Honors Seminars
8 credits of seminar-style Honors coursework is one of the requirements for University Honors graduation. Seminars are capped at 20 students and are primarily discussion-based. Some styles of seminars are described below.
Click here for the list of seminar-style Honors courses.
Inquiry seminars have the course number 444 and are sometimes referred to as 444 courses; only Honors versions of these courses count toward the requirement. These seminars are small, intensively discussion-based courses designed to provide multiple perspectives on complex issues.
Honors Symposia
Honors Symposia may count toward the Honors seminar requirement. Symposia are "supercourses" with linked sections--small seminars from different departments-- that each address a common theme from a unique disciplinary perspective. The sections meet together regularly for large group academic experiences ("plenary sessions"). Each course section is capped at 20 students. Honors symposia have the course number 440.
Honors sections
These are often Honors versions of classes that are also found in the general curriculum, such as First-Year Writing or Intro to Psychology. They usually enroll 20 students.
Honors labs/lectures/recitations
Some science courses offer one or more parts of the course as Honors. For example, a biology student may attend a general lecture but have a lab section that is restricted to Honors students.
Honors-designated courses
Only one Honors-designated course may be used toward the Honors Discovery requirement. Students may make an agreement with their professor to complete Honors-level work within a general course. This is a "wildcard" option that allows students to meet an Honors requirement with a course outside of the Discovery Honors curriculum. The course need not be part of the Discovery program. It may be any course that is offered in person on the normal semester schedule. Online courses and accelerated courses (such as summer and J-term courses) are not eligible for designation.
Example Syllabi
Please peruse these syllabi created by our outstanding Honors Faculty.
The following Honors courses may not be offered every semester and a course syllabus may change over time. But these examples should provide students with a very good sense of the materials, learning objectives, and assignments to expect when taking a University Honors Program course.
Current students: if you're looking for a specific syllabus, send an email to honors.program@unh.edu and we will try to locate it for you.
Humanities
- ENGL401H: First-Year Writing
- HIST440D: Citizens and Persons (Part of the Honors Symposium "Being Human")
- THDA436H: History of Theatre I
Social Sciences
- ECON402H: Principles of Microeconomics
- PHIL440B: Who is Human Now?
- POLT440H: Global Justice (Part of the Honors Symposium "Reckoning with Race and Justice")
