Oswego Honors Program

We often hear “What is the Honors Program?”

It is a smaller community of students within the Oswego campus that take HON courses for most of their general education requirements. These HON courses are based on topic or theme that is determined by the instructor. These courses will be different from AP courses or the traditional general education versions. As examples, the American history course might focus on a single decade instead of the entire time span between the 1860s and the present or a course might use food and culture to show the connections between the sciences and society. The requirements also include three 1-credit seminar classes during your first three years that build community in the program and help each student advance toward their honors thesis requirement.

The honors thesis is the culmination of a student’s efforts and demonstrates that they know how to select a project, see it through to an end point, and communicate it to others. Students select their honors thesis projects based on their interests. Some of the projects involve laboratory or field research, some involve visiting archives to review sources, and some involve a creative project such as an art exhibition, musical performance, screenplays, or audio productions. Two faculty advisors help students on their thesis and can also provide outstanding recommendations. All of the previous student honors theses are available for review in the honors office suite.

Students in the Honors Program have access to the honors office suite in the Marano Campus Center to hang out or study at all hours. Students in the program also receive preferred registration status to help you stay on track in the program and your major(s) and minor(s). Students in the program have a major and minor, a double major, a major and double minor, or even a double major and a minor. Students are also involved in all of the co-curricular activities on campus, including sports (intercollegiate and club), theatre, music, the student TV and radio stations, the student newspaper, clubs, and study abroad.

All of the HON courses are offered every semester, except HON 150, 250, and 350. The program culminates with the completion of an Honors Thesis on a topic/project of the student’s choosing.

If you have any questions or updates, please contact us at honors@oswego.edu