October 03, 2024

University honors course proposal deadline is Nov. 6

The University Honors Program is accepting course proposals from faculty for fall 2025 and spring 2026 UHON seminars. Courses may be proposed in the faculty’s area of choice. The deadline to submit proposals is Nov. 6, with selections announced by Dec. 9.

Honors students are academic high achievers who take these seminars to fulfill their university core requirements. Faculty from all academic disciplines are encouraged to apply with proposals that are innovative in concept and design, subject and pedagogy from the sciences, arts, humanities, social sciences and pre-professional programs.

Experimental and interdisciplinary approaches that integrate theory and practice, the university and the community, and foster habits of critical thinking are encouraged. These foundational courses are not surveys in specific disciplines. Rather, the objective is to engage students in exploring the big questions embedded in disciplines, approaches or methods, and to deepen and broaden their ability to untangle major problems that confront us.

In developing course proposals, consider:

  • How does the course introduce students, especially non-majors, to the significance of your field or study?
  • How does your method of analysis and research help examine how knowledge shapes our world and is shaped by it?
  • How does your pedagogy engage students in experimenting with and communicating concepts such that they make deeper connections with each other and faculty?
  • How does your subject help students feel some sense of control over their lives?

The goal is to introduce students to the foundations of intellectual inquiry in a comprehensive research university within the seminar-style model of collaborative learning.  Faculty and students engage in debate and discussion grounded in texts and materials that the class is considering. 

More information on teaching in University Honors is available.

The course proposal form and guidelines are on the program’s website. For more information, call 618-453-2824 or email honors@siu.edu. All proposals must use the University Honors Program proposal form.