Honors Faculty
About Honors Courses
Honors Student Profile
- Entering honors freshman have scored in the 90th percentile on the ACT. Students must maintain the minimum GPA of 3.3 to remain in the program.
- Honors students expect active student/instructor interaction and respond well to in-class discussion.
- Honors students are not afraid to take on challenging projects, as long as they do not appear to be busywork.
Teaching a UHON seminar
Why Teach a UHON seminar?
- Do you want to experiment, create, and collaborate in a teaching-research environment geared to asking big questions?
- Are you interested in impacting general education in a changing world?
- Do you enjoy interactive environments where students are prepared and eager to participate?
- Would you welcome a small class of only 15 students?
- All FTE credit goes to the home department of the faculty member.
Creating the Honors Environment
- UHON faculty model lifelong practice of research-practice based learning.
- UHON courses are not designed as introductory surveys of a particular discipline. Rather, they introduce students to how particular disciplines approach enduring and pressing questions that are embedded in every discipline
- When appropriate, courses may be writing intensive; integrate studies and creative practice.
- Students are expected to fully participate in class, and should be given the opportunity to do so.
Characteristics of an Honors Seminar
- Small enough for close attention to individual student learning. University Honors Program seminars (UHON 351) that satisfy University Core Curriculum requirements are capped at 15.
- Chosen by a panel of their peers, all UHON seminars are taught by faculty who are leaders in their research and practice
- Innovative in teaching and learning. Each UHON seminar is a memorable experience for both students and faculty in an engaged community of learning. Like graduate seminars, UHON courses offer sustained discussion, group projects, multi-media classrooms, Service learning, Problem-based Learning and/or independent research and creative activities.
- Comprised of truly exceptional students. Eager to learn, well prepared, and broadly curious, UHON students generally motivate each other to assume much of the responsibility for the course themselves.
- Original in content and focus. UHON courses push disciplinary boundaries and some are organized in a cluster around a specific theme each year. Each course can fulfill more than one area in the Core Curriculum.
Propose a UHON Seminar
- The University Honors Program puts out a call for UHON seminars each Fall, in early October.
- Course Proposals are vetted by the Honors Advisory Council.
- Read previous Call for Proposals.
- Previously taught honors seminars
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Proposals may be in either one of the following two categories:
- General call for proposals: A topic of your choice that would be of interest to undergraduate majors from an array of academic disciplines. Remuneration: faculty incentive, i.e., $5000 in salary, if taught in addition to regular teaching duties; or signature course, taught on load and on loan from academic unit..
- Call for Themed cluster: You will join a cluster of Honors faculty whose classes coalesce around the year’s theme. Faculty in the cluster make one public presentation on their research-teaching in the semester. The Honors program also tries to coordinate our distinguished speaker series with the theme. Remuneration is the same as for the general call for proposals.
Guidelines for Honors Thesis
Guidelines for Contracted Courses
Call for Proposals
The Call for Proposals for Fall 25-Spring 26 Honors seminars is closed. The call for Fall 2026-Spring 2027 Honors seminars will be announced in October 2025. The call for proposals goes out only once a year.