Honors Requirements
Admission Requirements
Admission to the Honors Program is selective. To qualify, applicants must be in the top twenty percent of their graduating class and have a minimum score of 550 on the reading section and a minimum score of 550 on the math section of the SAT.
AP Credits
A score of 4 or 5 on the corresponding AP exam is necessary for placing out of the Honors requirements in History, English, and Science. (A score of 3 will be awarded 3 credits but will not place out of History, English, and Science courses.) Students can place out of Math and Social Science requirements with a score of 3 or higher on the corresponding AP exam.
Academic Requirements
In 2007 the Curriculum and Teaching Committee voted in favor of a new set of requirements for students entering the Honors Program in the Fall of 2008 and thereafter. Students who entered King’s College in the Fall of 2007 or any time before that are “grandfathered in” under the previous set of requirements. Both sets of requirements follow below.
Academic Requirements for Students entering Fall 2008 and Thereafter. Note: these requirements take the place of the Core Requirements. There is no one-to-one correspondence between the Honors courses and Core courses. Instead, completing the Honors requirements in their entirety replaces completing the Core Requirements in their entirety.
Historical Introductions to the Humanities (24 Credits)
HNRS 135 Ancient and Medieval History
HNRS 136 Modern and Contemporary History
HNRS 203 Ancient and Medieval Literature
HNRS 204 Modern and Contemporary Literature
HNRS 250 The Christian Theological Tradition
HNRS 260 The Christian Moral Tradition
HNRS 280 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
HNRS 281 Modern and Contemporary Philosophy
The Arts (Core 17x) (3 Credits)
Foreign Language (12 credits)
Minimum 2 Semesters of Foreign Language with completion of the second semester of the intermediate level required. (N.B. Students automatically earn 12 credits when they complete the intermediate level of a foreign language with grades of C or better, even if they take only two semesters of the foreign language.)
Math (Choose one of the following)
Math 127 Logic and Axiomatics (3 credits)
or
Math 129 Analytic Geometry and Calculus I (4 credits)
Science (Choose one of the following)
(4 credits)
Biol 111 General Biology with lab
Chem 113 General Chemistry with lab
Phys 111 General Physics with lab
or
Honors 270 Natural Science Perspectives
Social Science (Choose one of the following)
(3 credits)
Core 153 Principles of Economics: Macro
Econ 112 Principles of Economics: Micro
Core 154 Introduction to Psychology
Core 157 Introduction to Sociology
Core 158 Introduction to Political Science
or
PS 231 American Intergovernmental Relations
Junior Year Project
(Choose one of the following)
Study Abroad Semester
or
Service Learning Project (either a service learning course or a service learning extension to a conventional course)
Senior Thesis
The capstone thesis or project required by the student’s major will be extended or deepened. The student and professor sign a contract specifying the additional work to be done for the thesis or project to qualify for Honors. The contract is then certified by the Honors Program Director as deserving of the Honors distinction.
Academic Requirements for Students entering prior to Fall 2008
Please note that because some History and English course titles and numbers have changed starting in Fall 2008 students should read carefully the either/or options for fulfilling those requirements.
The Humanities Suite
1. Honors 110: Honors Composition
Honors 110 should be taken in Freshman Year
2. Honors 280: Philosophy I
At this point, CORE 100 requirement has also been satisfied.
3. EitherHonors 135: Literature, Arts and Civilization
or (2008 and after) Honors 135: Ancient and Medieval History
4. Either Honors 203: The Western Tradition: Arts and Literature since the 18th Century
or (2008 and after) Honors 204: Modern and Contemporary Literature.
5. Either Honors 204: Western Experiences since the 18th Century (OR CORE 132)
or (2008 and after) Honors 136: Modern and Contemporary History.
6. Honors 250: Introduction to the Christian Tradition
7. Honors 260: Introduction to the Christian Moral Tradition
8. Honors 281: Philosophy II
All Honors students must complete six Foreign Language credits before the end of their time at King’s College. Please check the Foreign Language Department’s pages in the catalog for credit incentives for students enrolling in more advanced language courses.
In the Junior and senior years, the student will develop his or her interests and deepen his or her knowledge by participating in four Honors seminars. (See below for a representative list.)
Students can also fulfill the seminar requirement with Honors Extension Contracts (which enable the student to receive Honors credits for regular major-level courses when appropriate Honors sections are not available). Students will also be allowed to cover six credits of the seminar requirement through participation in internships, study abroad programs, practica, and other approved projects and equivalent opportunities.
Senior Year
The Honors Capstone
The capstone thesis or project required by the major will be extended or deepened and certified via contract by the student’s instructor and the Honors Program Director as deserving of the Honors distinction.
Recent Honors Seminars
HNRS 271: Concepts of Ecology
HNRS 282: The Creative Vision of Alfred Hitchcock
HNRS 289: Science and Religion
HNRS 301: An Artistic Journey to Florence
HNRS 302: Topics in Cinema: European Film
HNRS 352: Renaissance Literature
HNRS 356: Economics/International Business
HNRS 361: Existentialism and Phenomenology
HNRS 370: Literary Criticism
HNRS 395: Comparative Literature
HNRS 395: Slavic Film and Literature
HNRS 420: Contemporary Issues in Gerontology
HNRS 431: Women in Politics
HNRS 444: The Witch Hunts 1400-1800
HNRS 474: Philosophy of Law
HNRS 481: 19th-20th Century Theology
HNRS 492: Women in Management