Experience

Professors design Honors classes to challenge and reward students who seek substantial intellectual development in college. The quality, not the quantity, of work distinguishes Honors classes from other courses. As part of their coursework in Honors classes, all students are required to submit a short reflective essay and sample of their work at the end of each Honors course.

Dinner and evening discussions based on a reading, or attendance of a play, a film, an art exhibit, etc., on campus provide a special, congenial setting for intellectual exchange as part of a course or an extracurricular event. During previous semesters, Honors students have had the opportunity to discuss current science issues over dinner with Bill Nye and participate in poetry readings and discussions with faculty.

All Honors students and faculty are regularly invited to attend a play, film, art exhibit, etc. Extended trips within the U.S. or abroad are sometimes planned during breaks or the summer. In past years, Honors program students have traveled to New York City and driven to Washington D.C. for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Supreme Court. Honors Program students have also traveled to Louisiana over Easter Break to work with Habitat for Humanity in their hurricane Katrina Relief effort.

Honors students in majors with a senior research or capstone project will be strongly encouraged to present their work in a special colloquium at Saint Vincent College and at professional meetings in their research areas.