Acting

Major Requirements for Students Pursuing Latin Honors

Common Honors Courses in Major

ENGL 3007H - Honors Shakespeare

Required Thesis Course

HCOL 3101H

Capstone Considerations

Free-play project, mentor-rich process.

Thesis Requirements

Honors seniors must submit a 10-15 page thesis in addition to their capstone performances and/or play scripts. The thesis is more formal and less creative. The thesis should be the equivalent of 80 hours of work. The student is expected to meet with their faculty thesis advisor at least 4 times across the year (more if needed). For both written and performed works, a summa thesis always represents original work of the highest quality.

Summa Requirements for Written Theses

Minimum length is 40 pages (double-spaced), half of which is devoted to presentation of original, primary research.
Summa Grade Rubric: 25% literature review, 50 % primary research, 25% concluding analysis linking primary research to literature review, in order to explain how your thesis contributes to advancing the field literature.

Summa Requirements for Performed Theses

Written component remains the same for artistic projects for cum laude and magna cum laude
Performance rehearsals must include 2 work-in-progress showings for thesis mentors to give feedback that can be incorporated into the final show.
Summa Grade Rubric: 25% Written summative analysis (10-15 pages), 25% Work-in-progress showings, 50% Final performance

Plan C Thesis Options

In addition to the written and performed thesis options above, Honors students in Acting may elect to pursue an artistic project, such as producing a play, writing a script, taking on a significant stage-management assignment, etc. If the thesis is an artistic project, it should also have a substantial component of written documentation (see below) that is presented in a polished form, using appropriate citation.

The student should submit:

Documentation of the outcome (ex. a script, designs etc.) or process (ex. field journal, interviews etc.), as relevant to the specific project.
A summative analysis of about 10 – 15 (efficient) pages. This analysis should explain how the project fulfilled the honors thesis requirements, by answering the following questions:
1. What was the intent of the project? What question did it seek to answer?
2. How and why is that question of interest to others in our field? What is its broader significance?
3. How have other artists or scholars answered that question, or a similar one? (i.e. the student should demonstrate a knowledge of existing ideas, approaches, interpretations, or methods)
4. How did the student go about answering that question (i.e. explanation of their methods)?
5. And what was their answer? (i.e. outcome of the project)
6. How did this project contribute to the current state of knowledge/practice in our field?
It should also include a bibliography and abstract (the format is stipulated on the UHP website – the student should be responsible for this, and it will be vetted prior to final submission by the student's Honors Advisor)

Committee Composition

All theses must be approved by a three member committee. At least one committee member (not necessarily the advisor) must be a tenure-track faculty member at the University of Minnesota, and at least one must be affiliated with the department in which the thesis is conducted.