Finding an Advisor
Your honors advisor can be any full-time, permanent member of the Classical Studies department, but s/he should also be someone who
- Specializes in an area you are interested in. To find out the research specialties of faculty members you can a) talk to them, or b) look them up on our departmental faculty directory.
- Has had you as a student in at least one class, and who has a high opinion of your work.
- Is someone you feel you can work with on a one-to-one basis over a long period of time
Begin sounding out potential advisors as early as you can, even before your junior year if possible, but in any event no later than the fall semester of your junior year. Ask them directly if they would be willing to work with you on honors and solicit them for suggestions of topics that they would be qualified to advise you on.
Please remember that no faculty member is obliged to take on the responsibility of directing an honors thesis, and that many circumstances may prevent a faculty member from doing so even if you are an excellent student whom the faculty member otherwise enjoys working with. For instance, faculty can rarely take on more than one honors project at a time, so if someone gets in ahead of you you may be out of luck. This is one of many reasons to begin talking with faculty as early as you can.
