Honors Program

Christie P. Karpiak, Ph.D., Interim Director

The Honors Program supports The University of Scranton’s tradition of excellence and its dedication to freedom of inquiry and personal development. It challenges outstanding students with a rigorous education that stresses independent work and intense engagement with faculty and other Honors students both in and out of the classroom. The individualized attention and freedom to explore provided by the program aim to increase students’ intellectual skills, self-reliance and personal accountability.

The Honors curriculum conforms with and enriches existing University course requirements. It also supports students as they move into increasingly sophisticated work. Writing-intensive, discussion-based Honors courses, which vary from year to year, satisfy general education requirements. Honors tutorials both in and out of a student’s major engage students with texts on an individually directed basis. The junior seminar provides opportunities for students to lead and participate in discussions of articles on a wide range of contemporary issues. A student’s work in the Honors Program culminates in a year-long senior project. The student may propose either a research or a creative project for this significant piece of independent work. Students present the plans for this project to their peers in a senior seminar and defend the completed project before their mentor and two other faculty members. The final version of the project is catalogued in the Weinberg Library.

Requirements

Honors Students must take one course, three tutorials and three one-credit seminars; they must also complete a year-long, 6-credit project. Honors courses count toward general education requirements. Honors tutorials count toward major, minor, cognate or general education requirements. Students may take up to five tutorials. Those who participate in all three programs of excellence (Honors, SJLA, Business Leadership Program) or who spend a full year abroad have the option of completing only two tutorials, one in the student’s major and one out of the major or in a second major.

There is no extra tuition for Honors work. Honors courses, tutorials and projects carry only ordinary tuition. Honors seminars, the only Honors work that does not satisfy ordinary graduation requirements, carry no tuition charge. Honors students may take between 12 and 21 credits at the flat rate.

Admission to the Honors Program

Applications are accepted every fall from those students who have at least 18 hours of college credit and who expect to graduate after three more years of work at the University. Applicants must ordinarily have at least a 3.3 GPA; a minimum of a 3.5 GPA (cum laude) is required for graduation in the program. The number of spaces in the program is limited, and admission deliberations may take into consideration the applicant’s high school and college records, SAT scores, application, recommendations, and interviews. For further information contact Dr. Christie P. Karpiak, Interim Director of the Honors Program.

Honors Program Schedule

Second Year

Fall: Application

Spring: HONR 187H - Honors Ideamaking Experience

Third Year

Spring: HONR 387H - Honors in Context Seminar

Fourth Year

Fall: HONR 487H - Honors Capstone Seminar

Additional Requirements of the Honors Program that Students will Take in Consultation with their Advisors and the Director of the Honors Program:

HONR 287H - (CL,P) Honors Keystone , offered every semester.

HONR 387H - Honors in Context Seminar , offered every spring. (Students in pre-med concentrations would likely take this as fourth year students so as not to have it conflict with MCAT preparations. Students studying abroad might take it as sophomores. Others will likely take it as juniors.)

Tutorials: Each student will take 3-5 tutorials, at least one in the major and at least one outside it.

Honors Passport - The obligation of each student in the Honors Program to attend a number of cultural, civic, political or academic events each semester. (Not for credit nor a grade and not transcriptable, simply an ongoing expectation of the program.)

DEPT 487H-489H - Honors Project - Research Project: Students will ordinarily take this two-semester sequence in their 6^th and 7^th or 7^th and 8^th semesters and will defend their projects after their second semester of the project.