Connect

HNR 151, 152, 153, 154. 12-credit team-taught first-year interdisciplinary sequence. Students choose one year-long four-course sequence from a list of 15 or more options including such topics as urbanism, food systems, water issues, civil rights, ancient Greece and Rome, religious history and culture, the Middle East, and many more. The sequences are team-taught by faculty from different disciplines; their primary goal is not to provide an introduction to their disciplines but rather to use their disciplinary training to explore the sequence topic. Faculty members are also expected to include disciplinary perspectives other than their own, so each sequence integrates the concepts or methods from multiple disciplines. In addition, co-curricular and cohort-building experiences such as field trips, guest lectures, and shared meals are part of every sequence. Current sequence faculty come from across the university: Anthropology, Biology, Classics, Criminal Justice, English, Geography, Geology, History, Marketing, Modern Languages & Literatures, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, Visual & Media Arts, and Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. For a look at the first-year sequences for Fall 2024-Winter 2025, click here. 

Engage

HNR 201. 3-credit Live/Learn/Lead colloquium. Aimed at equipping students for intelligent participation in public dialogues, this course draws on regular campus events (Fall Arts Celebration, Meijer Lectures, Civil Discourse Symposium, Shakespeare Festival, etc.) and a thematically-focused Honors colloquium series featuring invited speakers and performers to give students practice in preparing for, experiencing, and processing cultural events in meaningful ways. Required reflections are both individual and collaborative, and both written and spoken.

HNR 300. 3 credits of campus/community engagement experiences. We say that Honors students make the most of their university experience. To fulfill this requirement, students engage in approved campus or community leadership or service. Students may register for 1, 2, or 3 credits in a given semester. Possibilities include study abroad, study away, serving as classroom assistant, working as a tutor, leading a student organization, serving in the Design Thinking Academy, or taking a community-based learning course. Visit our HNR 300 website for more information.

Deepen

The following pairings require students to engage deeply in topics of interdisciplinary scope, and they also ensure that all Honors students experience such engagement from both the humanistic side of the academy and the scientific side of the academy. All students take either HNR 250 and HNR 351 or HNR 251 and HNR 350.

Substitutions for HNR 251. Please note that required majors courses in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering, Information Systems, Information Technology, and Nursing automatically substitute for HNR 251. Students in these majors do not need to take HNR 250 or HNR 251 and should plan to take HNR 350 sometime after their second year.

Apply

HNR 401. 1-credit Honors senior project proposal course. Students explore project possibilities, identify a faculty mentor, and develop an approved project proposal.

HNR 499. 2-credit Honors senior project. Substantial project sponsored by a faculty mentor. Includes a showcase requirement—through print publication, conference presentation, or Honors-arranged senior showcase presentation.

Senior/capstone experiences outside of Honors may substitute for HNR 401/499 if approved by the Honors College.

Substitutions for HNR 401/499. Please note that required majors courses in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering, Information Systems, and Information Technology automatically substitute for HNR 401 and 499. Students in these majors do not need to take HNR 401 and 499.

What About AP and IB Credits?

All AP and IB credits that are accepted by GVSU count toward the 120-credit graduation requirement, effectively reducing the number of credits a student needs to earn a degree. Some credits count in the General Education program, some count toward various majors and minors, some count toward a foreign-language requirement, and some count as electives—but they all count.

In the Honors College, we value AP and IB courses as excellent preparation for our curriculum, but because our curriculum is topical, interdisciplinary, discussion-oriented, and project-based, with frequent co-curricular excursions and activities, we don’t believe that high school courses, even excellent ones, in Physics, Psychology, World History, and other subjects substitute for the cohort-building academic experiences we offer. So while AP and IB credits count toward the 120 credits required to graduate and may apply to other requirements, they do not reduce Honors credit requirements.

GVSU’s regular General Education program comprises 35-41 credits, or 11 to 13 courses, while our Honors curriculum requires 27 credits, or 9 courses. Honors students fulfill all university General Education requirements through those 27 credits. Reducing the credit requirements is our way of acknowledging the excellent preparation students have through AP, IB, and other Honors-oriented academic experiences.

Six of the required 27 credits in Honors may be covered by a study abroad experience (HNR 300 and HNR 401/499, in consultation with an advisor). Nine, potentially, may be covered by courses required in major or minor programs (HNR 300, HNR 250/251, and HNR 401/499). But even students who do not study abroad and do not take any departmental Honors courses will take just 27 out of their 120 (or more) credits overall to satisfy their general education requirements. This means that no more than 22.5% of a student's academic requirements will be in Honors. Our aim is to make that 22.5% as meaningful and impactful as possible.

What about transfer credits from other colleges and universities?

College students who apply to and are accepted into Honors may be placed in the Honors curriculum based on the number of credits they have earned through college General Education courses by the time they begin taking Honors courses at GVSU. College courses are those taken through dual-enrollment, early middle college programs, and two- and four-year institutions, including GVSU.

Our first-year interdisciplinary sequences are designed for first-year college students, so in general, if students have completed the equivalent of a full year of college General Education courses and satisfied the first-year writing requirement before enrolling in Honors, they may request a waiver of the first-year Honors courses.

All students, regardless of how many credits they transfer in, must complete at least 9 credits of "HNR" courses or "Honors-only" courses in other departments.