Honors Requirements

Admission Requirements

Admission to the Honors Program is selective. To qualify, applicants must be in the top 20% of their graduating class and have a minimum SAT score of 550 on the reading section and a minimum score of 550 on the math section. 

AP Credits

A score of 4 or 5 on the corresponding AP exam is necessary for placing out of the Honors requirements in History and English. A score of 3 is sufficient to place out of some Honors Math and Natural Science requirements. 

Academic Requirements for Students

Completing the Honors requirements in their entirety replaces completing the “mainstream” Core Requirements in their entirety. Download the Academic Planner or explore the courses below,

Historical Introductions to the Humanities

Select EIGHT of the following for 24 credits

• HNRS 135 Ancient and Medieval History
• HNRS 136 Modern and Contemporary History
• HNRS 203 Literature from Ancient to Early Modern
• HNRS 204 Modern and Contemporary Literature
• HNRS 250 The Christian Theological Tradition
• HNRS 260 The Christian Moral Tradition
• HNRS 280 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
• HNRS 281 Modern and Contemporary Philosophy
• The Arts(Core 17x) (3 Credits)

Language (12 credits)

Students must complete language study through the second semester at the intermediate level, LANG 104. Students are strongly encouraged to begin their Foreign Language requirements in the fall semester of their first year. Students who take a two-course sequence, such as LANG 103 and 104 or LANG 104 and 105, automatically earn six (6) additional credits, LANG 101 and LANG 102, so long as they receive grades of C or better in each of the sequenced courses.

Math (choose one of the following)

• MATH 127 Logic and Axiomatics (3 credits) 
• MATH 129 Analytic Geometry and Calculus I (4 credits) 
• Honors 120: Honors Math 

Natural Science (choose one of the following)

• BIOL 111 General Biology with lab (4 credits) 
• CHEM 113 General Chemistry with lab (4 credits) 
• PHYS 111 General Physics with lab (4 credits) 
• PHYS 113 Physics for Scientists and Engineers with lab (4 credits)  
• HRNS 270 Natural Science Perspectives (3 credits) 

Social Science (choose one of the following)

• ECON 111 Principles of Economics: Macro (3 credits) 
• ECON 112 Principles of Economics: Micro (3 credits) 
• PSYC 101 Introduction to Psychology (3 credits) 
• SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology (3 credits) 
• PS Introduction to Political Science (3 credits) 
• PS 231 American Intergovernmental Relations (3 credits) 

Social Awareness Project (choose one of the following)

• Study Abroad Trip (semester abroad or short-term trip) 
• Service-Learning Project (a service-learning course) 

Senior Capstone Project

The Honors Senior Capstone Project is designed by the student, with a faculty mentor. The purpose is for the student to apply liberal arts learning to a project in his or her major. The student and faculty mentor construct a project, which is certified by the Honors Program Director as deserving of the Honors distinction. 

This course is an historical survey of philosophy in the West from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first century. The major figures we shall treat include: Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, Mill, Sartre, and Russell. In exploring the work of these important philosophers we shall address some basic questions of philosophy: What is knowledge? What is the mind? Do human beings have free will? What is the nature of human existence? On what basis can we form ethical systems and make ethical decisions? What is the nature of property and labor? Students will learn to argue for their positions on these issues by criticizing and responding to canonical philosophers.
Prerequisite HNRS 280