The Honors Program curriculum is designed to encourage and reward intellectual acuity, independence, and engagement, and to foster cohesion within the Honors student cohort. It consists of two main parts, the Foundation Courses and the Seminar Series.
Honors Program Foundation Courses
The heart of the Honors Program curriculum for the first- and second-year student is the Honors Foundation Courses: eight courses total, two each in English, History, Philosophy, and Theology. The English courses are specific to the Honors Program; in History, Philosophy, and Theology, students take special Honors sections of courses that are for the most part also required by the University Core of Common Studies and by the Core Curricula of Marquette’s undergraduate colleges, and which therefore count toward students’ core as well as Honors requirements.
English 1301 and 1302: Honors English
All Honors first-year students, regardless of AP or IB credit, take Honors English 1301 and 1302.
Classes of 2016 and before: Honors students who complete ENGL 1301 and ENGL 1302 with a grade of B or better will have satisfied the UCCS Rhetoric distribution requirement (ENGL 1001 and ENGL 1002), if they have not already satisfied part or all of that requirement with AP credits. Students who complete either ENGL 1301 or ENGL 1302 with a passing grade will also have satisfied the UCCS Literature and Performing Arts (LPA) distribution requirement.
Classes of 2017 and after: For Honors students who enter Marquette with AP or IB credit for English 1001 (a 4 on any English AP) OR English 1001 and English 1002 (a 5 on any English AP), English 1301 and 1302 will satisfy all 6 credits of the UCCS Rhetoric requirement PLUS the UCCS LPA requirement.
For Honors students who enter Marquette with no AP or IB credit for English 1001 or English 1002, English 1301 and 1302 will satisfy only the 6 credits of the UCCS Rhetoric requirement. These students will still need to take a non-Honors UCCS LPA course.
As for any Honors course, students must receive a final grade of C or higher in each of the English courses to receive Honors credit. For the classes of 2017 and after there are no other grade requirements for these courses.
History 1001 and 1002: Western Civilization
Scores of 4 or 5 on any AP history exam exempt Honors students from History 1001 or History 1002.
Note: The Honors classes of 2017 and after are required to take only one History course, Honors History 100x, now being developed by the History Department. Students will take this course in their sophomore year. This course is required; it cannot be substituted for with AP or IB credit
Philosophy 1001: Philosophy of Human Nature
Philosophy 2310: Theory of Ethics
Theology 1001: Introduction to Theology
Upper-division Honors Theology, indicated by “for honors only” in course notes.
For incoming first-years, fall 2013:
In the fall semester 2013, Honors will launch a revised foundation course curriculum required for and only available to incoming Honors first-year students. All incoming Honors students will take both English 1301 and an Honors section of Philosophy 1001 in fall semester 2013; in spring semester 2014, all first-year Honors students will take English 1302 and an Honors section of Theology.
In fall 2013, approximately 40 incoming first-years will enroll in a new, double section of English 1301 plus Philosophy 1001, with integrated syllabi and teaching. Each student in this double section will earn two separate grades, one for English (3 credits) and one for Philosophy (3 credits). The remaining approximately 60 incoming first-years will take traditional sections of English 1301 and Honors Philosophy 1001 in fall 2013. Honors will work with incoming first-years during summer 2013 to enroll them in either the double section or individual Honors sections, according to students’ preferences and other course scheduling needs.
In spring 2014, we will expand the revised curriculum, and approximately 80 first-year Honors students will take one of two double sections of English 1302 plus Theology 1001, according to the model explained above. The remaining approximately 20 students will take traditional sections of English 1302 and Honors Theology 1001. In 2014-15, all Honors sophomores will take a double section of Philosophy 2310 plus a new Honors History course being developed for this new curriculum during either fall or spring semester. The Honors Foundation courses have been reduced from 8 to 7 for students entering in 2013 (one fewer History course is required), and after this double section of Philosophy 2310 plus History 100x is completed in sophomore year, students will complete their Honors Foundation course series with an Honors section of second-level Theology. Second-level Theology will not be paired with any other courses, and may be completed during any semester of the student’s undergraduate career. Starting in fall 2013, none of the 7 Honors Foundation Course requirements may be waived by AP or IB credit. The Honors seminar series will not be affected by this curricular revision.
From fall 2014 on, English 1301 and Honors Philosophy 1001, English 1302 and Honors Theology 1001, and Honors Philosophy 2310 and Honors History 100x will be offered only in double sections, and Honors students will be required to take them during the prescribed semesters. Honors and the Theology department will continue, again, to offer stand-alone sections of second-level Honors Theology every semester, and students may take this Honors Foundation Course at any time in their undergraduate career.
Summary of revised Honors Foundation Course curriculum:
Semester 1: English 1301 (3 credits) plus Philosophy 1001 (3 credits)
(plus HOPR 1953, 1 credit, pass/fail; see “Seminar Series” below)
Semester 2: English 1302 (3 credits) plus Theology 1001 (3 credits)
Semester 3 or 4: Philosophy 2310 (3 credits) plus History 100x (3 credits)
(plus HOPR 2953, 2 credits, pass/fail; see “Seminar Series” below)
Semester 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8: 2nd Level Honors Theology (3 credits)
(During their third and fourth years, Honors students will also take HOPR 3953 and HOPR 4953 or equivalents.)
Honors Program Seminar Series
Each year Honors students take one course in the Honors Program Seminar Series. These seminars build progressively upon earlier Honors experiences to nurture the intellectual acuity, independence, and maturity characteristic of Honors Program graduates. Students generally take the four seminars in the following sequence:
HOPR 1953:
First-year seminar, offered only fall semester
One credit, pass/fail, enrollment cap of 10
An introduction to small seminar-style learning, in a challenging but friendly environment. The first-year seminar pursues a particular intellectual topic intensively; past examples include Chinese film; hip hop, philosophy, and politics; entrepreneurship; experimental theater; and project management in engineering.
HOPR 2953
Second-year seminar, offered either semester
2 credits, pass/fail, enrollment cap of 15
The second-year seminar enriches Honors students' core-based curriculum with non-mainstream pedagogies or learning experiences – for example, contemplative learning, innovative integration of theory and practice, or community engagement. The seminar asks students to think consciously and creatively about their own intellectual trajectory.
HOPR 3953
Third-year seminar, offered either semester
3 credits, graded, enrollment cap of 20
The third-year seminar is usually discipline-based, but offers topics outside those of typical departmental seminars. With the approval of the Honors Program Director, students may substitute equivalent seminars in their major or college.
HOPR 3955: Undergraduate Research Seminar
This seminar provides students with the opportunity to participate in, conduct, write up and disseminate original research projects with individual faculty mentors and in the context of a community of fellow honors students engaged in research projects. At the end of the seminar, each student will have developed a research proposal, which may be submitted to the Honors Program for a summer research stipend of $2500. Students who are awarded and accept this funding are expected to present their research at a campus event the following fall semester. Students from all disciplines and students already working in research labs are welcome in this seminar and eligible for summer funding.
HOPR 4953
Fourth-year seminar, offered either semester
3 credits, graded, enrollment cap of 20.
Like the third-year seminar, the fourth-year seminar is typically discipline-based, and often culminates in a research project or another kind of senior project. The goal of this seminar is to help students integrate their learning over the past three years and reflect on how their views of themselves, the world, and their aspirations have changed and developed at Marquette.
