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- Honors Program
- Buckley Center 161, MSC 87
- 5000 N Willamette Blvd.
- Portland OR 97203
- 503-943-7857
- fax: 503-943-7804
- orr@up.edu
Honors Program: About the Program
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Luke 12:48
| Mission Statement |
| The Mission of the University of Portland Honors Program is to enhance the intellectual life of the University community by mentoring high achieving and intrinsically motivated students to serve as public intellectuals at the University and beyond. The Program will foster in these passionate and gifted students a love for the life of the mind and the desire to enrich their communities. |
| First Year Honors Colloquium and the Core Experience |
|
The week before school commences, thirty students accepted into the Honors Program will gather for an Honors Colloquium. This will be a great opportunity for students to get to know their peers and to create a strong sense of community. During this week, students will be challenged by some of the best professors at the University and participate in a number of field experiences and cultural events. The bonds created during the Colloquium will be strengthened in the fall term of the freshman and sophomore years, as students will be registered for a designated Honors class. These classes will satisfy University Core requirements and provide students with unique approaches to specific disciplines. |
| Mentored Reflection |
| During the first two years in the Honors Program, students will focus on reflectively integrating their classes and experiences through the Core questions. Each student will be assigned a faculty mentor to aid in this process. Mentors will meet with their students over lunch or coffee or on a walk around campus. They may go to dinner, take in a soccer game or see a play. During these encounters, discussions will ensue about how ideas from classes fit together, where the student’s passions are leading him or her, and what intellectual avenues he/she might want to pursue. After each semester, students will write essays reflecting on the Core questions in the context of the classes taken and their lives. Beyond that, reflection essays will chart the growth and direction of the student over the first two years. At the end of their sophomore year, students will participate in a reflective retreat. They will develop personal mission statements to aid them in taking full advantage of the opportunities available to them in their final two years. |
| The Focus in the Major |
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The last two years of the Honors Program are focused around the major program(s). The faculty of the program will determine specific honors requirements, but for all students the junior year will be a form of apprenticeship to prepare them for the senior year. |
| The Honors Capstone Experience |
| In the senior year, honors students will complete a capstone project that will allow the them to demonstrate mastery in their declared major. Each program will determine the format for the Capstone, but all Capstone projects will have a public component aimed at a general audience. In this way honors students will be prepared to continue the work of the public intellectual. |
| Interdisciplinary Reading and Discussion |
| During the junior and senior years, honors students will take at least two one-credit classes where faculty from across the campus lead students in focused investigation of a specific topic. These courses allow students to interact with faculty outside their major and continue the interdisciplinary approach of the first two years. Academic Year 2008-2009 Courses: Fall 08: Dr. Lauretta Frederking of Political Science is teaching “The Politics of Terrorism” Spring 09: Dr. Cara Hersh of English and Dr. Stephanie Salomone of Math are teaching “Reckoning Words/Reckoning Numbers” |
| Co-and Extra-Curricular Opportunities |
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The Honors Program will make available a number of special opportunities. These include, but are not limited to study abroad, internships, summer (and other) research opportunities, service projects, attendance and/or presentations at conferences, workshops, artistic retreats, and off campus cultural events. |
Admission to the Honors Program
All students accepted to the University have the option of applying to the Honors Program. The application can be downloaded from the honors website, requested from the Office of Admissions, an admissions counselor or the director of the Honors Program. Typically students will need to have a high school GPA of 3.8 and at least 1300 on SAT I (combined critical reading and math) with a minimum of 630 critical reading. However, considerations will be made for students not strictly meeting the minimum requirements based on committee evaluation of the application. Admission to the Honors Program occurs only prior to a student’s first year at the University.
For questions and more information, please contact John Orr, Ph.D., Director of the Honors Program: 503-943-7857; e-mail: orr@up.edu.
- orr@up.edu
- 503-943-7857
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- 5000 N. Willamette Blvd., Portland, OR 97203-5798
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