English Honors Program (EHP)

For current EHP news, information, and opportunities, go to the English Honors Program Website!

The English Honors Program offers the Department's most talented, disciplined, and hard-working students an opportunity to push their own critical and creative boundaries. EHP students in literature, creative writing, and professional writing have privileged access to the English Honors Room (Carman 384), participate in a variety of academic and cultural events on and off the Lehman campus, take advantage of exclusive EHP advisement, work individually with a faculty member on an English Honors thesis prior to their graduation, and collaborate in a colloquium and a senior mini-conference. Students who have met EHP requirements graduate from Lehman College as English Honors majors.

EHP Program Information

Entry

Any interested student who has taken at least two 300/400-level English courses and has a college GPA of 3.5+ and an English GPA of 3.7+ should email EHP director Professor Castillo Planas to set up a meeting and discuss joining the program. New members of the English major who are first semester juniors but have not yet completed their first 300 level English courses but are interested in the program are also encouraged to reach out to Dr. Castillo Planas as students are encouraged to join the program by second semester junior year. After meeting with the director, students should complete the EHP Application FormEHP Application Form and submit it via email to Professor Castillo Planas. Students must maintain both their College and English GPAs throughout their time as EHP students and regular contact with the director about their academic and career progress.

English Honors Room

Carman 384 has been renovated to include tables, chairs, whiteboards, and a printer. EHP students have exclusive access to the Honors Room and its equipment.

Meetings

Students meet with the EHP director several times during the year, particularly during registration, when each EHP student meets individually with Professor Castillo Planas to go over their schedule. In addition to meetings, students also receive regular email notifications about upcoming meetings and presentations concerning peer-tutoring, writing contests, student publications, internships on and off campus, graduate school, fellowships, etc.

Advisement

The EHP director provides English Honors Major advisement for all EHP students, and does all ENG/ENW literature and writing permissions. Students must meet individually with the EHP director during registration, but are free (and encouraged!) to consult at any time throughout the semester. Students need permission from both the EHP director and the English Chair to register for ENG/ENW 481/482 or any other honors-level course.

English Honors Thesis - Tutorial and Colloquium (ENG/ENW 481/482)

EHP seniors take ENG/ENW 481/482 during the academic year of graduation. Depending on their graduation date and thesis project, they may take the thesis writing tutorial (ENG/ENW 481) either once or twice. ENG 482, the one credit honors colloquium with the EHP director, is taken in the Fall semester of the student’s final year. The colloquium enables students to stay on top of their thesis-calendar, share work-in-progress and provide peer-feedback in return, and attend presentations on graduate schools, writing contests, and scholarships.

EHP students take only one credit (ENG/ENW 482) more than regular English majors as ENG/ENW 481 counts in place as major electives.

English Honors majors should be enrolled in the English Honors Program by the Spring Term (generally second semester Junior year) prior to the Fall Term in which they plan to take ENG/ENW 481 and 482. ENG/ ENW 481 is often repeated in the Spring Term of their senior year in order to provide extended time to edit and collaborate with their mentor.

In the spring prior to their senior year, with the help of the EHP director, students find a mentor and decide on a thesis-topic; fill out a tutorial permission form and get the permission/signature of their mentor, the EHP Director, and the English Chair; and then register online when they receive course permission. Once registration is complete (and before the end of Spring classes), students meet with their mentors to develop a plan for their thesis work based on their project and graduation date (Winter or Spring).

Honors electives

Honors students are expected to take electives that allow them to develop the skills of their particular specialization (and to prepare them for their senior theses). Literature Honors students are required to take a theory course (ENG 371: Theoretical Approaches to Literature and Culture, ENG 386: Critical Race Theory, ENG 389: Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory) as one of their English-major electives. Creative Writing and Professional Writing students are encouraged to take HUM 470 (Internship) with Obscura, Meridian, or some other appropriate publication as one of their English-major electives. Ideally but not necessarily, Honors electives are taken in the academic year prior to the ENG/ENW 481/482 tutorial/colloquium.

Exit

An EHP student’s final honors status is a function of three things:

• His or her ENG/ENW 481/482 grades
• Faculty readers’ reports on the English Honors Senior thesis
• The student’s final English GPA in 300/400-level ENG and ENW classes.

Lehman College requires all Honors graduates to have a final 3.2+ College GPA and a final 3.5+ GPA in their chosen majors. Graduating students receiving English Honors will be recognized in May (at the EHP Senior Presentations and the English Awards Ceremony) and in May/June (at the Lehman College graduation exercises).