For Members of the La Salle University Honors Program Community
This page offers a glimpse into the vibrant community of learners, both past and present, who are part of La Salle University’s Honors Program. Since its founding in 1963, the Honors Program has served as a national model for honors programs thanks to its focus on fostering growth as a student and individual.
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Students wishing to be admitted to the Honors Program will be notified by a letter roughly 10 days following their acceptance to La Salle University. An application is also available online: http://www.lasalle.edu/honors-program/apply/.
Successful applicants typically have SATs (Math and Critical Reading) near or above the 1200s and class ranks in roughly the top 10%. Nearly all Honors Program students begin the Program as first-year students, but a few enter the Program in the second semester of their freshman year or at the beginning of their sophomore year.
In their first year of the Program, students each semester take three coordinated courses, called "The Triple," in History, Literature, and Philosophy to provide an interdisciplinary experience of the liberal arts from the Greeks to the present. A "Humanities Lab" provides weekly lectures, tours, trips, etc. to locations all across the city of Philadelphia. Past "Labs" have gone to the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eastern State Penitentiary, Mutter Museum, Constitution Center, American Philosophical Society, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Bryn Athyn Cathedral, and the Pennsylvania Ballet.
Upper-level Honors Program courses are small, usually interdisciplinary, seminars, frequently on student-or-faculty suggested topics. Courses range from liberal arts to businesses to sciences. Past courses have included Molecules & History, Catholic University: An Oxymoron, Religion Is..., Tolkien, Politics, and Middle Earth, Medicine and American Culture, Vikings!, and many more.
In total, an honors student must complete 14 Honors courses. After the 6 freshman year and the required religion and ethics courses, four to six additional Honors electives are open to exploring whatever a student is interested in. As a capstone to the Honors experience, each student must also complete a project of his or her own design under the mentoring of a faculty member and an Honors Program faculty coordinator. If an Honors Program student completes a research seminar or internship in his or her major for which a grade is received, then it may be substituted for the Honors Project.
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We invite you to explore our page, learn about the Honors program, and get a feel for our learning community. Feel free to contact us with any questions!
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Director of the Honors Program: Brother Michael J. McGinniss, F.S.C., Ph.D., ’70
Assistant Director of the Honors Program: Jordan Copeland, Ph.D.
Administrative Assistant: Ms. Laura Forchione
The Honors Program is a rigorous four-year experience of taking one's core courses in a challenging and innovative curriculum. Overall, the Program is a coordinated fourteen-course series that replaces the university's normal core curriculum.
