Honors Program

Our honors program

Our honors programs in Spanish and Portuguese are designed for students who wish to take advantage of an academic challenge beyond the requirements of the departmental major. These programs give you the option to engage in independent research, reading, and writing in Spanish or Portuguese during your junior and/or senior undergraduate years. Because the honors program culminates in the writing of a 30-50 page honors thesis, it is excellent preparation for graduate or professional school.

Honors societies

A high number of our majors are elected to Phi Beta Kappa—18 in 2017-18.

Our honors students are strongly encouraged to apply for membership in our new chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society. In 2017-18, 25 Spanish majors were inducted into Sigma Delta Pi.

Our IU chapter of Phi Lambda Beta, Beta Phi, accepts high achieving students studying Portuguese. 

Learn more about honors in our Student Portal

Our students’ recent awards + honors

Our students are go-getters whose achievements are recognized through a variety of honors and awards each year.

In 2018, five Spanish majors were awarded a prestigious Palmer-Brandon Scholarship in the Humanities: congratulations to Mark Bond, Zoe King, Mary Lechner, Kaitlynn Milvert, and Sophia Muston. This award recognizes students who are in the top 1 percent of undergraduates in their fields in terms of academic achievement, intellectual ability, and demonstrated commitment to the humanities.

Among these, Kaitlynn Milvert was also selected by President McRobbie as a Presidential Intern to study the ancient origins of the modern university and examining the different models of higher education that emerged in early civilizations across time and place.

Several majors from our department were awarded campus-wide senior awards for excellence.

View more student achievements View past honors theses