Many Hampden-Sydney students are fully occupied during their undergraduate years
in meeting the proficiency, distribution, and major requirements
that lead to a degree. Some students, however, seek additional challenges and
opportunities; they desire more intensive experiences in a particular discipline
or in closely related disciplines. One avenue for obtaining such exposure is the
College's Departmental Honors Program.
Some Hampden-Sydney students, including but not limited to the College's honors
scholars, already have experienced the intellectual excitement of investigating
a specialized topic, perhaps through their participation in courses such as the
Introductory Honors seminar. Now as they approach the end of their college
career, they may desire to explore more deeply their chosen academic discipline.
Other students who have not yet gone beyond the bounds of traditional course
work also may wish to carry out a major independent study project before
graduation. Both kinds of students are ideal candidates for departmental honors
in their junior and/or senior years.
Nearly all of the departments at Hampden-Sydney provide junior/senior
departmental honors work. The Honors Council encourages a student interested in
pursuing a significant program of independent study to discuss the possibility
of departmental honors work with a faculty member in the department of his major
or a faculty member with whom the student shares intellectual interests. And if
the student is pursuing a double major, he may devise a cross-disciplinary
Honors project that draws on his work in both disciplines. Faculty members are
urged to encourage promising students to challenge themselves with Honors work
as an important means to further intellectual growth and satisfaction.
