This paper examines the importance of cultivating a sense of vocation in honors education. Through examples of coursework, program initiatives, and advising strategies, authors from across five institutions align the scholarship of vocation with best practices and principles in contemporary honors discourse, defining vocation in the context of…

In spring 2017, Ervin Malakaj (Assistant Professor of German) and Jeffrey L. Littlejohn (Professor of History) led a Difficult Dialogues seminar on #BlackLivesMatter for the Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Honors College. The seminar considered the complex historical, economic, and cultural forces that produced the movement along with the…

Although honors students are highly motivated and intellectually promising, they are not empty cognitive vessels ready to be filled with professorial knowledge. They are, instead, complex, multifaceted young people, sometimes troubled, often delighted and delightful. While at college they are learning how to live their lives not just as…

First-generation students sometimes lack a support network that values higher education. Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA)--a regional, comprehensive university of approximately 13,000 students, located in East Texas--serves a diverse body of students who are nearly 50% first-generation. These students often face financial constraints and…

The presence of honor societies and programs on a university campus is an important component of its reputation for excellence. While we may quibble with the methodologies employed by various rankings, reputation is one of the key drivers of choice when students and their families are making that all-important decision about which university to…

This monograph provides a cross section of policy and practice through the voices and experiences of honors faculty, staff, and students from across the nation. While far from comprehensive, this volume does pick up different strands of thinking on diversity to present a rich and complicated understanding of what diversity is, why it is important,…