May 21, 2026

2026-2027 Undergraduate Catalog

University Honors Program

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Program Requirements

Required Course Sequences

Students will complete one of the following tracks: Intellectual Traditions; Society, Policy, and Citizenship; Innovations.

Typical programs of study:

Intellectual Traditions

72 credits, including:

Society, Policy, and Citizenship

72 credits, including:

First Year, Fall: Foundations

HONR 1010 - Origins of Philosophy 4 credit hours
HONR 1150 - Foundational Fictions 4 credit hours
HONR 1210 - Polis, Republic, and Empires 4 credit hours

First Year, Winter: Pre-Modern Thought and Culture

HONR 1030 - Faith and Reason in Global Perspective 4 credit hours
HONR 1220 - The Politics of Medieval Communities 4 credit hours
HONR 2150 - Writers in the Public Sphere 4 credit hours

First Year, Spring: The Rise of Modernity

HONR 2020 - The Modern Age of Philosophy and Ethics 4 credit hours
HONR 2240 - Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World 4 credit hours
HONR 2300 - Science and Society 4 credit hours

Second Year, Fall: Industrialization and Conflict

HONR 2160 - Literatures of Resistance 4 credit hours
HONR 2250 - Human Rights in the Modern World 4 credit hours
HONR 2530 - 18th- and 19th-Century Social Theory 4 credit hours

Second Year, Winter: Ethics and Political Economy

HONR 2040 - Ethics and Moral Philosophy 4 credit hours
HONR 2540 - Modern Political Theory 4 credit hours
HONR 2550 - The Evolution of Economics 4 credit hours

Second Year, Spring: Capstone

HONR 2180 - Rhetoric for Public Debate 4 credit hours
HONR 2360 - Statistics for Policy Analysis 4 credit hours
HONR 2580 - Promoting the Common Good: Crafting Social Policy 4 credit hours

Innovations

60 credits, including:

First Year, Fall:

HONR 1010 - Origins of Philosophy 4 credit hours
HONR 1210 - Polis, Republic, and Empires 4 credit hours

First Year, Winter:

HONR 1450 - Major Debates in Theology and Religious Studies 4 credit hours
HONR 1240 - Catholicism and Its Global Reach 4 credit hours

First Year, Spring:

HONR 1140 - Literary Innovations 1 4 credit hours

Second Year, Fall:

HONR 2020 - The Modern Age of Philosophy and Ethics 4 credit hours
HONR 2300 - Science and Society 4 credit hours

Second Year, Winter:

HONR 2220 - History of Revolutions 4 credit hours
HONR 2510 - Capitalism and Its Discontents 4 credit hours

Second Year, Spring:

HONR 2140 - Literary Innovations 2 4 credit hours
HONR 2420 - Artistic Innovators 4 credit hours

Third Year, Fall:

No Honors courses taken this quarter

Third Year, Winter:

HONR 2320 - The Measurement of Inequality 4 credit hours
HONR 2520 - Modern Selves and Global Society 4 credit hours

Third Year, Spring:

HONR 2030 - Crises in Contemporary Thought 4 credit hours
HONR 2400 - Major Ethical Debates of the Modern World 4 credit hours

Research Practices and Oral Exams

The University Honors Program seeks to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the humanities in an historical framework. Throughout the curriculum, the program employs seminar method that combines the Socratic dialogue with the Jesuit tradition of challenging students to learn for themselves. The seminar method is essential in teaching students to become self-motivated learners who can articulate their insights cogently in the context of the seminar. Whether through the pursuit of answers to individual questions or the intensive study of general problems, students learn quickly how to critically assess ideas and to better understand their own points of view. The ideas and issues raised in discussions frequently lead to further discussions and questions that are then considered in subsequent seminars. The ideal seminar discussion generates a dynamic of learning and discovery among students.

It is customary that Honors students write expository papers for their seminars. Because writing is a process, the program involves peer review of papers in draft. With the help of the professor, students form small groups for a paper conference to plan, read, critique, and improve each other’s papers. Students typically read the papers of the group members and write evaluations of each essay, as does the professor. Through the intensive writing process students learn not only to find their own voice, but also to hone their skills for writing scholarly papers in a discipline.

At the end of each term in the Intellectual Traditions and Society, Policy, and Citizenship tracks, students take an oral exam with all three professors present. Students in the Innovations track take oral exams in Fall of first year, in all three quarters of second year, and in Fall of third year. The oral exam is the occasion for a student to demonstrate his or her ability to analyze and synthesize the course materials and the ideas that are common to the three courses in each term. The oral exam develops skills the student carries far beyond the Honors Program into situations that involve interviews of all kinds for scholarships, graduate schools or jobs.

Once every term the faculty and students from their respective classes come together for a plenary session outside of the classroom. Typically, the session involves attending a cultural event, such as a play or a musical performance, which has a connection with the historical period the students are currently studying. The plenary also can be a lecture by a visiting scholar or a visit to an exhibit. Faculty and students together have an open discussion after each session.