These five courses will introduce you to intensive reading and writing, research skills, group projects, and presentation skills. They serve as the foundation of your honors college experience, and will prepare you for the high-level work you will encounter in upper division colloquia. Transfer, AP and IB credits cannot be used to fulfill these requirements; however you can use such credits to fulfill general university elective credits, second language, and math and science courses that will count towards your overall graduation requirements. Learn more at the Office of the Registrar.

Ancient and Modern World

You will take two courses each in Arts & Letters and Social Science - one addressing the ancient world, and one addressing the modern world in each field of study. Ancient world courses (HC 221H and HC 231H) are taught only in the fall term, and modern world courses (HC 222H and HC 232H) are taught only in the winter term.

You will choose either the Arts & Letters or the Social Science ancient world course to enroll in fall term of your first year. Do not take both at the same time. The courses are rigorous, and are not designed to be taken concurrently. You will continue with the modern world course in the same discipline winter term of your first year. During fall and winter terms of your second year you will take whichever courses you did not take during your first year, either Arts & Letters or Social Science.

Course content varies by professor. While all fall Arts & Letters courses will address the ancient world, exactly what that looks like will be different depending on which section you enroll in. Choose a section with a topic that sounds interesting to you. Some examples of past sections include:

• HC 221H: Arts & Letters - Ancient World
  • Sacred Texts: The Bible and The Quran In Literature and Film
  • The Tragic Mode of Knowledge
  • Epic and Leadership
• HC 222H: Arts & Letters - Modern World
  • The Mystery You’re Investigating May Be Your Own
  • Eco Lit and Genius Loci: Humanity and Nature
  • The Invention of Love
• HC 231H: Social Science - Ancient World
  • Muslim Women from the 7th to 15th Centuries
  • From Memory to Written Record
  • War and Heroism
• HC 232H: Social Science - Modern World
  • Disease, Public Health, and the Making of the Modern World
  • Nationalism and Regionalism in U.S. History
  • Architecture and Urbanism in the Modern World

Research Course

During spring term in your first or second year, you will take the 200-level research course in either Arts & Letters (HC 223H) or Social Science (HC 233H). In order to enroll in the Social Science research course, you must first have completed both the ancient and modern world Social Science sections. The same is true for Arts & Letters. We encourage you to wait and take the research course in your second year, after you have completed both sets of courses, so that you can select the field that you found most interesting for further study. Upon completion of the research course you will have the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in upper-division colloquia.

Just as before, exact course content varies by professor. Past sections include:

• HC 223H Arts & Letters Research
  • Life Writing
  • Artificial Births in Speculative Fiction from "Frankenstein" to the Present
  • Endgame, Wasteland, and Apocalypse: Literature at the End of History
• HC 233H Social Science Research
  • Anthropology and the Middle Ages
  • The American City
  • Forgery, Lies, and Deception in Medieval Historical Documents