Selecting a Thesis Topic

There are several resources available to you in navigating a thesis topic. You should choose a thesis topic that genuinely interests you, even if it is outside your major. Try not to feel restricted by what you or others expect your thesis/area to be. Once you come up with ideas, you need to narrow your topic. This is especially important when writing a thesis because you need to develop a topic that is broad enough to be researchable but specific enough in scope that you can thoroughly dissect and discuss it. Scholars start their thesis at many different points in time and we suggest you start thinking about a thesis topic as early as your freshman year since the thesis is the culmination of an entire undergraduate course of study and there are so many experiences that can lead you to potential thesis/creative project topics: classes, conversations with faculty, internships, research opportunities, summer abroad to name a few.

Every class has the potential to open for you an area of interest that might become an avenue to the thesis/creative project. You should be alert to the possibilities. If something you hear, read or experience in conjunction with a particular class excites your interest, take the time to discuss with the professor whether or not this topic would lend itself to a thesis or creative project. That professor might be delighted at the prospect of having a bright, motivated student work with him or her on research in that field. You might be able to get an early start on your thesis/creative project and accumulate honors research credit throughout your years at ASU.

You will probably base your thesis or creative project on an aspect of your coursework that piqued your interest. A topic often emerges from a solid background in a specific subject. It is a good idea to take two or three courses that concentrate in a specific area. For example, if your interest is the French Revolution, prepare by taking course offerings having to do with French history and Early Modern Europe before you begin your research.

Some departments have formal programs for introducing students to the thesis process. The Department of Psychology and the College of Business, for instance, both have course sequences that lead to the thesis. Psychology students take PSY 492 and PSY 497 spring semester junior year and PSY 493 and PSY 497 fall semester senior year. If your department does not have such a curricular program and you have not yet identified your director, you should talk with faculty members about serving on your thesis/creative project committee no later than the first semester of your junior year. If you are not sure which faculty members might be interested in helping with your intended thesis/creative project areas, we encourage you to schedule an appointment with your Barrett Honors Advisor at 480-965-9155. We also encourage you to set up a meeting with the honors disciplinary advisor (HDA) in your department. This is a faculty member in your discipline that assists all Barrett students in navigating a major, thesis topic or other opportunities in your major. You can visit the HDA in your major as early as your freshman year.

The following is a list of tips and resources available to you as you begin the process of selecting a thesis/creative project topic:

Meet with a Barrett honors advisor to review the thesis process

Schedule an appointment with your honors disciplinary advisor

Talk to faculty about topics interesting to you both in class and relative to other opportunities in the major, for example, topics can stem from faculty members’ ongoing research, especially in the sciences where students are involved in laboratory work

Review the Barrett Honors College website. Both Research and Internship opportunities are listed there and these experiences often evolve into thesis topics

Meet with the Barrett honors advisor who coordinates internships

The study abroad experience generally provides a superb springboard for a thesis/creative project. You can be gathering information while overseas, even if the experience happens in your freshman and sophomore years. If you plan to study abroad, you should make contact with the faculty member supervising that trip before going overseas.

Attend thesis workshops and symposiums sponsored by Barrett

There is a library of honors theses in Irish Hall A Room 124. Schedule time to review honors theses written in your area of interest, sort through the index of honors thesis titles available online and note how some theses are interdisciplinary in nature. It is possible, for example to combine interests in Communications and Sports Management!

Review all the research activity listed by discipline in the General catalog. The General Catalog is useful in identifying many existing areas of research in disciplines that interest you.