University Honors Program
Click here for information about Director of Honors Program Position Description.
Click here for information about honors
course proposals.
Click here for information about honors
colloquium proposals.
Click here for information about visiting
scholar grants
Honors Course Proposals for 2013 - 2014
All full-time and continuing URI faculty are invited to submit proposals for Honors courses to be taught in either Fall 2013 or Spring 2014. Courses may be proposed for one semester or both; for 100 or 200-level Honors Seminars, for 300 or 400-level Honors Tutorials, and for 400-level Senior Honors Seminars for more advanced students. Course proposals can either be for an honors section of an existing course or for an original course designed specifically for the Honors Program. Teaching in the Honors Program gives you the opportunity to experiment with new interdisciplinary courses and to enjoy extraordinary teaching conditions:- teach small seminar-style classes between 10 and 20 students
- meet highly motivated students (minimum 3.3 grade point average)
- experiment with new course designs
- participate in an interdisciplinary community of faculty interested in teaching excellence and active learning.
All enrollment numbers for honors courses are credited to the faculty member's home department. Teaching in the University Honors Program offers your department:
- an opportunity to showcase and recruit for your major among excellent students;
- an occasion to try course designs that may later become a permanent offering in your department;
- the honor and prestige of having department faculty selected and publicized
as exemplary teachers in the University Honors Program.
Guidelines for Honors Course Proposals
If you would like to teach an Honors course in 2013-14 please forward the following to Richard McIntyre, Honors Director, Lippitt Hall 300B:
- a one to two page syllabus of the proposed course that includes the following
information:
course title and course description (including course level 100/200/300/400), course objectives, grading criteria, and a sample reading list. For general education courses, please indicate which requirement the class will meet and which skill areas will be covered in the course; - a thirty-word course description that can be included in our course schedule and flyer;
- a condensed curriculum vitae and recent representative SET or IDEA scores;
- an endorsement from your Chair and Dean, together with any comments they wish to convey.
- a brief statement indicating what differentiates your honors course from a regular course. This may include one or more of the following criteria: interdisciplinary approach to the subject matter, emphasis on developing critical thinking skills rather than recitation of facts, emphasis on developing critical reading skills, integration of writing as a process in the structure of the course, project-based learning, work with primary sources rather than textbooks, more emphasis on cooperative learning, and providing a core content area to a pure skills course, or other criteria that you feel identifies your course as an Honors course.
For additional information please call Ric McIntyre at 874-4126, or send him an e-mail (mcintyre@uri.edu).
- Resume or full vita if possible of the proposed visiting scholar;
- Description of the program and its potential audience; while the committee's primary charge is to serve the URI community; we also wish to attract audiences members from across the state;
- A PR and publicity plan to reach the desired audience.
- Proposed date of presentation; please take into account other events on campus, avoid conflicts, and maximize your proposed audience.
- Budget statement that includes the amount requested, an itemized breakdown of costs, and other funding sources you are pursuing. Funds granted can be used only for travel or honorarium and will be paid directly to the visiting scholar in one single check.
- Please download a spreadsheet for your budget here, edit in Excel, save it and submit it as an email attachment.
- Please email your request to mcintyre@uri.edu by February 15th, 2013. Late requests will be considered, once all timely submitted requests have been decided.
If you have any questions, please call Ric McIntyre at 874-4126 or email him at mcintyre@uri.edu. The Honors Program and Visiting Scholars Committee invites interested faculty and faculty teams to submit proposals for the Fall 2014 Honors Colloquium. The Honors Colloquium is the premiere intellectual lecture series in Rhode Island and serves as a showcase for the University. The Colloquium is a university-wide educational forum with a substantial public following and audience that offers presentations and discussions of emerging lively, challenging intellectual issues. Each fall, the Honors Colloquium combines a topical series of speakers and events with a 200-level honors course. Participation in a Honors Colloquium is a completion requirement for the Honors Program, and in the last few years the average class size has been 50-70 students.
Substantial financial support is in place for a speakers budget, summer recontracting, and course replacement. In addition, financial liaisons for additional support have been established over past recent years with the various colleges, research centers, and academic programs on campus. Colloquium coordinators are also encouraged to seek external support.
Selection of the winning proposal is made by the Honors Program and Visiting Scholars Committee. The proposal should include:
- a concept paper of one to two pages that frames the intellectual issue(s);
- a list or brief account of potential speakers and special events;
- a rough estimate of a budget;
- a brief course description for the 200-level honors class, including a sample syllabus and reading list;
- a curriculum vitae for the colloquium coordinator(s).
The proposal period for Fall 2013 has passed. However, if you'd like to submit proposals for future years you may go ahead and submit them to Ric McIntyre, as outlined above.
There are several successful proposals available for your perusal in the Honors Center. Please contact Deborah Gardiner at 874-2303 if you wish to look these over.
Previous colloquia:
Fall, 2003 "The Futures of Globalization"
Fall, 2004 "Food and Human Rights: Hunger and Social Policy"
Fall, 2005 "Contemporary Sport: Healthy Pursuit or Obsession?"
Fall, 2006 "Songs of Social Justice: The Rhetoric of Music"
Fall, 2007 "China Rising"
Fall, 2008 "Global Environmental Change"
Fall, 2009 "Demystifying India"
Fall, 2010 "Race"
Fall, 2011 "Are You Ready for the Future?"
Fall, 2012 "Politics, Health and Money"
The Honors Colloquium is a wonderful opportunity to engage the University and public with your area of research and intellectual concern. If you have any comments or questions, please call Ric McIntyre at 874-4126 or email him at mcintyre@uri.edu.
NEWS
CONGRATULATIONS to the following students:
Juniors Christopher Bobba (Chemical Engineering/Biological Sciences) and Russell Dauksis (Marine Biology) who have been named as Goldwater Scholars, and to Farid Topchiev (Chemical Engineering and German) who has received a Goldwater Honorable Mention! See their URI Press release to learn more.
Brian Stack (senior History/Philosophy) who has received a prestigious Humanity in Action Fellowship!
URI Honors Student Megan O'Brien has been awarded a 2012-2013 Fulbright Scholarship to Iceland. Read more about Meghan's story here, and follow her blog!
Brittany O'Brien has been awarded a 2012 National Security Education Program (NSEP) Boren Scholarship to study Swahili in Kenya for the fall semester. Brittany has also been granted an NSEP African Languages Initiative Summer Supplement to study Swahili at the University of Florida prior to her departure.
These six URI sophomores who won Hollings Scholarships from NOAA this year: Michael Canton, Eilea Knotts, Sarah Merolla, Benjamin Sevey, Callie Veelenturf and Brenton Wallin. Read more in their URI Press Release.
Farid Topchiev, who has been awarded two prestigious scholarships to study in Germany - the DAAD Undergraduate Scholarship and the Whitaker Undergraduate Scholarship!
CONTACT US
Honors Director:
Ric McIntyre, 874-4126
Associate Director:
Cheryl Foster, 874-4022
Associate Director:
Carolyn Hames, 874-2813
Assistant Director:
Kathleen Maher, 874-5875
Program Coordinator:
Deborah Gardiner, 874-2303
General inquiries:
honors.uri@gmail.com
