Honors Program

• First-year students
  who have earned an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher and at least 15 credits in the fall semester qualify for HONB110, our spring semester Humanities Honors Seminar.
• Second-year students
  who have earned an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher by the beginning of the second year qualify for HONB 200, our fall semester Science Honors Seminar, and HONB210, our Hawaii Winterterm experience. They may take one Honors course in Arts and Sciences or one course in Hillyer for Contract Honors.

• Innovative Honors Seminars:
  Build relationships with professors and peers in small, interdisciplinary classes; be part of field trips and other hands-on learning experiences; pursue independent projects; talk face-to-face with experts in the field; participate in faculty research.
  More Information
  Each year, faculty members propose topics for our Humanities and Science Seminars. We limit class size to encourage the sharing of views. Also, experts on- and off-campus will serve as faculty fellows in your seminar. Get a “B” or better in your courses, and you’ll earn honors credit and be on your way to the 9 credits you need to complete Hillyer Honors.

  • HONB110: Humanities Honors Seminar.
    Prerequisites:
    At least 15 or more earned credits, overall GPA of 3.0, and permission of instructor
    
    This interdisciplinary course is rooted in humanities subjects such as literature, history, philosophy, music, art and communications. You will work with the seminar leader and faculty fellows to raise questions across these disciplines and to think creatively and critically about a variety of visual, verbal, and aural texts. Past course titles have included:
    
    Ethnic Conflict in the Modern World
    The Pulitzer Prize in Contemporary America
    Rednecks, Rebels and Outlaws: The Outsider in American Culture
    Terror, Torture, Truth
    Global Pop Music, World Cultures and Gender
    American Comedy (coming in Spring 2008)
  • HONB200: Science Honors Seminar.
    Prerequisites:
    Second-year status, overall GPA of 3.0 and permission of instructor
    
    This interdisciplinary course is rooted in math/science or social science subjects such as economics, political science, psychology, and sociology. You will raise questions across these disciplines partly by studying regional contemporary issues. Our field trips, hands-on research experiences, active discussions and work with experts in the field will also help you think critically and analytically and develop research skills. Past course titles have included:
    
    Natural and Social Sciences Perspectives on the Connecticut River
    Forces that Change Society
    Sport and Society
    Organizing and Advocating for Social and Political Change
    Disasters (Coming in Fall 2007)
  • HONB210 Winterterm Honors Experience.
    Prerequisites:
    Second-year status, overall GPA of 3.0, and permission of the instructor
    
    This interdisciplinary course provides a study and travel experience for Hillyer honors students. Courses have been held in London, Mexico, and Hawaii. The Hawaii course studies Hawaiian and Polynesian culture. Lectures and field trips cover the history of influences Hawaii has endured over many centuries, as well as the expressive culture, and dynamics of religion, ethnicity, and race in contemporary Hawaiian society. You are required to attend four pre-travel classes on the Hartford campus in the fall prior to your travel. In addition, you must complete all work for the course in order to maintain the scholarships and honors credit associated with our Winterterm Honors Experience.
• Community Events:
  Meet University President Walt Harrison; join us for plays, exhibits, baseball games; give back to the community with friends on Honors Volunteer Day; present your own work on Honors Day; create your own events with the Honors Student Organization and the Alpha Lamda Delta Honor Society.
  "Honors program teachers gave me the confidence and encouragement to learn as much as I could"
  Hillyer Honor Student
• Hit the Road:
  Our Winterterm experience lets you earn class credit while traveling to places such as London, Mexico, and Hawaii.
  Mexico Photo Gallery
  London 2003 Photo Gallery
  
• Priority Registration:
  Register early and get first choice of classes if you earn an overall GPA of 3.5 or better and average 15 credits per semester.
• Scholarships:
  Qualify for awards and scholarships granted for academic excellence.
  More Information
  Hillyer College gives several awards at the end of the first year to honors students who have carried a full load each semester (30-32 credits) and are enrolled to return to Hillyer College in their sophomore year:

  • The Mehri Honors Award acknowledges the academic excellence of the top two students in the first-year class with a credit of $500 each towards students’ accounts;
  • The Benjamin Goldenberg Award acknowledges the academic excellence of the students with the third and fourth highest grade point averages in the first-year class with an award of $500 each towards students’ accounts;
  • The Hillyer College Scholarship rewards a student in the top 5% of the first-year class for academic excellence with a monetary award between $250 and $500.

  The College reserves other awards for sophomore Honors Students.

  • The University Tuition Scholarship for Honors Travel grants a $500 credit to the spring tuition of students who successfully complete HONB210, the Honors Winterterm offering;
  • The Shaw Family Foundation Scholarship for Honors Travel covers $500 of students’ travel tickets to the Winterterm offering for students who successfully complete the College’s Winterterm Honors course;
  • The Honors Travel Scholarships for Students of Color cover the majority of expenses associated with the College’s Winterterm Honors course for students of color who maintain academic excellence and exhibit financial need; priority is given to students from Hartford.
  • The Voldstad Award is given in January of a student’s sophomore year and credits $1000 to the tuition payments of a student who has demonstrated academic excellence and financial need.

  Alpha Lambda Delta, the honor society for first-year students, also offers scholarships. If you carry a full load of courses and earn a 3.5 or better, you may become a member and apply for special nationwide scholarships varying from $1,000 to $7,500 to help fund your undergraduate and graduate studies. See http://www.nationalald.org/ under “Awards” for details.
• Enhanced Advising
  Come by our drop-in hours and talk over a cup of coffee about how to match your interests with our course offerings; connect with professors in your major in our student-faculty lunch series; discuss transfer applications to B.A. programs on or off-campus; participate in career workshops

• Requirements and Contract Honors
  Complete Hillyer Honors with just 9 credits; take a non-honors course for honors credit with contract honors.
  
• More About Contract Honors
  Contract Honors enables you to take a non-Honors course for Honors credit. Find a faculty member who is willing to work with you in developing a contract that states what additional work you will undertake to earn the “Honors” designation.
  
  Possible ways to fulfill your contract may include:

  • completing assignments that substitute for the regular assignments, but that tackle course materials in greater depth or breadth;
  • completing additional assignments such as more extensive reading or more responsibility for reading primary rather than secondary texts;
  • completing a more extensive research project, incorporating a field component to be analyzed and related to the course content, giving a special presentation to the class, participating in a workshop or conference with a faculty member, etc.
  • engaging in self-reflective writing throughout the semester about what you hope to experience or learn through your modified course assignments, and about whether you feel you are meeting those goals.

  Once you have negotiated a contract signed by you and the faculty member, you submit it to the College Honors Coordinator no later than four weeks after the beginning of the course. If the Coordinator has any questions or reservations about the contract, he or she may discuss these with the faculty member. If necessary, the Coordinator may also ask the University Honors Coordinating Committee to give opinions about Honors contracts.
  
  Be aware that you need to receive a grade of “B” or above in order to fulfill the contract. Also, your professor may reserve the right to dissolve the contract if he or she feels you have not kept to its terms. Once your faculty member determines that you have completed your contract, he or she will notify the College Honors Coordinator, who informs the Registrar at semester’s end that you have successfully earned Honors credit for your course. The Registrar will then add the designation “Honors Section” next to your course on your transcript.
  
  
  Download the Contract Honors Form (pdf)
  
• More Requirements
  To complete the Honors Program at Hillyer College you need to take at least 9 credits of Honors courses and maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher and grades of “B” or better in all Honors courses. In addition, you need to take at least 6 of these credits from the Hillyer Honors courses (HONB110, HONB200, HONB210) or as Hillyer College “Contract Honors” courses. You may use an Honors course offered in any of the other colleges for the remaining 3 credits. We also expect that Honors students maintain academic integrity in all of their courses to participate in our course offerings and events.
• Graduate with University Honors
  Set yourself apart from other graduate school candidates and job applicants! Take just 12 credits after leaving Hillyer and complete University Honors.
• Contact
  To learn more about how the Honors Program can work for you now and after graduation, contact Honors Program Director, Associate Professor Michele Troy at mtroy@hartford.edu.