The Honors Colloquium is designed to challenge students in the Honors Program to move beyond the classroom by making use of the full variety of academic, cultural and artistic opportunities available to the wider community. These include lectures, demonstrations, presentations, and performances. In keeping with the goals of a liberal arts education, the Colloquium provides a forum in which students will explore, analyze, and discuss topics in a variety of disciplines.
The Honors Colloquium is the only course required exclusively of students in the Honors Program.
The purpose of the Colloquium is not to produce mastery of any particular branch of knowledge. It seeks instead to develop broader cultural, social, and political awareness, and to expand the capacity of students to express their ideas and to interact with individuals who hold differing views.
Requirements
To graduate within the Honors Program, students must complete one semester of the Honors Colloquium after their freshman year. The course syllabus will list the academic, cultural, and artistic events (e.g. guest speakers, presentations, performances, etc.) that are scheduled on campus for the semester, possible off-campus events, as well as a book (on any topic of general interest) chosen by the instructor. The Colloquium will then consist of several elements:
1. Students will attend a specified number of on-campus and off-campus academic, cultural, and artistic events during the semester. The number of events will be determined by the instructor. Students will attend some events jointly as a class and others individually, based on their own interests and choices. The events will be generally representative of the range of disciplines in the college’s arts and sciences curriculum.
2. Students will read essays or other texts, selected by the instructor, that are related to the academic, cultural, and artistic events in preparation for the relevant discussions.
3. Students will write brief reaction papers on the academic, cultural, and artistic events that they attend.
4. Students will attend and participate in a weekly two-hour discussion session moderated by the instructor in which they will engage with and explore further the ideas suggested by the academic, cultural, and artistic events. Each enrolled student will serve as a discussion leader or co-leader at least once during the semester. The instructor may also occasionally invite faculty and staff experts to address the group in order to follow up on topics introduced by the events that students attend. Students in the Honors Program but not registered in the Colloquium in a given semester are welcome to attend.
5. Students will read an assigned book during the semester and there will be scheduled discussions of the book. They will also write a brief reaction paper about the book.
6. Students will write a final essay developing a larger theme that draws together and analyzes content from several of the presentations and readings. The topic of the final essay will be worked out in consultation with the instructor.