University Honors Program
Director: Naomi J. Andrews
The University Honors Program provides small, seminar-style classes that emphasize critical thinking, analytical rigor, effective expression, and interaction among professors and students. Honors classes inspire and enable intellectual risk-taking and lifelong learning and develop globally aware and engaged student leaders for the University community and beyond. The Honors educational experience culminates in a focused, meaningful, and collaborative thesis in senior year.
Honors classes are designed to fit within the curricula of the humanities and natural and social sciences as well as business and engineering. Honors students can major in any undergraduate field offered at Santa Clara University. The University Honors Program welcomes students from diverse geographic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.
Students who enter the UHP at Level I (first-years) must complete a total of nine Honors-level courses plus a senior thesis. Students who enter the UHP at Level II (second-years) must complete a total of five Honors-level courses plus a thesis. Additional participation requirements and a cumulative 3.3 GPA are also required to maintain UHP status.
Requirements for students who enter at Level I:
Critical Thinking and Writing I
Critical Thinking and Writing II
Cultures and Ideas I
Cultures and Ideas II
HNRS 20 (Difficult Dialogues seminar course)
Either a Core RTC I, 2, or 3 Honors or a Core Ethics Honors course
Three UHP electives or experiences (see below)
Senior Honors Thesis (one full academic year)
Requirements for Students who enter at Level II:
HNRS 20 (Difficult Dialogues seminar course)
Four UHP electives or experiences (see below)
Senior Honors Thesis (one full academic year)
UHP Electives:
Designated Honors courses
Study abroad or summer study abroad (counts as one elective if over six weeks, 1/2 if under six weeks)
Extra language course (counts as one elective)
Contract Honors course (counts as one elective)
Immersion trip through SCU Ignatian Center (counts as 1/2 elective, can be repeated once)
UGST 101, Fellowships and Grad School Preparation (counts as 1/2 elective)
Lower-Division Courses
1H. and 2H. Critical Thinking & Writing I and II
A two-course, themed sequence for Honors students, featuring study and practice of academic discourse, with emphasis on critical reading and writing, composing processes, and rhetorical situation (ENGL 1H and 2H, PHIL 1H and 2H, etc.). The second course will feature more advanced study and practice of academic discourse, with additional emphasis on information literacy and skills related to developing and organizing longer and more complex documents. Themes may address cultural comparisons, science and society, and other topics. (4 units each quarter)
11H and 12H. Cultures & Ideas I and II
A two-course sequence focusing on a major theme in human experience and culture over a significant period of time (e.g., ARTH 11H and 12H, HIST 11H and 12H, PHIL 11H and 12H). Four Honors sequences will be offered each year. Courses emphasize either broad global interconnections or the construction of Western culture in its global context. Successful completion of C&I I is a prerequisite for C&I II. (4 units each quarter)
HNRS 20. Difficult Dialogues
This seminar-style course is devoted to the analysis from different perspectives of some issue, text, or problem in the area of a professor's expertise. Taken during the first or second year, this course will provide critical thinking skills and an opportunity for students to discuss and debate the toughest questions faced by society today. Honors 20 is required of all Honors students and is open only to Honors students. (4 units)
Upper-Division Courses
UGST 101. Fellowship and Grad School Preparation
Seminar for students interested in preparing for a major fellowship competition (e.g., Fulbright, Rhodes, Knight-Hennessey, Schwarzman, Marshall, Mitchell, Truman, Goldwater, Udall, Gaither, NSF), internal SCU grants and programs, and preparation for application to graduate or medical school. Open to all students. (2 units, taught in winter quarter only)
195. Honors Program Thesis
Course credit for thesis or culminating project of the University Honors Program. Enrollment limited to students in the University Honors Program. This course is Pass/No Pass. There are no lectures for this course---thesis milestones turned in through Camino. Interim grades of "N" will be given until thesis is successfully submitted. (1 unit)
Contract Courses
With the agreement of the instructor, an Honors student may get Honor's credit for a non-Honor's course by adding an enrichment activity or project. The student and the faculty member agree on this added requirement, which should be conducted over the entire quarter. The goal of the added contract is the student's acquisition of a deeper and richer command of some aspect of the course material. The student should be afforded an opportunity to present the results of the research to the class. Honors Contract courses are especially valuable in the student's junior year as a precursor to the senior thesis. Students wishing to establish a contract for Honors credit must turn in the appropriate application to the office by the end of the first week of the quarter in which the course is taken. For Contract Course Guidelines and Application Form, go to the UHP website.