University Requirements:
- Mathematics Competence
- Writing Competence
- Elementary Foreign Language Competence
- American History Competence
- Upper Division course requirements (39 credits)
Honors College Requirements:
Interdisciplinary Seminars (5)
The core of the Honors College curriculum is a set of five seminar-based courses. These courses emphasize the development of skills in critical reading, writing, and analysis. The first two courses, HON 105 and HON 106 are taken during the freshman year. The remaining three courses, HON 201, 301, and 401, are taken during the three subsequent years. Please see the Student Life tab for the current course offering.
- HON 105 - Modes of Knowledge: Examination of the many different modes of being — aspects of the ways in which people think of themselves and behave in the world — through analysis of literary works and through texts that derive from the various social sciences, including psychology.
- HON 106 - Modes of Being: An examination of the structure and content of knowledge, as well as the ways in which various kinds of knowledge are constituted. The course examines some classical epistemological and ethical texts and also considers the ways in which modern epistemological theories, as well as knowledge forms characteristic of the natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, have altered and/or affected our understanding of the nature of knowledge.
- HON 201 - Arts & Society: An exploration of the interconnections between art and society, using the biographies and autobiographies of notable visual artists, performers, and composers when appropriate, but also using other texts that focus on art works by anonymous creators such as the architects and sculptors who designed and created medieval cathedrals or the anonymous lyricists and composers who created the songs and dances of traditional cultures. Close examination of the works themselves is an integral part of the course, generally involving field trips.
- HON 301 - Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Society: An examination of the mutual relations among science, technology, medicine, and society: how the sciences and various technologies affect society and, at the same time, are affected by it. This examination is conducted through the perspectives of disciplines outside the sciences — such as history, philosophy, sociology, and economics — in combination with the natural sciences, applied sciences, clinical medicine, and engineering
- HON 401 - Global Issues: Using historical, geographical, sociological, political, and economic perspectives, students examine global issues. This examination may be either topical or regional and may be oriented either toward the past, the present, or the future.
Topics Seminars (4)
Each term during their freshman and sophomore years, Honors College students take a 1-credit ‘ m inicourse'. With small enrollments ( averaging 15 or 16 ), these special topics courses allow students to explore a wide range of topics they might otherwise never have the opportunity to pursue, while getting to work in small groups with faculty and their Honors College classmates. The offerings constantly change, with eight options available to choose from in any given semester. Students are encouraged to use their four minicourses as an opportunity to branch out and experiment with disciplines and topics well outside of their primary academic interests. Past topics: The Science behind science fiction; Musical Theater; Semiotics and Comics; The Situation Room. Please see the Student Life tab for the current course offering.
Complementary Electives (4)*
- Sciences and quantitative disciplines
- Fine arts and humanities
- Social sciences
*Electives must be spread across the two fields that do not contain the major
Senior Thesis/Project (HON 495-496)
