Fall 2020 Changes

What to Expect in Fall 2020

First-Year Sequences

The most obvious change will be that all sequences will share common course numbers: HNR 151 and HNR 152 in the fall, and HNR 153 and 154 in the winter. Each sequence will be listed as a separately titled section of each course, like this:

  • HNR 151-01 The Middle East Beyond the Headlines 1 (Fitzpatrick)
  • HNR 151-02 The Worlds of Greece and Rome 1 (Pazdernik)
  • HNR 151-03 American Modern 1 (Tripp)

 

  • HNR 152-01 The Middle East Beyond the Headlines 2 (Al-Mallah)
  • HNR 152-02 The Worlds of Greece and Rome 2 (Crane)
  • HNR 152-03 American Modern 2 (Webster)

All sequences will total 12 credits—6 in the fall, and 6 in the winter. Students with a B or better in HNR 151 will earn WRT 150 credit in the fall and those with a C or better in HNR 153 will earn SWS credit in the winter.

Sequences will be team-taught each semester by faculty from different disciplines. As is the case now, for the purposes of teaching load and grading, teachers will be assigned their own three-credit section each semester, but they will be expected to collaborate fully on course preparation and attend all six hours of class each week.

By Fall 2022, all existing sequences will have gone through a collegial review process with the Honors Curriculum and Development Committee (HCDC). This process, which will include both written responses to prepared prompts and direct conversation with HCDC members, will ensure that all sequences have integrated the following features into their course plans:

  • The values of the I’s—Inclusion, Integrity, Inquiry, Interdisciplinarity, Innovation, and Internationalization—in ways appropriate to the topic and faculty members’ academic training and orientation
  • Discussions of how different types of inequalities and power structures, both at local and global scales, occur and are reflected in or revealed by the content of the course
  • Discussions of contributions, histories, and narratives made by members of marginalized communities in relation to the focus and content of the course
  • Co-curricular activities outside the classroom, such as field trips, campus events, and shared meals

Six current sequences will pilot this process with the HCDC during 2019-20, and the resulting documents will be made available as models for others.

Welcome Days

Disciplinary Courses

Discipline-based courses within Honors (HNR 231, HNR 236, HNR 241, etc.) and those with Honors designation outside of Honors (ACC 212, ANT 204, PSY 101, etc.) will be phased out as quickly as possible. In their place, we invite all faculty, including those currently teaching disciplinary Honors courses, to propose either project-based learning courses (HNR 250 or HNR 251) or integrative seminars (HNR 350 or HNR 351). Please follow the process outlined here.

Junior Seminars

All current junior seminars will be listed in the 2020-21 schedule as sections of HNR 350 Integrative Seminar. In time, some may want to propose changing to HNR 351, but students won’t need to take HNR 351 until the 2022-23 academic year, so we have some time to manage those changes.



Page last modified August 30, 2019