Participation Requirements

Honors courses are designed to be different from most other courses used to complete the LAC. Entering first-year students take FYI 100 as a cohort. This course is taught by the director of the honors program and is designed to give students an introduction to the honors program, while also introducing them to academics, campus life, and Eastern’s liberal arts philosophy.

In the second semester, first-year students take HON 150, “Great Ideas,” a team-taught course exploring examples of aesthetic, ethical and cultural value through the study of art, literature and economics.

During the sophomore and junior years, students take three honors colloquia (HON 360-362)— innovative interdisciplinary courses designed specifically for the program by outstanding scholars and respected teachers. Topics recently covered include: Tropical Biodiversity and Agriculture, Popular Music in a Global Context, The Psychology of Sexual Attraction and its Consequences, Site-specific Theater, and Native American & Ancient Cosmologies in Literature and Culture.

In the fall of the junior year, students take Directed Honors Research with a mentor, usually a professor in their major, and write a thesis proposal.  In their capstone experience, students work with their respective mentors during both semesters of their senior year to complete an Honors Thesis, a creative, scholarly or scientific project.