Master Honors Course Proposal Form
Please check where appropriate:
Is this a first time submission ( ) or submission to reapprove ( )?
General Instructions: The Honors Advisory Board for the University Honors Program encourages fulltime, tenure-track faculty interested in teaching Honors Courses to submit the following form for an Honors
Course Proposal. Email completed forms along with requested materials (course syllabus and current vita)
as attachments to honors@washburn.edu. If you have any difficulty completing the form or anything is
unclear, contact michael.mcguire@washburn.edu.
SPECIFIC INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR HONORS COURSE PROPOSAL and
BANNER SCHEDULE ENTRY
COURSE NAME
PROFESSOR(S)
Title/Rank
School/Dept.
Has this course been offered as an Honors Course in the past? If so, when was the last time?
Course Description (see page three of this file for sample descriptions, the program’s mission, and NEW
student learning outcomes. Attach a syllabus (even if not final draft) including reading lists to assist
Honors Advisory Board in understanding the nature and requirements for the course.)
Last Updated: January 2014
1
How will course provide an Honors experience for students? (Use additional pages if necessary - referring to
page 3 of this document for the program’s mission, student learning outcomes, and descriptions of Honors
courses may be helpful for completing this section.)
PREREQUISITES AND/OR RESTRICTIONS
NOTES AND/OR COMMENTS
Chair/Dean Signature & Date (email confirmation acceptable):______
_____________________
In addition to the above information, please submit the following to help the Honors Advisory
Board in evaluating your course proposal: current vita, course syllabus (does not have to be
final draft), and, if not noted already, information concerning how course will provide an
Honors experience.
Continued on Next Page
Last Updated: January 2014
2
University Honors Program Mission and Student Learning Outcomes:
The mission of the Honors Program at Washburn University is to provide highly motivated
and academically talented students with enriched educational experiences in and out of the
classroom, enabling and empowering them to realize their full potential as critical thinkers,
informed global citizens, and agents of change. Toward this end, the program provides
curricular and co-curricular experiences supporting, promoting, and rewarding excellence in
academic rigor, research and scholarship, leadership, and service learning.
University Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
For HN200-level courses, syllabi must contain the following two SLOs:


Select, analyze, interpret, and evaluate a range of source materials for assigned project(s).
Evaluate available written and/or visual information, evidence, and argument for
reliability and authority/usefulness (e.g., observation, testimony, measurement,
experiment).
Brief Course Descriptions from Previous Honors Courses
HN 201/202 | Dining Out – History, Literature, and Film: From the eating houses that dished
up hash at mid-day for hungry Irish laborers in the nineteenth century, to the elite French dining
rooms at the turn of the twentieth, to your favorite burrito place today, restaurants have long
joined Americans in shared experience—the act of purchasing and eating a meal—and served as
markers of class, race, ethnic, and gender distinction. This course examines the restaurant in
history, literature, and film to illuminate the American appetite. We’ll also spend some time
considering the restaurant from a broader world perspective. Readings will include menus,
memoirs, novels, cookbooks, restaurant reviews, films, and advertisements. Instructors: Kelly
Erby and Tom Averill
HN 202-D | History of Economic Thought: This course provides Comparative study of the
historical origin, content, and impact of selected schools of economic thought. Emphasis is
placed upon tracing evolution of economic theories out of specific historical contexts. Major
schools of economic thought from the Greeks through Adam Smith to the present will be
covered. Instructor: Jennifer Ball
HN 202 | Exploring Leadership Concepts: This course provides a survey of leadership theories
and introduction to the academic study of leadership using case studies and contexts of the
leadership process; requires identifying personal leadership potential, articulation of a personalized leadership theory, and leadership concepts applied in a Campus Action Project. Instructor:
Michael Gleason
Last Updated: January 2014
3
HN 392-A | Directed Readings: This section of 392 allows for students to develop their own
plan of study supervised by either the Dean of the Honors Program or another faculty member
who has agreed to supervise a student’s independent study.
TH 202 Sections HNA and HNB (Acting 1)1: This class develops the tools used by actors.
Exercises are introduced and practiced which expand vocal, physical, and emotional range or
expressiveness. Improvisations, or spontaneous theatrical play, presents students with acting
challenges, giving them opportunities to exercise this expanded range. Each challenge provides a
particular focus for what are essentially experiments in human behavior. For theatre students,
improvisation greatly enhances an immediate and vital connection to scene work. It provides
tools for communication of text and subtext, creation of character, physical activity and
nonverbal communication. Non-theatre students are given the opportunity, through these
activities, to re-engage their senses, revitalize their bodies, voices, and intuition, and explore the
complex maze of human personality, interaction, and communication in a safe environment.
Instructor: Penny Weiner
If your course is already Gen Ed approved, then we would create a section of “HN” to designate it as honors as
indicated here rather than using one of the HN course prefixes (i.e., HN201, 202, or 203).
1
Last Updated: January 2014
4