Honors Program

Many students within the Honors Program have the privilege to conduct research with faculty in their respective fields and present their work at regional and national conferences, such as the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR).

All members of the William Peace University Honors Program commit themselves to actively supporting an inclusive, equitable, and thriving campus community, one that appreciates diversity and is grounded in respect. Together, we strive to build a more just and peaceful world. We achieve this through our pursuit of scholarship, our duty as citizens, our compassion as human beings, and our understanding of each other’s diverse perspectives and lived experiences. We recognize that our program, community, and world benefit best from an ethic of appreciating our differences and creating environments of belonging.

• The Honors Program is for you if you have a record of academic success and want to push yourself to grow as a scholar, leader, and critical thinker. It’s interdisciplinary, so it prepares you to address the world’s complexities today.
• You’re not only taking Honors courses that demand critical reflection and more profound study, but you’re also working with faculty on research, as teaching assistants, and on service projects.
• The Honors Program is a place to build community. You study away together, go on retreats together, and have other immersive experiences unique to students in this program.

The William Peace University Honors Program is a 14-credit-hour experience. During the program, students take three, four-credit-hour courses:

HON 100: Investigating Ethical Leadership, which sets the foundation for the program with a focus on ethical leadership, dialogue, and peacebuilding;

HON 200: Critically Thinking About Justice, which focuses on concepts of justice, or the legal, divine, and philosophical theories by which fairness is administered;

HON 300: Exploring Human Connections, which includes critical reflection on culture and community as well as a travel component to further explore these themes.

In addition, Honors students complete a one-hour capstone experience, either HON 493: Engaging in Community or HON 492: Honors Directed Study where they have the opportunity to work with a faculty mentor in their discipline on independent research, serve as a TA, or complete a service-learning experience alongside a faculty mentor.

The final one-credit hour leadership experience is HON 400: Launching Peace Leaders. In this course, students reflect on their leadership development during the program and set goals for the future.

The program is for students who excel academically and have a history of leadership and service. Incoming students will need to submit an application for admission to Peace first. Those awarded our Presidential Scholarship will be invited to apply for the Honors Program. Current Peace students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher and fewer than 46 hours of college credit are also encouraged to apply.