Honors Program

Faculty and Staff

E. Dale Kennedy, director, Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program; professor of biology.
B.A., 1975, College of Wooster; M.A., 1979, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Ph.D., 1989, Rutgers University.

Christopher A. Hagerman, associate director, Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program; associate professor of history.
B.A., 1994, Wilfred Laurier University; M.A., 1997, University of British Columbia; Ph.D., 2005, University of Toronto.

Introduction

Although they are not separated from the campus at large, students in the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program do enroll in four unique Honors seminar courses in their first two years. Great Issues in Science, Humanities, Social Science and Fine Arts all explore topics of current interest through the use of classical and contemporary readings. Through their small size, discussion format and emphasis on critical thinking and writing, these special courses encourage students to value ideas and to play active roles in their own intellectual development. They also fulfill the special core curriculum for Honors students.

Admission—Students must be admitted to the Brown Honors Program. Visit the program's website for admission requirements and information on the application process.

Program Requirements

In the "Academic at Albion" section of this catalog, the College’s core curriculum is described. Part II of this curriculum requires that all students take a course that will introduce them to each of the following five Modes of Inquiry:

1. Textual Analysis
2. Artistic Creation and Analysis
3. Scientific Analysis
4. Modeling and Analysis
5. Historical and Cultural Analysis

Since all Honors courses fulfill a Modes of Inquiry requirement of the College’s core curriculum, Honors students can satisfy as many as four of this five-course requirement with Honors classes. Additionally, Honors students can satisfy part of the College’s distribution requirement (one fine arts course, two humanities courses, two science courses and two social science courses) by taking Honors seminars.

Students have two distribution options for their four Honors courses. They may: (a) take courses that count for four different Modes of Inquiry from at least three different divisions of the College or (b) take courses from all four divisions of the College that count for at least three different Modes of Inquiry.

All courses to meet the Honors core must be taken for a numerical grade.

To guide Honors students in their selection of Great Issues courses, the following numbering system is used:

For example, HSP 154H would be a Great Issues in Social Science seminar that satisfies the Modeling and Analysis Mode.

Honors Program Courses

HSP 12xH Great Issues in Science (1)
A seminar for Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program students in which they read and discuss classic and modern works in the history, philosophy, methodology and ethics of science and technology. All seminars fulfill one of the Modes of Inquiry requirements of the College's core curriculum. Staff.

HSP 13xH Great Issues in Humanities (1)
A seminar for Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program students in which they read and discuss classic and modern works of philosophers and humanists. All seminars fulfill one of the Modes of Inquiry requirements of the College's core curriculum. Staff.

HSP 15xH Great Issues in Social Science (1)
A seminar for Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program students in which they read and discuss classic and modern works on methodology, philosophy and policy issues in the social sciences. All seminars fulfill one of the Modes of Inquiry requirements of the College's core curriculum. Staff.

HSP 17xH Great Issues in Fine Arts (1)
A seminar for Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program students in which they explore, through representative readings, exhibits, concerts, performances and lectures, major issues in the development of the fine arts: the relationship between the artist and society, the evolution of critical theory in the arts and the nature of creativity. Individual courses may focus on the visual arts, music, theatre, film or dance. All seminars fulfill one of the Modes of Inquiry requirements of the College's core curriculum. Staff.

HSP 289H Selected Topics (1)
Prerequisite: Permission of the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program director.
An examination of a special topic which is not included in the regular curriculum. Staff.

HSP 397H Thesis Development Colloquy (1/4)
A workshop open to Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program juniors and second semester sophomores which guides them through the process of finding and developing a thesis topic and assembling a thesis committee. Students also develop their library research and other thesis-related skills. In the semester they enroll in the colloquy, Honors students may take up to 4 3/4 units without additional tuition charge. Offered on a credit no credit basis. Staff.

HSP 422H Honors Thesis (1/2-1)
Directed independent study leading to the submission of an Honors Thesis. Normally, students begin their thesis research in the second semester of their junior year by enrolling for 1/2 unit of Honors Thesis credit with their thesis adviser. This process continues during the students' senior year when they normally take another one to two units of Honors Thesis credit in order to complete their research and write up their results. In the semesters they enroll for Honors Thesis credit, Honors students may take up to five units (where 1/2 unit is for thesis credit) without additional tuition charge.

Below is a list of the titles of recent Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program theses:

“Women of Afghanistan: The Clash of Western Human Rights Ideals with a Non-Western Culture”
“Moped Army: A Full-Length Feature Film Script”
“Individual Differences in Goal-Setting Behavior”
“Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization: Rice Creek and Michigan’s History of Federal Contamination”
“Netrins: Creating Divergent Axon Morphologies”
“Heteronormativity in The Birdcage: An Instance of Gay Imagery on the Screen”
“Standing on the Midway: A Collection of Poems”
“The Chicane Tracker Module in the ORBIT Injection Upgrade”
“Children and Race”
“Morphometric Analysis of Trionychid Turtle Shells Using GIS”
“An Examination of Artifact Density and Distribution of the Surface of a Hungarian Copper Age Site”
“Reproductive Behaviors and Mate Choices of the Intertidal Amphipod, Corophium volutator”
“A Poetic Sequence: Integration in Little Rock”
“Coming to Christ: A Biblical Paradigm of Conversion”
“Ageism and Its Effect on Promotion of Younger and Older Employees”
“Political Decision-Making”
“Conflict and Post-Conflict Behavior in Preschool Children”
“‘In Decency . . . of Oconomy’: Race and Respectability in Early National Philadelphian Benevolence”
“Creation of the New: Music Composition as a Means of Self-Expression”
“Intentionalism of Our Founding Fathers: A Textual Analysis of the Electoral College and Reasons for Its Inception”
“A Collection of Creative Nonfiction from My Experiences Abroad”
“Exploratory Substrate Survey”
“Novel in Short Stories”
“Affluence Manipulations in Criminal Typicality for Auto Theft and Identity Theft”
“The Role and Perception of Medicine in Victorian England”
“The Search for Transport/Metabolism Genes”