George Whitworth Honors
George Whitworth Honors Program Mission Statement
The Whitworth Honors Program challenges talented and motivated scholars to pursue excellence of mind and heart, to cultivate leadership qualities and skills, and to commit to lives of service. The honors program does more than guide scholars to navigate the world as it is; it equips them to solve problems and to develop the world as it should be.
Program Learning Outcomes:
- Explore the liberal arts by means of interdisciplinary courses designed for integration, reflection and application of skills, knowledge and understandings.
- Reflect on how the liberal arts and disciplinary paradigms generate solutions to local and global issues.
- Apply the liberal arts and disciplinary paradigms by independently planning, carrying out, documenting and defending a capstone project within one’s chosen discipline.
- Articulate the benefit of the liberal arts as experienced in the learning opportunities of Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
The Whitworth Honors Program is rooted in the following principles that shape the program and reflect Whitworth’s core values:
- Academic excellence: Requirements for credit granted in honors-program learning experiences will exceed the academic expectations of most Whitworth courses.
- Active and collaborative learning: Learning experiences are characterized by joint intellectual effort among students, or between students and faculty in pursuit of deeper knowledge and understanding. Learning experiences in the honors curriculum are designed to require active participation and a high degree of self-direction from students.
- Christian mission: The honors program includes experiences with a faith-learning integration component.
- Community: Registration for honors program offerings is elective and open to all Whitworth students.
- Educational breadth: Honors graduates must complete academic-enrichment experiences across the curriculum (not just in proximity to their major) and are encouraged to make connections across the disciplines.
- Preparation for vocation: Honors experiences are designed to provide a high level of preparation for post-baccalaureate educational and/or career opportunities.
Enrollment in George Whitworth Honors Program
Incoming first-year students with honors at entrance automatically qualify for the honors program (with 1870 SAT and 3.75 cumulative high school GPA). Honors students must register to be officially enrolled in the program. Students not admitted with honors may seek enrollment as well once they have demonstrated academic strength in Whitworth courses.
Honors Contacts
Director: D. Berton Emerson (English)
Assistant Director: Karen Petersen Finch (Theology)
Faculty Fellows for 2020-21: Thom Caraway (English); Robin Henager (Economics & Business); Katherine Karr-Cornejo (World Languages & Cultures); Elise Leal (History); Aaron Putzke (Biology); Erica Salkin (Communication Studies); Kraig Wheeler (Chemistry); Jason Wollschleger (Sociology)
Program Assistant: Allie Shook-Shoup
Requirements for George Whitworth Honors (18) | ||
|---|---|---|
| GE 126H | Connecting the Disciplines (honors) | 1 |
| HN 300H | Seminar II: Community Project | 1 |
| HN 400H | Whitworth TED | 1 |
| Three credits of "H" designated work in the Belief Inquiry group (Biblical Literature, FRCI or Core) | 3 | |
| Three credits of "H" designated work in the Culture Inquiry Group (Culture and Diversity, Historical Analysis or Literature and Storytelling) | 3 | |
| Three credits of "H" designated work in the Expression Inquiry Group (Fine Arts, Oral Communication, World Languages or Written Communication) | 3 | |
| Three credits of "H" designated work in the Science Inquiry Group (Mathematics and Statistics, Natural Science or Social Science) | 3 | |
| Three credits of upper division (300+) "H" designated work * | 3 | |
| * | These credits are in addition to HN 300H and HN 400H |
To be a George Whitworth Scholar, a student must complete at least 18 credits with a grade of "C" or higher within the Honors program. No more than nine honors credits can be earned within a single department. Honors courses cannot be taken for P/NC. If an Honors course is audited, it will not count toward the Honors requirements.
To graduate as George Whitworth Scholars, students must finish their degrees with a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Students who do not meet these requirements will still be enriched by these experiences, but will not graduate with George Whitworth honors.
Following is a partial list of honors offerings
BI 114H - Resurrection Science. Professor/contact: Aaron Putzke
BI 120H - Introduction to Environmental Science. Professor/contact: Grant Casady
CO 150H - Western Civilization I: Christian Worldview Perspective (Fall and Spring semesters). Professor/contact: Josh Leim
CO 250H - Western Civilization II: The Rationalist Worldview (Fall and Spring semesters). Professor/contact: Leonard Oakland
CO 350H - Western Civilization III: Applied Ethics, Public Policy and Worldviews (Fall and Spring semesters). Professor/contact: Kamesh Sankaran
COM 113H - Honors Interpersonal Communication (Jan Term, even years). Professor/contact: Ronald Pyle
CS 378H - How to Make Darn-Near Anything (Periodic). Professor/contact: Peter Tucker
EDU 201H - Honors Educational Psychology (Spring semesters). Professor/contact: James Uhlenkott
EL 110H - Writing I: Writing in the World. Professor/contact: John Pell
EL 115H - Reading in Action (Fall semesters). Professor/contact: Bert Emerson
EL 211H - Intro to Professional Writing
EL 300H - Domain of the Arts. Professor/contact: Bert Emerson
EL 340H - Writing in Virtual Worlds (Periodic). Professor/contact: Jessica Clements
EL 396H - Whitworth Life: Audio Storytelling (Periodic). Professor/contact: Nicole Sheets
EL 422H – Joyce & Woolf Seminar (Periodic). Professor/contact: Casey Andrews
GE 125H – Freshmen Seminar (Fall semester). Professor/contact: Bert Emerson
HN 200H - Honors Seminar I: Vocation and Excellence (Periodic). Professor/contact: Bert Emerson
HN 300H - Honors Seminar II: Community Project (Periodic). Professor/contact: Ross Watts
HN 400H - Whitworth TED (Fall and Spring semesters). Professor/contact: Bert Emerson
HN 401H - Smithsonian Seminar. Professor/contact: Will Kynes
COM 126H - Writing for Digital Media (Jan Term). Professor/contact: Erica Salkin
KIN 219H – Sport and Film (Jan Term). Professor/contact: Kirk Westre
PH 199H - Philosophy in the Real World. Professor/contact: Josh Orozco
PH 329H - God, Knowledge, and Language (Periodic). Professor/contact: Nate King
PY 499H - Advanced Senior Thesis (Spring semesters). Professor/contact: Alisha Epps
SN 465H - Don Quixote. Professor/contact: Angeles Aller
SO 372H - Sociology of Religion. Professor/contact: Mark Killian
SO 375H - Planned Communities. Professor/contact: Mark Baird
TH 202H - Understanding Pope Francis. Professor/contact: Karen Petersen Finch
TH 359H - Early Christian Sites in Greece. Professor/contact: Jonathan Moo
WL 498H– World Languages & Cultures Capstone (Fall and Spring semesters). Professor/contact: Jennifer Brown