Honours
Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National University
| RELATED PAGES |
| Honours information |
| Honours theses topics |
| Honours supervisors |
| Research proposal |
Contents |
Beginning the Honours Year
Students who are proceeding directly from a Pass Degree (whether at the ANU or another university) to the Honours Year should begin serious work for their Honours Year immediately after they have completed their Pass Degree examinations. Before the end of the semester before starting the Honours Year they should have discussed with their prospective supervisors their thesis topic so that they can immediately begin reading and collecting relevant material. Before course work begins students should have seriously considered their thesis topic and made necessary preparations. Students should be present in Canberra well before the semester starts. By the time the semester begins they should have read a substantial amount of material on their topic and should have had further discussions with their supervisor/s about the basic structure of their thesis and their research plan.
The Honours Year begins on the first day of the first semester of the academic year. It consists of two consecutive semesters when done full-time, four consecutive semesters when conducted part time.
The Honours supervisor/s will normally be selected and appointed at the end of the year preceding the Honours Year. Students may, with the Dean's permission, take the Honours Program part time, over four consecutive semesters. The Honours Committee may give special permission to combined degree students to begin their Asian Studies Honours Year while completing a single course needed to finish their other degree.
The weighting of the dissertation and courses to the overall Honours Grade will be determined early in the Honours year. The number of courses that a student has applied to do will be assessed by the Honours Committee at the same time. Honours-Year students will ensure that their proposed coursework, research topic and supervision arrangements have been submitted to, and approved by, the Honours Committee.
NB: The Honours Program form must be submitted by the first day of the first semester of the Honours year.
Successful applicants are expected to obtain a letter of support from the potential supervisor(s) based on their Honours thesis research proposal before the Honours Year begins. This letter should include a statement that the supervisor(s) is/are satisfied that the student is qualified to carry out the proposed research topic within the time available and they are willing to supervise if appointed. If the potential supervisor will not be available for significant periods of the Honours Year the letter should set out what additional supervisory arrangements will be made. This letter should be submitted to the Administrator of Graduate & Advanced Programs before the first day of Semester One.
Requests for Deferment
Students wishing to defer from an admitted place in the Honours year must submit a written request to the Administrator of Graduate & Advanced Programs. The letter of request should be made in consultation with the students Supervisor, and should state the reasons for the deferment. Requests for up to 12 months deferment are usually readily granted, but a persuasive case must be made for a longer deferment and should state how this period of deferment will contribute to the planned Honours program.
Structure and Content of the Honours Year
The work completed in the Honours Year consists of:
- An Honours thesis representing 60 or 70% of the total grade for the Honours Year. The Honours thesis is to be written in English and is 15,000 to 20,000 words in length.
- Two Honours seminars, one (currently Textual Strategies) assessed, one (Work-in-Progress) not assessed. All Honours Year students must participate in the unassessed Work-in-Progress Seminar. This Seminar Series covers approaches to academic research and writing, and discussion of each student's thesis proposals and the progress of their work. Attendance is compulsory, but there is no assessment applied to the final Honours grade.
- One or two other 6 unit semester-length courses of third year standard. These courses may be taught in the Faculty of Asian Studies or, with the agreement of both Faculties, in another Faculty. They must be related to the field of study of the thesis topic. One course may be a supervised study course.
Working Rules for the Honours Year
These are the working rules for the Honours year in the Faculty of Asian Studies.
Thesis submission and format
Three copies of the thesis must be submitted to the Administrator Graduate and Advanced Programs by the due date. One hard copy will be retained by the Faculty. Thesis requirements and submission dates will be available from the first day of the first semester.
The thesis is required to be 15,000-20,000 words in length and written in English. It will comply with the specifications on format and binding as laid down by the Faculty. Requests to vary these requirements can only be considered by the Honours Committee in exceptional circumstances.
View Requirements for Honours Theses
The examination of the thesis and the classification of the Honours degree
At the end of the Honours year the Honours Committee makes a recommendation to the Faculty on an overall grade and class for that student's Honours degree. The Honours Committee takes into account both the thesis and the assessed coursework for the Honours year. Coursework done for the pass degree or degrees is not taken into consideration.
The Honours seminars and all the assessed coursework, including the assessed Honours Year seminar will count for a total of 30%, and the thesis will count for 70%, to the overall grade. In the exception when an additional course is chosen to be taken by the student, and approved by the Committee, the ratios change to accommodate the additional course (40% from coursework and 60% from the dissertation).
The thesis will be examined by two examiners who have not taken part in the supervision of the thesis. Examiners will be approved by the Honours Convenor in consultation with the Supervisor/s. The student will normally be informed of the names of the intended examiners before they are appointed. An examiner will not normally be appointed when the student has objections.
Examiners are required to evaluate the thesis separately and independently. Each examiner sends a suggested mark for the thesis and a report in writing to the Honours Committee. The Committee, in consultation with the examiners when possible, addresses any differences in the proposed marks to reach an agreed grade for the thesis. The thesis grade is then aggregated with the coursework marks dependent on the approved weighting (normally 30:70 or 40:60). The resulting mark out of 100 determines the class of the Honours recommended by the Committee to Faculty in accordance with the following table:
80-100 First class honours 70-79 Second class honours (division A) 60-69 Second class honours (division B) 50-59 Third class honours Less than 50 Fail (but eligible to take out pass degree if not already taken)
Students will receive anonymous copies of the examiners' reports when notified of their final results. Students may request certification of their performance from the Faculty after the results are approved for any reason that the results are needed before receiving the University's testamur (degree certificate) on graduation.
Depending on the pass degree completed, students graduate with the degree of Bachelor of Asian Studies (Honours) or Bachelor of Asian Studies (Specialist) (Honours).
Rules for Honours in Asian Studies 3/99
List of Theses of Recent Honours students (2002-2007)
You may be interested to read this list of previous Honours theses topics.
NB: A full list would be too long to include here, but you may be interested to know that it was at our Faculty that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wrote his excellent thesis, "Human Rights in China: The Case of Wei Jingsheng" (1980).
Awards, Scholarships, and Prizes
Information on Scholarships and prizes will follow soon.
Contact information
.........can be found here!
Further information
- Detailed information about Faculty of Asian Studies programs, including admission requirements, prerequisites, career possibilities, program requirements, Majors and Specialisations, and degree structure and courses, is published in the ANU online handbook, which also provides authoritative information concerning the programs and courses available in any particular year.
- You are encouraged to seek specific guidance on these matters from the Sub-Dean of the Faculty. Please email Enquiries.AsianStudies@anu.edu.au or phone 6125 0515 to arrange an appointment.