By: Bailey Wheeler 

In 1952, the University of Arkansas’s first honors program was established in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. In 1977, the U of A’s Walton College of Business established its own honors program. It was not until 2002, following a $300 million commitment from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, that the honors program was offered university wide. 

The Honors College is an interdisciplinary program, with courses designed to introduce students to disciplines from a variety of majors. These courses engage students in creative thinking, allow students to explore new technologies and teach the principles of research. According to the 2024-2025 Honors College Annual Report, enrollment accounts for 13-15% of the undergraduate population. 

A core component of the Honors College experience is the Honors capstone project, which requires students to expand their learning outside of the classroom. The capstone project, better known as the Honors thesis, is personalized to an individual’s major. The project culminates in a presentation which students present to a committee of faculty members. 

The Honors thesis process begins with identifying a topic, a daunting task that requires honors students to create a unique research question. While some students might struggle with narrowing down research interest, Hayden Tucker, a U of A senior majoring in advertising and public relations, had known that she wanted to research the effects of AI in the workplace since her freshman year. 

During Tucker’s freshman year, ChatGPT (an AI chatbot) was released. As the technology improved, she became more worried about the expanding role of AI. Tucker was terrified that because of AI she would be unable to find a job post graduation. It was her feelings of fear that motivated her to research the topic.

“I decided that this would kind of help me feel more at ease about my job situation, if I could just understand it more, because a lot of my fear came from not understanding it,” Tucker said.

After identifying a research question, students in the honors program must find a research mentor. A research mentor is a U of A faculty member that guides the student through the research process. Finding a mentor can be a tricky, but rewarding process. 

Tucker began the search for her mentor by emailing a few of her older professors, who recommended she reach out to Dr. Ginger Blackstone. Dr. Blackstone has taught courses about AI which aligned with Tucker’s research interest. 

“We started meeting on a weekly basis, and have for about the last year and a half. It’s been super great to work with her,” said Tucker. 

Jessica Lobb, a senior double majoring in biology and psychology, identified her mentor through her work at the U of A’s SPARK Lab. Lobb has been a part of the lab since her sophomore year, and has been working on her thesis for the past 3 semesters.

While Lobb knew she wanted to write her thesis about women’s health care, she had trouble narrowing her topic into a single research question. Alongside her mentor, Lobb spent a day brainstorming different research interests. Eventually, she determined that her thesis would focus on the bias of physicians in prescribing birth control.

“I personally had friends that were impacted by the birth control they were on, and I’d heard about a lot of studies in the lab of kind of, how that impacts women,” Lobb said. 

Anna Morgan, a senior psychology student, has worked in both the CODA lab and A SCAN lab. Dr. Judah, the lab director of the CODA lab, is Morgan’s mentor. Her thesis focuses on people’s perception of attentional control and its relationship to depression and anxiety. 

As an honors student, Morgan had known she would have to write a thesis since her freshman year. However, it wasn’t until her junior year that she began working on her thesis in earnest. In her experience, freshman and sophomore year are to learn what interests you. 

“I think doing this project has made me more interested in research in itself. I’ll find myself reading research articles on Saturday night at 10 p.m.,” said Morgan. 

Morgan is preparing to defend her thesis in April. Working alongside her mentor, she is now putting refining touches on her thesis. In the coming weeks, she will begin to work on her thesis defense PowerPoint presentation. Morgan is excited for her defense and confident it will be a success. 

“I really feel scholarly. I get really excited whenever I hear new findings. I think it shifted my view towards what you do in graduate school. Graduate school and PHD programs sound really fun instead of scary,” Morgan said.

Tucker defended her thesis on March 16 and she is excited to graduate with honors. While she knew her thesis by heart, she was still nervous. To overcome her nervousness she reminded herself that the committee was there to support her, not to judge her. 

“I thought that doing all this research and writing a super long paper was something I wasn’t capable of. I think it really showed me that, yes, you are capable, and you’re in this position for a reason,” Tucker said. 

Lobb is grateful that she decided to write an honors thesis, though there were several times she felt overwhelmed. Lobb defended her thesis after her interview on March 20. Prior to her defense, she reported feeling nervous but pretty confident. 

“It’s going to lead to a lot of growth, and it can be hard at times. Get involved early and chip away at it slowly, and by the time you get to the end, you’ll be like, wow, this is a really incredible thing that I accomplished,” Lobb said.