Honors College

The Honors College at the University of San Francisco is a scholarly community grounded in a culture of collaborative inquiry and social justice, global perspectives, and cura personalis. Our mission is to inspire and prepare future leaders to think critically and foster an interdisciplinary understanding of the world around them and the tools to effect change. Through small seminars and engagement with communities on-campus, in San Francisco, and around the world, students will broaden their intellectual perspectives grounded in the pillars of Liberal Arts, Global Perspectives, Interdisciplinary Inquiry, and Experiential Education. In keeping with USF’s mission, the Honors College offers students a holistic learning experience and prepares them to address the challenges of the 21st century. Eligible transfer students can enroll in the Honors College Transfer Certificate program.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students will:

Ask critical questions relevant to an interdisciplinary liberal arts education, with an emphasis on the role of the global humanities
Apply global and cross-cultural perspectives to scholarly inquiry
Analyze liberal arts content using diverse approaches and methodologies
Utilize a diverse array of theoretical and practical tools to engage with mission-driven issues and work with communities

Degree Requirements

Honors College Curriculum (24 units)

Historical Perspectives

Each student is required to choose one course (within the 24 total units) that covers an Historical Perspective. Certain courses within each category are designated as Historical Perspective courses. Historical Perspective is defined as a course that has a significant percentage of content from before 1800, whether that is an historical timespan, a body of thought or work, or an analytical focus.

Honors College Foundations (16 units)

Honors College Gateway (2 units)

The Honors College Gateway (HONC 100) is a 2-unit course designed to be an introduction to the mission and four pillars of the Honors College and provide a common framework for all HONC students. These courses introduce students to the main pillars (themes) of the Honors College, which are liberal arts foundations, global perspectives, interdisciplinary education, and experiential education. The Gateway class is structured around a topic of relevance to the individual faculty’s own work, but draw on a common set of course learning outcomes for all Gateway classes reflective of each of the program learning outcomes.

HONC 100 - Honors College Gateway

Liberal Arts Foundations (4 units)

Liberal Arts Foundations courses focus on the core foundations of the liberal arts including the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, as well as critical reading, analysis, writing, and communication skills.

Global Perspectives (4 units)

Global Perspectives courses are those that either bring in global themes to the course material or incorporate diverse perspectives of cultures or peoples from around the world. These courses should also include elements of intercultural communication and/or cross-cultural humility.

Experiential Engagement (4 units)

Experiential Education courses focus on application of skills, data, and methods broadly-defined across disciplines to solving problems in creative ways, and/or focus on community engagement as part of the course work. These courses also may have a component of ethical leadership development.

Honors College Capstone (2 units)

The Capstone provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their time in the Honors College and draw together all they have learned, while demonstrating their development through innovative opportunities to share their expertise. Students have three options to complete the Capstone: HONC 498, HONC 499, or completing a capstone or honors thesis class through their major.

HONC 498: Honors College Capstone 1 (2 units)

HONC 499 - Capstone

Honors College Exploration (8 units)

These courses, whether 2-unit Honors College Forum courses or specially-designated 4-unit classes, are interdisciplinary and experiential and provide unique skills development or opportunities for the students to expand their knowledge in an innovative, dynamic classroom environment. Exploration courses may also include courses taken during study abroad or through other kinds of affiliated programs at USF.