322 Wheeler Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-1030
Main Office: (510) 642-3467
Fax: (510) 642-8738
HONORS COURSE: ENGLISH H195A/B: An honors degree in English requires the completion of a two-semester 8-unit course, English H195A/B, offered every year in a fall-spring sequence only. H195A is a limited-enrollment course in criticism and critical theory, during which students develop a thesis project. At the end of H195A, a grade of IP is assigned. In H195B students work independently, under the supervision of the H195 instructor and a thesis adviser, to complete the honors thesis (normally 40-60 pages). Upon completion of the thesis, and only then, students earn 8 units and a letter grade for the whole sequence.
There are three degrees of honors based on G.P.A. in English at the time of graduation: “Honors in the Major” (3.650-3.760), “High Honors in the Major” (3.761-3.870), and “Highest Honors in the Major” (3.871-4.000). You can calculate your G.P.A. in English here.
REQUIREMENTS: This course is an instructor-approved course open only to senior English majors with an overall G.P.A. of 3.51 or higher and a major G.P.A. of 3.65 or higher in courses taken at Berkeley towards the major. Overall GPA is taken from the student’s transcript after spring grades are posted. The major GPA is calculated at that time and includes all courses completed for the major.
APPLICATIONS: In order to be considered for admission to the Honors Course, students must complete an application, available beginning in early April in the racks outside the English Department office, and return it, along with a photocopy of a critical paper you have written for another class, to the box on the counter inside the English Department office by the appropriate deadline. See the English Department’s Announcement of Classes, posted on the English Department’s website, for application deadlines and information. Since the department must review the G.P.A.s of H195A applicants for courses taken all the way through the spring semester and the instructors must carefully assess the applications, it will not be possible to determine who has been admitted until the fall semester is about to start.
NOTIFICATION: On the first day of classes in the fall, the class lists for H195A will be posted in the hall outside the English Department. If admitted to one of the H195A sections, students will need to obtain a CEC (class entry code) at the first class meeting from their instructor. Students will then need to log on to Tele-bears and add the course soon after that. No one will be able to enroll in H195A before classes start.
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