Honors Degree Program

CURRICULUM
Through a series of team-taught interdisciplinary seminars, the Honors Degree Program introduces students to the various methods of inquiry in the liberal arts. The core curriculum (HON 201 Honors Conference Seminar through HON 490 The Theodore Darrah Honors Synoptic Seminar) builds community by providing a shared experience as students progress through college together. The first two years encourage integrative understanding. In the senior year, students must also satisfy the requirements of a two-semester Honors-in-the-Major Field project, as well as the interdisciplinary Darrah Honors Synoptic Seminar. 

Course of Study

HON 201 Honors Conference Seminar: Two sections of this course with different themes offered each fall: team-taught. Faculty will come from two different departments and generally from two different divisions.

HON 202 First-Year Honors Spring Seminar: Two sections of this course with different themes offered each spring: team-taught. Faculty will come from two different departments and generally from two different divisions.

HON 301 Sophomore Honors Seminar: Two sections of this course with different themes offered each fall: team-taught. Faculty will come from two different departments and generally from two different divisions.

Note: In order to insure that all Honors Degree Students have a broad exposure to all of the Liberal Arts, the Honors Degree Supervisory Board will designate each seminar as fulfilling one or more of the three distribution requirements: Arts and Humanities (AH), Social Sciences (SS), and Natural Sciences (NS). Depending on the disciplines of the faculty involved, seminars may have up to two distribution designations. All Honors Degree Program students must have at least one seminar in each of these three areas. The Honors Degree Program Supervisory Board will review the records of all sophomores to make certain that each student has fulfilled this requirement. In addition, faculty advisors of first-year Honors Degree Program students will also work closely with their advisees to make certain that Honors Degree Program students undertake the broadest possible exposure to the liberal arts.

HON 302 Sophomore Honors Seminar -- Inquiry and Interpretation in Research: Students pursue small-scale individual research projects in various disciplines, focusing on a broad common topic. Provides a forum for interdisciplinary discussion and for focused attention to the process of investigative/experimental research. 

HON 490 The Theodore Darrah Honors Synoptic Seminar: Team-taught interdisciplinary course in which students are presented with a series of contemporary problems and will demonstrate how disciplines represented contribute to an understanding of and solutions to these problems. Students complete this course in the fall of their senior year.