Honors Program

Mission

The DU Honors Program cultivates student capacity for original academic inquiry and creative exploration. 

Our students emerge as self-directed learners, encouraged to ask new questions and pursue their curiosities – both within the classroom and beyond. 

Every year, the program recruits a diverse cohort of creative thinkers who want to go beyond the requirements – whether they were part of an Honors program in high school or not.   

The three pillars of the Honors Program are our curriculum, our community, and our contributions to original research, scholarship, and creative activities.

 

Vision

Our diverse community of faculty, staff, and students is a campus hub for innovative teaching, liberal arts education, and undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activities.

The DU Honors Program contributes to the University’s vision of being a “great private university dedicated to the public good” by cultivating critical thinking and original inquiry in a select group of highly motivated students. 

By bringing these students into the process of academic inquiry we also contribute to the University’s goal of being a great research university that brings that its R1 research agenda into its teaching and learning. 

 

Values 

The DU Honors Program is committed to the pursuit of Honors in all of its forms:

An award for proficiency in scholarship beyond that required to pass a particular program (noun) 

• We value creating spaces where students are encouraged to take intellectual risks and feel safe doing so, in order to pursue their intellectual curiosities and achieve their academic ambitions

A code of ethics and integrity (noun) 

• We value academic integrity, honesty, intentionality, and curiosity

To respect or to hold in esteem (verb) 

• We honor ourselves, our colleagues, our community, and our values
• We honor and promote diversity in all of its forms, including diverse identities, lived experiences, and intellectual perspectives