About the Honors College

Contact Information
Office of the Dean:
212 M.D. Anderson Library
713-743-9010

Dean: William Monroe, Ph.D., University of Chicago

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Research: Stuart Long, Ph.D., Harvard University

Assistant Dean for Student Programs: Jodie Köszegi, J.D., University of Houston

Interim Assistant Dean for Academic Programs: Christine LeVeaux-Haley, Ph.D., Louisiana State University

Honors College Faculty: Richard Armstrong, Jeremy Bailey, Susan Collins, Orson Cook (Visiting), Robert Cremins (Adjunct), Steven DiMattei (Visiting), Ted L. Estess, Jamie Ferguson, Cynthia Freeland, Everette Gardner, John Harvey (Adjunct), Andy Little (Adjunct), Stuart Long, Gabriela Maya (Adjunct), Kimberly Meyer (Adjunct), William Monroe, Iain Morrisson, Anna Newman (Instructional), Matthew Nicol, David Shattuck, Tamler Sommers, Helen Valier (Instructional), Robert Zaretsky

Originally created in 1959, the University Honors Program became The Honors College at the University of Houston in 1993. Created to serve the intellectual needs of gifted students in over 100 fields of study, the Honors College provides the careful guidance, flexibility, and personal instruction that nurture individual excellence.

Benefits of Honors College membership include priority enrollment (registration) for courses, competitive scholarships, special academic advising by faculty, opportunities for individual study, and the chance to live in the Honors residence halls.

The curriculum of the Honors College is both flexible and varied. The College draws on the talents of the finest faculty members across the university to teach smaller honors sections of courses in various disciplines. These courses take the place of regular required courses and fulfill the university's baccalaureate degree requirements. One key sequence of courses, "The Human Situation," is team-taught by the core Honors faculty and designed to ensure that Honors students are introduced to the philosophical, literary, and historical foundations of Western civilization, from classical Greece to modern America.

Students make significant contributions to the life of the Honors College. The Student Governing Board conducts evaluations of all honors courses each semester and maintains the results in the Honors College for students to consult when selecting courses and instructors. In addition to their participation in the College's academic affairs, students help plan and attend special events throughout the school year. Designed especially for beginning students, the fall Honors Retreat is the first event of each academic year.

Students new to the College join upper-level advisors and Honors faculty at a wooded retreat center for two days of recreation and interaction. Other extracurricular activities supported by the College during the year include productions by the Houston Grand Opera, performances by the Houston Symphony, plays at the renowned Alley Theatre and Stages Repertory Theatre, parties in the Honors Commons and at the university swimming pool, recitals, dramatic readings, and lectures by resident and visiting scholars.

Catalog Publish Date: August 22, 2012
This Page Last Updated: June 26, 2011