The Honors General Studies Program offers an alternate general studies experience designed to inspire curious, highly motivated students to serve as leaders of thought and agents of change.
This program is a separate track of general studies and not a major or a minor in itself. Honors core courses have a flavor distinctly different from the regular general studies courses because they use primary source material more extensively than textbooks to enhance the development of independent thinking. Many Honors courses follow an interdisciplinary approach that stresses the unity of knowledge; some courses are team taught. The classes are more personalized and typically smaller than other general studies classes.
Students in the Honors Program are awarded an annual scholarship dependent on successful completion of specific courses and a minimum GPA. See the Honors webpage for specific details and scholarship amounts. At graduation, students who complete the Honors Program requirements with at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA and a 3.0 GPA in honors core courses and honors core cognates will be designated as "Honors General Studies Graduates."
Honors General Studies Requirements
These are the general studies requirements for the B.B.A., B.S., B.Ed., B.F.A., B.L.S., B.Mus., and B.S.W. degrees (60-63 hours) and the B.A. degree (72-75, hours including the foreign language requirement).
BSE students complete all of the requirements for Sections I and II plus the Engaging Faith and one elective from Section III (54-55 hours).
Each GS course can fulfill only one GS requirement.
Section I. Foundational Skills
Honors students are expected to already have stronger than average foundational skills so will take fewer credits in this area than traditional GS students.
HONR 141 fulfills the requirement for both
ENGL 121 and 122;
HONR 243 fulfills the requirement for both research writing and oral communication. (17 credits)
Foundations of Faith (4)
Physical Health
Choose two of the following:
Quantitative Reasoning (4)
Choose one of the following:
Written Communication and Information Literacy (7)
| HONR 141 | Writing Seminar: Identity, Responsibility, and Citizenship | 3 |
| HONR 243 | Honors Research Writing | 3 |
| HONR 392 | Honors Portfolio | 1 |
Section II: Ways of Knowing
Honors students experience an integrated approach to the liberal arts through a team-taught Western Thought sequence, interdisciplinary religion courses that explore religion in a social context, and a lab science sequence. (27 credits)
Ways of Knowing: Natural Science (8)
Select one of the following sequences (8 credits):
Ways of Knowing: Religion (7)
| HONR 349 | Religion in a Social Context | 4 |
| HONR 496 | Honors Seminar: Faith and Learning | 1 |
| HONR 497 | Honors Seminar: Faith and Learning | 1 |
| HONR 498 | Honors Seminar: Faith and Learning | 1 |
Ways of Knowing: Humanities, History, and Social Science (12)
Section III: Ways of Engaging
Honors students will select electives from enriched interdisciplinary elective options that encourage high-impact learning experiences, graduate school preparation, and alignment with career goals. (BSE students are required to complete the Engaging Faith requirements, plus one additional course chosen from the other three elective categories).
Engaging Faith
Select at least 7 hours from the following courses:
Global Understanding:
Select one of the following courses:
Responsible Citizenship:
Select one of the following courses:
Aesthetic Appreciation:
Select one of the following courses:
Requests for substitutions for credit earned through directed study or study abroad opportunities may be submitted to the Honors Program director for consideration. In addition to Adventist Colleges Abroad, WWU has specific affiliations with Middlebury College’s Oxford Humanities Program, The Council of Christian Colleges and Universities Best Semester Program, and the Balua Regional Archaeological Project. Dual Credit, AP Credit, and required cognates not fulfilled by honors courses may also be allowed to count toward fulfilling honors electives, as determined through a petition to the honors director.
Foreign Language
All BA students are required to complete a foreign language sequence of 12 quarter hours at the elementary level or 8 quarter hours at the intermediate level. (The Greek I sequence plus
GREK 331 satisfies this requirement).