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The Sociology/Anthropology Department awards what the college calls "distinction" on a yearly basis to senior majors who meet the criteria and complete the process listed below.  The guidelines for distinction reflect a departmental desire to encourage scholarly excellence, to provide students with an opportunity to summarize their experience in sociology and anthropology, to utilize the perspectives in their major to examine their development during their career at St. Olaf, and to promote dialogue between students and faculty regarding their major and its importance to them.

A. Eligibility: Students eligible for distinction must meet both of the following criteria, reflecting a history of cumulative good work:


Eligible students will be notified that they are eligible to apply for distinction, and will receive copies of this sheet. 

B. Distinction Portfolios: Students eligible to apply for distinction will assemble a portfolio that they feel demonstrates their best work in our major.  The portfolio should include the following:

   1. The student's 3-5 best pieces of work, normally work which has been done as part
       of coursework in the major.  Such work might include:

      a. papers indicating the student's ability to do original research (such as in 373)
      b. term/research papers indicating the student's ability to use library or other
          secondary sources in developing a theme or evaluating an argument
      c. a journal which illustrates the student's ability to examine his/her own life and
          experience through the sociological imagination or anthropological lens
      d. a literature review, indicating the student's ability to communicate an overview of
          the arguments or issues regarding a significant question or topic
      e. a policy-oriented or applied paper, in which the student traces the implication of
          sociological/anthropological insights for practical problem-solving or policy
          making
       f. a report on an internship, or analysis of the experience
       g. a lecture to a class (to which the faculty would be invited)
       h. a website/homepage the student has created
       i. work for a course or experience outside the major which nevertheless illustrates the
          student's ability to analyze social experience and data from the perspective of the
          major (no more than one of the 3-5 pieces of work may be from a course outside
          the department).  This could include written work, or a creative piece, exhibit,
          story, or other work.
     
   2. A"distinction essay" of between 5 and 10 typed double-spaced pages, in which the student discusses topics such as the following:

      a. her or his development in the major
      b. the meaning or importance of the major for the student
      c. the possible connection between the major and the student's tentative "vocation" or
          life work, whether or not one's career will involve professional sociology or
          anthropology
      d. reflection on the most important things the student has learned in the major, and/or
          the questions about the world the major has not (yet) answered
      e. discussion of an important theme or concern that has tied together the student's
          work in the major

   3. Students need not complete an additional, new piece of work for distinction beyond compiling the portfolio and writing the distinction essay.  It is hoped that this will make it more feasible for students eligible for distinction to actually apply for distinction, while still calling on the students to demonstrate their "distinctiveness" and to look back over their career in the department in a way that provides both an overview on their development as persons and as social scientists, and to look ahead to what their work in the major might mean in their life after St. Olaf.

C. Deadlines: Students eligible for distinction should notify the department chair no later than Wednesday, December 10, 2008.  Completed portfolios themselves will be due no later than Friday, April 17, 2009.  Decisions about distinction will be made in late April.

D. Final evaluation of the portfolios will be carried out by the department faculty.  More than one student may be awarded distinction; distinction will not be granted only to the "best" portfolio, and each portfolio will be considered individually.  Because the distinction evaluation is non-competitive, eligible students may find it valuable and enjoyable to help each other decide which pieces of writing might best illustrate each student's strengths.
     Distinction conversations will be held by the department with each student completing a portfolio before the final decision about distinction is made, normally the last week in April.


Questions about the distinction process may be directed to any of the department staff.