There are two paths for earning an honors degree at Western Oregon University: the four-year Honors Program and the two-year Honors Associate Program. In general, the four-year program is designed for students entering WOU as freshmen; the two-year program is designed for transfer students or for WOU students who apply late to Honors, often after their freshmen or sophomore years.
Four-year Honors Program
Honors students admitted as freshman participate in a general education program, which completely substitutes for the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum (LACC) that is required of all non-Honors students at WOU. These first-year courses are kept small (maximum size 25) to create an optimal environment for discussion and learning.
Honors courses are designed to confront students with problems, concepts, and perspectives transcending the confines of any single discipline. During the first two years, students of the program become acquainted with major philosophic, literary, artistic, and scientific traditions. In later years, they pursue advanced study in their non-Honors majors and minors while completing an Honors thesis or senior project.
While a cohort structure is maintained in order to foster a sense of community, students from different classes are welcome to take classes out of sequence when desired or necessary (often due to scheduling conflicts).
Four-year Honors Curriculum
First and Second Years
- Creative Arts (3 of 4 offered courses; 9 total credit hours)
- Literature (2 of 3 offered courses; 8 total credit hours)
- Philosophy (2 or 3 of 3 offered courses; 6-9 credit hours required)
- Rhetoric (0-2 of 2 offered courses; 0-7 credit hours required; one rhetoric course can substitute for the third philosophy course)
- Social Science Sequence (2 of 2 offered courses; 8 credit hours required)
- Social Sciene Elective (1 course in non-honors curriculum)
- General Science (3 of 3 offered courses, with labs; 15 credit hours required; science majors take non-honors courses to satisfy this requirement)
Third Year
- Honors Seminar (3-4 credit hours)
- Thesis Development Seminar (1 credit hour)
- Thesis Research (ongoing)
Fourth Year
- Senior Thesis or Project (3 credit hours)
- Thesis Writing and Presentation (ongoing)
Four-year Program credit total: 59-61 hours
Two-year Honors Associate Program
The Honors Associate program was designed for those who apply to the Honors program after having already completed most of their Liberal Arts Core Curriculum (LACC) requirements at WOU or elsewhere.
In general, Honors Associates begin the honors curriculum at the beginning of the junior year and complete 10-12 hours in addition to their academic major and minor. Their schedules below parallel the third and fourth years in the Honors Curriculum; however, Honors Associates take two Honors seminars (students in the four-year program may also take two but are only required to take one).
Honors Associates who have not completed their LACC here at Western are most likely to enter the program with a Block Transfer from an Oregon Community College, but there is considerable flexibility in working out appropriate programs for transfer students from other Honors programs or for students who still need a few courses to complete their LACC requirements.
Two-year Associates Curriculum
First Year (usually during Junior year)
- Honors Seminar (3-4 credit hours)
- Honors Elective (3-4 credit hours)
- Thesis Development Seminar (1 credit hour)
- Thesis Research (ongoing)
Second Year (usually during Senior year)
- Senior Thesis or Project (3 credit hours)
- Thesis Writing and Presentation (ongoing)
- Honors Seminar (3-4 credit hours)
Two-year Honors Associate credit total: 13-16 hours
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