Why pursue the English Honors Program?
The English Honors program provides majors with the opportunity to pursue a project (creative, or scholarly) that you are passionate about; to work closely with a faculty member who can mentor you through the project; and to socialize with and take small, interdisciplinary courses with other Honors students. Writing an Honors project is great preparation for graduate school. Participation in the Honors program gives you a small liberal arts college experience while attending a large public university, and can be helpful when applying for jobs or to graduate programs. And it requires little additional course work!
Requirements
The University Honors Program consists of an interdisciplinary colloquium (typically HON 491 or HON 291 as appropriate), an optional research methods course (HON 495) focused on writing a Senior Honors Project Proposal, and two semesters of independent study with a faculty advisor (HON 496) to complete a Senior Honors Project.
Students must produce a proposal that is approved by the student’s faculty mentor and Mānoa Honors Program before registering for HON 496.
Students are required to take HON 494 (zero credits) to accompany their first semester of the HON 496 series. This course is a companion course that is designed to assist students in their research/creative writing work with their mentor and refresh their understanding of deadlines, criteria, etc. in Honors.
English students wishing to undertake Honors work should apply to the Honors Program with three full semesters remaining in their academic journey after advising conversation with the director of the undergraduate program in English.
Honors students have a choice between taking HON 491 or HON 291 (depending on the topic, this may count as an English elective with the discretion of the English undergraduate director) OR any English “Studies in” course. English “Studies in” courses that students want to count toward Honors will need to add a reflective essay component on archives and methods to their final paper (after discussion with course instructor).
Required Courses:
- HON 491/HON 291 (WI, credits) OR an ENG “Studies in” course with added Honors component (can be taken any semester)*
- Submission of Honors proposal (with two full semesters remaining): students may take HON 495 (WI/O)
- HON 494 (a four-module, online/asynchronous course, zero credits)
- HON 496 (6 total credits, WI)
The Honors student still completes 33 upper-division credits in English for the English major. Honors 495 and 496 do not count toward the English major.
Students are expected to fulfill the other requirements for Honors, such as a presentation at the undergraduate showcase.
*Any 400-level course that students wish to make into an Honors contract course adds elements that are experiential and challenges the students to engage more fully with the material and process. It may involve substituting a different kind of assignment that a student might otherwise not get to explore, or more creative formats, or a change to engagement with primary sources. You can also choose to build upon the final project by requiring a more robust version of a methodology and methods section, along with a longer page length and more citations. The Studies courses should require a research paper, which is one of the basic requirements of the ENG 491 Honors Seminar.
The submitted syllabus, with its highlighted changes as agreed upon by both the student and the instructor, would need to be reviewed and approved by the Director of the UHM Honors Program.
Find Out More
For more information, contact Todd Sammons, Honors Coordinator, at sammons@hawaii.edu.