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Curriculum 
Honors College Courses
Rather than having a small number of professors
teach an honors curriculum, as is done at some other
universities, our curriculum is designed so that
professors from across the UAlbany campus teach
honors courses. Consequently, we offer a wide range
of courses from many disciplines. For example,
during the 2006/07 and 2007/08 academic years, 46 professors will offer a course in The Honors
College. This strategy introduces honors students to
top professors from many disciplines, provides them
with the opportunity for learning in areas that are
unfamiliar to them, and allows honors students to
begin to form relationships with professors from
across campus.
Our curriculum has two primary characteristics:
- It is guided by a developmental model that
provides a broad outline of a pathway for the
development of a scholar during her or his four
years at college.
- It combines the educational benefits associated
with many small, liberal-arts colleges and the
educational benefits of attending a large, research
university.
During their first two years, honors students
explore a wide range of disciplines through six or
more honors courses. In addition to increasing their
knowledge in a discipline, these courses introduce
students to ways in which new knowledge is created
in the discipline and encourage students to think
more deeply about the principal issues in the
discipline. The nature of these courses is similar
to what one would expect to find in a small,
prestigious liberal-arts college.
- Only honors students can enroll in honors courses,
so each of them includes only bright, serious
students.
- All honors courses are limited to 25 students, and
many are smaller than this. This allows discussion,
debate, and other forms of active learning to occur
throughout the course.
- Only professors who have a record of excellence in
undergraduate education teach honors courses.
During their second two years, students move into
the honors program in their major. Through the
honors program in their major, each student
identifies one professor as a mentor and then
completes a senior research thesis or creative
project with that professor as an advisor. This
allows students to learn the craft of creating
knowledge in their discipline by participating in
that process with a current scholar.
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