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Honors College requesting seminar proposals for AY '25-'26

Submission Deadline for AY 2025-26 Seminar Proposals is 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025

Are you passionate about a subject you’d like to teach and explore on a deeper level with a small, highly interactive class? Each year, the University Honors College offers at least 24 upper-division seminars for students in their junior and senior years. These seminars – capped at 15 students – are on a wide variety of subjects, are often interdisciplinary, and bring together a diverse group of majors to discuss and problem solve. Honors Mission, Values, and Learning Objectives

All faculty – TT/TN and NTT – are eligible and encouraged to submit a proposal. Many Honors Seminars are experimental classes faculty have not yet had the opportunity to teach; Honors seminars also often become part of the faculty member’s collection of permanent course offerings. Except in rare cases, the college cannot accept proposals for team-taught classes. Faculty are limited to one seminar proposal per year, and the same seminar cannot be taught in consecutive years (although a faculty member may teach different seminars in consecutive years).

Submission Details

Required Materials

  • Seminar description (3 page, double-spaced maximum); proposal should include a statement of your personal pedagogical philosophy of creating an inclusive classroom environment.
  • Sample syllabus that includes a weekly schedule, course readings (and other materials), assessment, student learning objectives, and classroom practices.
  • Class evaluations
    • Instructors who have taught in Honors previously must include class evaluations for those classes or a representative sample.
    • Faculty who have not previously taught an Honors class should include evaluations for similar seminar-style classes.

Please note, submission this year will ONLY be through this form: https://honors.wwu.edu/honors-seminar-proposal-form

The Honors Advisory Board (including both faculty and students) will rank proposals in January and the director will then contact successful applicants and their department chairs to discuss schedules. The Honors College will fund a course buyout for tenured and tenure-track faculty who teach Honors Seminars. Faculty should be sure to let their department chairs know if they are applying to teach an Honors Seminar.

Want to see what previous Honors Seminars have been like?

2024-25: Current Honors Seminars

2017-24: Honors Seminar Archive

QUESTIONS? E-mail or phone Honors College Director Kimberly Lynn at Kimberly.Lynn@wwu.edu or (360) 650-4869.