Calvin College - French Department

Honors Program

The advisor for the honors program is Glenn Fetzer.

French Department Honors Requirements

(3.5 beginning with the class of 2007)

1. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3 and total of six honors courses (18 hours minimum) overall, including at least three honors courses outside the major;

2. A minimum GPA in French of at least 3.5;

3. The completion of an honors component in at least three courses in the French Department from the following: FR 217, 219, 220, 221, 280, 311, 312, 314, 315, and 371. (Note: a student may complete an honors component in FR 123, 202, 215, and 216 to fulfill the general college honors requirement, but not the department honors requirement.)

4. The satisfactory completion of a senior honors thesis, to be completed during the first semester the senior year and presented orally to members of the department faculty.

Notes regarding the completion of courses for honors:

As regards the completion of an honors component in at least two courses in the French Department from the following: FR 217, 219, 220, 221, 280, 311, 312, 314, 315, and 371.

• Students wishing to complete a course for honors must make that intention known no later than two weeks after the first day the course meets. The honors paper or project is due one week prior to the last day the class meets for the semester.

• Students will complete one paper of 8 to 12 pages, or a project of a similar length. Students may be required to present their work orally in class.

As regards the completion of an honors component in FR 123, 202, 215, and 216 to fulfill the general college honors requirement, but not the department honors requirement:

• Students wishing to complete a course for honors must make that intention known no later than two weeks after the first day the course meets. The honors work is due one week prior to the last day the class meets for the semester.

• The honors component for these courses will vary from course to course. It may consist of additional work conducted independently by the student. It may also consist of additional meeting times of the professor and the student to discuss readings or writing projects. For each of these courses taken for honors credit, an honor contract must be completed. A copy of this contract is attached. The website for the Honors program at Calvin also houses a sample contract.

Notes regarding a Senior Honors thesis:

A student wishing to graduate with honors in French must complete an honors thesis. The paper is to be prepared during the first semester a student has senior status (usually the fall semester). The paper will be written in French, and will range from 25-30 pages (Times New Roman, font size 12, double spaced). Although the project is to be directed by one member of the department, a committee of two faculty members from French will supervise the process.

Students writing an honors thesis must adhere to this timetable:

• The statement of thesis and bibliography are due at the end of the first month (no later than week 4 of the semester);

• The first draft is due at the end of the second month (no later than the end of week 8);

• The second draft is due by the end of the third month (no later than week 12);

• A third and final draft (if needed) is due the last week before the period of examinations.

The student will make an oral presentation of the paper before the members of the department faculty. The oral presentation must be made before February 15 if the student wishes to graduate in May.