Dec 13, 2024  
Undergraduate Catalog 2021-2022 
    
Undergraduate Catalog 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Honors Program


Andrew LaZella and Jill A. Warker Co-Directors

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. 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 Honors Keystone course, three tutorials, and three one-credit seminars; they must also complete a year-long, 6-credit project. The Honors Keystone course counts toward general education requirements. Honors tutorials can count toward major, minor, or cognate requirements. One of the tutorials must be in the student’s major and one must be outside of the major or in a student’s second major. Those who participate in three or more programs of excellence (e.g., Honors, SJLA, Magis, Business Honors, or 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 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 take into consideration the applicant’s college records, application, recommendations, and interviews. For further information contact Drs. Andrew LaZella and Jill Warker, Co-Directors of the Honors Program.

Honors Program Schedule


  Second Year

  Fall: Application
  Spring: HONR 187H - Honors Sophomore Seminar  

  Third Year

  Spring: HONR 387H - Honors Junior Seminar  

  Fourth Year

  Fall: HONR 487H - Honors Senior 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 - Honors Keystone Course ,* offered every semester. *The GE Designations of these courses vary.

HONR 387H - Honors Junior Seminar , offered every spring. (Students studying abroad junior year may take it as sophomores or seniors.)

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

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

Course Descriptions

HONR 187H - Honors Sophomore Seminar  

DEPT 385H-389H - Honors Tutorial  

HONR 287H - Honors Keystone Course  

HONR 387H - Honors Junior Seminar  

DEPT 487H-489H - Honors Project  

HONR 487H - Honors Senior Seminar