The Honors Program

Faculty

Dr. Joshua Wright, Associate Professor of Global Affairs and Director of the Honors Program
Dr. Christopher Bishop, Associate Professor of Psychology
Dr. Rewa Burnham, Associate Professor of English Literature
Dr. Steven Gable, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Description

The Trinity Honors Program offers seminar-style classes that provide a platform for College of Arts and Sciences students to think and reason critically, engage with and generate original and creative ideas, and participate in advanced academic discourse. Upon completing the program, students will be prepared to explore the intersection between informed theory and applied practice.

In addition to reinforcing the goals of the general education curriculum, the program emphasizes the following:

1. Academic Excellence: The program encourages students to achieve at their highest potential, both in their major fields and in the broader context of their liberal arts education. Students must earn a grade of “B” or higher in all honors courses and maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 in order to remain in the program.
2. Conscientious Leadership: The program challenges students to develop greater insights into the values, attitudes, and assumptions they hold about themselves and others and to explore the connection between these values and the world around them. Scholars will learn to become effective leaders who promote social justice.
3. Intellectual Ambition: The program inspires students to investigate novel areas of intellectual development, participate in new methods of learning, examine the connections between disciplines and approaches, and engage in original research.

First-year students are invited to participate in the Honors Program on the basis of their high school GPA, standardized test scores, and the college admissions essay. Sophomores and transfer students may be recommended by a professor or should apply to the Director of the Honors Program for consideration.

Students who are accepted in the Honors program will complete 6 honors-designated courses that include a research project with a focus on Social Justice within the candidate’s field of study. The Honors candidate must pass each class with a grade of B or higher in all Honors courses, maintain a 3.0 overall GPA, and provide 40 hours of community service by the end of their senior year. The student will have the notation “Honors Scholar” added to their transcripts at the time of graduation. This notation is separate and distinct from Latin honors.

Honors Curriculum

Students consult their advisors and enroll in the HONORS sections of the below courses as indicated in the schedule of classes in Self-Service.

First Year 

CRS 102 Critical Reading and Writing Seminar IIThis course further develops the critical reading and academic writing skills addressed in CRS 101 through engagement with texts in a particular academic discipline. Students will choose a CRS 102 course that addresses an interesting, meaningful or important disciplinary question, and build reading and writing skills through close readings and written responses to the assigned texts. CRS 102 courses are offered on a variety of academic topics, and students choose the one that is most compelling to them.
All students will be expected to work toward the following learning goals:
-Describe and apply comprehension strategies
-Summarize textual ideas accurately and in their own words
-Compare, contrast and organize textual ideas and arguments into writing
-Apply revision and editing strategies to writing
-Acknowledge sources according to disciplinary conventions
-Locate, differentiate between and evaluate the credibility of academic sources

Formerly CRS 102 - CRS: Prof & Career Success in the Health Professions.

3 credits
Prerequisite: CRS 101.
This course is usually taken simultaneously with English 107.
ENGL 107 College CompositionDevelops effective writing of evidence-based, thesis-centered academic essays. Emphasizes the research and documentation skills necessary for successful academic writing. Focuses on argumentative essays that build to a substantive research paper. Formerly ENG 107 College Composition.
3 credits
General Education: Foundational Skills Area
FLC Area I Core Area I: Skills for Work and Life

Second Year 

ENGL 299 HON:First-Year Honors SeminarOffers students the opportunity to explore in depth specialized topics in British, US, and global literature. Recent topics have included the concept of "voice" in contemporary US culture, the history of women's authorship in Europe and the US, and the evolution of the heroine as a figure in fiction, drama, and film. By invitation only. Formerly ENG 199 Freshman Honors Seminar.
3 credits
FLC Area II (Literature Cluster)
INT 309 Honors Research MethodologyThis course will introduce honors students to interdisciplinary research methods necessary for the Honors Capstone. The course will acquaint students with basic statistical research methods and equip students with the skills necessary for original research in both the Social Sciences and the Humanities.
3 credits

Pre-requisites: ENGL 299

Third Year 

INT 310 Honors Research SeminarIntegrating research skills developed in pre-requisite honors courses, students will learn the stages of the interdisciplinary research process: choosing a mentor, formulating research questions, evaluating sources, generating and presenting analyses. Course readings invite students to explore the relationship between academic research and promoting social justice. Written assignments guide students to research questions and source materials that speak directly to social justice issues in their local communities, resulting in appropriate social justice research topics.
*3 credits
Prerequisites: ENG 107 (H) ENG 299, INT 309
INT 497 Honors Independent ResearchFocuses on managing research projects, working with research mentors, and presenting findings of original research
3 Credits
Prerequisites: INT 310

Fourth Year (directed research) 

Two semesters of Honors Independent Research