Course Requirements for the Honors Program
Fundamentum
Pathways to Honors (1 course)
HON 100 Via ad Honores (2 credits)
This course prepares students for research and engagement in the Honors Program.
Writing and Mathematics (3 courses)
AWR 101/UT*** Reading Locally and Globally (4 credits)
AWR 201 Writing and Research: The Local and Global (4 credits)
MAT 155, MAT 160, MAT 170, MAT 201, MAT 225, MAT 260, MAT 261 or higher (4 credits)
Note that many majors require a specific mathematics course and that course can be used to fulfill the Honors math requirement as well. If a student does not have a math requirement in their
major, they are encouraged to take MAT 155 or MAT 160. All mathematics courses are 4 credits.
Honors Core
The Dialectics (3 courses):
A dialectic is a critical investigation of truth through reasoned argument, often by means of dialogue or discussion. Dialectics at the University of Tampa are team-taught by three (3) professors, each of them from a different field: the Humanities, the Social Sciences and the Natural Sciences.
HON 220 Where Have We Been? (4 credits)
This is a one-semester course that will be taught by one professor in the Humanities, one professor in the Natural Sciences, and in the Social Sciences. In this course, students explore the past by studying the foundations and development of various cultures’ sociopolitical, scientific, and historiographical foundational ideas from the dawning of time to the 20th century.
HON 230 Where Are We Now? (4 credits)
This is a one-semester course that will be taught by one professor in the Humanities, one professor in the Natural Sciences, and one professor in the Social Sciences. In this course, students explore the present by studying the foundations and development of various cultures’ sociopolitical and scientific foundational ideas in the 20th and 21st centuries.
HON 240 Where Are We Going? (4 credits)
This is a one-semester course that will be taught by one professor in the Humanities, one professor in the Natural Sciences, and one professor in the Social Sciences. In this class, students will explore the future by studying cutting-edge thought innovations shaping tomorrow’s world from the varying perspectives represented by each instructor.
Idea Labs (3 courses)
Idea Labs are courses in thought experiments.
HON 253 Idea Lab: Health Science/Natural Sciences (4 credits)
In these courses, students will use critical inquiry to approach problems in either Health Sciences or Natural Sciences that present themselves locally (in Tampa Bay) or globally (in society).
HON 255 Idea Lab: Humanities/Fine Arts (4 credits)
In these courses, students will use critical inquiry to approach problems in Humanities/Fine Arts that present themselves locally (in Tampa Bay) or globally (in society).
HON 257 Idea Lab: Social Science (4 credits)
In these courses, students will use critical inquiry approach problems in Social Science that present themselves locally (in Tampa Bay) or globally (in society).
The Thesis
HON 490: Thesis (6 to 10 credits)
A standard thesis is an original argument that is, at minimum, the length of a publishable article. Creative theses are welcome. Students should attempt to publish or make public their thesis in an appropriate venue, whether that venue is a journal, conference, juried art show, or stage. Students must pass HON 490 or any course they are using to substitute HON 490 with a C or higher in order to earn thesis credit.
Students with capstone courses in their major that require an original research/creative project can use these projects as their Honors Thesis if the project meets the guidelines outlined above. Students can work together to co-create a thesis if the director approves.
HON 495: Thesis Defense (0 Credits)
Students must successfully defend their thesis to their committee in order to complete the thesis. An oral thesis defense is a public presentation of the students' final project and is given to the student's thesis committee (director + 2nd and 3rd readers), at minimum. The standard defense is 45 minutes to an hour long and opens with the student explaining their results/final project and proceeds with questions about the project from the committee. The thesis will be evaluated according to the thesis rubric in the Honors Thesis Guidelines. If a student's thesis scores a 3 or higher in 3 of the 5 categories, it is considered a passing thesis. Furthermore, a minimum of 2 of 3 committee members should agree that the thesis is passing in order for the thesis to be considered successful.
Transfer Credits
Students can use transfer credit from another college or university, or AP and IB credit under certain conditions, to satisfy the math, academic writing requirements, and 2 of the 3 Idea Labs. AP and IB scores for AWR101/UT***101, AWR 201 and Mathematics are accepted based on AP credit Determination and the IB Credit Determination designations published on the UTampa Website.
If a direct equivalent course published on the AP or IB Credit Determination pages is not needed for the major, the AP tests with a score of 5 or IB tests with a score of 5 that correspond to the Humanities Idea Lab (Literature, Art History, Languages, Film and Animation, Dance, Music, Philosophy, Speech, Theatre, Writing), the Social Science Idea Lab (History, Human Geography, Macro or Microeconomics, Psychology, Sociology), or the Natural Science Idea Lab (Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Studies, Physics 1, Physics 2, Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, Physics C: Mechanics) will also be accepted.
AP or IB scores below 5, as well as the Cambridge Advance International Certificate of Education (AICE) credit, cannot be used to satisfy Honors Idea Lab requirements. Transfer credit of any kind cannot be applied towards Dialectics courses.
Students may also use Study Abroad courses completed through the University of Tampa to count towards up to two Honors courses (either Dialectics or Idea Labs), as long as the courses align with the Honors learning goals and course objectives. These Study Abroad courses do not need to carry on HON designation.