Through the Honors Program’s interdisciplinary curriculum, students from across campus work with instructors in focused classes and engage in experiential learning via research, service, international experiences, leadership, and internships.

The Honors experience accommodates the diverse talents of our students by providing a flexible and interdisciplinary curriculum. Honors courses are designed to challenge curious and motivated students to engage deeply and challenge their ingrained ways of thinking. Students can participate in Interdisciplinary Honors (a general education track), in Departmental Honors (upper-level and advanced work unique to each major), or in both tracks. For more information on the Honors options available, please see our Honors Requirements page.

If you are interested in teaching an Honors course, please see our Course Proposals page »

Who are Honors instructors?

• Scholars from all UW campuses, as well as the Seattle community and beyond
• Enthusiastic and eager to challenge motivated and engaged students
• Comfortable in small class settings
• Skilled in facilitating discussion
• Innovative teaching styles and ideas
• Committed to interdisciplinary teaching and collaboration
• Skilled at writing and promoting writing in the classroom
• Interested in challenging students to think globally and discover international connections

Why Teach in Honors?

• Honors courses appeal to faculty who enjoy working with motivated students from various disciplines in an interactive environment. Honors students come to us from every major on campus, and bring individual insights, backgrounds, and motivations, but are committed to interdisciplinarity, dynamic discussion, and deep exploration of content.
• Classes sizes aim for a 35-student limit to encourage discussion amongst faculty and students alike.
• Honors provides faculty a place to explore course content, design and pedagogy that can be of benefit to other departments.

What Creates an Honors Environment?

• Honors classes pursue the subject matter in greater depth and with more intensity than a regular university class.
• Honors classes are writing intensive.
• Students are expected to fully participate in the class through discussion, group work, and presentations.
• We encourage inclusion of research components and other experiential instruction.
• Experimentation with a variety of collaborative and cooperative instructional styles is encouraged.
• Honors students expect active student/instructor interaction within the classroom setting.
• We attempt to create a problem-solving environment, allowing students to experience complexity of both content and discussion.

Who are Honors Students

• Most Honors students enter directly from high school by applying to Interdisciplinary Honors at the same time they apply to UW. Students may also enter Honors through second-year admissions during the spring quarter of their first-year at UW.
• Students in all majors on campus participate in Interdisciplinary Honors as a way to deepen their distribution/general education requirements. We seek students who are interested in how their disciplinary interests and background can be applied to a variety of topics, and how they can benefit from colleagues with very different disciplinary inclinations.
• Honors students respond well to in-class discussion and will foster spontaneous student-to-student discussions.

Grades

Most Honors students are conscious of grades and will have high academic expectations. Although they may expect to obtain high grades in all their classes, they should receive the grade that appropriately reflects their performance. If a student is in danger of failing or doing poorly because of academic performance, skipping classes, or inability to grasp the subject matter, we ask that you advise them so they understand available options. Faculty need not feel obligated to use a traditional grading curve.

Honors-by-Contract

Interdisciplinary Honors students have options to complete some of their Honors requirements via Honors-by-contract. You can support students in these efforts by:

1. Supervising an Honors Ad Hoc project in a non-Honors course.
2. Working with an Honors student on an Honors 499 interdisciplinary independent study.
3. Inviting an Honors student to participate in a graduate-level course you are teaching.