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Honors
The Smittcamp Family Honors College
Honora Chapman, Director
McLane Building, Room 200
2345 East San Ramon Avenue, M/S MH128
Fresno, CA 93740-8031
Phone: 559.278.8160
Toll Free: (877) 323-2089
FAX: 559.278.8162
E-mail: honors@fresnostate.edu
www.fresnostate.edu/honors
The Smittcamp Family Honors College
The Smittcamp Family Honors College provides exceptional students with a distinctive course of study at Fresno State. Students in the Honors College take courses that challenge their abilities, perform service to the university and the community, and maintain high levels of academic achievement (as measured by grade point average). Honors students who meet these goals receive special distinction at graduation, including honors certification on their transcripts. Honors programs are offered at the university, college/school, and department levels. Selected students may participate in any or all of the following:
University Honors. A degree with university honors is based on General Education honors studies with a minimum of 24 lower-division and 12 upper-division units. All honors courses are specially designed and are available only to students in the Honors College. Students take these courses together as a special honors learning community. To maximize student-faculty interaction and to generate a unique learning experience, all honors courses have an average of 25 students.
College/School Honors. College or school honors are earned at the upper-division level. Students may pursue a special program of advanced study within their chosen discipline. The Craig School of Business, College of Arts and Humanities, and Lyles College of Engineering all offer honors programs at this level.
Department Honors. Some individual departments offer honors programs within their majors. Credit for department honors is earned at the upper-division level. Receiving department honors usually requires advanced study above the norm for the major, with credit earned as independent study connected to existing course requirements. Psychology, Armenian Studies, Criminology, and Chemistry currently offer department honors.
Honors Colloquium
All students participating in the Honors College are involved with the Honors Colloquium. Designed around the concept of the "town meeting," the colloquium presents a weekly opportunity for students to interact with experts and authorities on a wide range of topics. From student issues to presidential politics, the colloquium provides students with global perspectives and local solutions. The colloquium gives honors students the chance to interact with, question, and be inspired by leaders on campus, in the community, and around the world.
Scholarships
Every student in the Smittcamp Family Honors College receives a President's Honors Scholarship Grant, which provides registration fees and housing. Scholarships are available for up to eight semesters. Additional scholarship funds may be available for college/school and department honors programs. Complete scholarship information is available at http://www.fresnostate.edu/scholarships/directory/index.shtml.
The Smittcamp Family Honors College was originally funded with a $1 million gift from Earl and Muriel Smittcamp and family. Earl Smittcamp, a prominent agribusiness leader, graduated from California State University, Fresno in 1939. Earl and Muriel, also a Fresno State graduate, have four children -- all alumni of Fresno State -- and 14 grandchildren. Earl Smittcamp and his family demonstrate the leadership excellence, innovative thinking, and personal daring honors graduates strive to achieve. The Smittcamps exemplify their belief that education is really dependent upon what an individual makes of it and that "excellence" is never accepting less than the best from yourself. The Honors College owes its existence to their generous support. Smittcamp Family Honors College |
COURSES
HONOR 1. Honors Colloquium (1; max total
6 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Colloquium for students in
the Smittcamp Family Honors College. Overview of the university. Presentation
and discussion of current topics. Special presentations by faculty, campus
guests, and senior honors project students.
HONOR 101. Emerging Voices after Colonialism:
Revolution in Theory, Revolution in Practice (4 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Explores the field of postcolonial
studies. Critically analyzes the dialectic between Western imperialism and
resistance to colonialism in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Readings will
include primary sources, essays of criticism and theory, and literature
from formerly colonized nations.*
HONOR 102. Revolutions in Natural and
Social Sciences (4 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Examines fundamental changes
in natural and social sciences. Focuses on major shifts of theory and methodology
in the natural sciences and addresses comparable changes in the social sciences.
Compares these "revolutions" and looks at their implications for
the science as a whole.*
HONOR 103. Ecological Social Effects
(4 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Explores the interactions
of human affairs with their environments through the integration of the
natural and social sciences. Examines issues affected by the intrinsic relationships
between humans, the environments they evolved in, and their relationships
with the modern world.*
HONOR 180. Special Projects in Honors
(1-3; max total 9 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Individual projects in the
Smittcamp Family Honors College. Projects related to Honors College courses;
for example, internships, research papers, community service projects, new
classroom approaches, and learning communities.
__________
* For honors students, HONOR 101, 102, and 103 fulfill G.E. areas IB, IC, ID, and M/I. See honors adviser for prerequisites.
Other Honors Courses
ARMS 20H. Arts of Armenia (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Introduces Armenian architecture,
painting, sculpture, ceramics, metal work and textiles. G.E. Breadth C1.
BIOL 10H. Life Science (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Not open to students with credit
BIOL 1A. Shows how living things work and why they work that way. Discusses
biology from chemical and physical foundations through ecological and evolutionary
processes. Examines biology and its relationship to human affairs. (2 lecture,
2 lab hours) G.E. Breadth Area B2.
CFS 38H. Honors Life Span Development (3
units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Basic theories, research, and
principles of physical, cognitive, and psychological development from conception
to death presented from the perspective of diverse families. Emphasizes
reading original theoretical and empirical works by prominent developmentalists
and requires a student-conducted research project. G.E. Breadth E1.
CHEM 10H. Chemistry and Society (4 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation
B4. Not open to students with credit in college chemistry; for non-science
majors. Discusses significance of chemical principles in contemporary society;
benefits and hazards relative to areas such as energy, health, diet, environment
and agriculture. (3 lecture, 3 lab hours) G.E. Breadth B1.
COMM 6H. Rhetoric for Autonomy and Collaboration
in the Marketplace of Ideas (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Explores invitational rhetoric
and its civic function in contemporary public discourse; experiences designed
to enhance fundamental communication skills - - research, organization,
reasoning, empathic listening and problem-solving - - through series of
oral presentations. G.E. Foundation A1.
DRAMA 75H. Theatre in Contemporary American
Culture (3 units)
Open to honor students only. Introduction to the practice and scholarship
of American theatre today. Application of critical methodology for four
areas of theatrical production (1) theatre architecture, (2) acting, (3)
directing, and (4) design. Attendance at two to three theatre performances
is required. G.E. Breadth C1.
ENGL 10H. Honors Accelerated Academic
Literacy (3 units)
Open to students in the honors college only. Reading and writing in
academic and public genres; special attention to rhetorical decision-making
and critical analysis. Guided instruction in reading and responding to texts.
Participation in public and academic conversations via research in primary
and secondary sources. Portfolio assessment. A grade of C or better is required
to satisfy the university's English composition requirement. G.E. Foundation
A2.
ENGL 42H. Creative Writing (4 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation
A2. Beginning workshop in the writing of poetry and fiction; appropriate
readings and analysis. G.E. Breadth C1.
EES 8H. Natural Disasters and Earth Resources
(4 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation
B4. Processes and materials that produce the different geologic resources
and hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, landslides.) Plate tectonic
theory (including continental drift) as the unifying model to explain geologic
phenomena. Emphasizes the relationship between geology and humans. (3 lecture,
2 lab hours) G.E. Breadth B1. (Formerly GEOL 8H)
HIST 15H. Trials of the Century (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation
A2. Studies celebrated legal trials from 1896 to 2000 as windows for understanding
larger historic context. Cases address issues such as racial discrimination,
freedom of speech and religion, reproductive rights, consumer protection,
war crimes, treason and capital punishment. G.E. Breadth D1. (Formerly HIST
12H, HIST 20H)
HUM 10H. Introduction to the Humanities of
the Western World (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation
A2 . Accelerated survey of the relationships between the art, literature,
and philosophy of classical antiquity, from classical Greece to the dawn
of the Renaissance. G.E. Breadth C2.
LATIN 1AH. Honors Elementary Latin (3
units)
Not open to students outside the Smittcamp Family Honors College. An
accelerated introduction to the Latin language and its relation to Romance
languages and English, with study of Roman culture and its enduring influence.
G.E. Breadth C2.
MATH 45H. Exploring Mathematics (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Prerequisite: Student must
meet the ELM requirement. Covers topics from the following areas: (1) The
Mathematics of Social Choice; (2) Management Science and Optimization; (3)
The Mathematics of Growth and Symmetry; and (4) Statistics and Probability.
General Education Foundation B4, Quantitative Reasoning.
MUSIC 60H. Music in Social Context (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Exploration of various
settings in which music has been an important indicator of social class
and class values. Emphasis on western classical music and American jazz.
Attendance at 2-3 performances of music required. G.E. Breadth C1.
NSCI 4H. Science and Nonsense: Critical Thinking
and the Philosophy of Science (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Shows the use of language,
rational inquiry, and logic in science, distinguishing science fact from
science fiction. Inductive and deductive methods, judgement, opinion, origins
of knowledge, belief and actions. A critical examination of contemporary
pseudoscientific issues (creation science, UFOs, astrology, etc.) G.E. Foundation
A3.
NUTR 53H. Nutrition and Health: Realities
and Controversies (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Optimal nutrition to reduce
the risk of cancer, heart disease, allergies, hyperactivity, and other diseases.
Social, psychological, and cultural dictates that affect food selection
and health. Personal strategies to develop a nutrition plan for better health.
G.E. Breadth E1.
PHIL 32H. Life, Death, and Afterlife (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Diverse reflections (religious
and philosophical) on the meaning of life, death, and afterlife. The nature
of the soul (e.g. immortal/mortal); connection to body; implications of
an afterlife (if any) for this life; includes Western and non-Western perspectives.
G.E. Breadth E1.
PHIL 35H. Logic for Autonomy and Collaboration
in the Marketplace of Ideas (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Explores techniques for
analysis of reasoning in contexts ranging from interpersonal communication
through scholarly and political discourses. Theoretical grounding for these
techniques, including both central ideas from philosophy of logic and readings
from classical and contemporary sources on freedom of thought, freedom of
conscience, and the autonomy of reason. G.E. Foundation A3.
PLSI 2H. American Government and Institutions
(3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation
A2. Meets the United States Constitution requirement and the federal, California
state, and local government requirement. Development and operation of government
in the United State; study of how ideas, institutions, laws and people have
constructed and maintained a political order in America. G.E. Breadth D2.
PLSI 71H. Introduction to Environmental
Politics (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation
A2. Introduction to study of environmental politics and policy making in
the United States; a brief history of environmentalism; basic principles
in environmental policy making, including policy making for interest groups,
legislatures, and levels of government; and selection of current topics
in environmental issues. G.E. Breadth D3.
PSYCH 62H. Introduction to Social and Cultural
Psychology (3 units)
Open to students in the honors program only. Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation
A2. Interaction between social environments and behavior with an emphasis
on culture and cultural differences. Includes topics such as social influence
and beliefs, conformity, the self, attitude change, group influence, prejudice
and racism, aggression, attraction and intimacy, altruism and helping. G.E.
Breadth D3.
UNIV 50H. Information Literacy in a Digital
Age (3 units)
Open to students in the Smittcamp Family Honors College only. Introduction
to theoretical background of digital and information literacy; conducting
university research ethically with new media such as wikis, blogs, social
networking, and online library databases. Hybrid course delivery.
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