The Honors Program at Saint Michael’s College provides additional challenges and opportunities to outstanding students, with the aim of enhancing the liberal education offered by the College through engagement in small group discussion, research, and extraordinary curricular and extracurricular opportunities.
The mission of the College, “to contribute through higher education to the enhancement of the human person and to the advancement of human culture in the light of the Catholic faith,” serves as the Honors Program's guiding principle.
As a group, Honors students distinguish themselves by their commitment to this mission and its concomitant approach to education; as individuals, they demand more of themselves, of each other and their instructors, and of their respective disciplines.
The components of the Honors Program, all serving these ends, are the Honors Core Courses, the Honors Colloquium, the Honors Service Project, and the Senior Honors Project in the Major.
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Honors Core Courses
During the first two years, every student in the Honor Program takes honors sections of two or three of the following five courses. In these courses, students sharpen their skills at close and critical textual engagement and at articulation of questions and ideas, both in writing and in speaking. Enrollment in these courses is limited to seventeen students, and they all fulfill college Liberal Studies requirements.
1. First Year Seminar
2. Philosophy 103: Introduction to Philosophical Problems
3. Philosophy 201: The Philosophy of Human Nature
4. Humanities 101: Ancient and Medieval Civilization
5. Humanities 102: Modern Civilization
Students who take honors sections of only two of these courses must perform additional substantive work in one course in their major, as approved by the Honors Committee and the course instructor. Students entering the Honors Program after their first semester who have already taken non-honors sections of two or more of the honors core courses also follow this plan.
Honors Colloquium
For one semester after the freshman year, every student in the Honors Program takes the Honors Colloquium. This course challenges students to move beyond the normal expectations of classroom participation and the confines of the standard college curriculum. It is a forum in which students explore and analyze topics in disciplines that they are not otherwise studying, in order to develop broader cultural, social, and political awareness and expand their capacity to express their ideas and interact with individuals with differing views.
Students in the Honors Colloquium attend lectures and presentations taking place on campus and read essays and books in a variety of subjects. They attend weekly discussion meetings in which they further engage with the ideas suggested by these events and readings, each student serving as discussion leader at least once during the semester. They also write response papers on the lectures and readings and a final essay that draws together content from several of them.
The Honors Colloquium is the only course required exclusively of students in the Honors Program.
Please review the Honors Colloquium Guidelines for more information.
Honors Service Project
Every student in the Honors Program performs and reports on a service project approved by the Honors Committee. In choosing this project, the student may take advantage of the opportunities already offered through campus service programs or design his or her own project.
The service component of the Honors Program complements the commitment to service that is central to the mission of Saint Michael's College. It is not meant to be restrictive or formulaic; rather, students are encouraged to find service opportunities that fit well with their own activities, talents and circumstances.
Senior Honors Project in the Major and Honors Symposium
All students at Saint Michael's College complete a “capstone” project in their majors during the senior year, either a thesis or paper, a research project, or some other requirement, usually completed within the context of a senior seminar.
Students in the Honors Program undertake projects of greater substance and academic significance, developed with and approved by a faculty mentor in their major. Research support funds are available to students in the Honors Program to help cover the costs of travel, research materials, equipment, etc., connected with these senior honors projects. In April, seniors in the Honors Program can present their projects to the campus community at the Honors Symposium.
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Honors Housing
Students in the Honors Program have the option of specially designated housing, including rooms in academic suites reserved for honors students in the new dormitories (Canterbury, Cashman, and Pontigny).
Eligibility
Some students are invited to join the Honors Program at the beginning of their freshmen year on the basis of a promising high school record. Students who earn a grade point average of 3.5 or above in their first semester become eligible and enter at the beginning of their sophomore year.
To remain in the Honors Program, students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Those who complete the requirements receive special recognition at graduation.
For more information, contact Prof. Francis Nicosia, Honors Program Coordinator, email: fnicosia@smcvt.edu.