Years 3 & 4

Major Specific Honors Courses

The last two years of the Honors Program are focused around a student's major program(s). In the third year, Honors students take a course required of them by their major discipline, though they sign up for it as an Honors course. Thus, students will have a slightly different syllabus, determined by the faculty of the major program, which will require them to dig deeper into a topic and report back to the group.

Senior Honors Project

In their final year, Honors students complete a project that will allow them to demonstrate mastery in their declared major. Each program determines the format for the project, but all projects will have a public component aimed at a general audience. In most cases, this project corresponds to a capstone experience in the respective major, though in disciplines where the capstone project is a joint project, Honors students also write a paper that explains the project to non specialists. In this way Honors students will be prepared to continue the work of the public intellectual.

Honors Reading Courses: Interdisciplinary Reading and Discussion

During the final two years in the Honors Program, honors students take a total of two one-credit classes where faculty from across the campus lead students in focused investigation of a specific topic. The Honors Reading Courses are narrowly-focused courses that are designed to be an intensive investigation of a topic in a discussion-based environment. These courses allow students to interact with faculty outside their major and continue the interdisciplinary approach of the first two years.

Questions?
503.943.8264 | honors@up.edu