HONORS DEGREE PROGRAM

The Honors Degree Program at Greensboro College is designed for students who desire an academically-oriented and challenging learning environment for their undergraduate education.  The Honors Degree Program is housed in the George Center for Honors Studies in Main Building.  Throughout their four years at the College honors students receive special curricular and extracurricular opportunities for intellectual and personal development.  Honors students take courses which are exclusive to the Honors Program; all of these Honors courses are team-taught by two professors full-time in the classroom and are interdisciplinary in nature.  An in-depth Senior Honors Thesis or Project, involving the student working with a faculty advisor in their major area of study, is the culmination of the Honors Degree Program experience.

The Honors curriculum is dedicated to the intellectual development of students through the pursuit of academic excellence in the dual traditions of the liberal arts and the Judeo-Christian faith.  Our conception of the liberal arts includes the study of the human condition in all its dimensions; encompassing traditional studies in classical literature and philosophy, and also incorporating views of the social sciences and the arts.  It is the purpose of the Honors curriculum to assist students in creating meaning in their lives and their cultural environments, to help them make ethical, intellectual and spiritual sense of the world, and to find the path of their calling such as they understand it.

Each year Greensboro College, in coordination with the Honors Degree program, awards four major categories of merit-based scholarships – Presidential, Honors, Trustee, and Dean (see the section of the Catalog entitled Financial Aid/Institutional Programs).  As a condition of their awards, recipients of these four scholarships are required to participate in the Honors Degree Program.  In addition, for all honors participants the College waives the usual overload charge for enrolling in more than 18 credit hours per semester.

ADMISSION

Entering first-year students who have an SAT score of 1150 or higher and a high school grade point average of 3.50 or higher are invited to participate in the program.  Students transferring into Greensboro College with a college grade point average of 3.25 or higher may be accepted to participate in the program by contacting the Honors Program Director to apply for admission.  All students who enter the program without the benefit of the First-year Honors sequence must demonstrate writing proficiency.  In addition, some transfer students may be asked to take courses from the First-Year and Second-Year Honors Sequences to fulfill program requirements.

RETENTION

To remain in good standing in the program, honors students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or better.  First-Year students must complete the First-Year Honors Sequence; second-year students must complete the Second-Year Honors Sequence; third year students must complete HON 3010.

Honors students are expected to conduct themselves fully within the spirit and the letter of the Academic Honor Code, and with a commitment to academic excellence.  No honors work may be taken on a Pass/Fail basis.

ADVANCED PLACEMENT CREDIT

Courses designated as HON may not be exempted through AP credit.  Credit will instead be awarded in the following manner.  AP English: First-year honors students presenting AP English examination score of 4 or 5 will receive 4 hours of elective credit for a 2000-level literature course.  AP History: First-year honors students presenting appropriate AP examination scores will receive credit and exemption according to normal College policy (see Advanced Placement).

REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION WITH AN HONORS DEGREE
Students entering the program as first year students must successfully complete 24 hours of honors work consisting of the First-Year honors Sequence (HON 1010 and HONO 1020), the Second-Year Honors Sequence (HON 2010 and HON 2020), HON 3010, and HON 4800.

Students who enter the program during their sophomore year must successfully complete 16 hours of honors work consisting of the Second-Year Honors Sequence (HON 2010 and HON 2020), HON 3010, and HON 4800.

In addition to the credit hour requirements, students must successfully complete all the requirements of their Senior Honors Thesis or project, subject to the approval of the Honors Director.

ACADEMIC RECOGNITION FROM HONORS

Transcripts and diplomas will show that a student has successfully completed the Honors Degree Program.  In addition, honors program graduates are recognized at commencement, and their names are listed separately in the commencement program along with the titles of their thesis.  Students in the Honors Degree Program also may qualify for Academic Honors based upon their cumulative grade point average.

HUMANITIES MINOR

Successful completion of the 24-hour curriculum in Honors constitutes a Minor in Humanities, which is reflected on the student’s transcript.

HONORS COURSES

First-Year Honors Sequence: Western Ideas (HON 1010 and HON 1020).

The first-year honors sequence consists of two four-credit courses, offered in the form of team-taught interdisciplinary seminars, led by faculty in English, Religion, and other areas.  Honors Students will trace the history of Western thought by engaging central primary texts that have informed and constituted the Western tradition.  Through careful and intensive reading, writing, and colloquial discussion, students will explore the historical, literary, philosophical, religious, and social foundations of Western ideas from the ancient world to the mid-twentieth century.  The exact content of the texts will vary at the discretion of the faculty, but will be selected from those works deemed canonical and essential.

HONORS 1010: Western Ideas I (4)

This course focuses on the historical, literary, philosophical, religious, and social foundations of Western thought from the beginning to 1500.  Satisfies 4 hours of the English General Education requirement.

HONORS 1020:  Western Ideas II (4)

This course focuses on the historical, literary, philosophical, religious, and social foundations of Western thought from 1500 to the mid-twentieth century.  Satisfies 4 hours of the English General Education requirement.

In order to enroll in either HON 1010 or HON 1020, a student must first be admitted to the Honors Program.  Successful completion of HON 1010 satisfies the College’s General Education requirement for ENG 1100; successful completion of HON 1020 satisfies the General Education requirement for ENG 1120; successful completion of both HON 1010 and HON 1020 satisfies, in addition, a third General Education requirement, the second component of the General Education requirement for Religion if students have met the prerequisite by successfully completing either REL 1110 or REL 1120.

Second-Year Honors Sequence: Non-Western and Global Ideas (HON 2010 and HON 2020).

The second-year honors sequence consists of two four-credit courses, offered in the form of team-taught interdisciplinary seminars, led by faculty in History, the Social Sciences, and other areas.  Having examined the foundations of Western tradition, second-year honors students will be in a position to engage critically other cultural traditions and contemporary cultures.  As with the first-year sequence, second-year sequence courses involve careful and intensive reading, writing, and colloquial discussion.  Again, the exact content of the texts and materials will vary at the discretion of the faculty.

HONORS 2010: Non-Western Ideas (4)

In this course students will trace the history of non-Western thought by studying the essential texts and materials of the historical, literary, philosophical, political, religious, and social thought of the non-Western world through the mid-twentieth century.  Satisfies the History General Education requirement.

HONORS 2020: Contemporary Global Issues (4)

In this course students will study contemporary global issues – cultural, historical, political, religious, scientific, and social.  Satisfies the Social Sciences General Education requirement.

In order to enroll in either HON 2010 or HON 2020, a student must first be admitted to the Honors Program.  Successful completion of HON 2010 satisfies the College’s General Education requirement for History; successful completion of HON 2020 satisfies the General Education requirement for Social Sciences; successful completion of both HON 2010 and HON 2020 satisfies, in addition, the 2000-level Literature option for the B.A. degree.

HONORS 3010: Honors Research (4)

This seminar prepares students to write the Honors Thesis by exploring research models, methods, and skills from various disciplines.  It is team-taught by faculty representing two different disciplines, and may include guest lectures from faculty in other disciplines; this course offers an introduction to the type of research that might be expected in graduate programs.  Students will complete their Honors Thesis Prospectus, under the guidance of a faculty advisor, by the end of HON 3010 and will defend their prospectuses before the Honors Committee.  Offered every Spring semester, HON 3010 is required of all third-year honors students who plan to complete a senior honors thesis.

HONORS 4800: Senior Honors Thesis (4)

The purpose of this four-credit independent study course is to write the thesis or carry out the senior project proposed in the student’s prospectus (see HON 3010).  The student will present the results of the senior thesis to the campus community near the end of the fall or spring semester.  Prerequisite: HON 3010.  The Honors Committee must approve the student’s prospectus before Honors credit can be granted for this work.

HONORS THESIS

During the final year of the program the honors student undertakes an independent or original project, under the supervision of a faculty advisor that culminates in the senior honors thesis.  While the honors thesis itself will always be a traditional academic treatise – that is, a formal and systematic written account of the project – the range of possible projects leading to the thesis is quite broad.  Past projects include, for example, library and archival research, scientific and social scientific experiments, art exhibitions, and musical and dramatic performances.  The Honors Degree Program requires only that the project be appropriate to the student’s academic discipline and that if reflect an in-depth study of material.  Previous thesis have been bound and made available for review in the George Center for Honors Studies.

Should an honors student major in an academic discipline requiring its own senior project, the student would not be required to complete both the senior project in the major and the honors thesis.  Instead, the student would be expected to craft a single project in such a way as to satisfy both requirements.  Such a project would be designed in consultation with, and would require the formal approval of, the student’s faculty mentor, the appropriate academic department chair, and the Honors Committee.

Questions regarding the George Center for Honors Studies may be directed to:

Dr. Frederick J. Oerther III
oertherf@gborocollege.edu
Greensboro College
209 Odell Building
(336) 272-7102 ext. 324

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