Contact:
Keely, Elise
Program Coordinator, AU Honors
First-year Honors students will take an Honors section (HNRS-200) of a Complex Problems seminar in the fall. In the spring, students will take a 1 credit Experiential Learning course which which includes excursions into D.C. to explore research topics.
The Research Module, Challenge Course, and Capstone are research intensive Honors courses that follow the first year. Scroll down to learn more about our current Honors courses.
To support students in their research, Honors offers funding on an application basis. These funds help support students presenting at conferences and/or to make their research more robust. Refer to the quick links to download the current applications.
Pollution Solutions
Today, contaminants enter our water, air, and land through many routes. In this course, students pursue issues surrounding pollution in the environment, including how and why pollution occurs. The course investigates the sources of various pollutants and the effects of exposure to these contaminants.
Cultures of Corruption
Political and social leaders accuse each other of it and are accused by a media that itself is then condemned for it - but what is "corruption"? This course considers how the mention of corruption has become pervasive, while there seems to be no set definition of when a "favor" become "corruption."
What is Legitimate?
This course helps students understand the social construction of legitimacy as a function of economic and cultural histories. It thus explores how and why different societies have either reached or failed to reach stable equilibria around questions of legitimacy.
Displaced Lives in the DMV
This course approaches cities and transnational migration in the context of the history and culture of the Washington DC region and its immigrant communities. This course will help students gain a holistic understanding of cities and the people who inhabit them.
Reproductive Justice
This course will examine reproductive rights and reproductive justice debates from legal, policy, and ethical perspectives. Particular attention will be paid to intersecting and potentially conflicting rights and responsibilities.
Performing Self, Other, and Society
This course engages principles of theater, performance studies, and critical sociology to examine the stakes and implications of cultural productions of meaningful social difference in the U.S.
Research Module: Learn research methods and prepare for the Challenge Course by forming teams and developing a research question.
Challenge Course: Put into practice your interdisciplinary thinking, collaboration, and research skills during this group research project.
Create a capstone in your major or through Honors. Examples: traditional scholarly thesis, creative work, case study, business plan, media project, etc.