The Honors Program at Asbury University isn’t just about academics; it’s about asking the big questions that shape who you are and who you’re becoming. Here, you’ll wrestle with life’s most meaningful challenges:
Asbury’s Honors Program challenges you to think critically, grow spiritually, and engage the world with wisdom rooted in historic Christianity.
At Asbury, the Honors Program unfolds within a close-knit living and learning community, an environment designed to support both rigorous intellectual exploration and authentic spiritual growth. Here, you’ll be challenged to think deeply about human value, identity, and calling, all anchored in the rich tradition of historic, orthodox Christianity.
The result? You graduate not just with knowledge, but with wisdom and a foundation to lead, serve, and thrive in every area of life.
The Honors Program honors@asbury.edu
Honors program student applications are by invitation only. Completion of the Honors Program requires at least 6 semesters of study. For more information, contact your admissions counselor or email the Asbury Honors Program.
The Honors Experience
The Honors Program aspires to comprehend more fully and accurately the Imago Dei so students may live virtuous lives and serve others more abundantly.
The Asbury University Honors Program invites students to join a community of scholars engaged in a themed enrichment experience, giving focus to the concept of human value and dignity and the virtuous life.
*Credits come from an additional HP core course, an upgraded “honors” version of a course within an HP student’s major, a 1-credit (or experience equivalent) research project / creative product or internship, and a 3-credit study abroad course.
A First-Semester Orientation Program will serve as a community-building mechanism, as well as an introduction to the particular features of Asbury University’s Honors Program (AUHP), the liberal-arts mission of the institution, and to various faculty who will be involved in the program. This orientation program consists of four mandatory meetings during the fall semester of students’ freshman year.
During each of the first four semesters of AUHP participation, students will enroll in one AUHP core course for a minimum of 12 hours of coursework. These courses will be designed intentionally to focus on the program theme, Studies in Virtue and Human Value, and the ethical implications that follow. Courses may be team-taught and interdisciplinary. They will substitute for various required foundational courses according to the content. The AUHP core courses will reflect the breadth of student learning outcomes, as are reflected in the Asbury University Foundations curriculum. AUHP students will have at least three honors program core classes to choose from each semester. While four AUHP core courses are required, AUHP students may opt to take additional core courses if desired, given availability.
Several features of the HP core courses:
Beyond the 12 credits of required courses outlined in Part 2, each Honors Program student will complete 9 hours of academic work either through additional core courses, a study abroad experience, or via a custom-tailored course within their chosen area of study. An honors student, may, in consultation with their major advisor, enroll in an existing 3-credit course within their major but will take it as “honors.” “Honors” means the HP student and professor have agreed to a reasonable additional expectation for the course – reflecting an elevated version of the experience. However, the upgraded version of the course should still be considered a 3-credit experience. Department chairs will decide if proposed amendments to a course satisfy an “honors” version of the course. Some examples might be an additional paper addressing a challenging concept or theoretical perspective in an upper-level psychology or literature elective, or a more complex analysis of data for a science course, culminating in either an additional written product and/or a class presentation addressing this additional work.
HP students may also choose to take part in a 3 credit academic study abroad travel experience. Studies may be selected from a variety of AUHP approved study-abroad trips (each 3-credit hours) typically led by AU faculty. Some possibilities of two-week experiences may include a Germany Holocaust-studies tour, a biogeography of the Galapagos Islands, or a theological study in Rome, Italy. Students may choose to study for an entire semester abroad for example, by participating in a CCCU sponsored program like the Oxford Studies Program. AU and Honors Program staff will work closely with students to choose a study-abroad option that best suits their personal or curricular interests. This trip can serve as the student’s cross-cultural experience requirement.
Asbury University’s Honors Program students will complete a 1 credit hour (or experience equivalent) associated with an undergraduate research project, generation of a creative product, or an expanded version of an internship within their major area of study. For each option, a subsequent presentation is expected. Summative research ideally results in a SEARCH competition submission.
Summative Experience Verification form
The Honors Program Colloquium series will connect Honors Program students (as well as the broader Asbury community) to important national conversations taking place about matters of social, cultural, economic, scientific, and religious importance. HP students will attend a minimum of eight speaker series lectures or presentations while at Asbury. These events must be sponsored by the AUHP itself or approved by the AUHP as acceptable events. (Those sponsored by the AUHP will have a corresponding event reserved for only AUHP students to facilitate extended interaction with the visiting guest speaker.) AUHP students will work with the AUHP staff to track their attendance at these events.
Asbury University Honors Program students will contribute a minimum of eighty hours of service over four years. Students may choose from a variety of service opportunities both on- and off-campus. Hours are served during regular in-session semesters. Upon completion of the service requirement, students will compose a reflection of their personal philosophy of service as it relates to the program’s theme Studies in Virtue and Human Value and design a resume’ of service experience. Ideally, on-campus service is academic in nature through tutoring in the Center for Academic Success or supporting events such as the Honors Program Colloquium Speaker Series and the annual SEARCH symposium competition. Other Asbury community leadership roles may apply. A wide-range of off-campus service opportunities are available and are pre-approved by the program directors.
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