Phi Beta Kappa Honors Thesis Prize

The Penn State Chapter (Lambda of Pennsylvania) of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and most prestigious academic honor society, will award its Honors Thesis Prize of $1000 to a meritorious research project completed in an eligible field by a Schreyer Scholar for his or her honors thesis. Please consider nominating a student who meets the criteria outlined below. 

Award recipients must be majoring and/or have the thesis completed in a discipline included within Phi Beta Kappa. Virtually all majors in the College of Liberal Arts and in the Eberly College of Science fall into this category, as well as numerous others in a number of other Penn State colleges. A list of approved majors is available at the chapter website, and also below. Besides the quality of the thesis itself, the potential for the student to continue making significant contributions to one or more liberal studies fields will also be considered. 

Application for this award consists of an electronic submission of the following items, should be emailed to Awards Chair Prof. Elizabeth Mansfield (ecm289@psu.edu).

  1. the completed thesis;
  2. a letter of support from the thesis adviser; and
  3. a 1-2 page statement by the student on the role the thesis has played in his or her overall intellectual development, and on future plans, especially as those intersect with liberal studies.

All application materials must be sent in no later than Friday, April 19, 2024.

Please contact Prof. Elizabeth Mansfield at ecm289@psu.edu if you have any questions.

Baccalaureate Majors and Codes included in the Phi Beta Kappa Eligibility/Selection Process

reviewed February, 2014

College of Arts and Architecture

College of Arts and Architecture Majors
Code Major
ARCBS Architecture (B.S.)
BARCH Architecture (BARCH)
ARBFA Art (B.F.A.)
ARTBA Art (B.A.)
ART H Art History
GD Graphic Design
IDS Interdisciplinary Digital Studio
INART Integrative Arts
LARCH Landscape Architecture
LARIP Landscape Architecture (phasing out)
MUSBA Music (B.A.)
MUSBM Music (B.M.)
MUBMA Musical Arts
THRBA Theatre (B.A.)
THRFA Theatre (B.F.A.)
THRMT Musical Theatre

 

College of Communications

College of Communications Majors
Code Major
FILM Film-Video
JOURN Journalism

 

College of Earth & Mineral Sciences

College of Mineral Sciences Majors
Code Major
EARTH Earth Sciences
GEOBI Geobiology
GEOBA Geography (B.A.)
GEOBS Geography (B.S.)
GSCBA Geosciences (B.A.)
GSCBS Geosciences (B.S.)
METEO Meteorology

 

Eberly College of Science

Eberly College of Science Majors
Code Major
ASTRO Astronomy and Astrophysics
B M B Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
BIOL Biology
BIOTC Biotechnology
CHEM Chemistry
FRNSC Forensic Science
MTHBA Mathematics (B.A.)
MTHBS Mathematics (B.S.)
MICRB Microbiology
P M Premedicine
PHYS Physics
SC BA Science (B.A.) (phasing out)
SC BS Science (B.S.)
SCBUS Science (B.S.)
STAT Statistics
 

College of Liberal Arts

College of Liberal Arts Majors
Code Major
AASBA African and African American Studies (B.A)
AASBS African and African American Studies (B.S)
ANTH Anthropology
ARSCI Archaeological Science
ASIA Asian Studies
BANTH Biological Anthropology
CAMS Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies
CAS Communication Arts and Sciences
CHNS Chinese
CLJBA Crime, Law and Justice (B.A.)
CLJBS Crime, Law and Justice (B.S.)
CMLIT Comparative Literature
EA ST East Asian Studies (phasing out)
ECLBA Economics (B.A.)
ECLBS Economics (B.S.)
ENGL English
FR BA French and Francophone Studies (B.A.)
FR BS French and Francophone Studies (B.S.)
GERBA German (B.A.)
GERBS German (B.S.)
HIST History
INTPL International Politics
IT BA Italian (B.A.)
IT BS Italian (B.S.)
JAPNS Japanese
J ST Jewish Studies
LERBA Labor Studies and Employment Relations (B.A.)-formerly LIRBA
LERBS Labor Studies and Employment Relations (B.S.)-formerly LIRBS
LIRBS Labor and Industrial Relations (B.S.) (phasing out)
LING_BA Linguistics
LATAM Latin-American Studies
LAS Letters, Arts, and Sciences
MEDVL Medieval Studies
PHIL Philosophy
PL SC Political Science
PSYBA Psychology (B.A.)
PSYBS Psychology (B.S.)
RL ST Religious Studies
RUS Russian
RUS T Russian Translation
SOCBA Sociology (B.A.)
SOCBS Sociology (B.S.)
SPNBA Spanish (B.A.)
SPNBS Spanish (B.S.)
WS BA Women’s Studies (B.A.)
WS BS Women’s Studies (B.S.)