The mission of the Honors Fellows Program is to foster critical and creative thought through curricular and co-curricular experiences such as the contracts, capstone, Fellows Salons, and Fellows Points that are outlined below. The Honors Fellows Program broadens students’ worldviews, facilitates the practice of interdisciplinarity, deepens students’ engagement with their major studies, and develops students’ problem-solving skills through their design and completion of independent work.
Honors Fellows Handbook
Past Honors Fellows Handbooks are available below.
Contracts
A "contract" refers to a kind of negotiation between professor, Fellow, and the Honors Fellows director in which the Fellow pursues value-added work in order to both fulfill Honors Fellows Program requirements and receive regular credit for his or her major(s).
Fellows select two courses at the 300- or 400-level in their intended major to fulfill a contract. The nature of the contract varies according to the professor and the content of the course.
Contract Proposal Form
Contract Grant Application Form
Contract Profiles
Capstone
The Fellows capstone is devised to address a critical shortcoming in typical undergraduate learning: the capacity for public engagement. Fellows dissect works of public scholarship to learn how they work. Working in consultation with faculty advisors and in multidisciplinary groups, they practice public presentation skills as they translate their research or creative projects into a format that is both concise and accessible for non-specialist audiences.
By facilitating these skills, the capstone deepens Fellows’ understanding of their disciplinary studies and begins to bridge the gaps between academic research and public discourses regarding policymaking and cultural understanding.
Testimonials
“Giving a presentation on a topic you are passionate about seems easy at first, but it quickly becomes challenging to make the information accessible to a general audience. The most helpful resources for my topic were from government agencies that published information to inform the public since this information was already prepared for a general audience.”
—Emerson Smith (‘21), who presented on the applications of cave bacteria research
“Although it may be challenging for me as a presenter to distill my research into such a short timeframe and into pictures, it allows for a broader and more open audience. I think that it is a lot more engaging than the standard presentation forms.”
—Kristen Towery (‘21), who presented on partisanship and misinformation
Fellows Points
Fellows Points, outlined in the Handbook, foster well-rounded thinkers and encourage a breadth of academic and co-curricular experiences, especially double-majoring, study abroad, and foreign language study. Honors Fellows must complete 10 Fellows points; they are encouraged to formulate a timetable to completion with the Fellows director.
Find more detailed information about Fellows points and distribution.
Fellows Salon
The Fellows Salon is a student-driven forum for the exchange of thoughts and ideas. Taking its name from the spaces of the French Enlightenment, the Fellows Salon offers Fellows an opportunity to share and learn together. Fellows might present on their research to rehearse for off-campus conferences, on extra-curricular interests such as hobbies, and so forth.
Salon Proposal Form
Fellows Graduation Plan
Fellows must complete the HFP Graduation Plan form and submit it to the HFP director no later than January 15th of the spring term in which they plan to graduate. Forms must be emailed as PDF attachments to the director, and they should be accompanied by a PDF of the Fellow's transcripts, in which HFP required courses (Fellows sections of American Experience, for instance) are highlighted. Fellows should describe items as "TBD" and provide as much detail as possible if they have contracts or points or other obligations to complete in the final semester after submission of the grad plan. Timely submission of the form and transcript will ensure that Fellows carry the appropriate honors at commencement. Files should be named "LAST NAME, FIRST NAME HFP GRADUATION PLAN" and "LAST NAME, FIRST NAME HFP TRANSCRIPT." When completing the HFP Graduation Plan form, Fellows should use the "Fill & Sign" function in Adobe to type in responses rather than writing them by hand.
HFP Graduation Plan Form
Fellows Nights Schedule
fellow nights