Robert Donald Clark Honors College

http://honors.uoregon.edu

Karen Ford, Interim Dean
541-346-5414
541-346-0125 fax
Chapman Hall
1293 University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon 97403-1293
info@uoregon.College

The Robert Donald Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon is a competitively enrolled, small liberal arts college of approximately 800 students. Its classes—limited to 19 students—and four-year curriculum feature close interaction between students and faculty members. The Clark Honors College emphasizes creativity, interdisciplinary scholarship, and independent research.

The college's curriculum—lower-division courses, upper-division colloquia, and thesis courses—integrate the humanities, social sciences, and sciences and feature the study of cultures and issues from around the globe. Honors college courses are taught by its core faculty members as well as by specially selected affiliated faculty members from other campus schools and programs. The college's curriculum replaces the general-education requirements mandated for all university students.

Each honors college student selects a major from the academic departments or professional schools of the university. Twenty-one percent of honors students have more than one major. Every school and department at the university, from architecture and music to biology and business, enrolls Clark Honors College students pursuing majors in those fields. Because the Clark Honors College curriculum is an honors track specifically for general-education requirements, many students choose to pursue honors within their major departments as well. These “disciplinary honors” complement the general-education honors offered through the Clark Honors College.

The student’s undergraduate education at the honors college culminates in the thesis, a required advanced research project completed in his or her major field, designed to help students achieve future success in graduate school, postgraduation careers, and civic commitments. The thesis embodies the defining characteristics of a Clark Honors College education:

• intellectual discipline
• independent research
• capacity to design and execute a complex project
• ability to focus and pursue a subject in depth
• skills of analysis, synthesis, and clear writing

The thesis is the culmination of work in a major—a natural outgrowth from and expression of the ideas, problems, and approaches taught in that discipline. It creatively applies the methods of the discipline and tests their power and limits. It reflects discussion, common work, and apprenticeship with faculty members in their specialized fields of interest.

Honors college students pay honors college tuition, established yearly by the University of Oregon Board of Trustees. Complete tuition information is available on the honors college website. The honors college awards need-based tuition-remission scholarships based on the expected family contribution listed on a student’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Honors college students pay honors college tuition, known as differential tuition, established yearly by the University of Oregon Board of Trustees. Complete tuition information is available on the honors college website. The honors college awards need-based tuition-remission scholarships based on the expected family contribution listed on a student’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Scholarships covering the cost of differential tuition are offered through the Office of Admissions and the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships based on demonstrated financial need as determined by the FAFSA.

Facilities

The honors college is located in historic Chapman Hall on the west side of the University of Oregon campus, close to Knight Library. Chapman Hall reopened in 2018 following a complete interior renovation. The building provides classrooms, student common areas, and a library.

The honors college academic residential communities (ARC) are located on the east side of campus in the Global Scholars Hall and the adjacent, recently renovated Bean Hall. The ARC offer academic and social programming and access to campus resources that support undergraduate research. Each residential hall is led by a residence assistant who is also a Clark Honors College student.

Programs

Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program

Each term, Clark Honors College offers, exclusively for its students, one or two course sections of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, bringing together honors students and incarcerated men and women to study as peers in a seminar behind prison walls. The course meets once a week in Salem, Oregon (the state capitol), at a major correctional institution. Each class includes as many as 13 “outside” (Clark Honors College) students and the same number of “inside” (incarcerated) students.

Oregon Health and Science University Internships

Each year Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), a leading, nationally ranked medical teaching school, hosts an internship program in its Department of Cell, Developmental, and Cancer Biology. A partnership between the Clark Honors College and OHSU reserves two intern spots exclusively for CHC students. This partnership provides an invaluable firsthand learning experience for undergraduate students considering a medical career.

Speech, Debate, and Mock Trial

In 2016, the Mock Trial team placed 19th in the country among 48 invited teams at the American Mock Trial Association's National Championship Tournament. The speech and debate team regularly competes at the highest collegiate levels nationally, and in 2016 placed first in national competition after 17 consecutive undefeated rounds. These programs provide students with the opportunity to translate what they learn in the classroom into a different context and force students to carefully and deeply consider different points of view on often sensitive social and political topics.

3 + 3 Program

The 3 + 3 Program enables highly talented and motivated honors college students interested in a legal career to complete both a bachelor’s degree and a doctor of jurisprudence at the University of Oregon in six years rather than the usual seven. All honors college students who meet the minimum requirements are guaranteed admission to the UO School of Law. Advantages of the program include

• saving a year’s tuition and living expenses associated with undergraduate education
• getting an early start on establishing a professional career
• avoiding the time, effort, and expense of applying to multiple law schools

Entering the Clark Honors College

Clark Honors College seeks high-achieving, academically motivated students who will bring their own unique and diverse contributions to the student body. The admissions committee looks for evidence of academic scholarship, motivation, and creative critical thinking.

Application Procedure

General university application procedures, prerequisites, and requirements apply. Applicants to Clark Honors College may complete the UO’s online application to apply to both the honors college and the University of Oregon at the same time. Students applying via the Common Application may also apply to the honors college by completing the “Honors College” section of the University of Oregon application within the Common Application.

Students with an excellent academic record who have attended another higher-education institution, or who are enrolled in the university but not in the honors college, may apply for admission by submitting a Clark Honors College supplemental PDF application by January 15 for fall term admission. Students interested in winter term admission should contact the Clark Honors College Office of Admissions directly. Winter term admission is on a space-available basis. Spring term admission is not available.

International students who wish to apply must complete an International Undergraduate Application for Admission and a Clark Honors College supplemental PDF application by January 15 for fall term admission.

A complete Clark Honors College online or supplemental PDF application must include an essay and a description of accomplishments. Required supporting documents include recommendations from two teachers, official high school transcripts, official college transcripts (if applicable), and official test scores. Transcripts and test scores will be shared between UO and honors college admissions offices. Do not submit them twice.

The Clark Honors College online application, available August through January 15 for the following academic year, is part of the University of Oregon online application. The Clark Honors College supplemental PDF application and Clark Honors College Teacher Evaluation form are available from the websites for the honors college and the UO Office of Admissions.

The Clark Honors College online application, available August through January 15 for the following academic year, is part of the University of Oregon online application and the Common Application. The Clark Honors College supplemental PDF application and Clark Honors College teacher recommendation forms are available from the websites for the honors college and the UO Office of Admissions. Teacher recommendation forms are also accessible through the Common Application.

Application Deadlines

Early notification deadline: November 1
Supporting documents due by November 7
Regular notification deadline: January 15
Supporting documents due by February 1

Deadlines to apply are the same for all applicants including domestic and international freshmen and transfer students.

Faculty

Monique Balbuena, associate professor (comparative literature, Jewish studies, Sephardic languages). BA, 1988, MA, 1994, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; PhD, 2003, California, Berkeley. (2004) 

Mark Carey, professor (glaciers, climate change, natural disasters). BA, 1991, State University of New York, Potsdam; MA, 1998, Montana; PhD, 2005, California, Davis. (2010)

Mai-Lin Cheng, associate professor (literature of the British Romantic period, travel writing, gender and genre). BA, 1993, Brown; PhD, 2006, California, Berkeley. (2008)

David A. Frank, professor (argumentation, international ethics, rhetorical theory and history). BA, 1978, MA, 1979, Western Washington; PhD, 1982, Oregon. (1979)

Melissa Graboyes, assistant professor (colonial and postcolonial African history, medical history, history of science). BA, 2002, California, Davis; MA, MPH, 2007, PhD, 2010, Boston. (2016)

Samantha Hopkins, associate professor (vertebrate paleontology, environmental change, mammalian ecology and evolution); associate dean, faculty. BS, 1999, Tennessee, Knoxville; PhD, 2005, California, Berkeley. (2007)

Ocean Howell, associate professor (urban history and planning, design and architecture, history of race). BA, 1997, MS, 2005, PhD, 2009, California, Berkeley. (2010)

Trond Jacobsen, instructor (speech and debate, political communication, legal proceedings); director, forensics and university forum. BA, 2002, Oregon; PhD, 2014, Michigan, Ann Arbor. (2013)

Vera Keller, associate professor (history of science). BA, 2002, Harvard; PhD, 2008, Princeton. (2010)

Rebecca Lindner, professor of practice (Renaissance literature, Shakespeare, women’s writing); associate dean, undergraduate studies. BA, 1995, MA, 1998, PhD, 2003, PGCE, 2004, Wales. (2016)

Barbara Mossberg, professor of practice (poetry, leadership, drama,). BA, 1970, California, Los Angeles; MA, 1972, PhD, 1977, Indiana, Bloomington. (2013)

Carol Paty, associate professor.

Roxann Prazniak, professor (history of China and Eurasia, modernity, transcultural studies). BA, 1970, California, Berkeley; MA, 1973, San Francisco State; PhD, 1981, California, Davis. (2002)

Elizabeth Raisanen, instructor (women writers of the British Romantic Period, romantic drama, digital humanities); director, undergraduate advising. BA, 2003, Northern Michigan; MA, 2005, Colorado, Boulder; PhD, 2013, California, Los Angeles. (2015)

Daniel Rosenberg, professor (modern European intellectual and cultural history, the Enlightenment, history of information). BA, 1988, Wesleyan; MA, 1991, PhD, 1996, California, Berkeley. (2000)

Casey Shoop, postdoctoral instructional scholar (19th- and 20th-century American literature, critical theory, urban theory). BA, 1999, California, Berkeley; MA, 2001, PhD, 2008, Columbia. (2013)

Helen Southworth, professor (modernism, Virginia Woolf, digital humanities). BA, 1989, London; MA, 1991, PhD, 1999, Southern California. (2002)

Tim Williams,assistant professor (intellectual and cultural history, 19th-century United States, gender and sexuality). BA, 2003, Wake Forest; MA, 2005, PhD, 2010, North Carolina, Chapel Hill. (2014)

Emeriti

Henry M. Alley, professor emeritus. BA, 1967, Stanford; MFA, 1969, PhD, 1971, Cornell. (1982)

Louise M. Bishop, associate professor emerita. BA, 1978, Fairleigh Dickinson; MA, 1980, PhD, 1984, Fordham. (1987)

Joseph G. Fracchia, professor emeritus. BA, 1972, California, Davis; MA, 1975, California, Santa Barbara; PhD, 1985, California, Davis. (1986)

The date in parentheses at the end of each entry is the first year on the University of Oregon faculty.

Academic Requirements

Requirements in the honors college satisfy the general-education requirements that other University of Oregon students meet for graduation. Honors college faculty members advise honors college students concerning these requirements and mentor them concerning their academic choices. Students retain full responsibility for understanding and shaping their study programs.

Depending on test scores, students may use advanced placement or international baccalaureate credits toward honors college mathematics and science requirements, second-language requirements, applicable major requirements, multicultural requirements, or university electives. To earn a BS degree, students must complete one year of college-level mathematics, or the equivalent. Advanced placement and transfer credits may help fulfill either such a math requirement or the language requirement.

University and Major Requirements

Honors college requirements, which replace university general-education requirements, represent roughly one-third of a student’s total four-year schedule. Before graduating, Clark Honors College students must also meet the requirements, listed elsewhere in this catalog, of their major department or professional school. They must maintain a 3.00 or better cumulative grade point average (GPA).

Honors College Degree Requirements

Majors, Degrees, and Contexts Waiving Second-Language Requirement

• Accounting
• Biology
• Business administration
• Biochemistry
• Chemistry
• Computer and information science
• Earth sciences
• Environmental science
• Environmental studies
• Human physiology
• Marine biology
• Music, only in cases in which the second language is not a requirement for the student's chosen degree
• Physics
• Product design
• Bachelor of architecture
• Bachelor of interior architecture
• Bachelor of landscape architecture
• Students pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degrees who choose to satisfy the BS mathematics or computer and information sciences proficiency requirement

Writing

The honors college is committed to excellence in writing. The core curriculum integrates instruction and practice in fundamental rhetorical skills—writing, reading, speaking, and listening—with the subject matter of the courses. Students who complete the honors college 200-level arts and letters and social science curricula with a grade point average of 3.00 or better in all five courses satisfy the university's writing requirement if they withdraw from the honors college.

Four-Year Degree Plan

The degree plan shown is only a sample of how students may complete their degrees in four years. There are alternative ways. Students should consult their advisor to determine the best path for them.

The Robert D. Clark Honors College is not a major. Students who follow the honors college curriculum fulfill all of the University of Oregon general-education requirements. Honors college requirements must be taken for a letter grade, unless pass/no pass is the only option. In addition, only courses passed with grades of C– or better will fulfill honors college requirements.

Bachelor of Arts