Program

Note: Candidates for the MLLI Honors Program need not be members of the UMBC Honors College. The requirements for this program are in addition to those of the MLLI major.

MLL 399H Introduction to Honors Project (1 credit pass/fail):

An independent study course that students usually complete in the spring semester of their junior year (if they are abroad at that time, the course will appear on their schedules the following fall). Students meet individually with the Honors Program Director and their Area Coordinators to discuss their interests and to develop a list of possible topics for the honors project. By the end of the semester, the student should have moved toward a definition of the honors project.

MLL 498H Senior Honors Seminar (3 credits):

A seminar generally taken in the fall of the senior year. The planning of the seminar takes place in the preceding spring semester as part of MLL 399H: new Honors Program students choose from among several topics proposed by the faculty member or members responsible for the course, and they work with the instructor to plan the seminar.  The course itself is conducted in English and provides an opportunity to communicate across language groups and across disciplines around a topic of general interest and significance for MLLI majors. While taking this seminar, students continue to develop and refine the focus of their honors projects.

MLL 499H Senior Honors Project (3 credits):

An independent study course normally undertaken in the spring of the senior year, consisting of the writing of the honors thesis. Students meet on a regular basis with their advisors as they progress. The project enables Honors students to pursue work that has special meaning for them; it provides them with valuable experience in planning and executing a large-scale research project. The subject, scope, purpose, methodology, and length of the honors project are determined by the individual candidate in conjunction with his or her advisor. Normally, however, such theses will be 30 to 60 pages long.

Concluding activities:

At the end of the semester in which they complete their projects, students present their work to the Department in a session open to the public, and they take an oral examination under the direction of their thesis advisors.