Honors Program

This course will begin a three-semester, intensive examination of a single ‘Great Book,’ Dante’s Divine Comedy. These three courses will be divided up along the lines of the tripartite division of Dante’s work: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. HN 301 will focus on the Inferno and consist of weekly discussion meetings and a class retreat toward the end of the semester, after which students will complete an extensive term paper.

This course involves the intensive study of a single or multiple texts from within the Christian, Western or World Traditions that engage deeply with existential questions. These texts had cultural resonance at the time of their composition and continue to challenge our understandings of a life well-lived. The texts covered in this seminar will rotate and will be chosen by the faculty member teaching the course in consultation with the Honors Director. The format of the class will be largely discussion-based with extensive practice in verbal and written argumentation. Students and faculty will also draw upon the authorities of the Christian tradition (scriptures and creeds), as well as the Christian theological narrative to work through the relationship of these texts to the themes and ideas within the Christian tradition and the students’ own spiritual lives, regardless of their faith tradition.

This course involves the intensive study of a contemporary topic. The topics will be one of perennial concern to humanity and be easily tied back to an existential question. The topic will have local as well as global implications. The topics covered in this seminar will rotate and will be chosen by the department(s) of the faculty member(s) teaching the course as well as the Honors Director. Some courses may be team-taught by two or three faculty members. The format of the class will be largely discussion-based with extensive practice in verbal and written argumentation. In addition, the topical seminar should involve a retreat, field trip, service-learning or another experiential element. Students and faculty will also draw upon the authorities of the Christian tradition (scriptures and creeds) as well as the Christian theological narrative to work through the relationship of these texts to the themes and ideas within the Christian tradition and the students’ own spiritual lives, regardless of their faith tradition.