Interdisciplinary Honors Program

Kathleen Duffy, SSJ, Ph.D., Professor of Physics, Director 

The Interdisciplinary Honors Program (IDHP) challenges highly qualified students to pursue a creatively different approach to the liberal arts. The program offers seminars that promote liberal education by stressing interconnections among different fields of study and by challenging students and faculty alike to learn and to teach. These seminars are reading- and writing-intensive and emphasize discussion, intellectual independence, and integration of knowledge. Interested students should contact Kathleen Duffy, SSJ, Room 4, St. Joseph Hall. Telephone: 215/248.7197. Email: kduffy@chc.edu.

All Honors seminars are co-taught by faculty members from different disciplines and are conducted primarily by group discussion. To insure fresh and appealing choices for all students in the Program, seminars are rotated on a regular basis, and each Honors seminar is offered for a maximum of three years.

The Interdisciplinary Honors Program consists of 21 credits: the three-credit Writing in the Disciplines (IDHP-200), and three two-semester Honors seminars. Completion of the program fulfills the following elements of the core curriculum: all of the Ways of Knowing courses except the Scientific; the core seminars ILAR-101 and GLST-201; and the Writing Intensive course. For seminars that include a religious studies or scientific component, that seminar may be substituted for one of the two courses required in that area; in this case, an additional Ways of Knowing course is required. An advantage of this program is that a fewer number of credits than usual is required to fulfill the core requirements of the College.

Students not in the Honors Program who would like to take a specific seminar may contact the Director; however, preference is given to students pursuing the complete program.

Sample IDHP program:   

Please note that this is a suggested academic plan only; it is not meant to address each student’s individual requirements or interests. Students will develop a personalized academic plan with a faculty advisor; however, it is the student’s responsibility to be aware of, register for, and successfully complete all of the requirements for graduation in the major.