Honors Program
Overview
Harper College seeks to stimulate, encourage and recognize work of depth, scope and
originality by its students. Most Honors courses also fulfill Harper's general education
requirements. Honors students enjoy the benefit of reduced class size and the challenge
of social and intellectual interaction with other high achieving students while they
acquire the breadth of understanding and develop leadership qualities that such settings
enhance.
The Honors Program is committed to being a place for intellectual inquiry and the
free and open exchange of ideas, both in the classroom and beyond. Additionally,
the program seeks to cultivate the virtues of independence, academic talent, intellectual
curiosity, and persistence in all of its members. We try to do this by offering a
diverse set of course offerings as well as several service opportunities, cultural
excursions, and even a study-abroad opportunity every year.
Professor Garcia describes the Honors classroom experience.
Professor Tomasian explains more about the extracurricular elements of the program.
Honors Students
Students in the Honors Program have a wide variety of backgrounds and personalities. Some students are outspoken and others are rather shy. Some students were exceptional students in high school and are coming straight from high school into the Honors Program. Others are graduates from GED programs, adults returning to school after years away, or just students for whom it took a little while to find direction and motivation and who are now ready to commit to their academic success. We welcome all of these students and seek to provide a space for people to grow regardless of their starting point.
Honors Program Graduate Distinction
There is no minimum number of Honors courses students in the program are required to take, and every Honors course taken will be noted on your student transcript. However, students are able to be additionally recognized as Honors Program Graduates, which will also be reflected on their transcript and diploma. In addition, Honors Program Graduates will be recognized at the Honors Convocation ceremony each spring. In order to be eligible to be an Honors Program Graduate, students must do four things: a) amass a cumulative total of twelve hours of Honors credit; this usually amounts to four Honors courses; b) take our Honors Colloquium (HUM/HST 105) course somewhere along the way; c) maintain an overall Harper grade point average of 3.25; d) graduate with an Associates degree.
Fall 2020 Honors Courses
(Note about “live sessions”: All Honors Courses are fully online, which means that there are no required times during which students must all be present to meet as a class virtually. However, many Honors instructors will be making “live sessions” available to students, and many of the Honors courses have already determined when these sessions will take place, so that students can try to plan to be available at these times if they are able.)
FYS 101 WH1 CRN 32122
Professor J. Garcia
- Live sessions will be held Thursdays from 2 – 3 pm
- Professor Garcia's description of the course
Learning Communities offer the ability for students to explore a particular theme in more depth, by seeing how it is approached from multiple disciplines. Students enroll in both courses that are part of the Learning Community, but get separate grades for each course.
With courses moving online this fall, Learning Communities are an excellent way to retain the sense of community, while online. Students will be interacting with each other, and with both instructors, more that you would for a single course, so there is a nice sense of connecting with each other.
American Perspectives on the Holocaust
ENG 102 WHL (Composition) CRN 32181 &
HST 112 WHL (American Experience Since 1877) CRN 32182
Professors Hemmer (ENG 102) and Smyth (HST 112) (must sign up for both)
(This class
satisfies both the Social Sciences Gen-Ed requirement and the English 102 requirement)
- Live sessions will be held Mon. and Wed. from 11 a.m. – noon
CRN 32122 - Professor Hemmer describes the class
Living Sustainable Lives
PHI 115 WHL (Ethics) & CHM 103 BHL (Chemistry Connection) CRN 32120
CRN 32159 Professors Garcia (Ethics) and Ellefson (Chem.) (must sign up for both)
(This class satisfies both a Humanities Gen-ed requirement and the Physical Science Lab requirement.)
- Live sessions will be held Thursdays from 10:30 – 11:30 am
- There is also an on campus lab component, Tuesdays from 12 – 3 pm
- Professor Garcia describes the Ethics course
- Professor Ellefson describes the Chemistry course
ENG 101 WH1 (Composition) CRN 32127
Professor Sunderbruch
- Live sessions will be available based on interest and availability of students.
- Professor Sunderbruch's description of the course
ENG 102 WH1 (Composition) CRN 32129
Professor M. McKinley
- Live sessions will be held Mon. and/or Wed. from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
- Professor McKinley's description of the course
ENG 102 WHL (Composition) CRN 32181
Professor K. Hemmer
This course is part of the “American Perspectives on the Holocaust Class.” See the description on the second page.
HST 112 WHL (American Experience Since 1877) CRN 32182
Professor Leslye Smith
This course is part of the “American Perspectives on the Holocaust” Learning Community.
PSY 101 WH1 (Introduction to Psychology) CRN 31846
Professor K. Matthews
- Live Session will be held Thursdays from 12:30 – 1:45 pm
- Professor Matthews' description of the course
PSC 101 WH1 (American Politics and Government) CRN 31803
Professor B. Summers
- Live sessions will be held Wednesday evenings 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
- Professor Summers' description of the course
CHM 103 BH1 (Chemistry Connection) CRN 32120
Professor J. Ellefson
This class is part of the “Living Sustainable Lives” Learning Community. See the description above, under Honors Learning Communities.
CHM 121 BH1 & BH3 (General Chemistry I) CRN 31774 (BH3)
Professor A. Kidwell
- Optional live sessions will be available based on student interest and availability
- Labs will be held on Mondays: from noon – 2:45 pm
GEG 111 & 112 WH1 (Physical Geography with optional Lab) CRN 31744 (GEG 111)
Professor M. Maitha CRN 31753 (GEG 112)
(Note: You are not required to sign up for GEG 112 if you sign up for GEG 111. GEG 112 is the one-credit lab component, and satisfies the Lab Physical Sciences Gen-Ed requirement. However, it is highly recommended you take both classes.)
- GEG 111 will hold live sessions Mondays from 10 – 10:45 am
- GEG 112 will hold live sessions Wednesdays from 10 – 10:45 am
- Professor Maitha's description of the course
Please consider completing and submitting an Honors Program application. We hope sincerely that you will enjoy all of your Harper experiences, Honors and otherwise.
The Co-Coordinators for the Honors Program are:
John Garcia
jgarcia@harpercollege.edu
Alicia Tomasian
atomasia@harpercollege.edu
For more information about the Honors Progam please email honors@harpercollege.edu or click below:
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