The Honors Program is open to qualified students from all majors. It consists of Honors sections of the “Inner Core” courses (28 credits) of the Core Curriculum for the 21st Century, allowing the faculty to teach, and the students to learn, at a challenging depth and breadth. The classes enhance discussion, encourage wide reading and deep study, promote individualized instruction, and engage in field research and class trips.

The Honors Core Curriculum courses allow the faculty to teach, and the students to learn, at a challenging depth and breadth. The classes enhance discussion, encourage wide reading and deep study, promote individualized instruction, and engage in field research and class trips.

The Honors Program provides students with numerous opportunities for personal enrichment, including concerts, plays, museum exhibits, and other cultural events. It also sponsors social and recreational activities.

Selection

The Admission Office, working with the Director of the Honors Program, considers for the Honors Program every incoming first-year student. Invitations are extended on the basis of a student’s record of achievement and potential for academic success as indicated by such factors as high school GPA, SAT scores, etc. It is also possible to be admitted into the Honors Program by individual request after a student has completed one semester of course work. The Honors Committee will consider each request, placing particular emphasis on college performance and faculty recommendations.

Minimum Standards

Honors students are expected to excel with grades of B- or better in the Honors courses. A student with a grade lower than a B- will be placed on probation. A student with a second grade below a B- will no longer be eligible to remain in the Honors Program.

Honors Core Curriculum

The heart of the College’s Honors Program is the Honors Core Curriculum which is a special Honors version of the Core Curriculum for the 21st Century. In conjunction with the major and enhanced Honors programming, the Honors Core Curriculum provides a basis for lifelong learning and an enduring liberal education. This curriculum:

• emphasizes group, collaborative work in and out of the classroom;
• develops critical and reflective thinking;
• promotes close student interaction with some of the College’s best faculty;
• provides an ethical and moral sense through its service learning projects; 
• reflects on the fundamental problems of human existence;
• commits faculty and students to the search for truth and justice.

The courses (28 credits) of the Honors Inner Core of Knowledge, Understanding and Insight for the 21st Century, allow students to:

• analyze the fundamental events, themes, and issues that have shaped the course of civilization in the West;
• explore the foundational issues of philosophy and theology;
• investigate the ecological challenges to the global environment;
• enhance crucial skills of writing, thinking, persuasion, and public speaking;
• interpret and study important texts of literature.

Honors Inner Core (28 credits)

Honors ES 300		Ecology and the Environmental Challenge		4 credits
Honors HY 101-102		Western Civilization I and II		8 credits
Honors PH 200		Human Nature & Ethics		4 credits
Honors TH 100		Intro to the Judeo-Christian Tradition		4 credits
Honors HP 402		Capstone Experience		4 credits
Honors EH 101		College Writing		4 credits

The Concentration and Integration of Learning courses (20 credits) allow students to develop and deepen the knowledge, understanding, and insight they explored in the Inner Core.

Elective Courses 16 credits
English 200+ Level		One course		4 credits
Mathematics		One course		4 credits
Philosophy		One course		4 credits
Theology		One course		4 credits

Additional Elective Course:  4 credits
Communications		4 credits
English		4 credits
Fine Arts		4 credits
History		4 credits
Language *		4 credits
Science		4 credits
Social Science		4 credits

* Students in a Bachelor of Science program may take one foreign language course for additional elective credit.