Guidelines and Schedule of Key Dates for the Medieval Studies Major Honors Thesis
The Thesis
An honors thesis is “a scholarly piece of writing in which the writer is expected to show a command of the relevant scholarship in his (or her) field and contribute to the scholarship. It should confront a question that is unresolved and push towards a resolution.”
The thesis can be one of the most challenging and rewarding assignments of a student’s undergraduate career. For Medieval Studies students, this is an opportunity to write about the Middle Ages and personally address what the Middle Ages was and its relevance. In the process of pursuing a topic, conducting independent research, formulating, articulating and crafting a sustained argument, students will build on what they have learned in coursework, gain insights into scholarship and methodology, and develop their talents as writers and thinkers. Once the thesis is completed students will have the satisfaction of knowing they have produced a work of scholarship that will be permanently archived in the Schreyer’s (electronic) thesis archive and the Penn State Library system.
The Medieval Studies major expects that students will conduct a meaningful degree of primary source research in crafting the thesis. Nature and extent will vary according to the question pursued. Students are also expected to situate their research and analysis within the scholarship of the field and to clearly articulate and support the significance of their project and its contribution. Students whose work involves extensive primary research should be careful not simply to present a narrative or an inventory of their sources, but to center the thesis on the analysis and interpretation of their research in such a way that their thesis makes an argument. Advisers should help determine the appropriate balance between primary research and scholarly contextualization, between presentation of the evidence and interpretation.
Style and Usage
The thesis is a formal piece of scholarly writing. Do not use colloquial expressions or contractions. Remember that the thesis is important, it is a source of pride and will be archived electronically. Go over the final draft and correct awkward phrasing; be sure to eliminate all typing, spelling, and grammar errors.
Length
A Medieval Studies thesis is expected to be between approximately 50–80 pages of text (300 words/page), plus the bibliography and notes. The text must be double-spaced with one-inch margins in Times New Roman 12-point font.
Think of your thesis in terms of chapters. Each chapter is a subtopic related to the whole. A chapter should present an argument supported by evidence; it could almost stand alone as a research paper, but as a chapter, it should establish its connection to the larger argument and/or preceding and succeeding chapters at least at the beginning and the end. Your thesis should be comprised of three, or maybe four, substantive chapters—with, in addition, a shorter “introduction” and perhaps an “epilogue.”
Footnotes
You must use citations to identify the source of every quotation and every idea, conclusion, or inference you have drawn from the work of another author or source. Advisers serve as a resource if there are any doubts about whether to cite something.
Choose the form of the footnotes or endnotes ONLY after close consultation with, and the approval of, your thesis supervisor. Make sure to be consistent in your footnote/endnote formatting. Consult a guide such as the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations; The Chicago Manual of Style; and Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
Bibliography
The thesis must include a complete bibliography citing all the materials used for the thesis. See the above sources for format.
Schedule of Key Dates and “Checkpoints” for the Medieval Studies Honors Thesis
Three Terms before Graduation (SPRING TERM OF STUDENT’S THIRD YEAR)
A SHC Thesis Proposal is due to the Schreyers Honors College in the spring term of the third year. For current due dates, see SHC webpage. The SHC Thesis Proposal outlines the scope of the proposed research and any special needs the student might have to pursue this topic, such as the need to travel to archival collections, order microfilm, and so on. The Medieval Studies Major requirement that your SHC April Thesis Proposal include a preliminary bibliography.
This proposal will be approved by the honors adviser; the thesis supervisor (that is—the Major faculty member who will be your primary adviser on the thesis (the honors adviser CANNOT also serve as the thesis supervisor)); and by the Schreyer’s Honors College.
This means the student must have a fairly well-defined topic and a committed thesis supervisor one full year before the thesis is due.
It is incumbent upon the student—in the months preceding the time of submission of Thesis Proposal Report—to identify and approach a faculty member of the Medieval Studies Major as a potential thesis supervisor, someone whose field is directly relevant. Ideally, this is someone whom the student already knows and has already taken a class with. The student should explain their research interests and ask the faculty member to serve as thesis supervisor.
As you think about which faculty member(s) might serve as your thesis supervisor it is wise to consult with your honors adviser. Narrowing down your list of potential thesis supervisors should really be done, at the latest, around the mid-point of your third year (to give you plenty of time to have preliminary conversations).
As required, all theses’ should be read and reviewed by the thesis supervisor, the Medieval Studies Major’s honors adviser, and, if applicable, a secondary reader.
There are many opportunities to apply for scholarships to study abroad and to conduct thesis research in the summer of the third year (Penn State Erickson Summer Discovery Grants, Schreyer’s and Paterno summer research funding, and the like). All Schreyer’s Honors College students are strongly encouraged to apply for such funding to pursue thesis research full-time over the summer of their junior year.
One Year before Graduation
The student will enroll in MEDVL 494H: Research Project, (the equivalent of two terms of independent study).
While the honors adviser will be your formal instructor for these two courses, the preeminent thesis advising role will be carried out by the thesis supervisor. General Advice: the more time the readers have to read the student’s work the better they can comment, and the more the student can benefit from their expertise. Expect the need for significant revisions. Be considerate of your supervisor’s busy schedule and recognize the constraints of your own schedule. Try to complete sections of the thesis ahead of the suggested schedule, the sooner you have a complete draft, the better. The student should start with a clear subject of interest and have already begun to read the relevant scholarship and investigate the primary sources (over the summer between their third and fourth year).
In mid-September of the fourth year, the student is required—for the first meaningful “check-point”—to submit an expanded thesis proposal, which will also include an outline, an in-progress bibliography (including substantial primary and secondary sources), more specifics on the layout and sequences of the chapters, and a firm, specific schedule of chapter completion dates, to the honors adviser.
The Expanded Thesis Proposal must demonstrate that the student has made significant substantive progress in researching/conceptualizing the thesis since the SHC Thesis Proposal provided the previous spring term.
Only those students whose “expanded proposals” are successfully reviewed—as determined by the thesis supervisor and the honors adviser—will be allowed to continue in the thesis writing process.
Regarding the second meaningful “checkpoint”: no later than a week prior to the last week of classes in the Senior thesis-writer’s first term (so typically no later than the first week of December), the student must have completed:
- A POLISHED, CREDIBLE DRAFT OF ONE CHAPTER (of approximately twenty pages or more);
- A detailed outline of the next chapter draft slated to be written (and preferably all subsequent chapters);
- a substantial working bibliography. It is strongly recommended that a second chapter be completed in December. The thesis supervisor may require this of a student.
Take note that this deadline for a “polished chapter draft” is firm and non-negotiable.
See the Schreyers Honors College annual deadlines.
The following schedule offers a guide for spring term (the Senior thesis writer’s final undergraduate term): the first third of the thesis should be finished one to two weeks into the term; the second third should be finished three to five weeks into the term; the final third should be finished six to seven weeks into the term (so before Spring Break); thus reserving weeks seven to ten of the term to revise the Introduction and Conclusion and to make revisions to the chapters read and commented on by the thesis supervisor (and second reader).
[REGARDING THE SECOND READER: Schreyer’s and Medieval Studies Major rules require that—as a minimal condition for thesis approval—the student’s thesis supervisor and the Medieval Studies honors adviser both provide their respective signatures each attesting to the rigor and scholarly merits of the submitted thesis.
A second reader is another Penn State faculty member, who has specialized knowledge in the thesis topic, and agrees— by the request of the student and/or the thesis supervisor / honors adviser—to read the thesis draft and offers constructive guidance and advice. The second reader provides a helpful supplementary role, and the Medieval Studies Major encourages thesis writers to seek out, and garner the advice of, an appropriate second reader.
A second reader, then, is not required for thesis approval, but, again, such input is greatly encouraged. It is recommended that the student contact the intended second reader no later than the second month of the final semester.]
Submitting the Thesis
A complete draft of the Medieval Studies Honors Thesis must be filed with the Schreyers Honors College in mid-March as part of a format review. We will have a coordinated single deadline for both the Medieval Studies Major and Schreyer’s Honors College draft thesis review. When students submit their thesis to the SHC, they should also plan to submit a complete full first draft for review to their thesis supervisor, the honors adviser (and, if applicable, second reader) for critical feedback.
Students should also electronically submit a copy of their complete first draft, firstly, to the thesis supervisor and then to the honors adviser. The thesis must meet with the approval of the thesis supervisor, the honors adviser, (and second reader, if relevant) before final submission to Schreyer’s Honors College.
The Medieval Studies Major upholds rigorous standards for the Honors Thesis, and a thesis may not be approved if it is not deemed up to those standards.
Only those students whose thesis is successfully reviewed in March will be allowed to file a thesis. If the student’s thesis is deemed insufficiently developed, the student may be asked to defer graduation or to forego graduating with honors.
In early April, the final version of the thesis must be filed with the Schreyers Honors College.
The next day a signatory page with the signatures of the thesis supervisor and the honors adviser (and the second reader, if relevant) must be filed with the Schreyer’s Honors College. It is your responsibility to make the appropriate arrangements with your thesis supervisor and honors advisers to carry out the signatures—and to do so in a timely and respectful manner.
Honors Adviser
