Honors Program

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Overview

The Honors Program offers students who have demonstrated intellectual potential and personal commitment an enriched academic experience. If you enroll in the Honors Program, you will take a core of set of Honors courses and augment them with courses that you or UMA instructors have given an Honors designation. This designation means that you will delve more fully and deeply into the content of Honors courses.

The Honors Program is not a separate degree program. Instead, it enriches the course work required for a degree. Students must complete 21 of Honors credits to graduate from the Honors Program, which will include the core courses for the program (HON 208 and HON 308), the capstone course for the student’s major, and 12 credits of courses that are designated Honors courses.

Interdisciplinary studies is the heart of an Honors education, according to the National Collegiate Honors Council, and the core curriculum of the Honors Program is centered in interdisciplinary studies. This field is devoted to how knowledge is organized-how disciplines relate to each other, how they speak to each other, what values are built into that organization, and why. In the Honors Program, you will carry out scholarly work in an interdisciplinary framework, using the lens of multiple disciplines rather than one. The Honors Program will train you to think outside the box-a valuable skill in any case, but one that is especially valuable to potential employers and admissions officers of graduate programs.

Admissions Requirement to the Honors Program:

3.3 Grade Point Average (GPA) or higher
Application Form
Letter of Intent
Three letters of reference

Honors Baccalaureate Requirements (18-21 Credit Hours):

HON 208 - Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies 3 CR
HON 308 - Interdisciplinary Studies Seminar 3 CR
XXX xxxH Capstone course in the area of the student’s major or equivalent course 3 CR. Students must seek an H designation for their major capstone requirement to fulfill this requirement. See below for details.

Complete 9-12* credits from the following courses.

A proposal for any independent studies course must be submitted by the student to the Intercollegiate Council for approval.

HON 188 - The Interdisciplinary Colloquium 1 CR
HON 294 - Honors Independent Studies 3 CR
HON 330 - Honors Service Learning Experience 1-6 CR
HON 394 - Honors Independent Studies 3 CR
HON 494 - Honors Independent Studies 3 CR
HON xxx: Honors Course Designation 3 CR
XXX xxxH: any non-honors course may be taken as an H designated course with instructor’s permission. The instructor must be consulted no later than the third week of the term. A proposal for an H designation must be submitted by the student to the Intercollegiate Council for approval.

Advising Notes:

* Honors Program students have the option of completing 45 hours of community service in lieu of one honors free elective. This waiver does not carry credit on the student’s permanent record.