History and Description

The College Honors Program was founded in 1962 by Professors Edward Callahan (English) and Frank Petrella (Economics). In keeping with the multidisciplinary spirit of the Program, the directorship has rotated every three to five years among faculty members from the humanities, mathematics and natural sciences, and social sciences: Professors Nancy Andrews (Classics), Ross Beales (History), Patricia Bizzell (English), Noel Cary (History), David Damiano (Mathematics), Mauri Ditzler (Chemistry), William A Green (History), James Kee (English), Richard Matlak (English), Theresa McBride (History), Richard Rodino (English), Victoria Swigert (Sociology), Frank Vellaccio (Chemistry), and Helen Whall (English).

Highly qualified students are invited to apply for the Honors Program in the first semester of their sophomore year. Membership in the Honors Program is limited to 36 students from the second-year class and the same number from the third- and fourth-year classes.

Sophomores begin their education in the Honors Program with a required, team-taught course on "Human Nature." All students meet in plenary session once a week with three instructors who each represent the three areas of the curriculum: natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. They then meet with their individual instructors in seminar classes once a week to consider the material and readings from the lecture in an informal, but intense, intellectual setting.

Students take a second Honors Seminar in their junior year, although students who study abroad as juniors can complete their seminar requirement upon returning. Like the sophomore course on Human Nature, the junior Honors Seminar explores how different disciplines or subject areas might intersect and emphasize independent research and oral discussion. The topics of the Honors Seminar vary from year to year (see the examples below), and at least two different topics are offered in each semester.

In addition to the seminars, all students on campus participate in the Honors Colloquia, a series of interdisciplinary discussions organized by the Honors Director.

In the senior year, all College Honors students register for thesis credit equivalent to one course each semester. The Senior Thesis is an ambitious independent project, carried out under the guidance of a qualified faculty mentor. It can be either in or out of a student's major, as long as the student can demonstrate sufficient background. In their ambition and their scope, these theses represent the finest work of some of the best students of the College.

In the spring, the results of the students' research are published in-house and presented to the College community at the annual Academic Conference. The Academic Conference is a highlight of the academic year. Friends and relatives are invited to attend.

A major purpose of the College Honors Program is to bring together highly qualified and motivated students, regardless of major. The program nurtures an intellectual and social community where students meet and work with other students who are willing to explore how knowledge from different areas can be tested and integrated across disciplinary lines. Ideally, the result is that students find both intellectual and social stimulation through their participation.

In addition to the College Honors Program, a variety of departments offer their own, discipline-based, honors programs. Among these are: Chemistry, Economics, English, History, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Political Science. Students interested in these programs should contact the relevant department.

Examples of Recent Honors Seminar Topics

Religion and Nationalism
Memory and Material Culture
Revenge, Violence, and Justice: The Ethics of Tragedy
Biology, Evolution, and Western Morality
War in History and Cinema
Green Urbanism: Urban Planning and the Environment
Modern Religious Novels
Cartography as Art and Science
Mind and Consciousness
Music, Painting, and Poetry: Paris 1870-1930
The Nature of Color and the Colors of Nature
Representing the Law in Courtroom Drama
The Sociohistory of Medicine
Transitions to Democracy
Thomas Jefferson's Neoclassical Architecture