Programs

In addition to their enrollment in Kilachand Honors College, students pursue a major in one of Boston University’s eight degree-granting undergraduate schools or colleges. Only courses with a grade of C or higher will count towards completion of Kilachand Honors College requirements. All components of the curriculum must be completed for students to graduate with Kilachand Honors College designation. The Kilachand Honors College curriculum consists of seven 4-credit courses and two 2-credit courses in conjunction with a co-curricular component. The 32 credits of required coursework are to be completed over the course of four years, and the six required components of the program must be completed in the following sequence:

Freshman Year: Seminars

During the first year, students take two seminars that introduce them to research, creation, and discovery through an intensive look at an example of current work in a specific discipline. Seminars give students the chance to explore important contemporary themes and problems in different fields. (Required Fall and Spring Semesters)

Freshman Year: Studios

Studios are designed to help students acquire the skills that creative activity demands—the ability to write lucidly, argue effectively, speak clearly, reason quantitatively, locate and assess the reliability of sources, and conduct research ethically. Studios complement the other elements of the Kilachand Honors College curriculum by providing first-year students with a structured, curricular setting in which they can develop their abilities in writing, communication, and mathematics as well as their understanding of research methods and ethics. (Required Fall and Spring Semesters)

Sophomore Year: The Disciplined Mind

This year-long course attempts to bridge the gap between the arts, sciences, and professions, and between “pure” and “applied” knowledge by examining the differences and commonalities of different forms of knowledge. Consisting of six major units drawn from diverse fields, students focus on how practitioners approach specific problems in their areas of study. This exploration provides a basis for confronting the general questions: What do we know? How do we know it? What does knowledge mean? and thereby deepening our grasp of various forms of inquiry. (Required Fall and Spring Semesters)

Junior Year: The Process of Discovery

In the third year, students engage in research, invention, and creative activity in their major discipline by developing and defending a research proposal for their senior keystone project. This one-semester course explores the structure of the discovery process, focusing on how researchers embed imaginative questions in viable research projects and balance creative ambition with intellectual modesty. The course is designed to guide students through the challenge of designing their senior research projects through common readings of field-changing research across disciplines, individual and group project analysis, and intensive writing exercises. Together with KHC faculty and a faculty mentor of their own choosing, students will learn how to capture the explanatory power of an imaginative leap in clear language accessible to anyone outside their chosen discipline. (Required either semester)

Senior Year: Keystone

During the fourth year, students complete their keystone project, an example of creative activity in their major discipline. Students work on their project with a faculty mentor at their home school or college while they continue to develop and communicate their work with peers in Kilachand Honors College seminars. Students will plan a conference or series of workshops in which they present their keystone projects to students and faculty before graduation. (Required Fall and Spring Semesters)

Co-Curricular Component

Co-curricular outings are designed to allow Kilachand Honors College students to interact with committed, stimulating, and accomplished faculty and thinkers inside and outside of Boston University. The activities include performances, readings, lectures, and site visits and spotlight the back story of artistic, technological, and political activity in metropolitan Boston. (Required Fall and Spring Semesters, four years)