The Honors Scholars program nurtures a sense of excellence, curiosity, and exploration across disciplinary boundaries within a committed community of student and faculty scholars.

Address compelling questions and be challenged to take risks, supported by a community marked by intellectual humility, curiosity, and wonder.

In your first two years in the Honors Scholars program, you will explore connections between subject areas in interdisciplinary team-taught courses and honors-designated courses that fulfill nearly half of Calvin's core (general education) requirements. In these classes you and your classmates may be asked to think about:

  • How the study of Literature or Art might enhance our understanding of Calvin's commitments to global regions and cultures, diversity and difference, and sustainability.
  • How the study of Rhetoric and the Social Sciences might help us consider challenging issues from a variety of perspectives and communicate effectively across difference.
  • How the study of Theology might prompt us to interrogate what it means to be human and what it means to be loved and called by God.
  • How the study of the Natural Sciences and Philosophy might lead us to think more carefully about evidence, ethics, and our role in promoting the flourishing of God's world.

In your third and fourth years, you will take theme-based upper-level Honors Colloquium (elective) courses and develop the skills of a scholar in your specific discipline while completing an Honors thesis or creative project alongside a faculty mentor.

As an Honors Scholar, you will have the opportunity to:

  • Learn within a committed community of faculty and student scholars
  • Take Honors Core classes, taught by two faculty members, that cross disciplinary boundaries and fulfill Core requirements
  • Participate in upper-level interdisciplinary Honors Colloquium courses with other academically-talented students to augment your major coursework
  • Conduct research in your discipline(s) with a faculty mentor during the preparation of an Honors thesis or project
  • Receive Honors advising (in addition to major advising) to maximize your academic opportunities
  • Apply for student research stipends and research-related travel funds through the Calvin Student Research Fellows program
  • Receive advice and support during the preparation of competitive national scholarship applications (e.g. Fulbright, Goldwater)
  • Earn graduation “with Honors” recognition at graduation and on your official transcript upon successful completion of the Honors Scholars Program requirements

Next steps

Applications for students starting at Calvin in fall 2024 are open!

Express your interest

If you are starting Calvin after 2024, please send us your information and we'll invite you to apply when the application is open to you:

Email cohorts@calvin.edu with questions.