The Curriculum

The honors curriculum includes entirely enriched honors courses, colloquia, interdisciplinary seminars, independent study, service learning, and the capstone experience. The full Commonwealth Honors College curriculum encourages students to develop broad perspectives through Honors General Studies and to engage in deep analysis through Honors Advanced Scholarship.

Outstanding entering first-year students begin in Honors General Studies where they are joined (usually in the sophomore year) by emerging honors students and exceptional transfer students. Honors General Studies students, all qualified students in the University, and external transfer students may compete for a place in an Honors Advanced Scholarship track, i.e., Departmental Honors or Multidisciplinary Honors.

HONORS GENERAL STUDIES
The first portion of the honors curriculum focuses primarily on honors work outside the major. Honors General Education (Gen Ed) courses bring talented students from different disciplines together in the classroom to build the skills and knowledge to grapple with both the timeless issues of humanity and the current dilemmas facing our culture. Honors students complete four honors Gen Ed courses* including honors College Writing and one of the two required Honors College seminars, Honors 291A: Honors Seminar I: Ideas that Changed the World (4-credit, general education interdisciplinary honors course). The second Honors College Seminar, Honors 391A: Honors Seminar II: Special Topics (1-credit seminars on a wide variety of topics) is a separate breadth-of-study requirement offered by departmental faculty. For more information and course descriptions, see the Honors Course Guide.

General Studies Honors
Students who complete the following requirements successfully and who do not complete the full curriculum (see the credential for full curriculum completion in the section "Graduation with Honors") earn General Studies Honors on their transcripts.*

1. Honors College Writing
2. Honors Seminar I: Ideas that Changed the World
3. Honors Gen Ed Course
4. Honors Gen Ed Course
5. Honors Seminar II: Special Topics
6. Earned grade of B or higher in Gen Ed Integrative Experience
7. Overall graduation GPA of 3.400 or higher and fulfillment of the CHC residency credits requirement

*Consult with Commonwealth Honors College advisers for approved alternatives if you have met one or more of the above requirements prior to Commonwealth Honors College admission.

HONORS ADVANCED SCHOLARSHIP
All UMass Amherst students and transfer students who enter Honors Advanced Scholarship do so through a competitive application process administered by Commonwealth Honors College. Usually midway through the sophomore year, students decide whether they would like to pursue Honors Advanced Scholarship. If so, they apply via an online application to pursue either Departmental Honors (DH) through their major or Multidisciplinary Honors (MH) which is honors study in two or more academic fields. MH students include students interested in pursuing the Citizen Scholars Program. All students selected for this advanced honors work delve deeply into topics of personal interest and contribute original knowledge through their honors Capstone Experience theses and projects.

Departmental Honors (DH)
Departmental Honors is the honors graduation credential that students earn for completing a DH track. DH tracks are available in most majors and also through Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration (BDIC). See www.umass.edu/bdic , CIV-X, and designmymajor.com.  DH is encouraged for students invested in continuing in the field of their majors, especially those who intend to pursue related graduate studies. Requirements for both admission and completion of DH vary by department and may exceed the minimum standards set by Commonwealth Honors College. Students can obtain more detailed information about each DH track at www.honors.umass.edu/departmentalhonors. The requirements of individual DH tracks may exceed the minimum standards of grades of B or higher in the four or more honors courses specified, including the capstone experience, overall graduation GPA of 3.400 or higher, and the Commonwealth Honors College residency credit requirement.

Multidisciplinary Honors
Students earn the graduation credential Multidisciplinary Honors on their transcript when they complete their Advanced Scholarship studies, including honors capstone experience theses and projects, in two or more academic fields with grades of B or higher, earn an overall graduation GPA of 3.400 or higher, and meet the Commonwealth Honors College residency credit requirement.

Students are encouraged to integrate international study, internships, cooperative education, and service learning into their honors experience. Portions of this work may be petitioned as substitutions to fulfill honors course requirements. For details, see a Commonwealth Honors College adviser or visit the website: www.honors.umass.edu/types-honors-courses.

Community Service Learning (CSL) is a core value of Commonwealth Honors College, and an exciting way for students to develop new skills, build relationships, and apply their learning to help address community needs. Opportunities to combine service and learning abound across the honors curriculum. For example, many honors courses include community service, among them HONORS 292V Violence in American Culture, HONORS 292S Engaging with the Community, and ANTHRO 397H Grassroots Community Development. Also, students may take a version of the Honors Seminar, HONORS 291AS, that integrates community service learning. First-year students may also apply to participate in IMPACT!, a CSL residential academic program. The Citizen Scholars Program, a four-semester, academic service-learning program which fulfills the Advanced Scholarship Multidisciplinary Honors requirements, aims to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to be active and effective citizens engaged in lifelong service to their communities and to work collaboratively with others to build a more just society.  Honors students can also set up CSL Honors Independent Study courses and CSL individualized capstone courses, and may count all of these courses toward the Certificate in Civic Engagement and Public Service, or use them as part of the “Civic Engagement + X” track toward a concentration in the Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration.

Citizen Scholars Program Requirements
Commonwealth Honors College sponsors the Citizen Scholars Program, a two-year program exploring the linkage between community service, public policy, and active citizenship. Students apply to the program, which accepts approximately 20 to 25 students each year, during the spring of their freshman or sophomore year. Any student who has a demonstrated record of community service or civic engagement, a commitment to continue such activities, a desire to develop leadership skills, and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.4 is eligible to apply. In the past, the program has offered some funding to support students while doing community service. Citizen Scholars may also receive support for summer internships in public policy or community service administration. The program fulfills the requirements for the Multidisciplinary Honors track for Honors Advanced Scholarship.  It requires 19 credits of coursework and a community service component:

ANTHRO 297H The Good Society
HONORS 393T Tools for Change
HONORS 499R Service-Learning Capstone—Public Policy and Citizen Action
HONORS 499S Service-Learning Capstone—Organizing: People, Power, and Change
A fifth course chosen from a list of electives focusing on social, political or economic theory.
60 hours of community service or community engagement in each of the four program semesters.

International Scholars Program Requirements
Commonwealth Honors College and the International Programs Office co-sponsor the International Scholars Program (ISP), which allows qualified students to integrate international studies coursework and study abroad during their undergraduate years. The program is highly competitive with approximately 15 slots per year. Benefits of the program include individual advising for the integration of a student’s major requirements and study abroad, ongoing mentoring by a faculty member from a related international field, and limited funding for study abroad via non-need-based scholarships. Qualified students are invited to apply in their freshman year. Applicants should have a cumulative GPA of 3.500 or higher and a commitment to pursuing international experiences or studies that will provide a global context for both their course of study and their career paths. The program requires nine credits of coursework, including preparatory cross-cultural and contextual courses, and a re-entry seminar.