The thesis advisor and the student are responsible for assembling the committee of readers/examiners, and scheduling the public presentation and defense. Ordinarily, the committee consists of three members, at least two of which are LAS faculty at Macalester. The third committee member may be from any department (including LAS) and may possibly be from another college or university.
The thesis presentation and defense will include a formal, public presentation of the project, followed by a lengthy Q&A session including questions from both the committee and the audience. The presentation and defense typically lasts 60-90 minutes.
The thesis committee will conduct the oral examination of the student and the students’ project. Approval of the project for official submission and listing as a Senior Honors Thesis will be made by the committee on criteria appropriate to the context of each project but meeting the standards of exceptional research effort, distinctive analysis and interpretation, and effective writing. The committee will also provide the student with comments and recommendations for final revision of the project.
The final editing and preparation of the Honors thesis to be submitted to the Honors Program Office should reflect the recommendations of the thesis committee and meet the format and copy standards of professional scholars.