Honors Program at FCLC
The honors program at Fordham College at Lincoln Center is an opportunity for talented and motivated students to explore many areas of learning in a small intellectual community of student scholars and faculty. The program is limited to approximately 18 students in each year and is directed by a faculty member, as well as a faculty adviser who stays with each class through their four years. The honors program gives students a solid grounding in the major academic disciplines, and then prepares the students for independent learning and research, culminating in a senior thesis or project.
Students are selected for invitations to the honors program in the spring before their first year. On rare occasions students are admitted to the program in the middle of their first year or at the beginning of their sophomore year. The honors curriculum replaces the regular Core Curriculum of the college with a series of intensive seminars. A dedicated honors seminar room on the ninth floor of the Lowenstein Center is available for honors classes and other activities. Students enrolled in the honors program gather outside of class for occasional dinners, visits to museums and libraries, and cultural events.
For more information
Visit the Lincoln Center Honors Program web page.
During the first year the honors student takes four honors seminars (two each semester) in philosophy, English, theology, and history. In addition, students take a full year interdisciplinary natural science and math class and workshops in writing and public speaking. Honors students also take a year of a modern or classical language at the intermediate level or higher. (If a student starts a new language in the first year, four semesters will be required.)
In sophomore year honors students have more choice in their schedule. Each semester they take two interrelated honors courses that use the resources of New York City. The other six courses taken in sophomore year are chosen by the student in consultation with the class adviser.
In the junior year, the student’s primary focus is on the major course of study, but students also complete an honors requirement from among the following options, writing a reflection at the conclusion of the experience:
- They may elect to study abroad in a program approved by the Honors Director.
- They may complete a tutorial or research project designed by the student and one or more faculty and approved by the Director
- They may arrange a special internship (e.g., work with an artist, writer, or scientist, with directed academic readings), approved by the Director.
- They may undertake a semester or yearlong community service project, approved by the Director.
In the senior year, honors students will participate with their peers in a senior thesis workshop and in the honors Senior Values seminar. Finally, to receive honors, students are required to publicly present their thesis or the equivalent (i.e., artistic project).
| Year 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| HPLC 1201 | Honors: English | 3 |
| HPLC 1401 | Honors: Theology | 3 |
| HPLC 1603 | Honors: Natural Science I | 4 |
| HPLC 1811 | Honors: Writing Intensive | 2 |
| Modern or classical language | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| HPLC 1001 | Honors Philosophy | 3 |
| HPLC 1801 | Honors: History | 3 |
| HPLC 1604 | Honors: Natural Science II | 4 |
| HPLC 1011 | Honors: Speech and Rhetoric I | 1 |
| Modern or classical language | 3 | |
| Credits | 14 | |
| Year 2 | ||
| Fall | ||
| HPLC 2501 | Honors: Art History at the Museums | 3 |
| HPLC 2803 | Honors: Trends in NYC | 3 |
| Three major or elective courses | 9 to 12 | |
| Credits | 15-18 | |
| Spring | ||
| HPLC 2610 | Globalization: Seminar | 3 |
| HPLC 2811 | Honors Sacred Texts | 3 |
| Three major or elective courses | 9 to 12 | |
| Credits | 15-18 | |
| Year 3 | ||
| Fall | ||
| Individualized plan of study | 16 to 20 | |
| Credits | 16-20 | |
| Spring | ||
| Individualized plan of study | 16 to 20 | |
| Credits | 16-20 | |
| Year 4 | ||
| Fall | ||
| HPLC 4500 | Thesis Workshop | 3 |
| Major, minor, elective courses | 12 to 16 | |
| Credits | 15-19 | |
| Spring | ||
| HPLC 4050 | Honors: Senior Values Seminar | 4 |
| HPLC 0045 | Honors Thesis Completion | 0 |
| Major, minor, elective courses | 12 to 16 | |
| Credits | 16-20 | |
| Total Credits | 122-144 | |
HPLC 0045. Honors Thesis Completion. (0 Credits)
This is a 0-credit administrative course in which all Fordham College at Lincoln Center Honors students enroll in the spring of their senior year, when completing their Honors Thesis requirement. A passing grade indicates successful completion of the Honors Thesis.
HPLC 1001. Honors Philosophy. (3 Credits)
Borrowing the Thomistic idea of philosophy as a perennial discourse, the honors philosophy course encourages seminar participants to cultivate their own intellectual grounds through the study of classic and contemporary philosophical works. Topics may include the nature of philosophical discourse, of consciousness, of knowledge, of existence, and of human nature.
HPLC 1011. Honors: Speech and Rhetoric I. (1 Credit)
1 credit lab session in effective speaking techniques to be combined with the honors core.
HPLC 1201. Honors: English. (3 Credits)
Beginning with the premise that works of literature and criticism constitute an ongoing dialogue that shapes and is shaped by historical, cultural, and aesthetic movements, seminar participants will be encouraged to develop their own voices in that literary dialogue.
Attribute: TC.
HPLC 1401. Honors: Theology. (3 Credits)
Introduces students to the issues and methodologies of theology, providing a foundation for the exploration of religious traditions from various perspectives while focusing on the common and varying approaches of those traditions. Ethical, social, and political impacts of religion, along with major historical figures and periods in the history of religion, will be incorporated.
Attribute: REST.
HPLC 1603. Honors: Natural Science I. (4 Credits)
This course is the first half of a yearlong science honors sequence. In the fall semester, we focus on the interactions of matter and energy. The course begins with a discussion of the advent of modern physics and chemistry during the Enlightenment and moves through thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and the contemporary conception of the four fundamental forces and the standard model of modern physics. The course then covers how energy and matter interacted to generate the universe and our world (cosmology and earth science), and how energy and matter interact in the biosphere (metabolism and ecology). We meet for two and a half hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory work each week.
Attributes: ENST, ENVS, ESNS, ESPS, NEUR.
HPLC 1604. Honors: Natural Science II. (4 Credits)
This course is the sequel to HPLC 1603. Here, we focus on logic and the flow and interpretation of information. The course begins with the analysis of electronic circuitry and moves through how information is processed in artificial systems (computer circuitry and Boolean logic) and organisms (the nervous system and genetics), and how biological information changes over many generations (evolution). We meet for two and a half hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory work each week.
Attributes: ENST, ENVS, ESLS, ESNS, NEUR.
HPLC 1801. Honors: History. (3 Credits)
Study of the Western cultural tradition from the Enlightenment to the Postmodern era by focusing on the quest for modernity. Course work will focus on the philosophical debates, the search for utopia, the role of the avant-garde, and the cultural tensions that make up the Western experience.
HPLC 1811. Honors: Writing Intensive. (2 Credits)
This is a two-credit workshop on writing and research skills, offered in the first semester of the Honors Program.
HPLC 1999. Tutorial. (1 Credit)
Supervised individual project designed by the student in concert with one or more members of the faculty. [Each course must be approved by the Honors Committee.].
HPLC 2501. Honors: Art History at the Museums. (3 Credits)
This course offers an introduction to the study of global art history, approached through the lens of New York’s museums and galleries. We will analyze works from Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe to explore the roles of painting, sculpture, and architecture in the formation and communication of cultural identities. Using the collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other museums throughout the city as primary sources, we will study the role of museums, analyze the form and function of a variety of objects, and consider the roles of patron, artist, and audience. Students will have the opportunity to study major monuments of world art in person and to gain an understanding of artists and the periods in which they worked. In addition, this course aims to develop visual literacy skills, helping students analyze and interpret visual information. Some classes will be held at Fordham, but most classes will be held in museums.
Mutually Exclusive: ARHI 1101.
HPLC 2610. Globalization: Seminar. (3 Credits)
This course will introduce you to a comprehensive set of frameworks for the understanding and analysis of globalization understood as a process of global system formation. It provides you with the ability to survey and understand the wide variety of information regarding the historical development of globalization and prepares the student to assess the possibilities for the global future and its impact on our lives.
Attributes: INST, ISIN.
HPLC 2800. Internship. (2 Credits)
Internship.
HPLC 2803. Honors: Trends in NYC. (3 Credits)
In this course, we will analyze topics illustrating the development over time of New York City's populace, governance, economy, and social and cultural organization.
HPLC 2811. Honors Sacred Texts. (3 Credits)
Through a selection of primary texts from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Talmud, the Qur'an, and early Muslim writings, students will reflect on the social, historical, and theological contexts in which each writing emerged. Primary emphasis will be placed on the similar yet different ways humans construct themselves and their worlds in relation to the sacred.
Attributes: JWST, MEST, REST, STXT, THEO.
HPLC 2999. Tutorial. (2 Credits)
Supervised individual project designed by the student in concert with one or more members of the faculty. Each course must be approved by the Honors Committee.
HPLC 3800. Internship. (3 Credits)
Internship.
HPLC 3999. Tutorial. (3 Credits)
Supervised individual project designed by the student in concert with one or more members of the faculty. [Each course must be approved by the Honors Committee.].
HPLC 4050. Honors: Senior Values Seminar. (4 Credits)
Using a combination of literary, theological, and philosophical texts, this class will explore an ethical issue or issues that are relevant to our contemporary global society. Recent examples include human rights for people with disabilities and the intersection of environmental and social justice. The class will focus on the history and basis for human rights, and in particular the question of whether we can justify the claim that there are universal basic rights: (1) Are universal rights consistent with a wide array of varying cultures and ways of life? (2) Are concepts of rights somehow inherently “western” or ‘individualist,’ or can relativist doubts about human rights be answered? Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attribute: ENGL.
HPLC 4500. Thesis Workshop. (3 Credits)
This course is for seniors in the FCLC Honors program. Participants will workshop thesis drafts and work on presentation skills for both the research showcase and the Honors Program presentation.
HPLC 4800. Internship. (4 Credits)
Combines work with an artist, writer, scientist, or other expert with directed series of academic readings relevant to that experience. (Each course must be approved by the Honors Committee.) Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
HPLC 4888. Honors: Internship. (3 Credits)
Combines work with an artist, writer, scientist, or other expert with directed series of academic readings relevant to that experience. [Each course must be approved by the Honors Committee.] .
HPLC 4999. Honors Tutorial. (4 Credits)
Supervised individual project designed by the student in concert with one or more members of the faculty. [Each course must be approved by the Honors Committee.] .