The Role of Activities in Honors - To Do or Not to Do

Honors students are often identifiable by the range of their interests: music and chemistry, physics and poetry, philosophy and languages, pharmacy and writing – and by their capacity to compact time and space. Some directors are dismayed by these traits, others excited by what it means to work with students so multiply focused and vibrant. This workshop will take up questions about relating “activities” to “curriculum”: cultural exploration, community engagement, travel studies, leadership projects – and where they “fit” with classes. Are these involvements extra-curricular? Co-curricular? Other? Are they debilitating? Liberating? What is the role of an honors director in enabling or orchestrating them? Facilitators will frame the problems, assign questions/issues to working groups, and together consider the options and responsibilities of dealing with multi-talented undergraduates in programs shaped by their creative energy.