Honors Program & Requirements

Theme: The Common Good

The organizing theme of the Honors Program curriculum is “the common good.” This theme flows from the college mission and provides an intellectual framework for the curriculum. You'll engage in discussion and debate to consider the varying disciplinary and contextual factors relevant to understanding the concept of the common good and how it is lived in our society. The theme encompasses a wide range of interests (from poetry to politics), which help you examine broad questions that integrate the disciplines.

Course of study: 1 Context, 2 Perspectives, 3 Discipline, 4 Expressions

You'll take one Honors Program course each semester. The curriculum encourages you to explore either research in your discipline or research that addresses contemporary community problems. The latter prepares you to consider how the academy can effectively collaborate directly with communities in addressing the common good through academic projects and discipline-based research.

1. Social Context and Self—The year-long Honors Colloquium (HON 191 and HON 182)

The Honors Colloquium introduces students to the common good framework and its relevance to their personal, academic and civic life. Students meet in the classroom as well as in small groups. Small group sessions are led by Honors Peer Mentors who are student leaders as well as important resources for new students.

2. Perspectives on Justice— Sophomore-level courses (HON 201 and HON 202)

These 200-level seminars introduce students to diverse intellectual perspectives on the Common Good, with examples of how individuals have championed the common good in their pursuit of a more just world.

3. Intellectual Discipline and Exploration—Junior-level courses (HON 301 and HON 380)

HON 301 and HON 380 guide students through the process of research to conduct rigorous study in order to address unanswered questions and unsolved problems across a variety of disciplines, while special topics courses (HON 380) offer the opportunity to explore a topic or issue of interest in greater depth.

4. Application and Expressions—The final senior seminar (HON 401 or HON 484-485)

The Honors Senior Seminar and Thesis is the culmination of undergraduate studies in which students work with a faculty mentor on a sustained research project that either builds on their academic work in their major (HON 401) or provides the opportunity to apply research to pressing issues facing their communities or professional field (HON 484-485).

The seminar brings your entire graduating class back together in the spring semester to present and discuss your senior projects and the relevance of these projects to the common good. The seminar provides an opportunity for you to reflect on your role as a scholar, practitioner and citizen of a global community. See examples of past senior projects below:

Capstone Projects 2023 Capstone Projects 2022 Capstone Projects 2021