Courses

The Honors Program offers several different types of courses, carrying from one to three credits. Each class is limited to fifteen students, all of whom are in the program or have high GPA's and faculty recommendations. Socratic dialog, rather than lecture, cross disciplinary connections, and student-centered discussion and activities are the preferred modes of learning.

Honors Courses in the College Catalog

View all Honors courses currently listed in the College Catalog

Honors Classes

The majority are three-credit courses selected from the College's general education offerings which are supplemented in various ways to better fit the Honors Program's goals and mission. They are drawn from the social sciences, Math, Biology, English, Arts and Communication, Business, and Movement Sciences departments. Enhancements include student presentations, focus on primary texts and research, peer-led discussions, special projects, field trips, master classes with guest lectures, and more in-depth course content. These courses help fulfill both Honors Program and general degree requirements. They range from honors sections of Freshman English I to Social Problems and Biology for Today.

Honors Seminars:

These required seminars are created specifically for the program to foster cross-disciplinary exploration and discussion. Topics change each semester based on faculty proposals and student interests and must cover numerous subject areas (i.e. art, history, politics, music, literature and architecture). They may be team-taught. Students in the program complete a total of three of these one-credit seminars. They are restricted to Honors Program students.

Several previous seminars have included: History of the Future; The Holocaust; The Sixties; From Gothic to Goth; American Gangsters; Understanding Self and Others, Riots, Revolutions & Reformations: the History of Protest, and The Real CSI. New classes offered include Sea Dogs, Swashbucklers & Scalawags: History of Piracy, Conspiracy Theories in American History, and Wellness: Unlocking Personal Potential.

Service Learning Course

Inspired by our desire to foster active, involved citizens and transfer institutions and employers preference, this one-credit course provides students with practical experience in community service, volunteering and fundraising. Students complete a total of forty-five hours of service over two semesters and complete a paper reflecting on their experiences. It may be taken twice for credit.

Capstone I & II

In this pair of courses, students experience the steps required to develop a research question, conduct research, and write and present a 25-page paper. In addition to attending weekly classes, students work one-on-one with a faculty mentor. Students propose and then complete a project in their specific area of interest. While part of the project requires research and writing, students may also complete artistic creations, laboratory work, architectural designs, etc. that inform the paper. The entire project culminates in a videotaped public presentation. These projects provide an opportunity for students to perform higher level independent undergraduate research. A scaled-down version may be submitted to the Beacon conference for consideration.