College Honors

Studying the situation of refugee women in Mexico and Denmark. Developing a stainless steel clamp to use in surgery. Taking on WYSIWYG to design a program that uses simple mark-up language. Imagine the possibilities.

Ana Lucia Marquez
International Relations Major

Working with female refugees inspired Ana's Honors project, "Integration, Gender, and Complexity: A Study of Refugee Women in Denmark and Mexico," where she compared the cultural, economic, and social integration of refugee women in the two countries. Her experience also led her to pursue a career in international grassroots social work. Read more about Ana's Honors project.

Your independent research, scholarship, and creative work are supported by our nationally-recognized Honors Program, which was cited as one of two model programs in the nation by the federal Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).

Honors may be undertaken as early as your junior year though most projects are conducted during the senior year. As a candidate for Honors, you'll obtain the endorsement from your department and complete three to five credits (two, in special cases) of advanced study under the supervision and guidance of an interdisciplinary faculty committee.

Application process and eligibility guidelines

At the end of your project, you'll defend your thesis or creative project or have it critiqued before a qualified outside examiner, modeling the dissertation defense of many grad programs. Often, Honors projects can jump start you into a meaningful career or top-notch grad program.

Recent Honors Projects

Biology

Analysis of Global Antibiotic Resistance
Transcription Analysis of UV-Irradiated Dictyostelium Discoideum through RNA Sequencing

Chemistry

Novel Synthesis of Bisphosphonates and Vinyl Phosphonates from Lesquerella Oil
Synthesis and Properties of Novel 1,3-Dioxolane and 1,3-Dioxane Champhorylsulfonyl Oxaziridines

Computer Science

STEM Outreach Program for Middle School Students (work will be presented at the Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Conference in July 2012)

Environmental Studies

Walt Disney's Contributions to Conservation and Environmental Thought in the U.S.

Psychology

Exploring Social Changes in the Lives of Terminally Ill People