Thesis Senior Project | Loyola University New Orleans

An Overview

All University Honors students are required to complete a thesis or senior project in order to graduate from the University Honors program. As the capstone for the University Honors curriculum, the thesis or senior project represents the culmination of your undergraduate experience here at Loyola University New Orleans by allowing you to apply your newfound knowledge, skills, and talents to create a scholarly work of original research. Under the supervision of a faculty mentor, the student will undertake a major research project that will result in one of the following: a scholarly thesis, a documentary, an original orchestral composition, a play, an art exhibit, a collection of poetry, or some such project appropriate to your major’s disciplinary requirements. Students are encouraged to devise the project themselves, but develop it in close collaboration with a faculty mentor who will supervise the various stages of the project, from research, data collection, writing, and revision, to a public presentation of the work before the Honors community.

How Does It Work?

The Honors Thesis is a 3 credit course usually taken in the Fall semester of the student's senior year, but the work itself is divided between two semesters. Ideally, the work will be done in the student's major and they will work closely with the Honors Director and a faculty thesis advisor to complete their original work. Presentations are sponsored by the Honors Program during the Spring semester, but students have many options on how to present their work. Students should expect to spend 180-200 hours working on their thesis / senior project over the course of the year.

Many departments at Loyola have thesis courses. The Honors Program requires honors students to participate in such courses where available. If your major’s department does not offer such a course, please enroll in Honors Thesis H491. While the thesis work will be accomplished with a departmental faculty mentor, students will receive their credits from the Honors Program.

ALL Honors students, regardless of whether the student is signed up for a departmental or university Honors thesis/senior project, will work closely with the Honors Director and Associate Director over the course of the year, attending group meetings, and meeting assigned deadlines in order to make sure all students are on track for completion.

Moreover, ALL Honors students are expected to present their project in a poster session at the end of the spring semester. For some students this will be in addition to a departmental presentation. Please read the documents at the near-bottom of the page carefully, particularly the general timeline, as they will help you in planning the trajectory of your thesis/project.

What Should I Take and When Should I take it?

Major	Related Course(s)	Notes
Business	Fall: HONS H491 "Honors Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in Honors
Biological Sciences	Fall: BIOL A400 "Research Proposal" (1 cr.) Fall: BIOL A401 "Independent Research" (1-4 cr.) Spring: BIOL A402 "Research Thesis" (1 cr.)	Credits in the major
Chemistry and Biochemistry	CHEM A498 "Research" (a total of 3 cr.) CHEM A493 "Capstone" (1 cr.)	Credits in the major Starting as early as their first year, honors students must register for credits in A498 "Research" or grant-funded research, for a total of three credit hours before graduation. Student will then complete A493 "Capstone" (1 cr.) their senior year.
Classical Studies	Spring (of junior year): CLHU A498 "Thesis Research" (2 cr.) Fall (of senior year): CLHU A499 "Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major
Criminology and Justice	Fall: HONS H491 "Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in Honors
Design	Spring: DSGN M480 "Design Capstone Course" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major Honors students are expected to go above and beyond the average major. Please make an appointment with Dr. Berendzen and your thesis advisor to decide what that will be for your project.
English	Fall or Spring: ENGL H492 "English Honors Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major
Environmental Science	Fall: HONS H491 "Thesis" (1 cr.) Spring: ENVA A497/A498/A499 "Capstone" (3 cr.)	Credits in Honors and the major, respectively.
History	Fall: HIST A498 "Thesis Orientation" (1 cr.) Spring: HIST A498 "Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major The thesis project may, or may not, be connected to the student's capstone project for HIST A400 "Historiography" (3 cr.), taken in the junior year.
Languages and Cultures	Spring: FREN or SPAN A498 "Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major The thesis project will be connected to the student's capstone project for either FREN or SPAN A4800 "Capstone" (1 cr.) taken in the fall of senior year.
Mass Communications	Fall: CMMN A495 "Special Project" (3 cr.) OR CMMN A498 "Research Project" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major
Mathematical Sciences	Fall: MATH A498 "Research Project" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major
Music	Fall: HONS H491 "Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in Honors
Philosophy	Fall: PHIL A498 "Philosophy Honors Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major
Physics	Fall: PHYS H498 "Honors Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major
Political Science	Fall: HONS H491 "Thesis" (1 cr.) Spring: POLS A480 "Senior Capstone" (3 cr.)	Credits in Honors and the major, respectively
Psychological Sciences	Fall: PSYC A488 "Senior Research" (2 cr.) Spring: PSYCH A489 "Senior Thesis" (1 cr.)	Credits in the major
Religious Studies	Fall: RELS A499 "Thesis" (3 cr.)	Credits in the major
Sociology	Fall: SOCI A480 "Senior Capstone" (3 cr.) Spring: HONS H491 Thesis (1 cr.)	Credits in the major and Honors, resepctively
Studio Art	Fall: VISA A450 “Senior Show” (3 cr.) Spring: VISA A451 “Senior Show” (3 cr.)	Credits in the major Honors students are expected to go above and beyond the average major. Please make an appointment with Dr. Berendzen and your thesis advisor to decide what that will be for your project.
Theatre Arts	Fall: THEA M480, “Senior Colloquium” (1 cr.) Spring: THEA M498, “Research Project” (1 cr.) AND HONS H491 (2 cr.)	Credits in the major and in Honors, respectively. Honors students are expected to go above and beyond the average major. Please make an appointment with Dr. Berendzenand your thesis advisor to decide what that will be for your project.

Important Forms and Helpful Documents

2024-2025 Forms

Helpful Guidelines

Departmental Information: Students completing Departmental projects must inform the Honors Program of their intention to complete a Departmental project and identify the associated course, professor, and time of Departmental presentation of work. These students must also meet Honors Thesis requirements as put forth in the above documents.