Humanity is in a tight race between planetary catastrophe and enlightenment. It is not clear which will prevail. The old paradigm, that of materialism, individualism, and fierce competition, is failing at all levels--economic, social, political, and environmental--and bringing life as we know it to the edge of a precipice. At the same time, a…

In this article, we outline how we implemented an honors-level add-on course to complement standard university-level introductory physics courses. We explain why it was necessary to do this. We then explain the strategies we have adopted for attracting students, engaging them, and assessing their performance. Our goal in creating this course was…

This paper highlights the design process and implementation for an "all majors" undergraduate course that allows students a chance to reconnect with the natural world. During this course students explore a wide range of biological and physical science based topics that seek to highlight human intervention and our impacts on the planet.…

This essay gives a broad overview of a team-taught course on Alexander Hamilton that merges discourses in music theory and political science. Authors describe pedagogical approaches to teaching both the musical "Hamilton" to non-musician students and Hamilton's history and politics to students not majoring in these fields. Contrasting…

The majority of this essay describes the content, pedagogy, and assessments associated with an undergraduate, interdisciplinary honors seminar on science and religion. The seminar is structured around five major themes: (a) philosophy of science, religion, and their interactions, (b) historical and contemporary case studies, (c) the controversy…

A defining feature of honors education is meaningful engagement within and across disciplines, yet significant challenges for creating and sustaining meaningful transdisciplinary research remain. One such challenge involves a nuanced understanding of a discipline, or what educational researchers call "disciplinary literacy." This article…

Since spring 2012, the author has taught a 300-level Theatre and Human Rights class in the University of New Mexico Honors College. One of the centerpieces of honors education is careful research and thorough analysis of what is taught and why it is taught. In creating the honors class Theatre and Human Rights, the author explored how she would…

This article relates the authors' experience in a course that they have co-taught periodically called Honors Africans in Film. It is an upper-level, undergraduate course that engages honors students in watching and analyzing mainly Hollywood movies that are set in Africa. The challenge they present to their mostly U.S. American students is to…

This article details the aim, development, and implementation of the Chemistry-Genetics Course Collaborative (CGCC), a cotaught offering of a human genetics course with an honors introductory chemistry course. The CGCC was formed to fully integrate the two courses, along with the associated chemistry lab, to create an interdisciplinary scientific…

On September 21, 2012, two astronomers using a telescope in the International Scientific Observing Network (ISON) near Kislovodsk, Russia, discovered a comet that came to be formally known as C/2012 S1 and was popularly called Comet ISON. Just a year later, two honors instructors in Wichita, Kansas, found themselves teaching a course on Comet ISON…

Interdisciplinary approaches do not merely satisfy an abstract longing; in post-educational life--especially in a secular, Western, post-modern culture--young people must confront complex issues that transcend any one discipline. Educational systems accordingly have a duty to offer frameworks for understanding this complexity that go beyond any…

In Larry Clark's monograph chapter on the education of academically talented college students, he challenged honors educators to consider their role in helping students find their path, particularly through the addition of self-reflection and exploratory projects in honors courses. In an honors first-year experience (FYE) course for science,…

The current call for public scholarship and community engagement by universities and disciplinary organizations has created opportunities to develop innovative ways to integrate research, instruction, and outreach. This article discusses a collaboration among scholars at the University of Kentucky and alternative agrifood movement organizations…

The paper describes the North Providence (Rhode Island) High School Honors Curriculum, which provides academically gifted juniors and seniors with indepth training in specific academic areas. Specific selection procedures and eligibility criteria are set forth, along with appeals procedures for students. Course descriptions, specific eligibility…

Provides information on physics courses at 111 institutions in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Includes (when applicable) descriptions of regularly available and/or honors degree courses, course structure, special entry requirements, additional comments (such as information on alternative courses or transfer requirements), and source of…