Upper-Division Honors Seminars and Experiential Learning Courses
Enrollment in all HON courses (except HON 200) are controlled by the Honors College as they are by permission only. Students attend Honors Advising sessions, arranged by appointment, to obtain permission to register for these courses. Those students who are nearest to graduation are generally given priority, when necessary.
Need a refresher of our curricular requirements?
Interdisciplinary CORE Honors Seminars
Each semester there are several of these small, interdisciplinary seminars offered through the college by outstanding faculty from across the university.
Spring 2026 – Upper Division CORE Honors Courses
| COURSE | SEC | CRN | HRS | COURSE TITLE | SCHEDULE | LOCATION | INSTRUCTOR | Attributes and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HON 480 | 201 | 3343 | 3 | SpTp: Disability Studies | MW, 1:00p – 2:15p | SH 261 | Shirzadian, Michael & Marshall, Megan | Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials; Writing Intensive |
| HON 480 | 202 | 3344 | 3 | SpTp: Climate Science | MW, 2:30p – 3:45p | S 308 | Palmquist, Kyle | Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials; Writing Intensive |
| HON 480 | 203 | 3345 | 3 | SpTp: Appalachian Religion | TR, 09:30a – 10:45a | SH 108 | Ellison, Robert | Honors CORE; Free Book; Writing Intensive |
| HON 480 | 204 | 3346 | 3 | SpTp: Hamilton: Hip-Hop Muse | TR, 11:00a – 12:15p | SH 334 | Proctor, Patricia | Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials |
| HON 480 | 205 | 3347 | 3 | SpTp: From Data to Action | M, 4:00p – 6:20p | SH 227 | Fowler, Katelyn & Collins, Tammy | Honors CORE; Free Book |
| HON 480 | 206 | 3348 | 3 | SpTp: From Soil to Society | R, 4:00p – 6:20p | OM 230 | McCarthy, Michael | Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials |
Experiential Learning Courses
In addition to the required Honors Seminars, the college also offers by permission experiential learning courses that allow students valuable opportunities in leadership and collaborative community-based learning in an instructional course. The first of these is HON 300 Honors Peer Mentoring, which is a course that focuses on leadership training and service to the college through collaborative, project-based community engagement. Next, when available, we have HON 481 Design for Defense. Finally, there is HON 490 TEDxMarshallU Internship, which provides hands-on training to plan and hold a TEDx event on campus. Enrollment in HON 490 in the Fall semester requires that you contact the instructor and obtain permission through both Dr. Kinghorn and the Honors College.
Spring 2026 – Upper Division CORE Honors Experiential Courses
| COURSE | SEC | CRN | HRS | COURSE TITLE | SCHEDULE | LOCATION | INSTRUCTOR | Attributes and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HON 490 | 201 | 3355 | 2 | TedxMarshallU Honors Interns | TBA | — | Kinghorn, Brian | Honors CORE; No Textbook Required; Onsite Learning Experience; Part II of II ONLY |
Spring 2026 – Upper Division GENERAL Honors Experiential Courses
The Honors College also offers upper-division, experiential and collaborative learning courses that are student-led. This includes HON 484 The Honors Oracle (newsletter). Students in this course develop at least three published newsletters for the Honors College each semester while serving as either a writer or editor.
| COURSE | SEC | CRN | HRS | COURSE TITLE | SCHEDULE | LOCATION | INSTRUCTOR | Attributes and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HON 483 | 201 | 3349 | 1 | SpTp: Honors Engagement | TBA | — | Ferda, Mary Beth | Honors GENERAL; Free Book; By PERMISSION of the Director of Honors Student Engagement |
| HON 483 | 202 | 3350 | 1 | SpTp: Honors Engagement | TBA | — | Ferda, Mary Beth | Honors GENERAL; Free Book; By PERMISSION of the Director of Honors Student Engagement |
| HON 484 | 201 | 3351 | 1 | Honors College Newsletter | TBA | — | Bailey, Cara | Honors GENERAL; No Textbook Required; Onsite Learning Experience |
| HON 484 | 202 | 3352 | 2 | Honors College Newsletter | TBA | — | Bailey, Cara | Honors GENERAL; No Textbook Required; Onsite Learning Experience |
| HON 485 | 201 | 3353 | 1 to 4 | Independent Study | TBA | — | Hoey, Brian | Honors GENERAL; No Textbook Required; By PERMISSION OF THE DEAN |
| HON 489 | 201 | 3354 | 1 to 4 | Honors Internship | TBA | — | Hoey, Brian | Honors GENERAL; No Textbook Required; Onsite Learning Experience; By PERMISSION OF THE DEAN |
Special Summer Honors Opportunity! Study Abroad in Ireland – May 2026
Immediately following the Spring 2026 semester, honors students can travel to Ireland for a two-week faculty-led program based at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT). The experience explores the deep cultural connections between Ireland and Appalachia through archaeology, history, and place-based learning in the Boyne Valley region, including Newgrange, the Hill of Tara, and Dublin’s EPIC Emigration Museum.
The Honors College does not typically offer courses in the summer. However, through the Ireland Program, honors students can earn 6 credit hours of honors coursework (3 CORE + 3 General) transferred to Marshall—usable also as their home college/major decides—and receive an internationally awarded Certificate in Cultural Landscapes from DkIT!
Dates and program cost will be announced by the Office of Study Abroad
Lower-Division Honors Seminars and Honors-Designated Courses
The following list is of Honors Seminars (FYS 100H and HON 200, when in the appropriate term) and honors-designated sections of departmental courses. In fulfilling General Education requirements at Marshall (Core I, Core II, and Additional University Requirements as seen in Degree Works), we advise our students to take honors-sections (any course with an “H” at the end, such as ANT201H or CMM104H) as much as possible as a means to complete both the required 12-hours of “general” honors credits of the Honors Curriculum as well as their General Education requirements at the same time. The list also includes mandatory first- and second-year Honors Seminars (i.e., FYS 100H and HON 200).
Spring 2026 – Lower Division CORE Honors Courses
| COURSE | SEC | CRN | HRS | COURSE TITLE | SCHEDULE | LOCATION | INSTRUCTOR | Attributes and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FYS 100H | 201 | 3335 | 3 | First Year Seminar-Honors | TR, 2:00p-3:15p | SB 116 | Eng, Ben | Honors CORE; Honors Incubator Pathway; Critical Thinking |
| HON 200 | 201 | 3336 | 3 | Second Year Seminar | MW, 1:00p – 2:15p | SH 336 | Ferda, Mary Beth | Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials |
| HON 200 | 202 | 3337 | 3 | Second Year Seminar | TR, 11:00a – 12:15p | SH 261 | Davis, Sarah | Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials |
| HON 200 | 203 | 3338 | 3 | Second Year Seminar | TR, 2:00p – 3:15p | SH 263 | Bailey, Cara | Honors CORE; No Textbook Required |
| HON 200 | 204 | 3339 | 3 | Second Year Seminar | M, 4:00p-6:20p | SH 336 | Biggs, Michele | Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials |
| HON 200 | 205 | 3340 | 3 | Second Year Seminar | W, 4:00p – 6:20p | GH 122 | James, Matt | Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials |
Spring 2026 – Honors-Designated Departmental GENERAL Honors Courses
Some of these courses may have prerequisites (noted as PR) set by the department that offer them that can, in rare cases, exclude an honors student on the basis of that PR. An example of this condition can be seen in ENG 201H. We recommend that honors students take ENG 200H instead, given the range of General Education attributes that can be obtained in this course.
| COURSE | SEC | CRN | HRS | COURSE TITLE | SCHEDULE | LOCATION | INSTRUCTOR | Attributes and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ART 112H | 201 | 3 | Intro to Visual Art Honors | ONLINE ASYNC | ONLINE ASYNC | Danford, Rachel | ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE (AO); Core II Fine Arts; Honors GENERAL | |
| CHM 390H | 201 | 1 to 4 | Honors in Chemistry | TBA | McCunn-Jordan, Laura | Honors GENERAL; Natural Sciences; BY PERMISSION of DEPARTMENT of CHM | ||
| CMM 104H | 201 | 3 | Honors in Speech Comm | TR, 09:30a – 10:45a | SH 261 | Taylor, Dennis | Honors GENERAL; Affordable Education Materials; Core II Communication Studies | |
| ENG 200H | 201 | 3 | Texting the World (CT) | ONLINE ASYNC | ONLINE ASYNC | Diehl, Shoshannah | Honors GENERAL; Core II Humanities; Affordable Education Materials; Asynchronous Online; Composition Core II; Honors; Writing Intensive; Literature; Critical Thinking | |
| ENT 300H | 201 | 3 | Smith Incubator Honors II | T, 4:00p – 6:20p | SBUS 115 | Wiley, David | Honors Incubator Pathway; PR: ENT200H Minimum Grade C | |
| MUS 142H | 201 | 3 | Music in Society Honors | MWF, 09:00a – 09:50a | SM 143 | Dobbs, Wendell | Honors GENERAL; Affordable Education Materials; Honors; Multicultural; Core II Fine Arts |
