Honors

Goals and Characteristics

Each semester, there should be diverse course offerings, across divisions, and across all undergraduate classes.
We encourage Honors seminars on special topics, as well as special sections of regular courses.
Ideally, seminars are limited to 15 students. (We recognize that individual faculty and departments may wish on occasion to expand these limits).
Ideally, seminars are limited to Honors students. (We recognize that faculty may wish on occasion to admit other students. We encourage faculty to look especially to students with strong academic records, special expertise and/or with exceptional motivation in the area).
Honors seminars should place a premium on students who are highly motivated, and intellectually engaged in creative and scholarly work.
Seminars ought to include a significant research component and/or artistic endeavor. They should promote student initiative and disciplined practice.
Faculty should be able to expect high quality in all student work.
Faculty should be able to use texts/materials that are especially challenging.
We encourage courses on more experimental topics, or conventional topics with more experimental course designs.
We especially encourage courses that feature multiple intellectual and/or disciplinary perspectives. How can we address the topic(s) of the seminar in a variety of ways, that may seem unorthodox or outside the box?
We encourage courses that are team-taught (rather than with separate modules taught by different instructors), and/or "linked courses" on related topics (where students register for two courses simultaneously).
A major goal of Seminars is to achieve a profound sense of intellectual intimacy, and a shared delight in exploring a topic in usual depth. We encourage the use of venues - whether for special events or regular class meetings - that foster conversation in a relaxed setting, and/or acquaint students with specialized resources or technology.