Outline of Honors Courses
Outlined below is a relatively typical approach to completing the honors curriculum. The first year of honors is the only time where courses are directly tied to a particular semester. Otherwise, the curriculum provides some flexibility as to when students take their honors courses. Changes in sequencing are often related to the amount of transfer work a student has completed or unique plans like study abroad or double majors, or in conditional entry programs like pharmacy and dentistry. These changes are discussed with the honors advisor during required honors meetings.
Students who do not begin in honors in their first fall (new transfer students or SIUE students admitted to honors) will have some adjustments made to their curriculum based on their completed credits, degree program, etc. Those items are discussed with students before admission is finalized.
First Year Requirements
The first year of honors courses is the only time where all courses are sequenced and tied to a specific semester.
Fall Only
- HONS 120: Seminar: Questions and the Spirit of Inquiry
- HONS 121: Skills Course: Honors Rhetoric
Spring Only
- HONS 100: Proseminar: On Education
Sophomore Year Requirements
Fall or Spring
- HONS 250: Seminar: Patterns in Human Endeavors
Spring Only
- HONS 200: Proseminar: Globalization
Junior Year Requirements
Fall or Spring
- HONS 320A: Seminar: Interdisciplinary Problems in Society and Culture
OR - HONS 320B: Seminar: Interdisciplinary Problems in Science and Technology
- These courses do not need to be taken in any particular sequence
Spring
- HONS 300: Proseminar: Special Topics
Senior Year and Completion Requirements
Fall or Spring
- Seminar: HONS 320A or 320B (whichever course has not yet been taken)
Final Semester of Attendance
- HONS 499: Proseminar: Honors Capstone on Civic Life
Additional Requirements Required of All Honors Students
State of Illinois requirements for a bachelor’s degree requires all students, regardless of major to complete:
- A laboratory course in the physical or life sciences
- A mathematics or statistics course (any MATH, STAT, or QR course, plus many statistics courses found within majors)
For many programs, these courses are already integrated into the established major or minor requirements. For those majors where these courses are not automatically completed, students will work with the honors advisor to find courses of interest that meet the requirement.
Typical 4-Year Outline of Courses
| Year | Fall | Spring |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
HONS 120: Questions and the Spirit of Inquiry (3) and HONS 121: Honors Rhetoric (3) |
HONS 100: On Education (1) |
| 2 | HONS 250: Patterns in Human Endeavors * | |
| HONS 200: Globalization | ||
| 3 |
Interdisciplinary Problems Seminars ** HONS 320B:Science & Technology (3) or |
|
|
HONS 300: Special Topics (1) |
||
| 4 |
Interdisciplinary Problems Seminars ** HONS 320B:Science & Technology (3) or |
HONS 499: Honors Capstone on Civic Life (1) |
Understanding This Chart
First-year courses are the only ones tied to particular semesters.
* HONS 250 can be taken in the fall or spring semester of the sophomore year, according to course availability and determination of priority. Typically, one-half of the sophomore class will take HONS 250 in the fall, and the remaining half will take HONS 250 in the spring.
** Interdisciplinary Problems Seminars
- For most students, you will take one Interdisciplinary Problems seminar in your junior year and the other seminar in your senior year.
- Most students will not take a 320 course in the fall semester of their junior year.
- HONS 320A and HONS 320B can be taken in any semester of the junior or senior years.
- HONS 320A and HONS 320B can be taken in any sequence.
- HONS 320A and HONS 320B cannot be taken at the same time.
- Students in teacher education must take HONS 320B in the spring semester of their junior year
