabeth Lyons (BSIS ’08)
• PDA:  Personal Digital Assistant or Personally Distracting and Addicting? by Robert Shoemake (BSIS ’09)
• Information Overload in Undergraduate Students by John Weis (BSIS ’09)
• Faceted Search Implementation on Mobile Devices by Ashlee Edwards (BSIS ’11)
• Self-Initiated Search Versus Imposed Collaboration by Beth Sams (BSIS ’11)
• Building a Memory Palace in the Cloud: Instructional Technologies and the Method of Loci by Marla Sullivan (BSIS ’12)
• Unfriending and Unfollowing Practices of College Student Users of Facebook by Eliza Hinkes (BSIS ’15)
• Music in the Real World: Live Music Retrieval and the Limitations Thereof by Ryan Burch (BSIS ’15)
• Investigating the Effect of Familiarity with Target Document on Retrieval Success in Group Information Repositories by Kimberly Hii (BSIS ’16)
• Cross-Cultural Usability for Product Customization on the Web by Kristian Perks (BSIS ’16)
• Library Policy as a Potential Barrier to the Access of Public Library eBook and eReader Services by People Experiencing Homelessness by Rachel Spencer (BSIS ’17)
• Scaling Smart Cities: An Analysis of how Small Cities Implement Smart Technologies by Ryan Theurer (BSIS ’18)
• The Impact of Social Norms on Users’ Smartphone Notifications Management Strategies by Cami Goray (BSIS ’18)
• Visualization Technology Use in Secondary Mathematics Classroom Education by Xiaoqian (Sophie) Niu (BSIS ’18)
• Is Mobile Work Really Location-Independent? The Role of Space in the Work of Digital Nomads  by Evyn Nash (BSIS ’19)
• A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Publications that Adopted the Medical Expendture Panel Survey (MEPS) Data  by Jiacheng Liu (BSIS ’19)
• A Usability Study of the Intelligent Assitant for Senior Citizens to Seek Health Information  by Silu Hu (BSIS ’19)
• The Drama of Dark Patterns: History, Transformation, and Why it Still Matters by Michael Doucette (BSIS ’20)
• Human-AI Partnership In Underwriting: A Task-Centered Analysis of the Division of Work by Preston Smith (’20)
• Self-Presentation Strategies in the Platform Profiles of Successful Freelancers by Mara Negrut (BSIS ’21)
• Keep the Checking in Check: Analyzing Feedback and Reflection as a Strategy for Controlling Smartphone Checking Habits  by John Lickteig (BSIS ’21)
• Evaluating Collaborative Filtering Algorithms for Music Recommendations on Chinese Music Data by Yifan He (BSIS ’21)

These titles are available in the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library.  Check out the UNC Library Catalog for more information.

Honors Carolina

Honors Carolina is a program of the College of Arts and Sciences for qualified undergraduate students that features courses, special events, and learning opportunities to enhance a student's degree work. Some students enter the program when they enter the university, and others apply at the end of their first year. Honors students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.000 or higher and complete a minimum number of honors credit hours by graduation in order to receive the "Honors Carolina Laureate" distinction on their transcript. Honors courses are open to all academically qualified students, although members of Honors Carolina receive priority registration. To graduate from the university with honors or highest honors, students must complete a senior thesis in their academic major.

The honors program began in 1954 for academically gifted freshmen. Over the years it expanded its scope to cover all undergraduates and a larger cohort, more programs, and more outside-the-classroom learning opportunities. The program renovated and moved into its current location in 2000 and changed its name to Honors Carolina in 2011.

The campus home for Honors Carolina is the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, located in Graham Memorial Hall. The center is named in recognition of the James M. Johnston Charitable Trust, which supported the 1999—2000 renovation of the building. Johnston was an alumnus who created the trust in his will. The trust has also made over $25 million in scholarships gifts to Carolina since 1967.

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Horace williams airport ».

The Program in Culture, Advocacy, and Leadership

Honors Program

The CAL Honors Program offers exceptional students the opportunity to pursue more intensive work in their Area Focus with an interdisciplinary faculty committee. Students complete a two-semester sequence, beginning with reading and research in an interdisciplinary field and culminating in a thesis written in the spring semester of the senior year. Exceptional achievement on the thesis will earn high honors.

Application

Qualified students can apply to the Honors Program in March of their junior year.

Requirements

• Completion of the requirements of the major
• A 3.25 cumulative grade point average
• A 3.5 cumulative grade point average in CAL course work
• Six hours in the fall and spring semesters of the senior year in CAL 4998/4999 devoted to a major research project leading to an honors thesis. 4999 counts as the American Futures (4500) and 4998 counts as elective credit for the requirements of the major.
• An honors thesis to be completed by the spring of the senior year
• Successful completion of an oral examination focusing on the topic of the thesis

For more information about the Honors Program, reach out to Director of Undergraduate Studies Gabriel Torres Colón .

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FOR UNC STUDENTS INTERESTED IN JOINING HONORS CAROLINA

Honors carolina students are smart, driven, and inquisitive. they have a passion for learning that extends beyond the classroom. they question, experiment, create., first year students.

Students who are not invited to join Honors Carolina as incoming students may apply to join the program in January of their first year by completing an online application. The application must include a recommendation for admission from a UNC faculty member with whom you have studied.

• Online Application Form (available Friday, January 3, 2025)
• Faculty Recommendation Form
• Deadline: Friday, January 17, 2025, 4:00 pm ET

SECOND YEAR STUDENTS

Students may apply to join the program by completing an online application at the beginning of their second year. The application must include a recommendation from a UNC faculty member with whom you have studied.

• Online Application Form (available Friday, August 30, 2024)
• Deadline: Friday, September 13, 2024, 4:00 pm ET

TRANSFER STUDENTS

Second year transfer students – and third year transfer students who intend to be on campus for three years – may apply to join Honors Carolina by completing an online application and submitting an official transcript from your previous place(s) of study.

In addition to the application, you must also have a recommendation letter from a faculty member with whom you have studied. Letters from faculty at other colleges and universities must be written on official university letterhead and should be sent to the address below.

Honors Carolina Mailing Address

225 Graham Memorial, Campus Box #3510 Chapel Hill, NC  27599-3510

Honors Carolina UPS/FedEx Address

Honors Carolina 218 E. Franklin Street Room 225 Graham Memorial, 2nd Floor Chapel Hill, NC 27514

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED IN HONORS CAROLINA

Honors carolina courses.

If space is available, students with a 3.0 GPA may enroll in Honors Carolina courses. More than 200 students each year are introduced to Honors Carolina courses this way.  View courses .

Senior Honors Thesis

Students with a 3.3 GPA at the completion of their junior year may elect to complete a Senior Honors Thesis and graduate with Honors or Highest Honors. Students do not have to be a member of Honors Carolina to complete a Senior Honors Thesis.  Learn more .

Honors Study Abroad

Students with a 3.0 GPA can take part in Honors Study Abroad programs in Cape Town, London, or Washington, D.C., and register for Burch Field Research Seminars that take your classroom to various corners of the globe. Learn more .

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• Courses and Requirements
• Senior Thesis
• Thesis Guide

Submission Guide

In order to participate in Revocation and be certified for graduating with honors from the South Carolina Honors College, students are required to submit a final copy of the revised thesis project/paper (post-defense) to the Honors College. There are several guidelines to follow when submitting your thesis. 

Formatting Requirements

The following is the standard format for an Honors thesis or project paper. While not every thesis paper will include the same sections and items, the following can be used as a general guideline.

• Title page (REQUIRED: view the   forms   page for an example)
• Table of contents (REQUIRED)
• Thesis summary or abstract (REQUIRED): appearing after the table of contents, must be included in the table of contents
• Introduction
• Endnotes, works cited or references (required if sources are quoted)
• Tables, graphs, photos, maps, etc. (if appropriate)
• Bibliography (required if no endnotes, works cited or references section is included)
• Appendix(ces) (if appropriate)

All pages must be numbered consecutively.

Final Copies of Theses

You will  submit your final copy of your thesis to the Honors College electronically. The final copy of your thesis should have the following sections regardless of discipline or project type. Copies that fail to contain these elements will not be accepted.

•  Thesis title page (signed by your thesis director and second reader)
•  Thesis summary or abstract
• Table of contents

Scholar Commons

Students have the option of publishing their thesis in Scholar Commons, an institutional repository established through Thomas Cooper Library that provides digital open access to information.

On occasion, there is a need for delayed release, commonly referred to as an embargo. An embargo may be appropriate for some types of creative work, intellectual property with commercial implications, politically sensitive materials and limited other types of work. When submitting your thesis to Scholar Commons, you can select one of the following options:

• Release the work immediately for worldwide access on the internet via Scholar Commons.
• Secure the work for two years, and then release the work for worldwide access on the internet.
• I do not want my senior thesis made available via Scholar Commons. 

Scholar Commons submission instructions

Submit your thesis into Scholar Commons

Thesis Binding

It is customary for students to present their thesis/project director with a bound copy of the thesis. Such thoughtfulness is seen as a professional courtesy.  

Students can submit a thesis for binding through the HF Group website: Thesis On Demand .   After submitting the required contact information and paper for binding, you will select the following options:  

• Red book with cloth cover material
• Gold lettering on the spine (no front cover printing)
• 60# weight paper, single side printing.

Students will pay HF Group directly.  

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