The Honors Curriculum and Requirements are organized by the attributes we expect students to have demonstrated by completion of the Program. Those attributes are: breadth, collaborative capacity, global awareness, civic engagement, command of language, and depth. A summary of requirements for each attribute follows. For complete information about requirements, including more options for fulfilling them, click on the attribute link, or scroll through the document. For requirements met through coursework, you must receive a “B” or higher in the course.

Brief Overview of Requirements

Breadth

  • Required Honors Courses (13 credits minimum)
    • HNR 100 (1 credit)
    • Two courses with the HNR prefix (6 credits)
    • Two additional honors courses, either departmental honors or those with the HNR prefix (6 credits)
    • The honors courses you take must come from at least two different academic divisions (social science, humanities, natural sciences/mathematics)
  • One interdisciplinary course (honors or non-honors)

Current and recent Honors course listings may be found here

Collaborative Capacity

  • One collaborative course or experience

Global Awareness

  • Two global awareness options from the approved list, at least one of which must be non-Eurocentric in focus

Civic Engagement

  • A minimum of 50 hours of documented civic engagement experiences, over several semesters (summers can count as semesters; see below)

Command of Language

  • One course including public presentation, or an approved public presentation experience
  • One quantitative or creative expression course
  • A written summary of your Honors Capstone Project
  • Presentation of your project on Capstone Presentation Day in late spring of your senior year

Depth

  • An Honors Capstone Project in your major or majors

To graduate with Honors, you must earn a cumulative gpa equivalent to cum laude in your home school or college (3.2 in Architecture; 3.4 in all others)

Full Explanation of Requirements

BREADTH

The requirement for Breadth has two aspects: (A) disciplinary diversity, and (B) interdisciplinarity.

(A) Disciplinary diversity:

All Honors students will demonstrate disciplinary breadth by successfully completing a minimum of 13 credits of honors courses as follows:

  1. The introductory honors seminar, HNR 100. Students who join the Program after their first year may substitute a 200-level HNR seminar for HNR 100.
  2. Two HNR courses (6 credits).
    • Students may complete three one-credit 200-level HNR seminars for a grade in lieu of one HNR course.
  3. Two additional Honors courses (6 credits). These may be courses with the HNR prefix, Honors sections of regular departmental courses, or Honors discussion sections of regular departmentally-based courses.
    • A semester of study abroad may count as the equivalent of one HNR or other Honors course, with prior permission of the Honors Program. This option will require submission of critical essays prior to departure, while abroad, and upon return, reflecting upon the entire experience. This option may be exercised only once.

    Note: At least two academic divisions (social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences/mathematics) must be represented among the four honors courses used to complete this requirement.

(B) Interdisciplinarity

This requirement can be met in any of three ways:

  1. Completion of an approved, three-credit course with substantial interdisciplinary content.
  2. An independent project experience, with prior approval from the Honors Program.
  3. Completion of a clearly interdisciplinary Capstone Project, with prior approval from the Honors Program and from the student's major department.

COLLABORATIVE CAPACITY

Honors students should thrive in the open exchange of ideas, and be adept at working cooperatively with others in addressing important problems. Each student will complete an extended activity with a team of three to five collaborators that involves significant intellectual content appropriate to the Honors Program.

This requirement can be met through any of three ways:

  1. An approved course or extended project through a course that involves substantial teamwork.
  2. An independent project experience, such as in drama or engineering, that would require faculty approval both before work begins and at the end of the project. The team should work regularly with the faculty member or similar advisor throughout the work. The project must result in a deliverable product such as a report, presentation, or performance.
  3. Completion of an off-campus project (through an internship, field experience, or other activity). This requires a written proposal to be approved by the Honors Program before work begins. The project must result in a final deliverable product such as a report, presentation, or performance.

For non-course based projects, a petition that includes a brief, written description of the collaborative experience, along with documentation of the report, presentation, or performance, must be submitted promptly to the Honors Program at the conclusion of the project.

GLOBAL AWARENESS

The Honors Program expects students to explore the interconnectedness of the world through classroom inquiry and personal experience with other cultures. It seeks to promote awareness and appreciation of the diversity of cultures within our global community and to enhance understanding of the political, economic, social, demographic, technological and environmental issues that affect us all. Moreover, global awareness entails transcending traditionally dominant perspectives, e.g., Eurocentric or 'first world' standpoints. Many options are available to develop cross-cultural awareness, including courses that incorporate travel and study abroad, designing a project that demonstrates international sophistication, or spending a summer or semester in another part of the world. Early in his or her tenure, each Honors student should create a personal plan with the help of an Honors Advisor to achieve Global Awareness.

Students must successfully complete two of the following options. In doing so, they must choose two areas of study (exclusive of the United States) that are historically different in cultural, ethnic and linguistic heritages, at least one of which must be non-Eurocentric (i.e., non-USA/European; the study of First-Nations/Native American peoples and cultures qualifies as non-Eurocentric).

  1. One course that has a non-US focus (not including language courses). List of Approved Courses
  2. A capstone project that has a non-US focus.
  3. Ability in a foreign language at a level of 201 or higher.
  4. An internship or other work with a documented global perspective for at least 50 hrs.
  5. A semester or summer abroad in a University-approved foreign study program.
  6. An Honors-approved, short-term program that includes a foreign travel component (examples at: http://suabroad.syr.edu/programs/shortTerm/).
  7. At least one semester of residence in a Learning Community with an international focus (such as "International Relations").
  8. One semester in the "Maxwell in Washington Undergraduate Semester" (IR/DC) Program.
  9. An approved, sustained, reciprocal mentoring partnership with international students for one semester under the aegis of the Slutzker Center for International Services .
  10. An alternative path approved in advance by the Honors Program.

If the requirements of a student's major create a serious impediment to completing this requirement as stated, the student may, with prior approval from the Honors Program, satisfy the requirement by completing two courses: one non-US, one non-Eurocentric.

Alternate paths:

Other projects can be considered by petition to the Honors Program ­- for example, significant work with immigrant, refugee, or migrant worker communities in the United States, or sustained involvement through Hendricks Chapel with non-western religions and cultures.

International students should meet with an Honors advisor to discuss how their experiences may contribute toward fulfilling this requirement.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Learning through engagement with the public is the touchstone for assessing the relevance of an activity to the Civic Engagement requirement. We value flexibility, so activities may take place on or off campus, in Syracuse or elsewhere. Activities performed through service learning courses can apply, as can some paid experiences (see below). The activity may even have a partisan political or faith-based locus. We ask students to reflect on how each activity has contributed to their understanding of the meaning of civic engagement. With the help of an Honors Advisor, each student should create a plan to pursue Civic Engagement early in her/his tenure.

Some examples follow of the kinds of unpaid activities that can be used toward the Civic Engagement requirement:

  • Extra-curricular activities of significance to the public good (e.g., student government, publications, school, college, or university committees, peer advising, University 100).
  • Public service and community participation (e.g. homeless services, environmental protection advocacy, service work with religious organizations, partisan political activities, government boards and commissions).
  • Performer in a University music, dance, drama, or other performance group (10 hours maximum).

Certain paid experiences that contribute to the public good may be used, including:

  • Literacy Corps (40 hours maximum)
  • Resident Advisor (30 hours maximum)
  • Peer Tutoring through the University's Learning Center (20 hours maximum)

All students are required to document their various Civic Engagement activities. Although the total amount of time documented will vary, the point is to show sustained involvement that takes place over several semesters and an overall total of at least 50 hours of activity. Documentation forms can be found online here. Summers may be counted as semesters. We recommend that you submit a form shortly after you complete each experience so you'll easily be able to obtain the appropriate signatures.

Ideally, civic engagement activities should be started by the first semester of the sophomore year. Students may request final review of their documentation forms after two years of substantial activity. This might be any time after the beginning of the junior year.

COMMAND OF LANGUAGE

Honors students must be able to communicate effectively about their interests and fields of study to diverse audiences unfamiliar with the topics involved, in a variety of ways including public presentations and written texts. They must be astute critics of arguments and information. They must have accomplishment in quantitative analysis or creative expression, and preferably in both.

Students must:

  1. Produce a written summary of the Capstone Project as described under "Depth."
  2. Complete one course with a substantial public presentation requirement. Courses in public speaking, broadcasting, and acting will routinely satisfy this condition. Any other course may qualify, by petition, if it requires a public presentation of at least 15 minutes that is subject to critical faculty review. List of Approved Courses
  3. Complete either one course with a significant quantitative component or one course in creative expression. Courses in mathematics and the physical sciences will satisfy this requirement, as will courses in music composition and performance and studio arts.

Alternate paths:

Other avenues will be considered on an individual basis by petition to the Honors Program. For example, the public presentation component could be fulfilled by such activities as participation in Mock Trial or the Debate Team.

DEPTH

Intellectual accomplishment at a high degree of sophistication is the culmination of the Honors experience. The Depth requirement will be fulfilled by a significant original Capstone Project in the student's major. The student will choose a topic in consultation with one or more Advisors. This project is typically undertaken in the junior and senior years.

Each Capstone Project should be at a higher level of intellectual sophistication than is minimally required of students doing senior projects in those academic units that routinely require such projects. Where the academic unit offers its own option of achieving the designation "with distinction" for advanced work, the Honors Program will typically accept that work as also suitable for submission toward completion of the depth requirement.

Students will be required to enroll in XXX 499 (e.g. ETS 499; HST 499), Honors Capstone Project Preparation, or in a departmental distinction seminar or other senior project course, in the appropriate semester (based on when final preparation is undertaken) for three credits of thesis or final project work. Project advisors will recommend graduate or advanced undergraduate courses that will help in project preparation.

Public presentation of the project is required of all students on Capstone Presentation Day. Students will also provide a written description of the Capstone Project that explains the work to a general, educated audience outside the field, as part of their project. This narrative will typically be in the range of 4-6 pages, and should include:

.  a description of the project;

.  a discussion of the methods used;

.  a discussion of the project's significance.

Assessment of the Capstone Project will have three stages:

  1. Capstone proposal written by the student, signed by the project Advisor, and submitted for approval to the Honors Program in the fall term of the junior year.
  2. Capstone Proposal Update Form, signed by the Advisor, with details of the project and current status. This would include assurance by the project faculty Advisor that the student is making good progress toward finishing the project.
  3. Final approval of the project by the faculty Advisor and an Honors Reader, indicated by their signatures on the project cover page.

Creative Ways to Fulfill Requirements

Most students fulfill these requirements through courses in Honors or in other departments. But we urge you to approach the requirements creatively. Many students have found that activities they already engage in will help complete the requirements, and have successfully petitioned to have them do so. Here are some examples:

A pre-med student didn't have room for many electives, and couldn't easily study abroad. But he is fluent in Spanish, and in his summer job on a construction crew he found himself acting as the primary translator between many of his co-workers and the supervisors -- first informally, then more formally. The conversations opened a window on the Hispanic world that was new to him, as he learned a great deal about the culture and its evolving life in the US context -- the challenges as well as the possibilities. He was invited to write an essay on the experience, to submit toward the Global Awareness requirement.

A student was heavily involved in the student organization, Danceworks. In addition to dancing and doing choreography, she played a key leadership role in the organization, helping administer it, working on budgets, preparing publicity for concerts, producing the concerts themselves, etc. We granted her petition to have this experience fulfill her "collaboration" requirement.

A School of Education student had few elective slots in her curriculum, and was unable to study abroad. But as a student teacher she was assigned to interview and help mentor a young student from another culture who was struggling to adapt to life in America. She has received permission to write an essay discussing this experience to help her meet the "global awareness" requirement.

There are many other possibilities. One student has already fulfilled the collaboration requirement through her work organizing a community theatre for children. Serving on the Mock Trial or Debate Team would fulfill the "public presentation" requirement. You may find new possibilities we have not even anticipated. Be sure to draw upon your own experience as you consider how you will meet these requirements.

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