Honors Program

Honors Program Details

• Courses

  Courses

  First Year:	A yearlong Honors Foundations Learning Communities linkage (4 courses)
  Sophomore Year:	Elective—any course with an Honors designation
  Junior Year:	HON300 Junior Honors Seminar
  Senior Year:	HON444 Senior Honors Thesis

  Students must take seven Honors courses. They are required to maintain a minimum GPA in those courses of 3.25 and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25. In addition, students are required to defend their Senior Honors Thesis to a committee of at least three faculty members.

  HONORS COURSES

  HON 300 HONORS SEMINAR
  The Honors Seminar will help students identify a faculty mentor and develop a project topic for their Honors Capstone Thesis. Each student will prepare a brief abstract, a substantial description of the project, an annotated bibliography of relevant sources, and a timeline for completion of the project. Students will defend their complete project proposals to an audience of their peers and faculty mentors during the final weeks of the semester. Prerequisites: Membership in Honors Program.

  HON 444 HONORS CAPSTONE
  In the Honors Capstone, each student will produce an independent research thesis or creative project under the supervision of a faculty mentor. (The project is proposed and approved during HON300 Honors Seminar.) Students will meet on a weekly basis with their faculty mentor for advice and guidance, but primarily will work independently on the project throughout the semester. A summary and defense of the capstone work will be organized by the faculty mentor and completed by the end of the spring semester. Prerequisites: HON 300 and Membership in Honors Program.

  Other courses frequently taught in the Honors Program include the following:

  ARH 160	Art: Ancient and Modern
  ENG 130	Writing in the University
  ENG 140	Literature and Its Interpretations
  HIS116H/117H	Honors European History I and II
  MAT 131H/132H	Honors Calculus I and II
  PHI 100	Socrates and the Search for Truth
  PHI 151	Ethics and the Good Life
  PHY 201H/202H	Honors Physics I and II
  POL 110	Political Issues: The Quest for Justice
  POL 201	American Government
  PSY 101	Honors General Psychology
  SOC/ENG 225	The Literature of Social Responsibility
  THE 100	Introduction to Theology
  THE 153	Revelation: Ancient and Modern

  HONORS PROGRAM CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS

  To earn an Honors Program Certificate a student must complete the seven courses described above as part of the Honors Program. Students are required to maintain a minimum GPA in those courses of 3.25 and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25. In addition, students are required to defend their honors thesis to a committee of at least three faculty members. First-year students receiving a 3.5 GPA in the fall semester are invited to apply to the Honors Program and may join the program during their sophomore year.

  Course Descriptions

  • Honors Program Course Descriptions

  Academic Catalog & Advising Guide
• What Makes Honors Courses Different?

  The goal of an Honors course is to aid Honors students to learn more, where “more” refers not primarily to quantity but to the depth of understanding and higher-level thinking. The Honors Program aspires, also, to be a community of learners, animated by an ethos of excellence and by shared practices of learning that stylistically mark its courses.

  Honors courses always seek to bring Honors students to deeper levels of understanding and higher level thinking. An Honors course may do this by covering more advanced material than a non-Honors version of the course. Professors teaching an Honors course might do this in a variety of additional ways, including the following, as examples:

  • The course may include distinctive pedagogies, projects, or activities, such as (for example) peer-teaching opportunities, additional or more advanced laboratories, oral exams, guest lectures, student research projects, student presentations, or “Reacting to the Past” role-playing events.
  • The course may do more to connect that course’s disciplinary material with other disciplines.
  • The course may do more to connect that course’s disciplinary material with broader questions of human significance, especially those beyond the realm any single discipline.
  • The course may do more to involve students in close readings of primary sources, though often more difficult than the reading of derivative sources;
  • The course may involve students in classroom discussions that are more focused and in-depth.
• The Honors First Year Experience

  All first-year students at Assumption University take two fall courses that satisfy the requirements of the Foundations Program and are linked to form a learning community. The same students take both courses, enabling students to form academic and social connections as they begin their Assumption experience. The Honors Program offers learning communities for new Honors students so that their linked Foundations Program courses are taken with other Honors students. Disciplines frequently linked in these Honors learning communities include philosophy, art history, literature, theology, writing, history, political science, and psychology.

  In the spring term of their first year, Honors students take one more Honors-level course with the same students who were in their fall Honors learning community courses. This spring course also satisfies a requirement in the Foundations Program.

• Frequently Asked Questions

  Can students in the Honors Program also study at Assumption’s Rome campus or other study abroad programs? 

  Yes. The Honors Program is the size of a minor, and almost all of its courses satisfy core or major requirements, so it creates no obstacle for studying abroad. But plan early—depending on your chosen major or majors, studying abroad may require more planning.

  How many courses are required by the Honors Program? 

  The Honors Program requires seven Honors courses. 4 to 5 of these double count in the Foundations Program, which is required of all students.

  How is completing the Honors Program rewarded? 

  Deeper learning opportunities and intellectual friendship are their own rewards! In addition, students who complete the Program receive an Honors certificate, recognition at graduation, and a record on their official transcript of successful completion of the Program.

  Can student-athletes also participate in the Honors Program?

  Yes. Many Honors students participate in Assumption’s athletics. Academics, obviously, should come first. In fact, Honors athletes often find that the discipline and structure of an athletic program reinforces, rather than conflicts, with the discipline and structure of their academic programs.

  What can students in the Honors Program major in? 

  Anything. The Honors Program is designed to be compatible with any of Assumption’s many majors—ranging from philosophy, history, political science, or psychology to biology, neuroscience, education, accounting, or nursing.

  Do I need to know what my major is to join the Honors Program? 

  No. Many students begin college unsure of their major, many begin dedicated to a particular major, and many change their minds. The key is to find a major that simultaneously challenges you intellectually and that you enjoy. That may require some fishing around, which is healthy. Students are required to declare a major by the spring of their sophomore year.

  Can students in the Honors Program also double major? 

  Yes. Many Honors students double major. After all, it makes sense that Honors students would often be interested in many fields and in how they relate.

  Do Honors courses count toward major or core requirements?

  Almost all Honors courses can count toward the rich and diverse Foundations Program at Assumption and/or toward the requirements of a major. The exception is HON300 Junior Honors Seminar, a semester-long workshop in which students develop their proposals for completing their Senior Honors Theses.

  Does my thesis count in my major? 

  The Senior Honors Thesis often counts toward the student’s major or minor. It is the department chair of the student’s major or minor discipline who must decide. Students may choose to write their Senior Honors Thesis in any discipline—not just in their major.

  What kinds of projects can satisfy the requirement for a Senior Honors Thesis? 

  The Senior Honors Thesis must be a scholarly academic project completed under the guidance of a faculty mentor. It may be any type of scholarship in any discipline. Examples include humanistic essays, original empirical research in the social or natural sciences, works of fine art or fiction, business plans, or reports that analyze and synthesize the status of current knowledge of a topic.

  How early should I choose my topic for my Senior Honors Thesis? 

  By the spring semester of junior year. HON300 Junior Honors Seminar is a workshop in which students identify a mentor and a topic and conduct preliminary research into that topic so that they are fully prepared to begin their senior thesis. Before then, during freshman and sophomore years, students should focus on their core and major courses, start conversations with professors who excite them intellectually, and reflect on which academic topics most deeply interest them.

• How to Apply for the Honors Program at Assumption 

  The Honors Program at Assumption seeks applications from excellent students who aim, also, to become excellent thinkers, professionals, citizens, and human beings. Honors students should be animated by broad and energetic intellectual interests and should be willing to take intellectual risks and challenges.

  Select intellectually promising students are invited to apply for the Honors Program after they have applied and been accepted to the University. To be invited to apply for the Program, students should, in their applications to the University, demonstrate academic excellence in standardized test scores and class rank and should show a passion for learning. Students with an outstanding first semester may also apply to join the program at the beginning of the sophomore year.

   

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