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Honors

Honors can be earned in Ancient Greek & Roman Studies, Greek or Latin.

The requirements and procedures for Honors are as follows:

Requirements

1. Standing. 

A student must be a declared major in the Classics Department and in the subject in which Honors is done. A student must have a 3.6 overall GPA and a 3.6 GPA in the major courses.

2. Course Work.

- Completion of the major program.

- Honors in Greek & Latin:

  • Must be completed as Honors in either Greek or Latin.
  • Requires completion of at least one Senior Reading course in Greek or Latin poetry and one Senior Reading course in Greek or Latin prose; these can be done as part of the major program itself.

- Completion of the appropriate two-semester Honors course (Classics H195A-B, Greek H195A-B, or Latin H195A-B) with the grade of "C-" or better.  The first semester of the Honors course (the H195A segment) is worth 2-4 units, depending on the amount of work required by the Committee Chair. The second semester of the Honors course (the H195B segment) is worth 4 units.  Prerequisites:  Appropriate preparation and eligibility for admission to the Honors program.  The work for the Honors course may either build on work in a previous upper division course used to fulfill the relevant major (i.e., the major in which Honors is sought) or a newly conceived project.  The work will result in the writing of a thesis, to be evaluated by an Honors committee of three members. The thesis is due the Monday of the 13th week of the semester in which the course is taken.

To sign up for an H195A-B course the student must first form an Honors Committee and determine who the Chair of the Honors Committee will be (see next item). To enroll in Honors, complete one of the following forms:

Honors 195A (Starting)

Honors 195B (Completing)

Committee

The student doing Honors is responsible for organizing their Honors Committee. This is done by direct communication with professors the student would like to work with. The Honors Committee is composed of three Berkeley professors. At least two must have appointments in the DAGRS Department. Under exceptional circumstances, one professor may be from a Classics Department outside Berkeley (e.g., Stanford), but the other two must be from Berkeley's department.

The student establishes that one of the three professors will be the Chair of the Committee. The Chair of the Honors Committee coordinates the student in their honors work, and is the Instructor of Record for the H195A-B course. The Honors Chair and the student consult the other members of the Honors Committee during the work on the thesis.

Submission of Thesis and Award of Honors

The student submits a completed thesis by the Monday of the 13th week of instruction of the semester in which Honors is to be awarded. The Honors Committee, under the coordination of the Honors Committee Chair, reads and evaluates the thesis by the Friday of the 14th week of instruction.  The Committee determines by agreement what level of Honors the thesis will be given, if any. The levels are: cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude. Work graded B and lower will have a letter grade but will not be awarded Honors. The levels of Honors notionally correspond to the grades of "B+/A-" (cum laude), "A" (magna cum laude), and "A+" (summa cum laude).

The Chair of the Honors Committee informs the student, the Chair of the Department and the Undergraduate Advisor of the level of Honors (if any) to be awarded. This must be done by the end of the 14th week of instruction.

Award of Honors is announced at Commencement.

Honors in the Department is entirely separate from Honors in General Scholarship, the parameters for which are based solely on overall GPA and are determined by the Registrar for each graduating class. An Honors Cord is worn at graduation to mark either Honors in General Scholarship, or Departmental Honors in the Major, or both.