The Courses

Several kinds of honors courses are offered as follows:

Enriched honors courses are separate sections of departmental courses that are limited to 25 students. These courses are designated with an H following the course number (e.g., Psychology 100H) and may carry 3 or 4 credits.

Honors Colloquia are one-credit honors sections appended to regular three- and four-credit courses. They often develop topics in greater depth than in the related course; however, it is not unusual for colloquia to introduce totally new material or experiences. Colloquia are designated with an H preceding the course number (e.g., Anthropology H317), and are limited to 25 students. Colloquia may be prearranged and advertised in the honors course guide or determined in the first two weeks of a semester and scheduled via a colloquium contract.

191T Leadership and Service. This course is the second in a sequence of courses that are part of the IMPACT! Residential Academic Program. Students critically analyze different theories of leadership and learn about their personal leadership styles. Students practice leadership and teamwork by planning, organizing, and executing a community service event. In addition, students engage in ongoing community service throughout the semester, and use this as a powerful source of learning. By connecting theory to practice, students gain self-confidence to act for social change and develop deeper insights into how social and cultural issues connect to their various service sites.

291A Honors Seminar I is a four-credit course in which students examine books and works of art that may have profoundly shaped the world we live in. The course is divided into four units: Models of Inquiry; the Impact of Science and Technology; Social Philosophy and Civic Engagement; and Art in the World. This course carries General Education Interdisciplinary credit. Students may also incorporate service learning into their Honors Seminar I experience by taking the four-credit Honors 291AS.

391A Honors Seminar II is a 1-credit course in which students participate in a topical seminar designed by its instructor. Every section is open to students of any major, and advanced knowledge of the topic is not necessary. Students should be sure to check the Honors Seminar Series website for description of each section: www.honors.umass.edu/honorsseminar.

393L Leadership in Community Service Learning. An advanced course for students who have been assigned specific leadership roles in support of service learning, such as Course Assistants and Community Liaisons.

393T Tools for Change, a four-credit course offered each spring, is the second-semester course in the Citizen Scholars Program. It is the first of three focused on developing the practical abilities to work toward the good society envisioned in the previous semester’s course. The “tools for change” covered include social justice theory, systems perspectives on community organizations and on communities, group dynamics, communication skills, and strategies to align one’s work with one’s core values. Students’ service placements are a focus for the application of these tools.

192, 292, 392, 492 Honors Interdisciplinary Seminars are directly sponsored by Commonwealth Honors College, and publicized prior to each semester. Classes are highly interactive in nature. Most of these courses carry General Education credit, and some incorporate service learning. Examples include American Portraits (IU), The American Family (IU), and Engaging with the Community (IU).

196, 296, 396, 496 Honors Independent Study involves frequent interaction between instructor and student. The student and the sponsoring instructor must fill out a contract which is available at the honors college office and on the college’s website. There must be a plan for regular meetings and qualitative enrichment must be evident on the proposed contract before consent is given to undertake the study.

196S, 296S, 396S, 496S HIS Community Service Learning allows an honors student, under the guidance of a faculty sponsor and a community adviser, to engage in community service learning for academic credit. Requirements include 30 hours minimum of relevant, course-related community service, a reflective journal, attendance at one reflection session, and a paper or project containing an analysis of the CSL experience and its link to academic course content.

198, 298, 398, 498 Honors Practica are one- or two-credit Pass/Fail skill-oriented courses which allow honors students to work together in small groups: for example, Peer Advising Practica. These practica cannot be used to meet honors academic course requirements.

198S, 298S, 398S, 498S CSL Honors Practica are one- to six-credit Pass/Fail freestanding courses that allow a student, under the guidance of a faculty sponsor and a community adviser, to engage in community service learning for academic credit. Requirements include 30 hours of approved community service for each CSL credit and a reflective journal. These practica cannot be used to meet honors academic course requirements.

499 Capstone Experience may begin with either a 499-numbered course or a graduate-level seminar, but must end with a 499-numbered course. The capstone experience is a six-or-more-credit activity that may range in scope from the more traditional sequence of honors research and thesis, to concurrent or sequential capstone courses, to projects ranging from a case study to a synthesis of academic study, guided reflection, and experience gained through community service, study abroad, or internship. Students should consult a Commonwealth Honors College adviser before undertaking a capstone experience.

499R Service-Learning Capstone—Public Policy and Citizen Action, a four-credit course offered each fall and the third in the four-course Citizen Scholars Program sequence, explores how public policy is created and shaped at the local, state, and national levels, and how citizens can impact the policy process to address their concerns and work toward the common good. As individuals or as part of a team, students each identify a specific public policy issue that arises out of their service experience, research it, and advocate for a specific outcome.

499S Service-Learning Capstone—Organizing: People, Power and Change, offered each spring for four credits, is the fourth and final course in the Citizen Scholars Program through which students learn how citizens organize and mobilize others to work toward structural change. As individuals or in teams, students identify issues of concern to them that relate to their public policy projects in the previous semester, identify community stakeholders in those issues, and design and implement projects mobilizing others to work toward change. This course is based on Professor Marshall Ganz’s well-known organizing course taught at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.