Eligibility

The Nisbet Honors Program offers academically gifted students the challenge and the community where they may grow to their full potential. Honors students can pursue independent research with faculty mentors, take honors courses with other academically gifted students, learn from nationally known visiting scholars, be eligible for more scholarship aid for Converse study-travel than non-honors students, meet socially to discuss intellectually challenging topics, and even participate in a selective honors study abroad program at the University of Glasgow through Converse's membership in the Principia Consortium.

To be eligible for admission to the Nisbet Honors Program, students must complete an application to Converse and be accepted. Admission to the program is competitive, and a select number of entering freshmen are invited into the program based on their outstanding high school performance and their potential for success in college.

Students who do well once they have begun their studies at Converse also are considered for the program; freshmen and sophomores must earn at least a 3.5 GPA after taking 12 hours at Converse to be invited to apply.

Requirements

To complete the Nisbet Honors Program and be recognized at graduation, students must perform well in academic courses after entering the Honors Program. To remain in the program, you should maintain a GPA above 3.0 or receive grades of B- or better in honors courses.

Converse II students who do well once they have begun their studies at Converse are considered for admittance to the Honors Program; students must earn at least a 3.5 GPA after taking 12 hours at Converse to be invited to apply. Once a Converse II student enrolls, she is required to complete an application, request a letter of recommendation from a full-time professor at Converse, and submit a graded sample of 2-3 pages of her writing. If her application is accepted, she may immediately begin participating in honors extracurricular activities and may take honors courses starting the next term. Converse II students who apply need to recognize that Honors Program courses are not offered in the evenings.

One of the most distinctive features of the Nisbet Honors Program is its emphasis on interdisciplinary learning. All participants take at least one interdisciplinary honors course, which is team-taught by two professors from different fields. These courses can be applied to satisfy General Education Program (GEP) requirements. There is no limit in how many courses you can take, though you have to complete five courses to complete the program. Most honors courses are limited to students in the program, due to high demand and limited spaces in honors courses. Occasionally, with the instructor’s permission, non-honors students with a strong GPA enroll in an honors course that has enough space.

Students must take honors courses in several departments with a variety of professors, including the following

Freshman Honors Seminars, a course for first-year students, is typically offered in the fall of their freshman year. Students invited into the program directly from high school begin their honors courses with a freshman honors seminar. These courses count toward students’ General Education Program course requirements. Students may replace this course with another honors course if they enter after their freshman fall.

Honors Sections of Ideas and Culture, a year-long humanities sequence (IDC 150 and 151). Students may opt for one or both courses.

Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars involves two professors from different fields team-teaching courses. Examples of Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars include “The Sixties in Music and Historical Memory,” “Philosophy of Religion,” "The New South in History and Literature,” “Music and Poetry,” “Money and Movies,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and “Science Theatre: The Case of the Heywood Brothers.” These dual field courses give each student the opportunity to satisfy her honors requirements and sometimes a major requirement.

Junior Honors Seminar is a one-credit course designed to help students prepare for life after Converse. Students can learn about graduate school scholarships, draft a personal statement for grad school applications, find out about undergraduate research opportunities, revise resumes, discuss family and career challenges, and explore the meaning of the liberal arts before and after graduation. Priority for this course is given to juniors and seniors.

Honors Directed Independent Studies are one-term independent research or creative project courses that one or two students, in conjunction with a faculty mentor, design and take. Frequently, students taking such courses seek to present their work at conferences or in publications.

Upper-level Honors Courses allow a student to explore less common topics to fulfill major requirements or to explore an area that interests her. Typical courses include “From Colonial Goodwives to Martha Stewart: Domestic Advice and Experience in America,” “Intelligence and the Brain,” and “Women in Africa and Asia.”

Senior Honors Thesis is an intensive research project, creative project, or musical performance beginning during a student’s junior year, and culminating in a public presentation to the college and Upstate community late in her senior year. In consultation with a faculty mentor, the student designs the project, helps select an advisory committee of faculty, and researches and creates the final work. Research and creative projects often approach a question from an interdisciplinary angle. Highly qualified and motivated students are permitted to do an honors thesis.

To complete her last two required honors courses, a student may either do the Senior Honors Thesis (which counts for two courses) or take two additional honors courses. One of those courses may be an honors directed independent study. Generally a student may not take more than one honors directed independent study.