PROGRAM STRUCTURE
The Boone Honors Program provides enhanced educational opportunities for motivated and gifted students. Students in honors have the opportunity to take small interdisciplinary seminars for some of their general education requirements, work closely with professors in courses within their major or minor, present their research at undergraduate research conferences, attend special dinners with visiting campus guests and speakers, and participate in special honors social activities and trips.
Who is Eligible to Participate?
Entering freshmen or transfer students with a High School GPA of 3.4+ and 1000+ SAT score are automatically eligible to join the Ferrum College Honors program. Current students who demonstrate potential by earning a cumulative GPA of 3.4 at Ferrum are also invited to participate in the program. Students need to actively accept the invitation to join, however, by completing a short enrollment form available from the Honors Program director.
Continuing in the Program
To graduate from Ferrum with an Honors degree, students need to complete 27 honors designated hours (honors seminars and honors-enriched courses) with a minimum GPA of 3.4. To remain in good standing, students must be making reasonable progress towards fulfilling these requirements. Students whose grade point average would not allow them to graduate with honors may be placed on probation or withdrawn from the program.
What are the Program requirements?
Honors students have special academic opportunities in fulfilling their general education requirements in addition to enhanced courses within their major or minor. Briefly, honors students will take 15 hours of special, interdisciplinary honors seminars in place of other general education requirements. Additionally, honors students will take 12 hours of honors-enriched courses. These honors-enriched courses will be regularly taught courses enrolling honors students and other students taking the course for existing credit. The point of honors-enriched courses is to extend a topic, approach, or project so that honors students will understand the complexities of an area of study. The college will note the honors designation on the transcripts of all students who complete the additional special, extra, or different honors work. Students may choose courses outside their areas of concentrated study so long as students complete a minimum of two honors-enriched courses in the major.
Participation in the Boone Honors Program enables students to present graduate schools or prospective employers with an impressive transcript. Students who complete the Honors Program graduate with a special honors designation on the diploma if they have met the following requirements:
1) Fifteen hours of honors seminars (in lieu of general education courses that other students complete)
2) Twelve hours of special honors designated courses with a grade of C or above and an overall 3.2 GPA for these courses.
3) A cumulative GPA of 3.4 for all courses.
At the core of the Boone Honors Program is an exceptional academic course of study. Honors students take five special Honors interdisciplinary seminars to fulfill part of their general education requirements. These seminars include a cornerstone seminar and a capstone seminar. Additionally, students will take a minimum of 12 hours of Honors-enriched courses.
To graduate in the Honors Programs students need to take 15 hours of Honors seminars. Students who enter the Honors Program as freshmen are required to take the cornerstone seminar Honors 100: Perspectives on Leadership in lieu of Ferrum 101 and 102. Students who join the program after the first semester of their freshman year are not required to take Honors 100 but may if they wish. Every honors student must take the capstone seminar. Students not in the Honors Program may take honors seminars with instructor approval if there is space available in the course.
Because seminars can fulfill more than one general education requirement, students will need to complete a form at preregistration that indicates the requirement a seminar will replace. The form needs to be signed by the student and his/her advisor and copy filed with the registrar’s office. If more than one course is required for the general education distribution requirement, only one of the courses may be an honors seminar (e.g., since 6 hours of literature are required for graduation, one of the literature courses can be an honors seminar but the other 3 hours of the requirement must be a regularly taught course).
The faculty has currently approved the following seminars. More seminars will be added and phased in as the program develops through the years.
Honors 100. Cornerstone Seminar: Perspectives on Leadership
The cornerstone seminar serves as an introduction to liberal arts learning for honors students by examining the topic of leadership. Interdisciplinary in nature and writing intensive in structure, this seminar asks students to wrestle with the question "what does it mean to be a leader?" Students will explore this question from a variety of different perspectives including the history of leadership theory, ethics and leadership, social and psychological dimensions of leaders and followers, critical thinking and skills of leadership. (3 hours, 3 credits, prerequisites Honor Program Membership)
Honors 206: The Bible and The Arts (Religion)
This interdisciplinary course explores how the Bible has functioned as a classic text in western culture. The course will consider the reception history of selected biblical texts in literature, film, drama, the visual arts, and the musical arts. (3 hours, 3 credits, prerequisites Honors Program Membership or English 102 and permission of the instructor)
Honors 210. Reason and the Individual (Literature and History)
This course is an interdisciplinary examination of the English-speaking world in the eighteenth century when individualism and rationalism emerged as dominant paradigms of the transatlantic community. Through in-depth study of some of the leading figures in this emerging world-view, students will come to appreciate more fully their roles as individuals in modern society. Students also learn to apply interdisciplinary methods of scholarship. (3 hours, 3 credits, prerequisites Honors Program Membership or English 102 and permission of the instructors)
Honors 211. Art, Literature, and Film of the Expressionist Period (Literature and Fine Arts)
This interdisciplinary course will explore the world of expressionist art as produced in Europe and America during the period 1890-1937. The mood of alienation between the avant garde and the middle class is a key feature of the art of this period. Students will have the opportunity to explore the philosophical, cultural, and political background that helped to foster this alienation and led artists to produce the characteristically distorted look of expressionist art. The emphasis in the course will be on analyzing visual art, film, drama, and fiction that the leading expressionists produced. Students will thus be honing their interpretive skills as well as being challenged intellectually to enter into the mindset of another era. (3 hours, 3 credits, prerequisites Honors Program membership, or English 102 and permission of the instructors.)
Honors 212 Music Inspired by Art (Fine Arts)
An interdisciplinary study of music composed to illuminate the visual arts. A survey is made of classical, popular, and jazz compositions inspired by the lives and works of important visual artists throughout history. (3 hours, 3 credits, prerequisites Honors Program membership, or English 102 and permission of the instructors.)
Honors 213: Media and Violence (writing intensive course)
An interdisciplinary team-taught, writing-intensive study of the reliationship between media and violence. The emphasis of the course will be on how violence is depicted in news and entertainment mediea, how media deptictions of violence affect society, how social scientists study these effects, and how the problems associated with media and violence might be addressed. (3 hours, 3 credits, prerequisites: Honors Program membership, grade of "C" or higher in English 102, sophomore status, or permission of the instructors.)
Honors 220. Freedom (History and Political Science)
A philosophical and historical inquiry into the various concepts and forms of human freedom, and the conditions that make human freedom possible, from prehistory to the present day. (3 hours, 3 credits, prerequisites Honors Program membership, or English 102 and permission of the instructors.)
Honors 225. Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Religion and Science)
This interdisciplinary team-taught seminar is designed to help students become critically informed about some of the ways theistic religion and science are being perceived as relating to one another. Students will explore 1) the history of the religion-science relationship, 2) various contemporary ways of thinking about the relationship between religion and science, 3) current theories of cosmology, evolutionary biology, molecular biology and their implications for theological discourse. (3 hours, 3 credits, prerequisites Honors Program membership, or English 102 and permission of the instructors.)
Honors 435. Values and Vocation
This capstone seminar for the Boone Honors students asks students to explore the connections between values and vocation in the context of American culture and work. Students will consider what it means to have a calling. Can their career choices yield personal satisfaction and joy quite apart from whatever money they might earn? What responsibilities do they have towards community in their work? Do their career choices have a positive impact on relationships with God, family or community? (Junior or Senior standing and membership in the Boone Honors Program)
To help students plan their courses of studies, honors seminars are scheduled on the following rota. This rotation is subject to change, however, depending on new courses that may be developed or changes in faculty over the years.
Fall 2006
Honors 100: Perspectives on Leadership
Honors 225: Religion and Science
Spring 2007
Honors 435: Values and Vocation
Honors 212: Music Inspired by Art
Honors 213: Media and Violence
Fall 2007
Honors 100: Perspectives on Leadership
Honors 206: The Bible and the Arts
Spring 2008
Honors 210: Reason and the Individual
Fall 2008
Honors 100: Perspectives on Leadership
Honors 225: Religion and Science
Spring 2009
Honors 435: Values and Vocation
Honors 212: Music Inspired by Art
Honors-Enriched Courses (under construction)
A minimum of twelve hours of honors-enriched courses is required for graduation in the Honors Program. These are regularly taught courses that will be enhanced for honors students. Two of the required honors-enriched courses must be taken in a student’s major or minor. During preregistration, students will approach faculty who teach courses they want to “honors-enrich” in order to receive approval that the faculty member is willing to work with each student in this way. Faculty reserve the right to decide whether or not to offer the option of honor-enriching a course in any given semester.
By the end of the fourth week of a semester (the deadline to drop a course without penalty), students and faculty will contract about the “honors-enriched” work for the course by completing a form with the requisite signatures and submitting it to the honors director with the syllabus used for the course. The honors director will submit one copy of the form to the registrar’s office. Once the registrar has received this form, a student will be considered enrolled in the honors-enriched course (designated by the letter “h”). Students are strongly encouraged to undertake discussions with their professors about the nature and requirements for the enrichment work well before the deadline for completing the contract for an h-course.
If at the end of a semester, the appropriate “honors-enriched” work is not completed satisfactorily, students will receive regular credit for the completed course (no "h" designation). Students must earn a B or better in the course to receive honors-enriched designation on their transcripts. The following courses are available for honors-enriched credit:
Agriculture (Life Sciences Division maintains
a list of suggested courses with other courses potentially available, all
to be offered with the consent of the instructor)
AGR 202: Introduction to Plant Science
AGR 315: Soil Science and Management
AGR 317: Animal Nutrition
AGR 319: Horticultural Crop Production
AGR 413: Animal Diseases
AGR 414: Livestock Breeding and Reproduction
AGR 415: Plant Diseases
Art
Art 320: Art History I (Ancient to Renaissance)
Art 321: Art History II (Renaissance to Contemporary)
Studio Courses at the 300-400 Level (Art 304: Drawing; Art 305/405: Jewelry;
Art 306/307: Clay; Art 312: Painting; Art 315/415: Printmaking; Art 317: Photography;
Art 318/418: Sculpture; Art 450: Directed Study in Studio Problems
Biology (Life Sciences Division maintains a list
of suggested courses with other courses potentially available, all to be offered
with the consent of the instructor)
BIO 101: General Biology
BIO202: Introduction to Plant Science
BIO301: Invertebrate Zoology
BIO305: Introductory Genetics
BIO306: Nonvasc Plant & Fungi
BIO 310: Vertebrate Natural History
BIO 419: Plant Physiology & Biotechnology
BIO 420: Evolution
Chemistry (Life Sciences Division maintains a
list of suggested courses with other courses potentially available, all to
be offered with the consent of the instructor)
CHM 104: General Chemistry
CHM 216: Quant. and Stats. II
CHM 302: Organic Chemistry
CHM 305: Analytical Chemistry
CHM 315: Biochemistry
CHM 425: Inorganic Chemistry
Drama
Drama 301: World Drama through the 18th Century
Drama 302: World Drama 1800 to Present
Drama 320: Advanced Acting and Performance Theory
Drama 331: Historical Dramatization
Drama 336: Creative Drama
Drama 406: Children's Theater
Drama 446: Directing
English - Every English course (ENG) at the 200, 300, or 400 level is potentially available for honors enrichment with the consent of the instructor.
Environmental Science (Life Sciences Division
maintains a list of suggested courses with other courses potentially available,
all to be offered with the consent of the instructor)
ESC 208: Physical Geography
ESC 211 Fundamentals of Ecology
ESC 216: Quant. & Stats. II
ESC 302: Conservation Biology
ESC 315: Soil Science and Management
ESC 321: Aquatic Ecology
ESC 424: Environmental Toxicology
History
History 303: The American Revolution
History 312: History of United States Foreign Policy Since 1945
History 316: Virginia History
History 331: Historical Dramatization (cross-listed as Drama 331)
History 375: Sub-Saharan Africa
History 378: North Africa
History 382: United States-Latin American Relations
History 496: Individual/Alternate Study
Horticulture (Life Sciences Division maintains
a list of suggested courses with other courses potentially available, all
to be offered with the consent of the instructor)
HOR 315: Soil Science and Management
HOR319: Horticulture Crop Management
HOR 415: Plant Diseases
HOR 419: Plant Physiology & Biotechnology
Political Science
Political Science 306: Human Rights
Political Science 303: Political Theory
Political Science 304: Modern Ideologies
Political Science 324: Constitutional Law
Political Science 440: International Law (potentially available)
Recreation
Rec 103: Backpacking and Hiking
Rec 104: Rock Climbing and Rappelling
Rec 105: Winter Camping
Rec 106: Outdoor Water Sports
Rec 139: Orienteering
Rec 260: Principles and Theories
Rec 321: Outdoor Recreation
Rec 320: Programming
Rec 325: Wilderness Leadership I
Rec 340: Social Recreation (Leadership)
Rec 350: Risk Management, safety and legal issues in recreation
Rec 361: Outdoor Education
Rec 375: Wilderness Leadership II
Rec 440: Recreation Seminar
Rec 460: Recreation Research and Evaluation
Religion (other courses potentially available
with consent of instructor)
Religion 151: World Religions
Religion 315: Studies in the Gospels
Religion 316: Life and Letters of Paul
Sociology
Sociology 203: Sociology of U.S. Cultural Diversity
Graduation Checklist for the Honors Program
Honors Seminars (15 hours)
___Honors 100 (unless exempt)
___Honors 210 (Literature or History)
___Honors 211 (Literature or Fine Arts)
___Honors 220 (History or Political Science)
___Honors 225 (Religion or Science)
___Honors 435 (Capstone Seminar - required of all students)
Honors-Enriched Courses (12 hours)
________ (Major or Minor)
________ (Major or Minor)
________
________
The Boone Honors Program provides opportunities for students to broaden their horizons through official Honors dinners, trips, and and other social activities. These extracurricular components help create a community within the program that builds friendships while also supporting class initiatives and learning. Extracurricular activities designed to support the learning that happens in honors courses include honors-sponsored lectures by guests to the campus or opportunities to present research at undergraduate research conferences.