Hutton Honors College: Fostering Academic Excellence at Indiana University Bloomington

Introduction

The Hutton Honors College (HHC) at Indiana University Bloomington stands as a beacon for high-achieving students. Founded in 1966 as the University Honors Division, it was later renamed in honor of IU alumnus Edward L. Hutton in the fall of 2004. The college's mission is to cultivate an intellectually stimulating environment for students across disciplines. This is achieved through various avenues, including research, creative projects, seminars, extracurricular activities, rigorous academics, study abroad programs, and internships.

History and Evolution

The University Honors Division was established in 1966, with Warner Chapman serving as its first director. Initially, it operated as a unit within the Office for Undergraduate Development. Within a few years, the Honors Division began reporting directly to the chancellor of the campus, signifying its growing importance.

Key milestones:

1984-85: Julia Conaway Bondanella served as acting director of the University Honors Division.
Fall 1985: James S. Ackerman became director of the University Honors Division.
Spring 1986: The University Honors Division moved into Haskett House.
Spring 1993: The University Honors Division expanded its office space to include Moody House.
August 1993: James Ackerman retired; Lewis H. Late Fall 2004: The Honors College is named the Hutton Honors College, in honor of IU alumnus, business leader, and philanthropist Edward L.
January 2008: The Hutton Honors College building opened, a 15,000-square-foot facility made possible by Edward L.'s generosity.

Academics at the Hutton Honors College

The Hutton Honors College provides a variety of honors experiences for qualified students. In addition to special sections of traditional departmental courses, the HHC offers its own innovative seminar experiences. Specially chosen honors advisors assist students with course planning and help incorporate honors opportunities into advisees’ undergraduate experiences.

Honors Seminars and Courses

Honors seminars provide a small-class experience in which students and faculty members explore how scholars and practitioners frame questions, use strategies and methods to uncover answers, and assess the validity of competing approaches. More advanced seminars offer opportunities for study and research on specialized topics. Many departments reserve special sections or seminars for Hutton Honors College students and for other students with superior scholastic records.

Examples of Honors Courses:

Principles of Chemistry and Biochemistry I, Honors (CHEM-S 117)
Introduction to Microeconomics and Macroeconomics: Honors (ECON-S 201-S 202)
General Psychology, Honors (PSY-P 106)

Honors Tutorials

Honors tutorials are programs of directed reading and research arranged individually. Students who wish to engage in intensive study growing out of an undergraduate seminar or to pursue a clearly defined research interest may enroll in HON-H 299 for 1-3 credit hours under the direction of a faculty sponsor.

Read also: Applying to Hutton Honors College

Course Descriptions for Hutton Honors College Courses (HON)

HON-H 200 Interdepartmental Colloquia (1-3 cr.): Topics will vary. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 211 Ideas and Experience I (3 cr.): Honors seminar focused on the intellectual heritage of the West. Acquaints students with great works from different historical periods, cultural settings, and disciplines. Selected works by writers such as Homer, Plato, Virgil, Augustine, Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Descartes, Voltaire, and Galileo will be read.
HON-H 212 Ideas and Experience II (3 cr.): Honors seminar focused on the sources of modern thinking in the works of authors such as Rousseau, Kant, Goethe, Wordsworth, Stendhal, Darwin, Marx, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, Freud, Weber, Veblen, Einstein, Kafka, Sartre, and Camus.
HON-H 213 Madness and Melancholy (3 cr.): Includes some contemporary discussions of how depression and other mental disorders are treated and defined; the majority of the reading consists of literary, medical, and philosophical accounts of madness and melancholy written from the classical period to the early seventeenth century.
HON-H 226 Interdepartmental Colloquia (3 cr.): Honors seminar focusing on topics in arts and humanities.
HON-H 228 Interdepartmental Colloquia (3 cr.): Honors seminar focusing on topics in social and historical studies.
HON-H 230 Interdepartmental Colloquia (3 cr.): Honors seminar focusing on topics in natural and mathematical sciences.
HON-H 232 Meaningful Writing (3 cr.): Classic works of prose and poetry are analyzed to improve students' own writing skills. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 233 Great Authors, Composers, and Artists (3 cr.): This course examines classic works of literature, particularly from the English and/or American literary canon, and/or classic works of music and art. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 234 Literature of Time and Place (3 cr.): Focuses on works of fiction and/or nonfiction that are distinctive of a particular time period, memorable event or occurrence, or location. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 235 Religion in Literature, Music, Art, and Performance (3 cr.): This course examines the origins, varieties, and meanings of religion and of sacred texts in poetry and prose, in music, in visual art and design, and in dramatic performances. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 236 Use of Force (3 cr.): Considers coercion as a tool in the international arena, with particular attention to the use of military force. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 237 Law and Society (3 cr.): This course considers law beyond the ordinary bounds of the courtroom and lawmaker's chamber. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 238 Politics and Communication (3 cr.): Examines communication as a vehicle for conveying political opinion, for forging political identities, for testing political and public ideas, and for understanding how political actors differentiate themselves in the public arena. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 239 Gender across the Disciplines (3 cr.): This course focuses on representations of gender in the interface across multiple disciplines, such as in the boundary between art and biology or between literature and psychology. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 240 Science and Society (3 cr.): This course considers not only how science affects societal forms and functions but also how society affects the scientific enterprise. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 241 Scientific Uncertainty and Discovery (3 cr.): Uses the scientific method for asking and answering questions about scientific phenomena and scientific uncertainty. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 242 Animal Ethics (3 cr.): Examines our relationships and interactions with, and the uses and treatment of animals by integrating literary texts with provocative essays by various philosophers.
HON-H 299 Honors Tutorial (1-3 cr.): Open to Hutton Honors College students who wish to pursue independent reading or individual or group research outside of existing departments or departmental courses. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 300 Interdepartmental Colloquium (1-3 cr.): May be repeated with different topics up to a maximum of 9 credit hours.
HON-H 303 Interdepartmental Colloquia (3 cr.): Honors seminar focusing on topics in arts and humanities. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 304 Interdepartmental Colloquia (3 cr.): Honors seminar focusing on topics in social and historical studies. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 305 Interdepartmental Colloquia (3 cr.): Honors seminar focusing on topics in natural and mathematical sciences. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
HON-H 400 Interdepartmental Colloquium (1-3 cr.): May be repeated with different topics up to a maximum of 9 credit hours.
HON-H 488 C.I.C. Traveling Scholar Program (0 cr.): Students from other Committee on Institutional Cooperation (C.I.C.) institutions participating in the C.I.C. Traveling Scholar Program for Honors Undergraduates must enroll in this noncredit course in order to register for other classes at Indiana University Bloomington.

General Honors Notation

Students in the Hutton Honors College are not required to enroll in specific courses, although those matriculating in the Fall Semester of 2010 and thereafter must complete at least two approved honors courses by the end of their sixth semester. In addition to the two required courses, students have the option of earning a General Honors Notation through the Hutton Honors College and/or an honors degree through their major department or school. Hutton Honors College students may pursue departmental honors programs in the College of Arts and Sciences; they may also, if they choose, earn a General Honors Notation on their official transcript and diploma.

Edward L. Hutton International Experiences Program (HIEP)

The Edward L. Hutton International Experiences Program (HIEP) furthers Mr. Hutton's goal of expanding access to international opportunities for IUB students. Since its creation in 2000, the HIEP has provided thousands of IU students with funding for international experiences through the HIEP Grant. The primary purpose of the HIEP Grant is to provide funding for high-achieving students seeking a variety of educational opportunities abroad.

HIEP Grant

With combined endowments of nearly $11,000,000 to date, the HIEP Grant is the largest financial resource available to IUB students pursuing overseas experiences. The staff of the HIEP also serve as a resource for students, providing information about the benefits of an international experience, specific program opportunities abroad, and other sources of funding for study abroad.

Hutton Honors Study Abroad Initiative

In recent years, the HIEP has expanded beyond the grant program in order to offer other international education opportunities to IUB students. Recognizing a call for study abroad programs designed with HHC and other high-achieving students in mind, the Hutton Honors Study Abroad initiative was begun in 2016 to develop education abroad opportunities in an honors seminar-style format. The HIEP provided International Course Development Grants to faculty from across the IUB campus to develop program proposals and work in partnership with the HHC to plan and administer the programs abroad.

International Programming on Campus

Keeping in mind Mr. Hutton's vision of expanding international opportunities for all IUB students, while also recognizing that not all students may be able to travel abroad as undergraduates, the HIEP has recently sought to provide more international programming on campus, including culture nights, film screenings, and the promotion of world language study at IUB.

Honors Residential Communities

Honors Residential Communities are academically oriented living environments. Students can take selected honors seminars at the residence center.

Admission and Membership

Most students apply to the Hutton Honors College at the same time as they apply to IU; a small number are admitted at the end of their first year on campus. Successful applicants will have excellent academic records and be able to demonstrate a strong commitment to or interest in inter- and multi-disciplinary education. First-year members can apply to live in a Honors Residential Community and all members have designated Honors advisors, as well as access to study-abroad opportunities and special extracurricular programming.

Honors and Distinctions within the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences recognizes outstanding academic performance with honors such as the Executive Dean's List, degrees with distinction, and more.

Departmental Honors Programs

Most College departments offer honors programs that allow students to pursue independent study and research during their junior and senior years. Students typically apply for admission to an honors program during the second semester of their sophomore year or first semester of their junior year. To be admitted to an honors program, you must have a minimum GPA of 3.3 in the College as well as the approval of your department's chairperson or honors committee. You must maintain this minimum GPA to graduate with honors.

Executive Dean's List

Each semester the College publishes the Executive Dean's List to recognize students who have demonstrated academic excellence.

Degrees with Distinction

The College recognizes outstanding academic performance by awarding bachelor’s degrees with three levels of distinction: distinction, high distinction, and highest distinction. The minimum GPA to qualify for each level of distinction is determined each academic year. You must have a minimum of 60 graded credit hours at IU to be considered for a degree with distinction.

Phi Beta Kappa

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most prestigious national academic honor society in the United States. Election to Phi Beta Kappa is the highest honor that can be conferred on an undergraduate in the liberal arts and sciences. IU's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Gamma of Indiana, was established in 1911.

Facilities

The Hutton Honors College building, opened in January 2008, provides a dedicated space for honors students to study, collaborate, and engage in extracurricular activities.

Student Life

Hutton Honors College students have access to a variety of extracurricular activities and student organizations, fostering a vibrant and engaging community.

tags: #Hutton #Honors #College #Indiana #University #overview