Honors College Curriculum

The curriculum of SUNY Brockport's Honors College allows students to integrate Honors courses into their existing General Education (GE) and academic major requirements, as well as to tailor Honors courses to their personal interests and goals. Honors course requirements are adapted to when students begin the program. (See below for course descriptions).

• First-year students: Honors students who enroll as first-year students (i.e., entering freshmen) complete a total of 10 Honors courses while at Brockport (22-24 credits total, including 13-15 GE credits).
• Transfers and Brockport sophomores or juniors: Students who join the Honors College as transfers or as Brockport sophomores/juniors complete a minimum of three Honors courses: Honors Contemporary Issues (GE), HON 395 "Thesis Practicum," and HON 490 "Sr. Honors Thesis" (7 credits total).

Honors General Education Courses

• HON 112 "Introduction to Honors" (3 credits): Topic-based seminar required for all students who join the program in their first year of college. Focuses on the development of foundational skills and knowledge essential to success in college and beyond. Satisfies Written Communication (Q) and Perspectives on Gender (W) general education requirements.
• HON-GEP 100: “Academic Planning Seminar” (1 credit): this pass-fail course (a version of which is required of all Brockport first-year students) provides an initial orientation to college life, introducing relevant learning skills, information, and concepts necessary to plan an academic program within the context of an Honors education. APS involves weekly meetings with faculty and peer-mentors, as well as some additional academic planning and communal activities.
• Two additional lower-division Honors General Education courses (6-8 credits): Required for all students who join the program in their first year of college. A variety of options are offered each semester, and together they expose students to knowledge of human cultures and societies, and the physical and natural world. Recent examples include “Honors Communication and Democracy” (CMC 208), fulfilling Humanities requirement (H); “Honors Environmental Science” (ENV 202), fulfilling Natural Science and Scientific Reasoning with Lab requirement (L); “Honors Creative Writing” (ENG 210), fulfilling Arts requirement (F);“Honors Human Condition” (ANT 101), fulfilling Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion requirement (D); and “Honors Calculus” fulfilling Math and Quantitative Reasoning requirement.
• Honors Contemporary Issues (3 credits): The Honors Contemporary Issues requirement (indicated by the “I” code) satisfies a General Education requirement at the upper-division level. At least three course options representing a variety of disciplines are offered every Fall and Spring semester. Recent examples include “Honors Global Perspectives in Women & Gender (WMS 330) fulfilling Diversity/Global Learning (D), World History & Global Awareness (O), Social Sciences (S), and Gender Perspectives (W) requirements; “Honors Modern American Dream” (HST 357) fulfilling U.S. History & Civic Engagement (V) requirement; “Honors Sociology of Sexuality” (SOC/WMS 369) and “Honors Approaching Religion” (ENG/HST 318) both fulfilling Gender Perspectives (W) requirement; and “Honors Hybrid Issues in Nursing Management and Leadership” (PRO 451) fulfilling Civic Engagement (V) requirement.

Specialized Honors Courses

• Two sections of HON 380 “Interdisciplinary Colloquium” (1 credit per section, 2 credits total): Required for all students who join the program in their first year of college. These pass-fail interactive seminars involve a “deep dive” into a special topic that touches upon a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Topics will vary from semester to semester and will focus on analyzing a particular text, ethical issue, pedagogical concern, or research question that is relevant to multiple fields of study. Recent examples include: “Consciousness & Science Fiction” and “Social Psychology, Prejudice & Discrimination.”
• Honors Engaged Learning Experience (3 credits): Required for all students who join the program in their first year of college. Honors students may satisfy this requirement, which focuses on student-driven and/or experiential learning, in a variety of ways, including but not limited to study abroad, internships, supervised teaching, teaching assistantships, clinical or field experiences, independent or directed studies, service-learning courses. and certain studio or lab courses or experiences. Students are required to submit an Honors Engaged Learning Experience Proposal Form for review by the Honors Director during the semester prior to enrolling in the course. Students also have the option of petitioning to satisfy this requirement through a non-credit equivalent (e.g., completion of community service or shadowing hours, Gold Certificate in the Leadership Development Program, or the Summer Research Program).
• HON 395 "Thesis Practicum": (1 credit): Required for all Honors students, including transfers. This pass-fail practicum course prepares students to embark on the Senior Honors Thesis and is usually completed during the junior year. The course guides students through the process of planning their thesis, including selecting a topic and faculty director, developing an appropriate methodology of research, and getting acquainted with available campus resources.
• HON 490 " Senior Honors Thesis" (3 credits): Required for all Honors students, including transfers. As the capstone experience of the Honors College, the Senior Thesis is a scholarly or creative project designed by all Honors students under the direction of a professor in their academic major (or a closely related area). It requires both a written product and a formal presentation consistent with the research practices in the relevant field of study. The deadline to submit an Honors Thesis Project Registration form to the Honors College Office is the end of the second week of the semester during which a student is enrolled in the course.

Honors Contract

• In the case of unusual circumstances, Honors students may utilize one Honors Contract as a substitute for taking Honors (GE) courses. The Honors Contract enables a conventional course to count for Honors credit — whether in General Education or an academic program — through special arrangement with the instructor and approval of the Honors Director. The deadline to submit an Honors Contract proposal form to the Honors College Office is the end of the second week of the semester during which a student is enrolled in the course.

Honors College

Director: Austin M. Busch, PhD
Location: Brown 133
Visit Website
Email: honors@brockport.edu
Phone: (585) 395-5400
Administrative Assistant: Andrea Vella