Honors Program

The Music Honors program recognizes the most distinguished majors, who complete an advanced course of study, culminating in an honors thesis. Successful applicants will be assigned an advisor to guide their work and monitor their progress.

Eligibility and Admission

Students should declare their intention to seek honors and meet with the honors coordinator in their sophomore year.

Students must have completed eighteen or more units of course work and at least four or more units in music (excluding prerequisites) with an overall grade point of at least 3.3 or above. Honors candidates must be recommended by at least one full time member of the Department of Music.

Application for departmental honors must include (1) a one-page letter from the student describing how the program requirements will be met, (2) a letter of recommendation from a full-time faculty member of the Department of Music, (3) the student's transcript, and (4) a writing sample consisting of a paper written in a music course. Applications must be submitted to the department chair by November 1 (March 1 for the spring term applicant) of the junior year, approved by the music faculty and submitted to the A&S Honors Committee by November 15 (March 15 for the spring term applicant).

Program of Study

To earn departmental honors, students must complete 3.5 units of honors course work, including:

MUS 400: Honors Seminar. Seminar on topics in critical studies, music performance, theory or composition for honors students selected by instructor and those enrolled. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the department Honors Program. 0.5 units

MUS 401/402: Honors Thesis/Project. Guided research and preparation for honors thesis or project in critical studies, music performance, theory or composition. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the department Honors Program. 0.5/0.5 units

Two honors independent study courses or two standard elective courses with special work above and beyond the norm.

An honors thesis/project topic must be approved before the end of the second semester junior year at which time the candidate must identify or will be assigned a thesis advisor. The thesis/project will be publicly presented in the second semester of the senior year. Units earned from MUS 400, 401 and 402 are in addition to the 13 units required for the music major. Honors students are to maintain a grade point average of at least 3.3 while participating in the program.