Curriculum
The Honors Program Curriculum
The Honors Program curriculum will provide learning experiences that:
- Explore the integration of concepts within and among disciplines
- Empower students to become intentional learners
- Engage students actively in the learning process
- Encourage students to interact with faculty and with one another, both inside and outside the classroom
- Emphasize depth and thoroughness of understanding
Course Sequence
The 15-credit honors curriculum overlaps, in part, with ODU’s general educational studies and discipline specific requirements allowing students to complete the program efficiently.
Introduction to Honors (3 credits). In the freshman year students complete “HON 179 CORE: What Does It Mean to be Human?”, which also counts for ODU’s freshman Core Seminar requirement.
Development in Honors (3 credits). Sections of courses in ODU’s Disciplinary Studies Requirement, such as literature, philosophy, and theology, are reserved exclusively for Honors Program students.
Exploration in Honors (9 credits). Honors students complete “HON379 CORE: What is Justice? Critical Research and Writing”(3 cr.), which also counts for ODU’s junior Core Seminar requirement. Activities in this course directly relate to the development of a senior project proposal.
Students enroll in “HON410 Senior Honors Project”, an independent study course under the mentorship of a professor, in each of their final two semesters (6 cr. total). In some disciplines, the capstone seminar in the student’s academic major may replace one of the HON410 courses.
- Transferring into the Honors Program
| Number of Completed Semesters at ODU or Transfer Credits |
Credits Required in the Honors Program |
|
|---|---|---|
| 0 ODU semesters or 17 or less transfer credits | HON 179 Disc Studies Req HON 379A HON 410 |
3 credits |
| 1 - 2 ODU semesters or 18 - 49 transfer credits | Disc Studies Req HON 379A HON 410 |
3 credits |
| 3 - 4 ODU semesters or 50 or more transfer credits | HON 379A HON 410 |
3 credits 6 credits 9 credits total |
Please see ODU Course Catalog for descriptions of each seminar.