Thesis/Creative Project
One of the signature components of the honors experience is the honors thesis or creative project. This project represents the culmination of your entire honors experience and undergraduate education. You will work individually with a thesis/creative project mentor, a faculty member in your field of study. In addition, you and your mentor will form a thesis/creative project committee to oversee your work.
The thesis/creative project is your opportunity to contribute to and advance knowledge in your discipline in a meaningful way. It is an opportunity to engage with professors, nationally recognized in their fields and specifically interested and committed to working with honors students as thesis/creative project directors, committee members and honors disciplinary advisors. Writing a thesis or producing a creative project can be the most rewarding experience of an undergraduate career. The activity provides an opportunity for you to explore areas of academic interest in greater intensity, while earning three to six credit hours of directed research, performance, artistic production, or other original work conceived in conjunction with your thesis director and committee.
At Barrett, there are several opportunities to receive funding for your thesis/creative project research. We also support Barrett students who wish to present their work at national conferences or wish to bring in outside examiners who are experts in their discipline at other notable institutions, and travel here to serve on the thesis/creative project committee. Every year Barrett students showcase their thesis/creative project at the annual Celebrating Honors Thesis Symposium event. This is an opportunity for you to share with the entire ASU community, your expertise and experience in researching, writing or performing your thesis/creative project.
Barrett honors students who work with faculty mentors or thesis directors create multiple advantages for themselves in securing internships, research opportunities, or other opportunities related to the major that often become the source of thesis topics. Barrett students who work closely with faculty through the thesis process have unique advantages in demonstrating their scholarly commitment. ASU Faculty and Barrett alumni are often available to discuss the value of the thesis/creative project not only as good preparation for graduate and professional school, but in securing a meaningful letter of recommendation from a professor who has worked through the process with you, values your commitment and is often willing to place you in contact with colleagues at other prestigious graduate programs nationwide. Barrett honors students get into the best graduate, law, and medical schools in the country.
Graduate schools frequently require writing or research samples as part of the application process and this criteria is often weighted heavily in evaluating your skills and preparation for succeeding in their program. The honors project can also be beneficial to those entering the job market. A tangible piece of research and writing or creativity serves as an excellent presentation to prospective employers. Honors thesis/creative project manuscripts demonstrate experience with the design, execution, analysis and presentation of large projects. For students majoring in business, the scholarly background to putting together a business plan and then the development of that plan can be very impressive to a prospective employer.
Barrett is here to support you throughout the thesis process. We have outstanding deans, faculty honors disciplinary advisors, faculty fellows, and staff advisors that together help you navigate a topic, and direct you to colleagues that are experts in your resources posted on this website. The more you communicate with Barrett faculty and staff to better understand the thesis process the more you will find that the thesis/creative project is very manageable, and there are many resources available to you to make it a rewarding process.