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University Honors Program

Andrew LaZella, Ph.D. & Jill A. Warker, Ph.D. Co-Directors

Complete the online University Honors Program Application

Please print two (2) copies of the Recommendation Form for instructors who are completing them. 

Once you submit your application, you'll need to print a copy. There is a button on the Completed page that gives you the option to print.

Check list

Information Session Slides 2023 

Information Session Video 2023 

Password needed to view video session - 4ECWP6C$

Unofficial Transcript Instructions - You'll need to scroll down the page to "Requesting Unofficial Transcripts".

View past Honors Projects submitted here

University 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 books 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

University Honors Requirement Info.

University Honors Students must take one course, three tutorials and two 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 requirements. Students may take up to five tutorials. Those who participate in all three programs of excellence (University Honors, SJLA, Magis Honors in STEM, Business Leadership Program, and Business Honors 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.

University Honors students may take between 12 and 21 credits at the flat rate.

Admission to the University 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 is based on the applicant’s college records, application, recommendations, and interviews. For further information contact Dr.'s Andrew LaZella or Jill Warker , Co-Directors of the Honors Program.

Complete the online University Honors Program Application

Please print two (2) copies of the Recommendation Form for instructors who are completing them.

Once you submit your application, you'll need to print a copy. There is a button on the Completed page that gives you the option to print.

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 
Spring: Honors Project; Defense of Project

 

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
  • DEPT 385H-389H - Honors Tutorial
  • DEPT 487H-489H - Honors Project
  • 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.)

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Required Honors Courses

HONR 187H - Honors Sophomore Seminar
1 cr. (Prerequisite: Admission to the Honors Program)
The class serves as an introduction to the Honors Program and also models the research process more broadly.  The course begins in the final days of intersession, giving students a retreat-like experience, and continues in the early days of the spring semester.  It traces the nature of research across academic disciplines.

HONR 287H - Honors Capstone Course
3cr. (Prerequisite: Admission to the Honors Program)
A team taught course, a requirement of the Honors program, puts students into conversation across or between academic disciplines around a particular topic, subject to change each time the course is offered. The course should satisfy up to two varying G.E. area requirements every semester. May be repeated for credit.

HONR 387H - Honors Junior Seminar
1 cr.
Student-led discussions of contemporary non-fiction works chosen for their variety and their importance.

HONR 487H - Honors Senior Seminar
1 cr.
Student-led discussions of the content, rational, and methodology of Senior Honors Projects.

 

Honors Tutorials 385H-389H

3 cr.

An exploration of a topic on an individually directed basis.

Honors Project Tutorials 487H-489H

3 cr.

An independent project of academic or professional nature culminating in an oral defense before a board of three faculty members.

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