Honors Courses

Spring 2026 Classes
We will update with complete course information for Spring 2026 honors courses in late October. NOTHING is official until the week of Honors Advising.

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.

Note
All honors students must complete at least ONE section of HON 480. Descriptions of ALL Upper-Division CORE Honors courses are available HERE. Refer to our advising page for more information on requirements. Also, see VIDEO INTRODUCTIONS of courses!

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

Note
All honors students must complete at least ONE section of HON 480. Descriptions of ALL Upper-Division CORE Honors courses are available HERE. Refer to our advising page for more information on requirements. Also, see VIDEO INTRODUCTIONS of courses!
Honors College HON 480 Special Topics Seminars – Spring 2026
COURSE SEC CRN HRS COURSE TITLE SCHEDULE LOCATION INSTRUCTOR Attributes and Notes
HON 480 201 3 SpTp: Disability Studies MW, 1:00p – 2:15p Shirzadian, Michael & Marshall, Megan Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials; Writing Intensive
HON 480 202 3 SpTp: Climate Science MW, 2:30p – 3:45p S 308 Palmquist, Kyle Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials; Writing Intensive
HON 480 203 3 SpTp: Appalachian Religion TR, 09:30a – 10:45a Ellison, Robert Honors CORE; Free Book; Writing Intensive
HON 480 204 3 SpTp: Hamilton: Hip-Hop Muse TR, 11:00a – 12:15p Proctor, Patricia Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials
HON 480 205 3 SpTp: From Data to Action M, 4:00p – 6:20p Fowler, Katelyn & Collins, Tammy Honors CORE; Free Book
HON 480 206 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.

Note
A total of 3 credits of HON 300 (earned in 1 semester, usually in Fall) or HON 490 (earned over 2 semesters with 1 credit in Fall and 2 credits in Spring) may be substituted for one HON 480 seminar in the required curriculum. Descriptions of ALL Upper-Division CORE Honors courses are available HERE. Refer to our advising page for more information on requirements.

Spring 2026 – Upper Division CORE Honors Experiential Courses

Note
All honors students must complete at least ONE section of HON 480. Descriptions of ALL Upper-Division CORE Honors courses are available HERE. Refer to our advising page for more information on requirements.
Honors College HON 300 and HON 490 – Spring 2026
COURSE SEC CRN HRS COURSE TITLE SCHEDULE LOCATION INSTRUCTOR Attributes and Notes
HON 490 201 2 TedxMarshallU Honors Interns 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.

Honors College HON 483–489 – Spring 2026
COURSE SEC CRN HRS COURSE TITLE SCHEDULE LOCATION INSTRUCTOR Attributes and Notes
HON 483 201 1 SpTp: Honors Engagement Ferda, Mary Beth Honors GENERAL; Free Book; By PERMISSION of the Director of Honors Student Engagement
HON 483 202 1 SpTp: Honors Engagement Ferda, Mary Beth Honors GENERAL; Free Book; By PERMISSION of the Director of Honors Student Engagement
HON 484 201 1 Honors College Newsletter Bailey, Cara Honors GENERAL; No Textbook Required; Onsite Learning Experience
HON 484 202 2 Honors College Newsletter Bailey, Cara Honors GENERAL; No Textbook Required; Onsite Learning Experience
HON 485 201 1 to 4 Independent Study Hoey, Brian Honors GENERAL; No Textbook Required; By PERMISSION OF THE DEAN
HON 489 201 1 to 4 Honors Internship Hoey, Brian Honors GENERAL; No Textbook Required; Onsite Learning Experience; By PERMISSION OF THE DEAN

 

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

Honors College HON 200 Second Year Seminars – Spring 2026
COURSE SEC CRN HRS COURSE TITLE SCHEDULE LOCATION INSTRUCTOR Attributes and Notes
FYS 100H 201 3 First Year Seminar-Honors TR, 2:00p – 3:15p Eng, Ben Honors CORE; Honors Incubator Pathway; Critical Thinking
HON 200 201 3 Second Year Seminar MW, 1:00p – 2:15p Ferda, Mary Beth Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials
HON 200 202 3 Second Year Seminar TR, 11:00a – 12:15p Davis, Sarah Honors CORE; Affordable Education Materials
HON 200 203 3 Second Year Seminar TR, 2:00p – 3:15p Bailey, Cara Honors CORE; No Textbook Required
HON 200 204 3 Second Year Seminar W, 4:00p – 6:20p 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.

Honors College course offerings for Spring 2026
COURSE SEC CRN HRS COURSE TITLE SCHEDULE LOCATION INSTRUCTOR Attributes and Notes
ART 112H 201 3 Intro to Visual Art Honors ONLINE ASYNC Danford, Rachel ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE (AO); Core II Fine Arts; Honors GENERAL
CHM 390H 201 1 to 4 Honors in Chemistry HTN 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 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
Note
These courses are currently designed, staffed, and scheduled without close consultation with the Honors College–though we do seek partnership to assure that those courses open exclusively to honors students (i.e., are in the catalog to serve the Honors College) are of the highest possible quality and that they contribute most effectively to fulfilling the college’s student learning outcomes and mission. They are honors sections of courses offered in their home departments. Refer to our advising page for more information on requirements.