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The Liberal Arts Honors Program gives some of the University's best students tools they need to change the world. With small classes, top professors, individualized coursework, and an active learning community, Liberal Arts Honors broadens students' worldview and prepares them to lead. Students call this program the best of both worlds - the personal attention of a small liberal arts college with the resources of a major research institution.
Since 1990 Liberal Arts Honors has provided gifted students with special opportunities for enriched learning and recognition at every level of their academic careers. Almost 500 students, including 120 freshmen, participate in the program each year.
In addition to taking honors coursework focusing on reasoning, research, and writing, Liberal Arts Honors students are encouraged to study abroad and become global citizens. Nearly all participate in internships to help them build professional networks, and define themselves.
Students apply to the Liberal Arts Honors Program when applying to UT as first year students. LAH offers its students honors options for many lower division courses. These courses are designed to function as a bridge into LAH (upper division), Departmental Honors and/or the Humanities Program. In their first semester, all students participate in a seminar course that introduces them to various liberal arts disciplines through lectures given by leading scholars in their fields. Beginning in Spring 2013, LAH second semester students will enroll in a workshop style course that addresses career development and civic engagement. Students also incorporate an intensive writing class sometime during their freshman year. Along with the academic component to the program, LAH also works to foster a sense of community through group events and a long list of student organizations. Following the key mantras of study abroad, internships, and critical thinking and writing, the Liberal Arts Honors Program works to shape its students into future leaders.
For high performing students who do not start out in LAH their freshman year but are still seeking educational challenges, Liberal Arts Honors offers their upper division program. Students pursuing a Plan I Bachelor of Arts degree may qualify for graduation with Honors in the College of Liberal Arts by taking three upper division LAH courses. These are small, intensive, seminar style courses. No application is required, but enrollment in these courses is limited to Plan I students who have earned a cumulative UT GPA of 3.5 and who have completed of 60 credit hours.
