CURRICULUM

Honors is a four-year curriculum. Each year is designed to teach valuable reading, writing, and research skills, while building a strong cohort of peers and connecting you to Honors faculty. The curriculum will prepare you to carry out your thesis project: a year-long independent study project of your choice. Transfer students are supported in starting at either the sophomore or junior level.

Honors courses fulfill PSU’s general education requirements (you’ll take Honors classes instead of FRINQ, SINQ, junior clusters, and capstone), both writing requirements, and part of the BA/BS degree requirements. You can even double-count credits for Honors and your major. Students from all majors are welcome to join Honors. Honors is part of your degree, not in addition to it.

First Year The Global City

The first year of Honors is a foundation for the rest of the program. This year long sequence is taken with the same professor and class of peers, allowing you to create lasting connections while studying the urban environment. You will also learn writing, reading, and research skills that will assist you in the next years of Honors and your time at Portland State. All first years begin with these courses, including those with AP/IB credit earned in high school.

15 CREDITS: HON 101, 102, 103

Each section of the course will study different material, but the writing tools learned throughout the year are the same. You can read detailed Global City section descriptions at: pdx.edu/honors/firstyear-global-city

Second Year Explore New Perspectives

In the second year, you will learn and practice different types of research skills in HON 201, 202, and 203. All three courses are required, they can be taken in any order and are each 4 credits, for a total of 12 credits. Sophomore transfers will begin with HON 260, which replaces HON 202.

12 CREDITS: HON 201, 202 OR 260, AND 203

HON 201: URBAN

Social Sciences

Learn how social scientists collect data and create your own ethnographic research project. Consider techniques such as participant observation, surveys, experiments, and analyzing human data, as well as the ethics of human subjects research.

HON 202: URBAN HUMANITIES

Study texts, artifacts, and other forms of evidence by approaching them through cultural and historical context. Understand how writing is used as a subjective tool to organize thought, and learn strategies for reading efficiently and comprehensively.

HON 203:

Urban Ecology

Learn how cities interact with other environments as humans continue urban expansion, and study how the architecture of cities changes wildlife populations and behaviors. Design a research project.

HON 260: HONORS WRITING FOR SOPHOMORE TRANSFERS

This course is the expected entry point for transfer students starting Honors at the sophomore level. You will learn the writing and research tools necessary for upper-level seminars and for the senior thesis within the context of the urban experience. Students who take HON 260 do not take HON 202; students who took HON 101-103 do not take HON 260.

Third Year Explore New Perspectives

The third year of the Honors curriculum is where you begin to personalize your path. Students must take at least one HON 407 seminar, and then earn 8 more junior Honors credits through any combination of HON 360 (transfers), additional HON 407 seminars, internships or research opportunities for credit, or study abroad experiences. Honors junior year requirements do not need to be completed before the senior thesis.

12 CREDITS: HON 407 + HON 401, 404, 407, OR 360 (TRANSFERS)

HON 407: JUNIOR SEMINARS

Seminars are 4 credit interdisciplinary courses taught by faculty from across the university. Seminars are small, discussion-based, reading- and writing-intensive courses that require students to actively engage with artifacts and texts, introduce advanced methods, and write researched papers. The Honors College offers several seminars every quarter, on a variety of topics. View course descriptions: pdx.edu/honors/hon-407-seminars

HON 404: INTERNSHIPS

Earn up to 8 credits for approved internships related to your major or intended career field. This is a chance for you to explore and define your professional goals, gain experience for your resume, earn money and/or academic credits, develop professional connections, hone your skills, and develop ideas to use in your Honors thesis. Internships Information: pdx.edu/honors/hon-404-internships

HON 401:

Research

Earn up to 8 credits by participating in research opportunities: join a research lab and understand how research works, gain critical experience and technical skills, build your resume, and connect with professors. Research can be performed at PSU or other institutions. Research Information: pdx. edu/honors/hon-401-research

Fourth Year Showcase Your Skills

The final year of the Honors program is spent planning, researching, writing, presenting, and publishing a thesis paper. You decide what to study, how to go about obtaining information, what your argument is, and how you'll present your findings. All the skills you've built during your time in Honors are utilized here; see how far you've come as a scholar and participate in academic discourse at PSU and beyond.

8 CREDITS: HON 403

HON 403: THESIS PROSPECTUS

Join a group of your peers who are also beginning their thesis projects; think about the questions you want to research, how you will perform your work, which faculty member you'd like to work with, and create a timeline for your project. (Can be taken fall, winter, or spring term.)

HON 403: THESIS CONTINUATION

Join a peer group who is completing their thesis projects; finish writing your paper, practice presenting your research, and create a presentation for the Thesis Symposium. Then submit your thesis for publication and share your work with your peers. (Can be taken fall, winter, spring, or summer terms.)

Most students will spend three terms working on their thesis. Students typically begin the thesis in the fall term of their final year; however, you can start earlier than that if you expect your project to take additional time. All students are expected to attend an Honors Thesis Orientation in junior year to learn more about thesis expectations, timelines, and finding an adviser.

The Honors Thesis Handbook is a terrific source of information: pdx.edu/honors/fourth-year-honorsthesis . Honors Theses are published on PDX Scholar and are available to browse and download: pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/honorstheses/