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2005 - 2006 Honors Program (HON)
Program Description | Program
Goals | Admission Criteria | Benefits
| Participation in Honors Courses by Non-Honors Students
| Criteria for Remaining in the Honors Program | LE
Certificate | Honors Degree Requirements | Directed
Studies | Course Descriptions
Director: Richard Badenhausen
Program Description
The Honors Program provides students who are academically and intellectually
prepared with the opportunity to satisfy their college-wide LE Skills and LE
Distribution course requirements in an alternative and unique manner. By completing
a 7-course sequence of interdisciplinary, team-taught Honors courses, students
earn an Honors certificate while satisfying their Liberal Education Distribution
requirements. Moreover, by understanding their historical, scientific, and intellectual
heritage, Honors students are prepared to be articulate and responsible members
of society and defenders of their own ideas. Students may also continue their
study in the program and receive an Honors degree.
Program Goals
- Students will develop confidence in their abilities to understand and discuss
complex ideas and texts, as well as to engage in problem solving and research
design.
- Students will strengthen their written and oral communication skills.
- Students will master an ability to work effectively in groups of diverse
people.
- Students will make connections between disciplines.
- Students will learn to apply new knowledge and skills in meaningful ways
that will help them succeed in their professional and personal lives following
college.
- Students will enjoy a range of supplemental experiences of an academic and
social nature with similarly motivated and talented students.
Admission Criteria
Students expressing a desire to enroll in the Honors Program will be ranked
according to the following criteria: ACT scores, high school GPA, and the quality
of a written statement. The top thirty-five students will be invited to enroll
in Honors courses. If accepted students decline the offer, the invitation process
will continue until a class of thirty-five students is formed. Although a typical
incoming Honors student has had a 3.80 GPA and a 29 Composite ACT score, the
range of scores is quite broad. Students who fall near or above these standards
and who sincerely wish to be in the program are encouraged to secure an application
from the Honors Program or Westminster's START Center. Questions concerning
the application process should be directed to the director of the Honors Program.
Benefits of Participating in the Honors Program
- Academic distinction: the Honors designation on a transcript shows
graduate schools and employers that you have achieved academic success in
rigorous classes and worked with some of the college's finest teachers and
students.
- Small class size: restricted enrollment ensures classes have an intimate,
seminar-style feel and allows for close student-professor interactions and
mentoring-an important benefit when students require personal and informed
letters of recommendation for jobs and graduate school.
- Excellent faculty: professors teach Honors classes by choice and
are some of the college's most committed and energetic instructors.
- Interdisciplinary approaches: the interdisciplinary nature of Honors
seminars brings students and teachers from different departments together,
ensuring an exciting class atmosphere and preparing students for the interdisciplinary
approach of most top graduate programs.
- Research opportunities: the seminar-style approach to learning, the
emphasis on writing and research in classes, and the program support of outside
research allow students to investigate their academic interests more fully
and create opportunities for the presentation or publishing of their work.
The program also awards three independent summer research grants annually
to Honors students.
- Sense of community: Honors students take core classes together and
interact with Honors faculty and students in other academic and social events,
which helps establish a sense of belonging to the college community. The Honors
program is housed in Nunemaker Place. Built in 1977, this architecturally
striking building provides Honors students and faculty with a variety of distinctive
spaces, including a resource/scholarship library, the office of the Honors
director, meeting areas, a lounge in which students socialize, reading and
study spaces, and computer work stations. Located next to beautiful Emigration
Creek, Nunemaker opens out onto a tree-lined patio where students and faculty
can eat lunch, read, and relax.
- Access to supplementary resources: For example, the Honors Program
listserv; the "Pizza with Profs" lecture series; the Honors Program
resource library; the Honors Program newsletter; special enriched learning
experiences such as attendance at cultural events and other field study; funding
to attend and give papers at academic conferences; leadership training opportunities
like the student Honors Council; special recognition opportunities like the
Honors seminar book awards; and opportunities to participate in special meetings
with distinguished visiting scholars and lecturers.
Participation in Honors Courses by Non-Honors Program
Students
Since a number of high-achieving, upper-class Westminster College students
may not have applied to the Honors Program as incoming freshmen but may still
wish to participate in some of its classes, any undergraduate in good standing
with a 3.5 GPA or higher is eligible to enroll in 300 and 400 level Honors seminars.
The Honors Program is an active part of the larger college community and welcomes
the energy, intellect, and diversity that students from different disciplines
across the campus bring to Honors. Non-Honors Program students enrolling in
Honors seminars should check with their program chairs, since these classes
will sometimes fulfill certain requirements in a student's own major. Participation
in 200-level Honors seminars is restricted to students in the Honors Program.
Criteria for Remaining in the Honors Program
- 3.25 GPA overall, and a 3.0 GPA overall in Honors courses.
- If an Honors student falls below these GPA minimums, a probationary semester
will be used to allow the student to return to the minimum GPA standards for
continued participation.
Honors Liberal Education Certificate Requirements
Students who complete seven courses in the Honors LE sequence will be awarded
a special certificate recognizing this achievement (contingent on Westminster
graduation). No more than one of these courses may be taken credit/no credit.
A complete description of the equivalencies between LE Honors courses and the
standard LE courses is listed below.
Liberal Education Skills Requirements
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Honors Course Equivalents
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Computer Literacy:
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CMPT 098 Computer Literacy or higher course, or passing score on Computer
Competency Exam
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No Honors Course
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English:
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ENGL 110 Composition and Research
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HON 201-202 Humanities I and II
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Public Speaking:
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SPCH 111 Public Presentations
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HON 201, 202, 211, 212, 231 (4 of 5 required for SPCH credit)
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Mathematical Sciences:
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MATH 120 Quantitative Reasoning
MATH 141 College Algebra
MATH 150 Elementary Statistics
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No Honors Course
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Liberal Education
Distribution Requirements
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Honors Course Equivalents
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Group 1: Life Sciences
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BIOL 102 The Natural World
BIOL 210 Environmental Biology
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HON 222 Science, Power, and Diversity
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Group 2: Physical Sciences
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CHEM 103 Introduc. to Chemistry
ESS 110 Introduction to Geology
PHYS 102 The Physical Universe
PHYS 104 Explorations in Science
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HON 221 History and Philosophy of Science
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Group 3: Social Science I
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ECON 105 Intro. to Economics
ECON 253 Elem. Macroeconomics
PLSC 101 Intr. to Political Science
PLSC 121 American Nat'l Gov't.
ECON/PLSC 200FN Social Sciences I Foundation Course
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HON 211 Political Economy of Confict
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Group 4: Social Science II
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ANTH 160 Intro. to Anthropology
ANTH 252 Cultural Anthropology
PSYC 105 Intro. to Psychology
SOC 105 Introduction to Sociology
SOC 253 Sociology of the Family
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HON 231 Human Culture and Behavior
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Group 5: History
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HIST 112 Western Civilization I
HIST 113 Western Civilization II
HIST 212 World History to 1500
HIST 220 United States History
HIST/PHIL/ENGL 200FN Humanities Foundation Course
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HON 201-202 Humanities I and II
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Group 6: Literature
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ENGL 220 Introduction to Literature
HIST/PHIL/ENGL 200FN Humanities Foundation Course
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HON 201-202 Humanities I and II
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Group 7: Arts Survey
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ART 110 Survey of Art
MUSC 110 Survey of Music
THTR 124 Survey of the Theatre
ART/MUSC/THTR 200FN Experiencing the Arts
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HON 212 Seminar in the Arts
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Group 8: Arts/Physical Activity
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ART 101 Beginning Drawing
ART 103 Beginning Painting
ART 148 Fundamentals of Pottery
MUSC 115 Griffin Chorus
MUSC 125 Westminster Jazz Combo
MUSC 135 Westminster Chamber Orchestra
MUSC 315 Westminster Chamber Singers
PE Any physical education class
THTR 127 Stagecraft
THTR 180 Acting I
ART/MUSC/THTR 200FN Experiencing the Arts
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HON 212 The Arts in Performance
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Group 9: Philosophy/Religion
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PHIL 100 Intro. to Philosophy
PHIL 102 Critical Thinking
PHIL 206 Introduction to Ethics
REL 101 Religions of the World
HIST/PHIL/ENGL 200FN Humanities Foundations Course
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HON 201-202 Humanities I and II
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Honors Degree Requirements
Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.00 in all Honors coursework, including
those courses listed below for the Honors degree, and a minimum GPA of 3.25.
In addition, the following requirements must be satisfied in order to be awarded
the Honors Degree (in the major) at graduation:
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Requirement Description
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I.
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Foreign Language Requirement
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Honors Degree students must complete 4 semesters of college-level instruction
in a single foreign language or the equivalent. The requirement can be
satisfied by coursework or proof of proficiency. For example, an incoming
student who begins in Spanish III and successfully completes that course
and Spanish IV will have satisfied the requirement.
For those Honors students who have 12 hours CLEP or proficiency exam credit
in a single language, they may satisfy the remaining 4-hour requirement
in one of the following ways:
a) take 4 hours of coursework in a different language;
b) take 4 hours of study abroad credit in a non-English speaking foreign
country, of the language of proficiency or some other language; or
c) take 4 hours of a foreign language literature in translation course,
or the language of proficiency or some other language.
Students taking coursework in a foreign language in which Westminster
does not offer 4 semesters may complete the requirement with coursework
in an additional foreign language.
All coursework that meets this requirement must be taken for a letter
grade.
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II.
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Lower Division Courses
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HON 201 Humanities I
HON 202 Humanities II
HON 211 Political Economy of Conflict
HON 212 The Arts in Performance
HON 221 History and Philosophy of Science
HON 222 Science, Power, and Diversity
HON 231 Human Culture and Behavior
To receive an Honors degree, no more than one of these courses may be
taken credit/no credit.
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4
4
4
4
4
4
4
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III.
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Upper Division Courses
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Completion of 6 hours of coursework in Honors 300 or 400 seminars. May
not be taken credit/no credit.
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IV.
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Senior Project/Thesis
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Completion of a senior project in the student's major for a minimum of
3 credit hours. Students whose majors do not accommodate a senior project
may enroll in HON 402. The nature of this project will be determined in
conjunction with the Director of Honors and the student's major advisor.
All students completing a thesis or senior project for the Honors Degree
must fill out the thesis topic approval and completion forms, which are
available in the Honors office, and present their completed work in some
public setting like a regional academic conference, Westminster's undergraduate
research fair, or some equivalent venue.
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TOTAL HOURS FOR THE HONORS DEGREE
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53
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Please contact the Director of the Honors Program for more detailed information
concerning the requirements for the Honors Degree.
Directed Studies in Honors
Students may sometimes wish to satisfy some of their Honors hours by enrolling
in a directed study project under HON 401. This allows a student to design,
in conjunction with a faculty member, an independent project that adopts an
interdisciplinary approach to materials that are not covered in another Honors
class. Independent study forms are available in the office of the registrar
or the individual college offices. The course should be designed with the same
care and thoroughness as standard Honors courses and the independent study form
should, therefore, contain a comprehensive reading list of primary and secondary
sources, a series of questions the student will address, a clear explanation
of assignments, and the method of assessment.
Generally, students wishing to apply independent study hours toward their 6-hour
Honors Degree requirement should not satisfy more than 3 hours of coursework
this way during the standard semester or more than 2 hours of coursework if
done in conjunction with a May term class or trip. Students should consult the
Honors director for assistance in designing independent study projects.
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