The Department of Classics at UCSB allows and encourages qualified students
to pursue undergraduate Honors in Classics. Students admitted to the honors
program in Classics will write an honors thesis during their senior year,
supervised by a member of the faculty. Successful completion of the program
will be recognized by the award of Distinction in the Major at graduation.
Students in the departmental Honors Program receive graduate student borrowing
privileges at the Library.
An Honors thesis for distinction in Classics:
is a substantial piece of critical writing that advances a sustained
argument
shows the student's ability to conduct research with primary and secondary
sources
is usually at least 25 pages in length (excluding appendices and bibliography)
is strongly recommended for students considering graduate work in
Classics
Candidates for the Honors Program in classics should petition the department
chair at the end of their junior year. Candidates must:
have been in residence for one year (three quarters) as a Classics major by the time of graduation
have a grade-point average in the major of 3.6 or better
obtain the consent of two faculty members, one to serve as advisor
and one as second reader
Students in the Honors Program should expect to begin work in the Fall
Quarter, although full-time study and course credit occupy Winter and
Spring Quarters:
Fall: work with faculty advisor and second reader to develop a suitable
topic, and to identify sources and bibliography
Winter: enroll in Classics 195A, Senior Honors Thesis in Classics, to complete the Honors Thesis
Spring: enroll in Classics 195B, Senior Honors Thesis in Classics, to complete the Honors Thesis
The faculty advisor and second reader will determine whether Honors
should awarded.
RECENT HONORS THESES:
Alexandra Wong "Hesiodic Antecedents: A Study of Indo-European and Near Eastern Sources of the Theogony" Neal Wiley "The Rustic Ideal of Tibullus" Tamara Serrao-Leiva "Brotherhood: A Reexamination of the Athenian Kinship System"
Michael D’hondt "The Historical Reliability of Oral Tradition in the Homeric Epics" James Wilson “Cretan Warfare in the Archaic Period” Kerry Ellis - "Climbers and Shapers: Social Identity in Two Pompeian Mansions" Christopher King - "Hungry for Power: Feasting and Politics in early
Iron Age Crete" Daniel Oh - "Power Word God: Playing with Divine Names" Jane Rieder - "Swards and Plowshares: Didactic Techniques in Homer
and Hesiod" Richard Blair - "The Ritual of Live Inhumation in the Roman Cattle
Market." Sherri Ashe - "Problems in Herotodean Veracity" Alexandra Kennedy - "Future Community Versus Present Self: Intertextuality
and Heroism in Aeneid 6"
