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The Harrison Honors Program

 

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The Donald C. Harrison Honors Program identifies students with intellectual curiosity, immerses them in a supportive learning community, promotes opportunities for rigor and growth, and instills an education that shapes a life.


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History

Learn about the rich history of the Harrison Honors Program.

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About

Learn about the programs and benefits of being an Honors student.

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Staff

Meet the staff who guide the Honors program.

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Requirements

View requirements for admission and acceptance into the program.

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Projects and Sponsors

Most recently completed academic year projects and sponsors.

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Apply

View the application process, and get started today.




From the Director


Welcome to the Harrison Honors Program—a vibrant hub of engaging coursework, rich student life, fellowship, and interdisciplinary studies at Birmingham-Southern College.  From intensive seminars to study abroad, from the first-year Cornerstone sequence to the Honors capstone project, students affiliating with the honors program enjoy the benefits and rigors of a liberal arts education while taking advantage of all the special opportunities our College has to offer.  

To enhance the liberal education at BSC, in 1982, the faculty created the honors program as a way for students to fulfill their general education curriculum requirements in a complimentary manner. Requirements for the original program included Core Seminars and an Independent Project. 

Since 1984, twelve faculty have served as honors directors. 

In 1987, the requirements changed to allow more gen. ed. courses within the program. Many honors courses were interdisciplinary and team-taught. Classes also began to carry the HON prefix. 

In 2008, the BSC Honors Program became the Donald C. Harrison Program in recognition of a generous endowment given by cardiologist and past president of the American Heart Association, Dr. Harrison, a 1954 graduate of the College, and his wife, Laura M. Harrison. Students in the program now carry the designation of Harrison Scholars. 

Today, over seventy students from three continents belong to the Harrison Honors Program (HHP). The resources provided annually through a continuing gift by the Harrison family and support from the College sustains a number of innovative and challenging courses, opportunities for research and study abroad, mentorship, teaching assistantships, and avenues for scholarship and personal growth. For several years, hundreds of freshmen, averaging a 30 ACT and a 4.0 high school GPA, have joined the HHP. Outstanding academic work may be recognized by an invitation to membership in Phi Beta Kappa—the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society. Many honors students have gone into medicine, the law, and graduate school or competed for post-graduate fellowships. Indeed, the HHP has become the flagship program on the Hilltop and, in many ways, the heart of the liberal arts education at Birmingham-Southern. 

Best Regards,

Dr. Mark Rupright, Director




Why Honors?

 

In the honors program, we create a community where motivated students learn and grow together. We provide students the best of both worlds—the personal education afforded by a small liberal arts college together with special scholarships, study abroad opportunities, and a generous stipend to facilitate student research. There are also many intangible benefits that accompany inclusion in the Honors community, such as lifetime friendships that develop in and outside the classroom, personal relationships with professors and mentors, and an open intellectual climate that encourages genuine engagement with many ideas and perspectives.  Membership in the Harrison Honors Program also offers each student an opportunity to be part of a close-knit community by way of informal gatherings, social activities, and cultural and arts events. 



Benefits for Harrison Scholars



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  • A community of bright, curious, conscientious students. 
  • Merit scholarships are applied to tuition (up to $12,000 annually), including the prestigious Harrison Fellows (worth an additional $5,000).
  • Small, innovative seminars developed specifically for the Honors Program.
  • Priority registration.
  • An Honors living and learning community (Hagen Honors Commons).
  • Honors capstone research with a faculty mentor: an independent, interdisciplinary study undertaken during the junior and senior years.
  • Honors research stipends of up to $3,000.
  • Special Honors Lecture & Arts events and colloquium opportunities. 
  • Honors 142/143 (first-year "Cornerstone" seminars).  
  • Honors Excursions (class field trips).
  • Peer-mentor system.
  • Information and advice related to publishing in undergraduate journals, presenting research at the Southern Regional Honors Council Annual Conference, and applying for national fellowships, grants, and scholarships.






Cornerstone



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Keep the Conversation Going 

As part of their liberal education, most honors students at Birmingham-Southern College take a two-semester sequence of seminars called “Cornerstone” (HON 142/143-ES) during their freshman year.  In this first-year cohort experience, we begin the study of our cultural and political heritage by examining texts from the ancient and modern eras.  These key texts, or “classics,” present compelling, if sometimes oppositional, insights into the human condition: the state of being human; a person’s situation in the world; the character of the human soul; one’s relations to others; and, especially, the search for meaning.  The great thinkers of antiquity and modernity have concerned themselves with the elaboration, criticism, and reconciliation of these issues and have taken up the question of how to live one’s life.  The gift of their efforts is an ongoing and open conversation addressing the most important matters for being human and living with purpose and significance.  Both semesters also feature an emphasis on improving writing, honing reading, and discussion habits, and receiving peer mentorship and faculty support.  In the second semester, we continue our exploration and interpretation of these traditions and legacies with a special focus on justice.  Guided by some of the best faculty at the College and careful readings, we attempt to discover and refine our own notions and commitments about justice by sharing them and writing about them.  Many other topics naturally emerge while reflecting on the texts, including virtue, excellence, self and soul, the laws, and the Law.  The reading list varies from year to year and is necessarily selective, but our mission remains the same: the ongoing pursuit of liberal education and great conversations.  Neither of which comes to a close with the final examination.       

Cornerstone is the gateway sequence of the Harrison Honors Program.

Gateway to what?

  • To liberal education generally, the ongoing conversation over books and ideas continues onward in a lifetime of learning. This two-semester sequence helps you sharpen your thinking and develop writing skills while reading great philosophical, literary, religious, and political texts.  Cornerstone is interdisciplinary to the core, taught seminar-style, and driven by student discussion.  You will emerge from it as a better listener, an attentive reader, able to ask a good question, and hopefully more thoughtful—the qualities of an intelligent and sensitive person with skills that transfer to any area of study. 
  • To the honors community, which grows from the friendships and sections of this experience. The student sitting next to you might just become a friend.  You will share hours of challenging, intriguing, and fun discussion, find ways to work together and disagree amicably, and complement each other’s strengths.  You will come to know not only yourself but others, including your professors, gain confidence and take a step up. 
  • To the boundless rewards afforded by interdisciplinary study that honors students enjoy. You may find excitement and a new passion for inquiry in the first year that motivates you to study abroad or connect fields of knowledge while undertaking the Honors Project. 

In sum, Cornerstone is a long conversation and welcome to the world of ideas.    




Staff

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Dr. Mark rupright

Honors Director
Office: Stephens Science Center 122
Email: [email protected]

Rupright currently serves as Director of the Donald C. Harrison Honors Program since 2023 and is an Associate Professor of Physics at Birmingham-Southern.

He completed his Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics, graduating Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He went on to study gravitation theory and computational physics, earning a Ph.D. in physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Rupright's background is thoroughly rooted in Honors education. He was one of the first participants in UT's University Honors Program. He served on the faculty of the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University, where he created the Physics program and helped develop and improve the Honors curriculum. Since arriving at BSC he has served the Harrison Honors Program in a variety of roles, teaching courses, advising Harrison Scholars, mentoring Honors projects, and chairing the Harrison Honors Program committee.




Requirements

The curriculum of the Harrison Honors Program requires five units of Honors seminars and one unit of independent study, the Honors Project. The specific general education requirements met by Honors courses and those met by regular classes will vary from student to student, depending on which Honors courses the student elects to take. A major perk of the Harrison Honors Program is its flexibility. Students may fulfill the Honors curriculum in a variety of ways. Students may take one Honors Exploration Term project and one Teaching Experience in Honors, which may both count toward the five units of Honors seminars.  Students who participate in study abroad programs that include interdisciplinary courses may also request to count one such course per regular term abroad toward their Honors requirements. Harrison Scholars’ remaining general education coursework is completed in the regular curriculum of the College. Students may also enroll in Honors courses offered by the honors programs in the Birmingham Area Consortium of Higher Education (BACHE). The Harrison Honors project is considered a general education course outside the major and its supporting courses, and outside the minor if one has been declared.

Typically, Harrison Scholars complete their Honors seminars by the end of the junior year, submit a proposal for the Honors Project to the Honors Committee during the latter half of the junior year, and execute the Honors Project during the senior year. Students wishing to deviate from this progression of coursework must consult with the director. All Harrison Scholars present the results of their project publicly.

Upon completion of the program, Harrison Scholars should be able to: 

  • Identify and pursue on their own initiative interdisciplinary connections/implications within areas of study;
  • Engage in a scholarly investigation of an interdisciplinary topic;
  • Present a clear thesis and the results of independent research for a general audience. 


First-year students may enroll in 300-level Honors seminars or above only with the consent of the instructor. Many Harrison Honors courses are offered on an alternate-year basis.




Good Standing

Good standing in the Harrison Honors Program is defined as completing sufficient units of Honors courses for your year, including independent study and E-Term, making suitable progress toward the completion of Program requirements, attending the Fall Honors Convocation, and attaining the appropriate number of Lectures & Arts Events credits. We recommend attending five L&A events per year.

Only students in good standing in the Honors Program and with the College are eligible for priority registration. The guidelines for “good standing” are as follows:

First-year students Minimum of 1 HON unit by the completion of 7 regular term units
Sophomores        Minimum of 3 HON units by the completion of 15 regular term units
Juniors Minimum of 4.5 HON units by the completion of 23 regular term units
Seniors

Minimum of 6 HON units by the completion of 30 regular term units


GPA

Students must have a minimum of a 3.50 grade point average to graduate as a Harrison Honors Scholar. To accomplish this goal, Honors students must attain a minimum GPA of 3.20 at the end of the freshman year, a 3.40 at the end of the sophomore year, and a 3.50 by the end of the junior year. During the senior year, students should have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA.

Academic Dismissal/Re-admittance Policy

Academic dismissals will be made after the spring semester. Students dismissed from the Honors Program because of a low GPA may request re-admission if they bring their GPA up to the minimum for their year. For example, a first-year with lower than a 3.20 may pull his/her GPA up through summer school courses and re-enter the Honors Program in the fall. To re-enter in a later year, the student must achieve the minimum GPA for that year. In other words, a freshman dismissed for not having a 3.20 would need to have at least a 3.40 as a sophomore to be readmitted.

Approved students, regardless of class standing, will register first on the scheduled day of upper-class registration.




The Honors Project

The Honors Project (HON 493) is a rewarding capstone experience for students and a gateway to further research and other creative work beyond the undergraduate years. The Honors Project is an independent study tailored to your interdisciplinary interests and may range from a traditional honors thesis to a creative project. Students typically undertake the Honors Project in the spring of junior year or during the senior year. Students who intend to take HON 493 in the fall semester should submit the Honors Project Proposal (available on the HHP Moodle page) to the Honors director and Harrison Honors Committee by April 15. Project proposals for the spring term should be submitted by November 15.

All students working on the Honors Project will be guided by a faculty sponsor. The culmination of your independent study is a presentation of your work in a public venue, at a special Harrison session, or on Honors Day.

Plan to devote a significant portion of time to your Honors Project. It’s not just another research project. The Honors Project adds breadth, depth, and complexity to your scholarly interests and education at Birmingham-Southern.

Some keys to success:

  • Seek and ye shall find. Find and talk with faculty whose scholarship and work interests you and ask them about current research on your topic.
  • The sooner, the better. Students who begin their honors projects and research early do better and accomplish more on the final product. Deadlines for submitting a proposal vary by semester. Generally, most students select their Honors Project topic and choose a faculty sponsor by the end of their junior year, at the latest. Summer and E-term are excellent times to start or continue your research.
  • Do your homework. Attend presentations and public defenses by other honors students and ask questions about their research and writing process. Fellow Honors students also provide good advice about how to plan and schedule for the Honors Project.
  • Understand the stipend proposal. Will your Honors Project require travel to an archive or laboratory or study abroad? The HHP will help you apply for the $3,000 research/travel stipend and coordinate international travel with BSC’s Study Abroad program. Just ask.
  • Be conscientious. Meet regularly with your faculty sponsor throughout the research and writing process, sometimes weekly or bi-weekly, to ensure that you’re staying on track. The semester will be over before you know it.
  • Be curious. The best Honors Projects are ones that derive from your intellectual curiosity and passion.

Looking for more information? Attend an Honors Project Workshop or speak with members of the Harrison Scholars' Council or the honors director. We’re here to demystify the Honors capstone experience.




Guidelines for the Use of the Research Stipend

Harrison Scholars are eligible for up to $3,000 in a one-time research stipend. The stipend may be used in a wide variety of ways, such as:

  • Study abroad, for at least one full term or semester
  • Travel for an independent academic project
  • Support for Honors independent study


To qualify for the stipend, scholars must be in good standing in the program (see above) and with the College, have completed the junior year or have completed 4.5 HON units, and have the consent of the director and Harrison Honors Committee.

All eligible proposals for travel support must be for the purpose of research or for taking academic courses at the travel destination or host university. Support for internships, technology for personal use, and leisure travel are not eligible for funding. Once students have determined how they would like to utilize a stipend, they should submit a stipend proposal and budget to the director who will review the request with the Harrison Honors Committee. Students should complete an itemized budget to help the committee appraise the stipend proposal. (Please contact the program coordinator for a sample budget form). Stipend requests should be submitted 60 days prior to expected expenditure of funds.




Making Things Work

The honors program staff is committed to advising you on how to make things work with your major and honors requirements. You should meet with the honors director at least once a year, and a faculty advisor once a semester, to discuss progress toward completion of the program. The Honors Council provides peer advising and mentoring as well. To make an appointment with the director, please email Dr. Rupright.




Projects and Sponsors

 

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    Class of 2022

    Rachael Brooks, "Murals and Memory: Preservation of the Berlin Wall Through the East Side Gallery."

    Sponsor: Dr. Randy Law

    Major: Biology (UES minor)

    Rachael intends to pursue a Master's in Public Health, focusing on Epidemiology.

     

    Isabella Elortegui, "The 'Father' of Gynecology: The Legacy of Dr. J. Marion Sims"

    Sponsor: Dr. Mark Schantz

    Major: Biology (junior)

    Izzy is a glutton for punishment and took the MCAT after defending her Honors Project. She plans to attend medical school and specialize in Obstetrics.

     

    Abigail Helser, "Pim Stones: Lyricism & Chromesthetics Art."

    Sponsor: Jurgen Tarrasch

    Major: History, Philosophy & Law

    Abbi plans to attend law school next year.

     

    Constance Hodges, " 'Never Ending Circle': An Institutional/Ethnographic Examination of the Department of Human Resources."

    Sponsor: Dr. Katie McIntyre

    Major: Political Science (Human Rights and Conflict Studies minor)

    Constance hopes to study civil rights law.

     

    Maggie Jones, "The Misconception of National Anthems and How They Fail to Represent National Identity."

    Sponsor: Dr. Mark Schantz

    Major: History

    Maggie plans to earn a Master's of Divinity.

     

    Sabel Mattingly, "Baseball Park Culture."

    Sponsor: Dr. Randy Law

    Major: Biology (Art minor)

    Sabel wants to be a physician and is applying for medical school next year.

     

    Allyson Mildenberger, "The Coffee Paradox: A Latte to Think About"

    Sponsor: Dr. Mark Schantz

    Major: Business (junior)

    Ally is this year's unofficial winner of the "Best Title for an Honors Project" Award.

     

    Thornton Muncher, "A Theatrical Bout: Rapier Dueling and Its Use in Theatre."

    Sponsor: Dr. Jessica Hines

    Major: Literature, Religion, and Mythology (Studio Art minor)

    Thornton hopes to pursue a dual Master's degree in Divinity and Education.

     

    Divya Sriram, "The Influence of Hindu Philosophy on End-of-Life Care Among Indian-American Hindus."

    Major: Biology

    After graduation, Divya plans to attend medical school.

     

    Mary Katherine Stewart, "The Effects of Segregation on Modern Day African-American Neighborhoods."

    Sponsor: Dr. Mark Schantz

    Major: Biology

     

    Kaleigh Wilson, "Alternative Fashion in Society"

    Sponsor: Alan Litsey

    Major: Media and Film Studies

    One day, Kaleigh wants to be a film editor.

     

     

     

     

     

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    Class of 2021

    • Isabella Alday, “The Death of Chivalry,” Dr. Jessica Hines, Faculty Sponsor.
    • Kallie Brown, “The Gentrification of Southern Cuisine,” Melinda Thompson, Faculty Sponsor.
    • Savannah Dye, “Safe Haven or Deadly Jail Cell?: Kill and No-Kill Animal Shelters.”
    • Emily Kate Hayes, “Julian of Norwich: Woman, Mystic, and Theologian,” Dr. Jessica Hines, Faculty Sponsor.
    • Sophie Herrington, “Disastrous Displacement: New Orleans after Katrina,” Dr. William Holt, Faculty Sponsor.
    • Sarah Anna McCarthy, “Realism in the Hunger Games,” Dr. Jessica Hines, Faculty Sponsor.
    • Sarah Trammell McCullough, “An Investigation into the McCuiston Family,” G.K. Armstrong, Faculty Sponsor.
    • Rachel McKelvy, “The Genesis of Rosemaling,” Dr. Kathleen Spies and Prof. Jim Neel, Faculty Sponsors.
    • Cynthia Mims, “Meals with the Matriarchy: Food Culture in the American South,” Dr. Will Hustwit, Faculty Sponsor.
    • Alexius Pratt, “Music is the Medicine of the Mind: Effects of Music on Student Test Anxiety,” Dr. Lynne Trench, Faculty Sponsor.
    • Hope Tippett, “The House Makes the South: Houses as Visual Representations of the South,” Prof. Pam Venz, Faculty Sponsor.



Apply

The Harrison Honors Program welcomes applications from students entering Birmingham-Southern as freshmen, students enrolled at the College for one or more semesters, and transfer students. 

To be considered for admission to the Harrison Honors Program, you will need to complete two separate applications: the general application and the Honors Program application. Both applications should be submitted to the Office of Admission.

We review applicants during the Spring and Summer semesters, so get started now.

  1. Apply to BSC and indicate interest in the Harrison Honors Program in your application.
  2. To Apply for the Harrison Honors Program, complete a Harrison application form and include:
    • A succinct thematic essay (500-word limit)
    • Two academic reference forms (preferably from teachers)



Important Admission Dates:

Feb. 1 - Priority Decision

Apply to the Harrison Honors Program by Feb. 1. Applications received after Feb. 1 will be reviewed on a rolling basis.


For more information, please contact Dr. Rupright or the Office of Admissions

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    Calendar

    Oct. 27 - 30

    56th NCHC Annual Conference 

    Dec. 10 - Jan. 2

    Christmas Break 

    March 30 - Apr. 2

    SRHC Annual Conference
    Birmingham, AL 

    May 5

    Honors Day


Questions?

We're available to help with any needs.
Contact Dr. mark rupright, Director of the Harrison Honors Program, at 205-226-4875 or at [email protected]