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The Honors Curriculum Rationale

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(General note: what follows is a careful description of the curriculum, as well as its underlying principles and purposes. While detailed, it is not inappropriate for both applicants to the honors college, and for students fully admitted.)

Photo of Michael Tee

"As I researched potential undergraduate institutions, I was looking at programs geared toward students interested in graduate and professional school. I was impressed by Portland State University's Honors Program, and felt its curriculum, internship opportunities, and faculty would aid me in developing skills vital for success in a graduate program.

PSU's Honors coursework taught me both to construct and to dissect scholarly argument. During my years in the Program, I read a wide variety of scholarly work and from these readings, learned about the world of bioethics, and explored (for example) the bioethics of medical experimentation in the Third Reich.

The internship opportunity in Washington, D.C., was life-changing for me (and for my fellow Honors students.) I had the opportunity to work at the National Institutes of Health and pursue cutting-edge research. That internship allowed me to work with renowned scientists, and it brought me into contact with my current research mentor. (I'm presently continuing my research at NIH, investigating the etiology of congenital heart disease.)

The Honors faculty is one of the strongest aspects of the Program; I was deeply impressed by their knowledge--not only in their fields of expertise, but in an array of other subjects. They are also great mentors, going beyond just teaching. In fact, even after graduating, I still turn to them for advice. I have always felt that they really care for the success of all their students, and I have always deeply appreciated their support.

I am extremely happy with my undergraduate education and strongly recommend PSU's Honors Program to anyone interested in pursuing graduate work."

- Michael Tee, UHP Alumnus
BS in Biology, BS in Science, 2008

Statement of Philosophy and General Rationale for Requirements

Students who are fully admitted members of the honors college should always keep in mind the most important basis for their participation in the University Honors Program—that they intend going on to graduate or professional school—and that intention should control, insofar as is possible, their choices in developing their individual undergraduate programs. The fully admitted student of the honors college is released from meeting general University requirements for the degree—an extraordinary privilege—and instead shapes a rigorous and individualized baccalaureate program in consultation with both departmental and honors college faculty advisers.

You will complete the requirements of a departmental major; if your major academic department is one of those within the University that offers a "departmental honors track" (this information will be readily available from your major adviser), you are obligated to meet the expectations of that track. We also urge you to take all opportunities available to you for the most rigorous work in your departmental major, and to investigate all possibilities for research experience in the major on the undergraduate level.

The honors college faculty have designed, and will work with you in, a core general education curriculum which has two main purposes: first, to expose you to and explore with you the key critical influences at play in the contemporary intellectual scene, and secondly to train you in useful tools and methods of analysis and argument which will later serve you in your graduate and professional preparation. This curriculum does not simply reproduce work done in another part of the University, but is rather a carefully shaped series of courses that focus on your preparation as a knowledge professional.

Curriculum Requirements

You will undertake roughly 45 credit hours’ work in the honors college (unless a specific waiver was made upon your admission to the Program), and those 45 credit hours will include at least:

  • the completion of the core course, which occupies the first and second years (27 credits);
  • 2 courses designated as colloquia, the upper-division seminars offered by faculty of the honors college, with the expectation that each be taken from a different faculty member unless extraordinary reasons to do otherwise are agreed upon in advance with your honors college adviser (8 credits);
  • the successful completion of a baccalaureate thesis in your major area of study (usually 8 credits overall [2 cr. hrs. prospectus; 6 cr. hrs. thesis], although in certain rare cases more credit may be granted.

A quick survey of these stated formal requirements will make apparent that they do not necessarily add up to the required minimum 45 credit hours’ work in the Honors Program. We encourage students to discuss with their Program advisers ways to meet that 45 credit hour expectation by availing themselves of the other curricular resources of the Program, for instance HON 401 (Directed Research), HON 404 (Practicum/Internship), and HON 405 (Reading and Conference). Such coursework will require a short formal application and the approval of the Director.

Before we turn to the more specific detail of particular course components in the honors college curriculum, let us ask you to please keep in mind that the privilege of participation in this special, limited-enrollment program is based on your continuing demonstration of aptitude, and that you will be regularly reviewed (and, if necessary, either placed on leave from the honors college until the faculty are satisfied that performance once again merits inclusion in this project, or returned to the general University for completion of the baccalaureate.) You will be expected to maintain a (minimum) 3.0 GPA overall, and a 3.0 GPA for all coursework in the honors college itself.