Departmental Honors is Centenary's most advanced research opportunity in psychology — a chance to design, run, and defend your own original study, working closely with a faculty thesis director for a full year. Recent honors theses have covered topics like classroom belonging, speech perception, memory, and bystander behavior toward prejudice — see examples on our Faculty-Student Research page.
A student who earns Psychology Department Honors demonstrates excellence in exploring thought, action, or emotion in humans or nonhuman animals through a behavioral sciences research project. Achievement of departmental honors is evaluated through:
- an honors thesis, and
- an oral presentation at the Centenary Research Conference (or, in rare cases, another public departmental program).
To apply for honors in Psychology, a candidate must:
- have a 3.25 GPA in both major and overall course work;
- have participated in the major for at least two semesters;
- have completed at least 60 credit hours, with at least half of those hours completed at Centenary;
- identify and collaborate with a departmental faculty thesis director who oversees the candidate’s honors project;
- identify and gain the support of two committee members, including the thesis director, and one committee member from outside the department;
- complete the Nomination for Departmental Honors form (available from the Registrar);
To be awarded department honors, a student must:
- submit copies of the honors thesis to the committee and all members of the Psychology department;
- satisfy the expectations of each committee member;
- register for and successfully complete at least four hours of Independent Study (PSY 49x) in addition to major requirements;
- present the project at the Student Research Forum (or, if necessary, other appropriate venue).
The honors thesis will:
- be an appropriate summary of your work. In most cases, this will involve a written summary equivalent in length to a publishable article, typically 15-20 pages/5,000-7,000 words;
- use APA-style throughout;
- describe an original research behavior sciences research project or in-depth, scholarly literature review; and
- be approved, in advance, by the candidate’s thesis director and members of his or her honors committee.
Recommended timeline
Prior to the end of your Junior Year:
- Assemble committee
- Submit necessary paperwork to the Registrar
- Register for Independent Study, as relevant
- Design project (in consultation with thesis director)
- Begin gathering and reading relevant literature for the project
- Obtain IRB approval for projects involving human subjects data collection
- Register for Independent Study, as relevant
Fall Semester of Senior Year:
- Update outside committee member on status of project
- Continue to conduct research as part of Independent Study
- Register for Independent Study, as relevant
Spring Semester of Senior Year:
- Invite committee members to Student Research Forum
- Present project at Student Research Forum
- Provide final copy of thesis to committee and department members no later than Monday of the last week of class meetings
- Follow up with Registrar to ensure that all necessary paperwork has been completed