Honors Program

Overview

The Honors program is one of the many opportunities for outstanding students at Loyola College. The program seeks to create a special environment for academic inquiry and personal enrichment. Honors students are selected on the basis of academic achievement, motivation, leadership and extracurricular involvement.

Honors classes are small, and combine lectures with discussion and student presentations. Courses in all disciplines emphasize effective speaking and writing. Students generally find their work in Honors classes especially interesting and stimulating. The format and size of the seminars allow for greater student participation, individual attention, flexibility, and independence than is possible in more traditional lecture courses.

Honors students also participate in an extracurricular enrichment program, the Honors Experience, which includes opportunities to attend plays, lectures, concerts and exhibits in the Baltimore area. The Honors Program also sponsors an International Film Series, a series of colloquia – small group discussions of events, issues, or texts – and social events.

Curriculum

Students in Honors take 12 courses at the Honors level during their four years at Loyola. Eleven of these courses fulfill core requirements in the disciplines of English, Fine Arts, History, Philosophy, Theology and Writing. At the heart of the program are eight Honors seminars:

Honors First-Year Seminar

HN 200 First-Year Seminar – The introductory writing course for Honors students. Taken the first semester of the first year, the course fulfills the composition requirement in the core curriculum.

The Interdisciplinary Four-Course Sequence

Students study the ideas, literature, faith traditions, and history of the western world in chronological order in these courses. Faculty from four different disciplines, English, History, Philosophy, and Theology, work collaboratively to design interdisciplinary syllabus, consult and often team teach these courses.

These courses satisfy core requirements in English, History, Philosophy and Theology.

HN 220 The Ancient World – taken first semester of first year
HN 240 Medieval to Renaissance – taken the second semester of first year
HN 260 Renaissance to Modern – taken the first semester of sophomore year
HN 280 The Modern World – taken the second semester of sophomore year

Upper-Division Offerings

HN 290 Honors: Art History, or HN 291 Honors: Music, or HN 292 Honors: Theatre. Students choose one course from this group; taken second semester of sophomore year; satisfies the core requirement in Fine Arts.
HN 300 Honors Junior Seminar – This course satisfies the core requirement in ethics; it is taken the first semester of junior year.
HN 400 Honors Senior Seminar – A course in contemporary literature and film, taught by faculty in the department of Modern Languages and Literatures, taken the second semester of senior year. (Counts as an elective.)

Remaining Courses

The remaining four courses are selected from among regular upper-division offerings in English, History, Philosophy, and Theology. These satisfy second core requirements in these disciplines.

Admission

Admission to the Honors Program is selective and is by invitation only. Students are invited to enroll as incoming first-year students. Admission to Honors requires a separate application which is sent to all students who indicate interest in Honors on the College’s application for admission. Students who use the Common Application indicate their interest on Loyola's Common Application Supplement. In reviewing Honors applications, the Director is interested in evidence of the student’s superior academic potential (generally an SAT score (Reading/Math) of 1350 or higher) and achievement (generally a high school grade point average of at least 3.7 on a 4.0 scale). Beyond these guidelines, the Director looks for evidence of a student’s desire to be challenged intellectually, paying particular attention to the quality of thought reflected in the required essay, and to the student’s record of extracurricular activity.

Honors applications must be postmarked by February 15. Candidates for Early Action admission to the College who are also interested in Honors are encouraged to submit an Honors application at the same time as the College application in November. Admission is selective, and neither acceptance by the College nor an award of scholarship aid is a guarantee of admission to Honors.

Current Loyola students may apply for admission to Honors up to the close of their first year, but admission is based on a very limited space available basis.

Candidates may click here to download a printable version of the Honors Program application.

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