The Honors College at Marshall University is committed to creative, critical inquiry and respect for a multiplicity of thoughts, experiences, and identities. We support our students as scholars who are dedicated to becoming socially conscious, responsible leaders and lifelong learners engaged in the acquisition and application of knowledge for a greater good. In the Honors College, we believe that honors education should support honorable action. While there is much to learn in the context of the traditional classroom, we believe that opportunities to learn while doing things outside the classroom enhances creative and critical inquiry and elevates respect for others. Through experiential learning, students find ways to readily connect and apply their formal education to real world conditions in the communities of which they are a part. Honors students at Marshall University have a variety of different types of experiential learning opportunities. Some of these opportunities are institutionally sponsored and others may develop organically through a student’s needs and their own creativity. The Honors College supports both paths to providing experiential learning for Honors students. We want our students to be actively engaged in their learning and to seek out challenges that allow them essential self-reflection.
As the college continues to develop the framework of our support for Honors experiential learning, new information will be provided here and elsewhere. For now, we will outline future opportunities. Our experiential learning opportunities may be categorized broadly as: Collaborative Learning; International Engagement; and Scholarly & Creative Projects.
Collaborative Learning
The Honors College has opportunities ranging from student-led courses that provide academic credit for learning experientially to ways for students to get engaged in the honors mission at Marshall through living and learning in on-campus housing. And, for those of you who want to get deep into the work of how things get done in the college, there are opportunities to serve on the committee’s that make policy and practice. Get engaged!
Honors College Student-Led, Peer, Faculty, and Community Partner Mentored Courses
The Honors College provides student-organized and led courses that are based in a fundamental need for collaborative work and that contribute to the welfare of particular communities. These are not faculty taught instructional courses–though each has a Faculty Mentor to provide guidance and support. Rather, they are an institutional means for students to earn academic credit for experiential learning in the context of productive work conducted on behalf of the college, its students, and the communities of which we are a part. Students must be advised by the college in order to obtain permission to enroll before registration.
Formerly listed as HON 483, the TEDxMarshallU Internship is an opportunity to participate on a student-organized and faculty-mentored organizing/planning team for the TEDxMarshallU event. Students will apply for and be assigned different roles necessary for the successful planning, organizing, promotion, and execution of a TEDxMarshallU event during the academic year. These roles will include, executive producer, event manager, curation coordinator, sponsorships, budgets, and purchasing manager, designer, communications, editorial, and marketing director, and video and production lead. They will also create a personal portfolio of their experiences to pass to the next organizing team and help them see how the internship experience can apply to their personal career development. Student team members must commit to participating for the full academic year with a 1-credit course in the fall and 2-credit course in the spring semester. TEDxMarshallU is now in the course catalog as HON 490.
If you’re interested in applying for one of the defined roles, you can apply below. If you have any questions, you can reach out to Brian Kinghorn, who will serve as the Faculty Mentor for the team. Dr. Kinghorn will forward names of selected team members to the college prior to Honors Advising and Priority Registration so that these students can be permitted to enroll. Learn more about HON 490.
Living and Learning Communities
The “houses” provided to students by the Office of Housing and Residence Life offer opportunities for student residents to create purposeful links between academic, residential, and social components of their college experience while living together in a community with shared interests.
The Honors Community provides opportunities for student residents to create purposeful links between academic, residential, and social components of their college experience. This is learning while living together as a community of students with shared interest in academic excellence. Honors House living can be found in the First Year Residence Halls (for first-year students) as well as Willis Hall. This Honors Community is open to all students accepted into the Honors College at Marshall University and available on a first come, first served basis until capacity is reached. For questions regarding housing please go to Housing and Residence Life (HRL). In addition to living in the Honors House, Honors students can apply to the HRL to serve as Resident Assistants (RAs) in the House! Residents of Honors House can also get involved in different student leadership programs coordinated through the HRL.
Marshall University recognizes that each student’s educational experience is richer when it occurs in an environment that celebrates diversity. The Honors College joins the initiative to create a unique opportunity for students interested in learning more about the benefits of diversity and inclusion, with an emphasis on providing leadership to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus and in the community through our first diversity themed living/learning community (DLLC) at Marshall University. Successful applicants will receive total annual Marshall University funded scholarships stackable up to $5,000 (WV residents); $8,500 (Metro residents); $11,000 (Non-Residents). The DLLC scholarship is renewable each year, for up to four years. Students do not need to be in the Honors College. Renewal criteria include obtaining a cumulative Marshall GPA of at least 2.5 and fulfilling all requirements of DLLC participation. For the second year and beyond, students may choose to live in residence halls of their choice (i.e., will not be required to live together in the DLLC), but they must continue to engage in specified activities as a Diversity Learning Community (DLC) participant. Additionally, as they progress at Marshall, they will have the opportunity to mentor first-year students who live in the DLLC.Honors College Policy Making
If you really want to get under the hood of the Honors College, these are for you! Get engaged and have a real impact on the policy and practices of the college.
International Engagement
Study Abroad Experiences
The Honors College encourages students to consider studying abroad as a way of encouraging creative, critical inquiry and respect for a multiplicity of thoughts, experiences, and identities. Study abroad aids students in becoming socially conscious, responsible leaders and lifelong learners who are actively engaged in the acquisition and application of knowledge for a greater good.
Read more on our Study Abroad page!
In recognition of the value of study abroad experience, the Honors College will waive up to 6 of the required General Honors credit hours for study abroad experiences for which the student receives academic credit through Marshall. To receive a waiver of 3 honors credits, students must earn a minimum of 3 transfer credits and the study abroad experience must have a duration of at least 3 weeks. A total of 6 credits of waived honors credit can be awarded for a semester abroad with full time enrollment of 12 credits or more. Students must request the waiver by submitting the Study Abroad Honors Credit Waiver Petition form available on the Student Forms page. In order to receive a waiver of General Honors credits, students must submit the form to describe enhanced academic experiences that they expect to have before they leave and another after they return to provide justification for why these credits deserve an honors credit waiver after they return.
NOTE: No more than 6 hours TOTAL (for any reason, for any student) can be waived from requirements in the Honors Curriculum.
Scholarly & Creative Projects
Defined Honors Pathways
Departmental Honors
The Honors College supports the creation of Departmental Honors in all majors interested in developing especially robust scholarly and creative experiential learning opportunities in their programs. The illustration below is a significantly more challenging pathway to completion of the required capstone that entails creation of committee to oversee a thesis project. The experience is available to both Honors and non-honors students based on the criteria stated by the department. As of today, there are two majors in the College of Liberal Arts that have developed Departmental Honors in consultation with the Honors College. The Honors College is prepared to accept these defined Departmental Honors credits toward completion of the Honors Curriculum for Honors students in good standing with the college who are in these majors. The college would be willing to do so for other major programs who develop similar opportunities for their students.
In the first term, the student will prepare a study plan and literature review for an independent research project; at the end of the term, this work must be presented to a committee of at least three faculty members who will together determine the grade.The prerequisites for pursuing the second term of the honors option include: an “A” in the first term, a GPA in all concluded major program classes of a minimum of 3.5, and written permission by the advisor. In the second semester, the student will conduct the proposed research project and report her/his findings (the report will ordinarily be a written thesis, but can be supplemented by presentations in other media–an exhibition, a film, etc.). At the end of the term, this work must be presented to a committee of at least three faculty members who will together determine the grade. The grade “A” for the work in the second term will be recognized on the students’ official transcript as “Graduating with Honors” in either Anthropology or Sociology.
More Departmental Honors opportunities can be expected if other major programs work to develop them for their students. Interested faculty can reach out to the college with proposals and students can help by showing their support for development of Departmental Honors in the departments of their majors. The Honors College would be very happy to help.
Honors Incubator
The Honors College at Marshall University is proud to offer the Honors Incubator Pathway, an alternative curricular track for a small number of selected honors students accepted into the Brad D. Smith Student Incubator. This pathway integrates experiential learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and entrepreneurship into the Honors College curriculum, providing a dynamic environment for students to develop and launch innovative solutions to real-world challenges. Participating in the Honors Incubator Pathway through Marshall University’s iCenter equips students with a diverse skill set and practical experiences that open doors to various career opportunities. Learn more about the Honors Incubator Pathway.
