Elizabethtown College English Department

Have you been hoping to write a young adult novel or research a narrative element more deeply than normal classes might allow?  The Honors in the Discipline project provides just such an opportunity.  It is a commendation awarded to outstanding seniors who excel academically.

Eligible students receive an invitation during their junior year. In order to be eligible, a student needs to have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.6 within the English major.

Honors in the Discipline is one of the various academic honors that Elizabethtown English majors can be awarded.

The Honors in the Discipline project is separate from the Honor’s Program offered at Elizabethtown College. Students who are not part of the Honor’s Program can still be eligible to complete this project.

What Is It?

In order to accomplish this project, a student must complete a project, either research or creative, under the direction of a faculty member of their choice.

Students work on this project throughout their entire senior year. In the spring, students are required to present their project at Scholarship and Creative Arts Day at the school (SCAD).

What kind of projects are completed, you ask? What ever area you find academically interesting! As an example, senior Professional Writing major Emily Drinks is completing a project experimenting with ways to teach the Bible to elementary and middle school children. Another project that was completed researched gender identity and gender roles in Shakespeare’s plays.

Why Is It Important?

There are various reasons why honors in the discipline is a useful tool for college students. Emily Drinks emphasizes the importance of such a project if someone has plans to apply to grad school. Completing a project like this shows schools that you are capable of and have experience managing in depth research. It also give you practice in completing publishable works that are in excess of 40 pages.

Corrine McCarthy is an underclassman who hopes to be invited to complete an honors in the discipline project. She believes this project to be important because it allows students to be able to explore a topic that interests them before they “have to go into the real world and work a 9-5 job.”

What Will You Get Out of It?

Students who complete this project will have record of such on their academic transcripts. Upon completion and graduation, it will be noted in the program for the graduation ceremony.

Why Do It?

When senior Emily Drinks was asked this question, she responded jokingly, “Because I’m insane.” In truth, completing this project does entail an extra work load. However, the benefits of completing this project far outweigh the stress.

For more information, contact the honors in the discipline coordinator for the English department Dr. John Rohrkemper at rohrkemperj@etown.edu.

Author Bio:

Lee Soltys is a member of the class of 2017 and had a double major in Sociology/Anthropology with a concentration in Criminology and English Professional Writing. She completed an honors in the discipline project for her Sociology major using elements from her Professional Writing major. Lee has been published in other places on campus, including VOX Literary Magazine (now called Fine Print) and on the Sowing the Seed website compiled by Dr. Newton of the Religious Studies Department.

Tags: academic excellance, Honors, presentation, research