Requirements:

To graduate with University Honors, students must complete a minimum of 17 hours of honors courses including 9 hours of freshman-level courses (which may include Honors 210. Mathematical Masterpieces), one sophomore-level interdisciplinary honors course, one one-hour interdisciplinary seminar late in the sophomore or early in the junior year, one junior-level honors course (Honors 300. The Making of the Modern Mind), and an honors research project or thesis in the senior year.

In their freshman year, students will choose a minimum of 9 hours (three courses) of honors-designated courses from this group: English 101 and 102 H, History 101 and 102 H, Religion 110 H, and Honors 210 (if they have a strong background in mathematics). Students who have AP credit for English 101 often opt to take Religion 110 H. Students will take a 200-level interdisciplinary honors course in their sophomore year (two of these, Honors 200. Ideas in Literature and Honors 205. Ideas in Fine Arts, already exist, but others will be offered periodically). Honors 200 meets the GER in literature. Honors 205 meets the GER in fine arts and is a substitute for Humanities 103 for education majors. Honors 210 meets the GER in math. Students will then take an interdisciplinary one-hour seminar on a special topic in the second semester of their sophomore year or at the beginning of their junior year. In their junior year, students will also take Honors 300. Honors 451 completes the University Honors graduation requirement and earns the student one credit hour and the grade for the project is added to the student’s transcript.

Students will work closely with a professor in their majors to design and complete the University Honors project, a substantive study culminating in a thesis paper of appropriate scope and length. Graded projects are submitted for approval to other faculty in the chosen discipline and then forwarded to the Director of Honors who verifies the student’s eligibility to graduate with University Honors and sends the official recommendation to the Registrar. A student’s thesis must receive an average grade no lower than “B” (3.0 quality points) from its three faculty readers in order to qualify a student for the University Honors designation.