HONORS PROGRAM: COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES
Each year, 10% of incoming College of Liberal Arts and Sciences students are selected to the University’s Honors Program.
Ten Honors courses (Senior Capstone required) are required to earn a Liberal Arts and Sciences Honors degree. At least three of the 10 must be upper-level courses.
- Ancients and Moderns (ACS 1000/1001)
- Faith, Reason and Culture (THL 1000)
- Knowledge, Reality, Self (PHL 1000)
- The Good Life (ETH 2050)
- Shaping an Adult Life (Upper Division THL)
- Problem of Love (Humanities)
- Rhetoric: Culture and Power (Communication)
- The Good Doctor (Philosophy)
- Race, Ethnicity and Politics (Political Science)
In addition to completing all course requirements, students must achieve a minimum 3.33 cumulative GPA to earn the Bachelor of Arts/Science, Honors degree.
Current students should consult our SharePoint site for up-to-date, complete information on curricular requirements for the Honors degree and minor.
Intellectual Engagement
Choosing Honors Senior Thesis as your Senior Capstone allows you to design, research and write your thesis. You will work closely with your tutor (chosen faculty member) throughout the entirety of the academic year on your project. You will present your findings each semester at our Honors Senior Thesis Research Conference (Fall) and Honors Thesis Defense Day (Spring), pair with fellow classmates to remain accountable on your work, and complete your own body of research upon graduation. You enroll in HON 6000-001 (Fall) and HON 6002-001 (Spring), which count as two courses towards your 10 Honors courses.
By choosing Honors Integrative Capstone as your Senior Capstone, you will complete a written work that expands on your Honors and Villanova experience. You will reflect on your:
- time inside and outside the classroom;
- the ways this experience has influenced your sense of vocation; and
- the ways it might be changed or improved.
The paper is used as the basis for a meeting with Honors Leadership at the end of the semester to engage in conversation around the themes raised in your work and how this links to your post-graduate endeavors. You enroll in the one-credit course HON 6003-001 during your senior year.