Faculty committee: P. J. Trowbridge, chair

The research honors program in landscape studies offers outstanding undergraduates in CALS the opportunity to work with a member of the landscape architecture faculty to pursue supervised independent research in design, the cultural landscape, landscape archaeology, environmental design, and community-based planning and design. The student need not be a major in the landscape architecture professional design curriculum. The subject matter and nature of the research experience may be quite varied. Students participating should find the experience intellectually stimulating and rewarding, whether or not they intend to pursue a research career. The guidance and supervision of a faculty member with substantial interest and expertise in the subject is essential to the success of the project. It is expected that the research will require significant effort and creative input by the student in its design and execution and in reporting the results.

Students who consider this option should be aware that honors research is undertaken above and beyond any of the requirements for graduation in the major of landscape architecture. It involves a number of deadlines and a considerable time commitment. Before signing on for research honors, students need to consult with their academic advisor to make sure that honors research projects will not interfere with other academic or professional objectives, such as job applications, preparation of portfolios, or application to graduate school. These may need to be deferred until the thesis is complete. Students are responsible for meeting deadlines and being prepared for presentations and other meetings.

Although honors research credits for spring semester junior year and both semesters senior year are designated a letter grade, individual mentors may choose the R grade for work in progress until the project has been fully completed. Grade is determined by each student’s mentor. The designation of “distinction in research” on the diploma is awarded at the recommendation of the faculty advisor and other referees to the honors committee chair. An outline of activities for both years is given below.

The Landscape Studies Research Honors Committee requires that an undergraduate who is interested in embarking on a research honors project proceed with the following steps:

1. Junior year: Identify a potential research honors project sponsor and secure that faculty member’s commitment to sponsor the student in the research project. This should be accomplished early in the second semester of the junior year and be finalized by the end of the spring semester. Pre-register during the spring for the research honors program (LA 4991).
   
   
2. Work with a faculty advisor to identify and formulate a research problem. If the faculty advisor is not in the Department of Landscape Architecture, select a co-advisor from the department to ensure that the research is consistent with the field.
   
   
3. Submit a completed application and proposal (approved by the honors project supervisor and the chair of the research honors committee) no later than the end of the fourth week of the first semester of the senior year. Earlier submissions are encouraged. These will be reviewed by ad hoc committee members, and successful thesis proposals will be submitted to the college honors committee by the sixth week.
   
   
4. Carry out an independent research effort that is original and separate from the work of others who may be investigating similar subjects.
   
   
5. Submit an outline of the thesis to the chair of the committee by the end of January for a May graduation.
   
   
6. Submit a draft to the readers by April 15. Describe and summarize the work within the range of formats used in the master’s thesis program or professional journals in design or research. This version will be reviewed by the faculty supervisor and two ad hoc reviewers, and the student will be able to incorporate the committee’s comments and suggestions into the final version, which will be due the last day of classes. Referees prepare a recommendation to the honors committee chair regarding the acceptability of the honors thesis.
   
   
7. Give two oral presentations to the group of other honors research students and invited faculty members. Both presentations are during the student’s senior year.
   
   
8. Send two bound copies of the completed and defended thesis to the honors committee chair by May 13.
   
   
9. Students may volunteer to submit electronically to the honors committee chair a copy of their final approved thesis (in pdf or Word format) for Mann Library. Mann Library has given CALS the opportunity to have theses available to the public electronically if this does not interfere with other plans, such as patenting or publishing in another journal. A permission form to allow the thesis to be made available online at Mann Library can be obtained from the honors committee chair.
   
   
10. In addition, students are required to submit electronically to the honors committee chair their thesis title, research advisor’s name, and abstract (in Word format). During each summer, the CALS Research Honors Abstracts publication is published (on the web beginning 2009) as a compilation of research honors thesis abstracts.