Department of English Honours Program

• Qualifying for Honours in English
• The Honours Year in English
• Qualifying for Honours in Australian Literature
• The Honours Year in Australian Literature

In brief, to qualify for honours in English you need a credit average or above in 48 points of senior English, including

• Two senior units
• Two advanced units on topics other than twentieth-century and contemporary literature and film
• The two special-entry units, ENGL3962 and ENGL3964
• Two other units, either of which may be senior or advanced units, including those on twentieth-century literature and film.

If you began your degree in 2005 or earlier, you should discuss your preparation for honours with the Honours Coordinator.

If you began your degree in 2006 or more recently, you can qualify for honours in the following way.

Once you gain a credit or above in two senior units of English, you are qualified to enter the first stage of the English honours program, which leads ultimately to an honours degree. To qualify for admission to the final year of honours study, you must gain a credit average in eight senior units (48 points) of English, including the two special-entry units and two advanced units on topics other than twentieth-century literature and film.

The requirements for honours in English are more demanding than the requirements for a major in English, in terms both of the number and kind of units you do, and of the academic merit you need to demonstrate in each of them. If you are interested in doing honours, it is best to choose your units accordingly from the beginning of your second year. Gaining a credit or above in two junior units of English is a reliable sign that you may be capable of qualifying for honours.

Once you gain a credit or above in two senior units of English, you are qualified to take any of the advanced units that the Department offers. To qualify for honours, you must take two advanced units on topics other than twentieth-century and contemporary literature and film.

Once you gain a credit or above in two senior units of English and have also completed 96 points overall in your degree, you are qualified to take both of the special-entry units that the Department offers. To qualify for Honours, you must take both of these units, but you may take them in whichever order is more convenient. The Department strongly recommends that you take them in the two semesters immediately before your honours year. Many of the matters they address are closely related to those addressed in the honours year, and the classes they entail are designed to begin two uninterrupted years of intellectually productive debate with your peers and teachers. The special-entry unit offered in March, ENGL3962: The Text and the Critic, considers the definition, interpretation, and criticism of literary texts, and other aspects of literary theory. The special-entry unit offered in July, ENGL3964: English Studies – Research Methods, considers the physical constitution of literary texts, bibliographical and editorial questions, and scholarly methodology. Both units involve some consideration of Old English, Middle English, and Modern English language and literature, and Australian literature.

If you decide to enter the honours program belatedly, you will normally be expected to fulfill exactly the same requirements as those entering earlier.

HONOURS CONVERSION

If you have already graduated with a pass degree in which you qualified, or very nearly qualified, for honours in English, you may apply for an Honours Conversion, in order to extend your degree into an honours year, with departmental permission. You can usually do so as a matter of course for several years after you graduate. If more than several years have elapsed, you may be required to complete some supplementary preparatory units before enrolling in your honours year.

If you have graduated from another university with a pass degree in which you qualified for honours in English at that university, we would as a general rule accept you into our honours program, if your English studies elsewhere are comparable to those here.

HONOURS SCHOLARSHIPS

The University of Sydney offers a substantial number of Honours Scholarships every year, some awarded solely on the basis of academic merit and others awarded on the basis of a combination of academic merit and financial need. You can find out more about these scholarships here.

For more information about honours in English, you should consult:

Dr Bruce Gardiner
Special Entry, Advanced, and Honours Coordinator
Woolley room S321
Phone 9351 6857

Once you have gained a credit average in 48 senior points of English, including the two special entry units and two advanced units other than those on twentieth-century literature and film, you can apply to take a final full year of Honours study in English. Of course, you must also have satisfied all other requirements for the pass degree in which you are enrolled. If you did all your qualifying units some years ago, you will need to consult the Honours coordinator about your plans.

As an Honours candidate you write a thesis of 15,000 words, or undertake an editorial or bibliographical project of comparable scope and sophistication, under the supervision of a member of the Department who has some expertise in the field you choose to work in. The Department regards your Honours thesis as no less important than a postgraduate thesis, and we endeavour to devote as much care and attention to supervising your work as we do to any postgraduate’s. To supplement the work of your supervisor, a series of seminars on scholarly research and writing is offered throughout the year. Your thesis is due at the end of the October recess, and is worth three eighths or 37.5% of your final mark.

You also choose five semester-long coursework options, three in the first semester, two in the second. Among them, you may include one or two not listed among the English Honours options. As a matter of course, you can choose one or both of these from among Australian Literature Honours options. But you can choose one or both from among the English advanced units only with the special permission of the coordinator, who must ensure that your Honours year remains intellectually coherent and sufficiently challenging for you. Each of your five options is worth one eighth or 12.5% of your final mark, and is assessed by way of a 5,000-word essay or its equivalent.

For one of your March semester options – whichever one you choose – you present a twenty-minute paper at a conference in June. After presenting it, you answer questions and respond to suggestions about it from your audience. Your conference performance is worth 50% of your mark for the option, and is assessed according to these criteria:

• how reasonable and persuasive your arguments are;
• how pertinent and well analysed your evidence is;
• how fluently and memorably you speak; and
• how readily and fully you answer the questions put to you.

Exactly a week after the conference, you submit a 3,000-word essay, largely based on the paper you presented, but thoroughly revised in light of the discussion it generated and your reflections on it. This essay is worth 50% of the mark for the option, and will be assessed in light of how acutely and comprehensively it responds to the questions and suggestions put to you at the conference.

The following diagram explains at a glance the structure of the Honours year:

If your interests and achievements are sufficiently multi-disciplinary, you may undertake a Joint Honours program, half of it under the auspices of the English department, half under those of another. If you do, your plans will have to be approved in advance by the Honours coordinators of both departments.

The Honours year in English prepares you well for any vocation or profession that requires exceptional skill in reading and listening to complex and closely argued discourses and texts, and writing and speaking about them carefully and persuasively. These skills are tested much more rigorously in the Honours year than in earlier years, not least by way of your conference paper and your supervised thesis, which together account for just under half your work.

For more information about the Honours year in English, you should consult:
Dr Bruce Gardiner
Special Entry, Advanced and Honours Coordinator
Woolley room S321
Phone 9351 6857

To qualify for honours in Australian Literature, you need a credit average or above in 48 points of senior Australian Literature units, including the two special-entry units:

• ASLT3602: Australian Literature Research Issues, in the March semester, and
• ASLT3601: Australian Literature Research Methods, in the July semester.

To enrol in these special-entry units, which are co-requisites, you need a credit average in 12 points of senior Australian Literature units. The two special-entry units are taught in combination with the two English special-entry units, ENGL3692 and ENGL3964. You should enrol in the special-entry units in the final two semesters of your pass degree, unless your particular circumstances suggest you do otherwise, as when spending a semester on exchange at another university.

The requirements for honours in Australian Literature are more demanding than the requirements for a major in Australian Literature, in terms both of the number and kind of units you do, and of the academic merit you need to demonstrate in each of them. If you decide to enter the honours program belatedly, you will normally be expected to fulfil exactly the same requirements as those entering earlier.

HONOURS CONVERSION

If you have already graduated with a pass degree in which you qualified, or very nearly qualified, for honours in Australian Literature, you may apply for an Honours Conversion, in order to extend your degree into an honours year, with departmental permission. You can usually do so as a matter of course for several years after you graduate. If more than several years have elapsed, you may be required to complete some supplementary Australian Literature senior units before enrolling in your honours year.

HONOURS SCHOLARSHIPS

The University of Sydney offers a substantial number of Honours Scholarships every year, some awarded solely on the basis of academic merit and others awarded on the basis of a combination of academic merit and financial need. You can find out more about these scholarships by consulting the following webpage: http://www.usyd.edu.au/scholarships/current/honours.shtml

For more information about honours in Australian Literature, you should consult either of the following:

Professor Robert Dixon
Professor of Australian Literature
Woolley room N404
Phone 9036 7231


Associate Professor David Brooks
Australian Literature Honours Coordinator
Woolley room S364
Phone 9351 2569

Once you have gained a credit average in 48 senior points of Australian Literature, including the two special-entry units, you can apply to take a final full year of honours study in Australian Literature. Of course, you must also have satisfied all other requirements for the pass degree in which you are enrolled. If you did all your qualifying units some years ago, you will need to consult the honours coordinator about your plans.

As an honours candidate you write a thesis of 15,000 words, or undertake an editorial or bibliographical project of comparable scope and sophistication, under the supervision of a staff-member of the Australian Literature program who has some expertise in the field you choose to work in. We regard your honours thesis as no less important than a postgraduate thesis, and endeavour to devote as much care and attention to supervising your work as we do to any postgraduate’s. To supplement the work of your supervisor, a series of seminars on scholarly research and writing is offered by the Department of English throughout the year.

You also take four semester-long coursework options, two each semester. You may, with special permission, substitute for one of these options an Honours option from another Honours program, such as English. Each of your four options is assessed by way of a 5,000-word essay or its equivalent.

For either of your two March semester options – whichever one you choose – you present a twenty-minute paper at a combined Australian Literature and English Honours conference in June. After presenting the paper, you answer questions and respond to suggestions about it from your audience. Your conference performance is worth 50% of your mark for the option. Exactly a week after the conference, you submit a 3,000-word essay, largely based on the paper you presented, but thoroughly revised in light of the discussion it generated and your reflections on it. This essay is worth 50% of the mark for the option, and will be assessed in light of how acutely and comprehensively it responds to the questions and suggestions put to you at the conference.

The following diagram explains at a glance the structure of the Honours year:

If your interests and achievements are sufficiently multi-disciplinary, you may undertake a Joint Honours program, half of it under the auspices of the Australian Literature program, half under those of another program or department. If you do, your plans will have to be approved in advance by the coordinators of both Honours programs.

The Honours year in Australian Literature prepares you well for any vocation or profession that requires exceptional skill in reading and listening to complex and closely argued discourses and texts, and writing and speaking about them carefully and persuasively. These skills are tested much more rigorously in the Honours year than in earlier years, not least by way of your conference paper and your supervised thesis.

For more information about the Honours year in Australian Literature, you should consult either of the following:

Professor Robert Dixon
Professor of Australian Literature
Woolley room N404
Phone 9036 7231


Associate Professor David Brooks
Australian Literature Honours Coordinator
Woolley room S364
Phone 9351 2569