Inaugural Recipient – Dr. Bianca Easterly, Political Science
Honors Colloquium Experience – Salon updates
Reaud Honors College
Dr. Tilisa Thibodeaux (Learner’s Mindset)
Dr. Maria Vallejo (Borders)
Dr. Tony Kemerly (Death)
Communication and Media
Dr. Nicki Michalski and Mr. O’Brien Stanley (Time Travel as a Reflection of Free Will vs. Predestination)
Nutrition, Hospitality, and Human Services
Dr. Janeal White (Homelessness)
Speech and Hearing Sciences/Graduate Studies
Dr. Ashley Dockens (Types of Empathy/Perspective Taking/Emotional Intelligence)
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
Dr. Bethany Aiena (Imposter Syndrome)
History
Dr. Tina Kibbe (History of Medicine and Public Health)
Dr. Mark Mengerink (Suicide among Jews during the Holocaust)
Finance
Dr. Gevorg Sargsyan (7 Habits of Highly Successful People)
Art and Design
Dr. Stephanie Chadwick (TBD)
Honors Core Curriculum - general idea
The goal is to have an interdisciplinary core focused on critical thinking and expanding student perspectives.
Currently discussing course requirements. Issues arising with developing courses that are not counted as general education core requirements but are financial aid viable. Possible courses are below:
First Year Honors Seminar
The purpose of a First Year Seminar is to aid students in the transition from high school to university-level honors work. This is accomplished through a focus on exploring an exciting, provocative, or timely topic in an in-depth fashion. FYS courses utilize a discussion-intensive methodology to foster critical thinking skills, read increasingly sophisticated texts critically, pose and respond to complex ideas, and to analyze, interpret, and evaluate different points of view.
Discourse Analysis
Discourse is broadly defined as language in use. This course will consider both the interactional structure and the social principles that influence the production and interpretation of social discourses. This course underscores the role of honors education to prepare students to be well-informed, open-minded and attentive to the great diversity of cultures and experiences around them. As such, through the analysis of various discourses, students will explore the power structures inherent in the historical, political, civil, sociological, ethical, cultural, economic, scientific, industrial, intellectual, and/or artistic.
Honors Seminars and Topics
Seminars and topics courses are interdisciplinary, intellectually challenging, out-of-the-box courses that range across disciplines and are driven by faculty interests and expertise. These courses develop students’ abilities to formulate and pursue research questions, explore primary and secondary sources, lead in-class discussions, and communicate new ideas.
Capstone Experience
A culminating academic experience that represents a student’s deep engagement with a specific topic, question, or problem which requires a substantial, sustained, and original outcome. This may be achieved through a written work, a research paper, a published article, a demonstrated experience, or a performance.
Honors Curricular Pathways (plans in development, not concrete)
Options vary depending on credits earned before entering LU
Considering four distinct pathways
Traditional Honors
Combines traditional coursework with co-curricular activities
Research
Heavy focus on undergraduate research
Still determining process of requiring credit for research experiences
Leadership
Current iteration of Reaud Leadership Institute
Includes an extended service project and a deep dive into leadership practices
Great Books
Focused on seminal texts of the student’s field of choice.
Reading and writing intensive - requires annotations of books and corresponding recitations.