• a ‘B’ average in the College
• a ‘B’ average in Research Seminar(s)
• the recommendation of the Research Seminar tutors
• an acceptable thesis proposal on file with the Tutorial Office by the start of the senior fall. (If the above standards are not met, a student may petition for admission to History 99 with the DUS; an acceptable thesis proposal must also be filed by the end of the junior spring.)
  

• What did you enjoy about your favorite courses?
• What initially drew you to these courses?
• What proved compelling in the subject matter? What about the methodology?
• What historical questions would you like to be a part of answering?

Since work of the scope of a senior thesis should spring from your academic background and concerns, you must know what subjects excite you before taking the first steps toward a suitable topic. All projects require certain courses in advance of the senior year, such as those requiring language or quantitative skills, and necessary background in a content area. Remember that not all interesting questions can be answered in a historical study, and that many questions are of a scope not answerable within the format of a senior thesis. Faculty and tutors, especially those who know your work, are the best people to consult as you refine and answer your research questions. Such conversations are often crucial first steps in finding a thesis advisor.

Many of the matters discussed above and below are usefully summarized in a thesis proposal. To be approved, a thesis proposal ordinarily must be at least five pages long and do the following:

1. present a research topic and questions;
2. offer a preliminary annotated bibliography of scholarly work on the topic;
3. list at least two courses (not tutorials) in history taken in preparation for the project;
4. name faculty and/or graduate students consulted, and their potential to advise the thesis;
5. identify archival materials to be examined;
6. outline a plan for completing research in the summer or fall.

The proposal is an integral part of the thesis-planning process, not something to throw together the night before the deadline. An initial draft in February or March of the junior year can form the basis of a summer funding application. A later draft will prepare you for conversations with potential advisors, and successive drafts will reflect input from the faculty and tutors you consult. The thesis proposal will be due at the start of the senior fall. For those who wish to write a thesis but do not meet the standards for entering 99, the proposal will be due at an earlier date to be determined by the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies.

The spring term of the junior year is a watershed for starting the thesis. If you have a general topic and an advisor by the end of the spring term, then you can make abundant use of the summer months to read broadly and formulate a topic more precisely. Indeed, if you wish to take advantage of the many funding sources available for summer thesis research, you will need to articulate the general outline of your project much earlier than the end of the junior year—the deadline for some funding applications is the last Friday in February (read on for more information on funding options).

Of course, it is perfectly possible to write an excellent thesis even if a topic and advisor are not identified by the end of the junior year. However, you will need to address these issues over the summer, or immediately upon returning to Cambridge. Topics will then be limited to those which can be researched in Harvard’s libraries and archives and/or other historical collections in the Boston area. (For many subjects, this is not a limitation at all.) Finally, do not imagine that History 99 is equivalent in work-load to other courses at Harvard. All thesis writers remark upon the intense focus required for such a project. Those who are torn over the decision between writing a thesis or not may wish to refer to page 36 of this Handbook, where the pros and cons of thesis writing are discussed.

There are no fixed rules for the form of an acceptable thesis. Obviously, the Department hopes that theses will involve both thorough research and original interpretation, and be written as elegantly and concisely as possible. In the past, excellent theses of very different types have been presented and have been evaluated on their own terms. It is expected that you will undertake some amount of primary research, but you should also not lose sight of the need to provide a convincing analysis and interpretation of the fruits of your research.

The Tutorial Office has two resources for those who wish to examine past theses of varying characters and styles. One is a database of all History theses (magna and above) since mid-century; these theses may be viewed at the Harvard archives. See Laura Johnson if you wish to consult this database. The other resource is a small but growing collection of theses kept in the Tutorial Office. Finally, if you have identified a general area of interest but have not yet formulated a specific topic, please consult the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies, a faculty member, or a tutor, for help on refining your ideas.

As stated above, the task of identifying the senior thesis advisor is ideally accomplished by the end of the junior year, though it is possible to find one the following September. Potential senior thesis advisors should be selected from the Department’s faculty and the History graduate students who serve on the Board of Tutors. In addition, there may be graduate students available as advisors; consult with the Tutorial Office. Joint concentrators for whom History is the secondary field will find their thesis advisor in their primary department.

When seeking a thesis advisor, most students choose to approach faculty members for their deep knowledge of fields. Each year approximately three-quarters of the theses written are supervised by faculty, and students have remarked on the rewards of this singular opportunity to work individually with a member of the faculty. If you are thinking of asking a professor to supervise your thesis, it is best to approach him/her right after spring break of the junior year. Some faculty may ask for a thesis proposal before making a decision about which students they will supervise. Most faculty supervise only one thesis per year, or at the most two.

In other cases, students arrange for a thesis advisor who is a graduate student. Reasons include a preference for working with another, albeit more advanced, student. Sometimes (but not always) a graduate student thesis advisor will be able to offer more regular assistance than might come from a faculty member.

Please bear in mind that these general assumptions are just that—very general, and only assumptions; individual experiences vary widely. Think about your own work habits and how you most easily process feedback on your scholarship. Ask potential thesis advisors how they prefer to work with students. Whether contemplating a faculty or graduate student advisor, it is perfectly appropriate to begin the communication with a request for general advice regarding your topic. An initial and informal consultation will help you assess the interest of several people in your project, and then you can schedule another meeting to ask the big question: “Will you advise my senior thesis?”

In April of the junior year, the Tutorial Office asks students to provide an update on their thesis plans. Identification of the general subject area of the thesis (at least), and the name of the advisor (or several names under consideration) will allow the Tutorial Office staff to assist students who may need guidance during this early, but important, stage.

Each year a large number of rising seniors find funding for summer thesis research. The Tutorial Office holds a meeting to advise students on how to write a successful fellowship proposal. In addition, we prepare a list of organizations that have supported concentrators’ thesis research.

The standard fellowship application includes the following:

1. an application form
2. a transcript
3. a statement of purpose/research proposal/essay
4. a budget
5. letters of recommendation

Application forms are relatively pro forma exercises, but make sure you secure the form in plenty of time. Typing is not necessary if you print neatly.

Order any necessary transcripts as soon as possible. Do not let the simplest piece of an application stand between you and a summer research grant. Transcript requests must be made to the Registrar either in writing or in person, not by telephone. The normal processing time for transcripts is two to three days. The Registrar’s Office is located at 20 Garden Street. For more information, including procedures and fees, consult this page of the Registrar's.

The statement of purpose is the heart of your fellowship application. Typically 2-4 pages (consult the funding organization for specific instructions), this should be a concise essay that persuades the reader of the importance of your project and your ability to execute it. The budget (if required) should be a realistic estimate of travel and living expenses (safe but not luxurious) for your intended location. If the funding is to include the cost of travel, the proposal should indicate the necessity of going to your intended destination; do not ask to travel to see materials that are available in a Harvard library. When writing fellowships applications, students are often in the initial stages of identifying their thesis topics; writing with assurance about something you are not sure about can be a difficult task, but it can be done. There are several sample essays available for your perusal in the Tutorial Office.

Most undergraduate research fellowships will ask for one or two letters of recommendation. The general rule of thumb is to request recommendations from faculty or teaching fellows who know your work quite well; a letter from a well-known professor will not help your case if it is cursory. It is perfectly appropriate to ask potential letter-writers not simply whether they are willing to write you a recommendation, but whether they can write you a strong recommendation. (Of course, if you ask this question, you should be ready to handle an answer that is not positive.) You should give a letter-writer a draft copy of your statement of purpose, and if it has been a while since you worked with that person, supply him/her with copies of the work you did in class.

The Senior Thesis Seminar provides a useful framework for senior thesis writers as they work through the intermittent difficulties that all thesis students inevitably encounter. For many seniors, their thesis will turn out to be the best piece of writing done while at Harvard. It will also be the longest and most complicated. Consequently, the Seminar will focus much attention on the unique challenges of writing an extended, multi-chapter work. The Seminar also provides a common forum in which seniors can share with thesis-writing colleagues their feedback, successes, frustrations, interests, and techniques. This kind of collegiality and exchange of ideas is at the heart of the academic seminar, and it can be the most rewarding aspect of History 99.

The Senior Thesis Seminar is a cooperative effort that depends on the active participation of all involved. It is also a part of your History 99 grade, and your attendance is required to pass this portion of the course. More than one absence can result in a failing grade or exclusion from the course, which would end your thesis project. The Seminar meets approximately every other week, always on Wednesday evenings.

Finally, the Senior Thesis Seminar prepares students for the Senior Thesis Writers Conference, which is held at the beginning of December and attended by Department faculty, tutors and teaching fellows, other graduate students, and fellow undergraduates. Thesis writers give 15-minute presentations that explain their projects and prospective arguments. They then take questions from the audience.

A Handbook for Senior Thesis Writers in History is the one universal textbook in the Seminar. Copies are distributed at the introductory meeting in September. The Handbook represents the collected wisdom of past thesis writers and advisors. There is advice on a wide-range of issues that all thesis writers face at some point in the process. In addition, there is a section describing model aspects of recent theses; this will be a valuable reference tool throughout the year. Also, the Handbook contains exercises for thesis writers, such as an annotated bibliography and peer review. While some portions of the Handbook will be more useful for you than others, it is designed to be used regularly so that you (and your advisor) can run internal diagnostics on your thesis project—that is, you can compare your progress to benchmarks met and standards set by others who have completed the capstone tutorial of the concentration.

1. Students enrolled in History 99 must inform the Tutorial Office of their thesis topic and confirmed advisor in late September.
   
2. By the beginning of the January reading period, you must submit substantial proof of research to your thesis advisor. This usually takes the form of a chapter or two of the thesis (20 to 30 pages).
   
3. For the academic year 2007-08, THESES WILL BE DUE ON THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2008 by 5:00 pm. Theses that are handed in late or that do not meet the requirements on length will be penalized.
   

The minimum length of the text of the thesis is 15,000 words (about 60 pages). Theses shorter than the minimum may be excluded from consideration for honors. The maximum length of the text is 35,000 words (about 130 pages). Theses longer than the maximum may be penalized. Note that the minimum and the maximum stipulations are only for the text; they are exclusive of footnotes, bibliographies, glossaries, or appendices.

All seniors writing theses will receive a pamphlet, “Instructions Regarding Theses”, early in the fall term.

The Department may exclude from the tutorial program at any time a student who is not doing satisfactory work in tutorial. Any student who is not seeing his or her advisor on a regular basis or who has not turned in any or sufficient written work can be given an UNSAT grade in History 99. Credit will be given for half of History 99 if the requirements set below are met.

If you decide to drop the thesis mid year with half-course credit for History 99, you must submit a 25-30 page paper to the Tutorial Office by mid-January. To earn half-course credit, this essay must be organized as a self contained paper with a proper introduction and a conclusion and a central argument, rather than as a chapter of a longer thesis that will not be written.

If you decide to drop the thesis after that date, you must do substantially more work (a 45-50 page paper) and submit this paper by May 1, again to the Tutorial Office, to receive full-course credit for History 99. To earn full-course credit, this longer paper must meet the same requirements of the mid-January paper.

Each History thesis is read by at least two members of the Board of Tutors (faculty and/or graduate student tutor). If History is the secondary field of a joint concentration, there is only one History reader. Each reader assigns an evaluation to the thesis (highest honors, highest honors minus, high honors plus, high honors, high honors minus, honors plus, honors, or no distinction), and writes a report detailing the special strengths and weaknesses of the thesis. Theses will ordinarily be sent to a third reader when: 1) the first two evaluations are at least 3 distinctions apart (e.g., one high honors plus and one honors plus), or 2) the thesis only receives one highest-level evaluation and the student has a History grade point average of 3.75 or higher.

Thesis evaluations are converted into numerical equivalents, which are then used, along with grades in courses and tutorials for which concentration credit were given, to determine the recommendation for Departmental (English) honors.