Honors Requirements

Lotus flower floating on water

Graduation with departmental honors is approved for students who:

  • Earn a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or better in all UO coursework
  • Earn a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or better in major coursework
  • Complete, under the supervision of a faculty member, a senior thesis to be judged by the thesis director and one other faculty member in the department

Students must enroll for at least 6 pass/no pass (P/N) credits in Thesis (CHN or JPN 403) in addition to meeting the standard major requirements. Transfer work and P/N credits are not included in determining the GPA.


Chinese manuscript

Honors Thesis in Chinese

  • With the support of an advisor, students may write a thesis on a Chinese topic. Thesis topics must be approved at least one term before the thesis is submitted for honors credit.
  • English: in order to count toward a Chinese degree the thesis must be on a Chinese cultural topic with a suggested length of 40 pages.
  • Chinese: With an advisor’s approval, language-track majors may opt to write a thesis in Chinese with a suggested length of 12,500 characters. Chinese Flagship students who are culture-intensive majors may petition to have a Chinese language thesis count toward honors in the department. The thesis must be on a topic that reflects an aspect of Chinese culture.

Interested students should consult with an advisor for more information regarding departmental honors.