Honors Program
Academic Excellence that Makes a Difference
The Honors Program at RWU is a unique academic and social community for students who love learning. As an Honors student, you can:
- Develop knowledge that makes a difference.
- Work alongside your community to create change.
- Travel abroad to learn global perspective.
- Develop lifelong friendships and professional connections.
- Be a leader.
If you want to share your passion for learning and get more from your education, we invite you to explore the information provided and apply.
Dr. William Palm
Director of the Honors Program
wpalm@rwu.edu
Prof. Robert Dermody
Associate Director
of the Honors Program
rdermody@rwu.edu
Academics
The Honors Curriculum offers a four-year experience that grounds your education in engaged and reflective learning. Through the Honors seminars (HONR-designated courses), you will enjoy smaller class sizes, enthusiastic faculty, an interdisciplinary environment, and innovative course design.
Your academic program begins with HONR 100: Foundations of Honors, and culminates in written and oral presentations of your Honors Capstone Project. Between these milestones are group projects, field trips, and structured reflections to engage you in the world and allow you to address pressing problems in an ethical manner. Although the content of Honors classes varies, each affords opportunities to hone your academic passions and skills and make a difference in the world.
Your professors are dedicated Honors faculty who will challenge and support your learning. Our faculty have expertise in their respective fields, but are also avid practitioners of the art of teaching.
Through our experiential curriculum, you can connect with community organizations throughout Rhode Island, present original research at national conferences, and study and volunteer in locations such as Jamaica, Brazil, Europe, and beyond.
- Our Curriculum: 18 credits in HONR classes or pre-approved academic experiences
- Community Engagement Requirement: A service experience situated in an academic class in which students participate ethically in a community-led initiative. Carries at least one academic credit.
- Senior Capstone Experience: Faculty-mentored project (thesis, original research, studio/design project) that culminates in impactful knowledge.
The Honors Experience
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Watch your learning come to life through visits to local sites like Save the Bay in Newport, R.I., and Walden Pond in Concord, Mass.
Being part of the world, locally and globally
Honors students engage with community leaders such as Lorén Spears, Executive Director of the Tomaquag Indigenous Museum. She shared her experience in a talk titled “Through my Eyes: Indigenous Education, Leadership, and Empowerment."
As a first-year honors student, you will live and learn alongside your peers, in the Honors Living Learning Community (LLC) in the Stonewall IV Residence Hall. Students in the LLC participate in a summer project, a pre-orientation retreat, and build community throughout this foundational first year on campus.
After your first year, you will continue to have access to all the resources Stonewall IV provides, including:
- The Honors Center – a communal space that serves as a common room with a lending library and movie watching lounge
- The Honors classroom, where you will take up to three classes with fellow Honors students
- Close collaboration with Honors faculty
- Academic support and advising from the Director of the Honors Program and the program assistant
Honors students are guaranteed a $2,000 grant (applied as a credit to your bill) for one semester to support research, study abroad, a community engagement project, or an internship undertaken in the junior or senior year.
Students who achieve an overall 3.6 GPA or higher at the end of the academic year will receive the Academic Excellence Award, providing an additional $1,000 towards their next year’s tuition.
Impacts
Our program offers a unique academic and social community for qualifying students who seek to enhance their classroom and co-curricular experiences.
Extracurricular Involvement Leads to Post-graduate Success
Whether she’s helping to develop self-driving vehicles or creating complicated software programs to improve communication, honors alum Sarah Agnalt ’18 helps enable soldiers on the field to do their jobs every day.
- Community Engagement Requirement: A service experience situated in an academic class in which students participate ethically in a community-led initiative. Carries at least one academic credit.
- Senior Capstone Experience: Faculty-mentored project (thesis, original research, studio/design project) that culminates in impactful knowledge.
Since its first class graduated with Honors in 1997, the University Honors Program has celebrated many distinguished post-graduate achievements. Reflecting the program’s three hallmarks – scholarship, service, and leadership – alumni have embarked on a variety of research, study, and career paths. Among the many careers and graduate school placements are the following:
- Fulbright scholar (the University’s first)
- Art museum events coordinators
- Assistant county attorneys
- Cancer researcher
- College admissions counselors
- Elementary and secondary education school teachers
- Engineering firm scientists
- Environmental scientists
- EPA program analysts
- Fishery biologists
- MBA’s in banking and finance
- Mechanical engineers
- Park naturalists
- Peace Corps volunteers
- Physicians
- Police officers
- U.S. Secret Service specialists
- Veterinary medicine professionals
Prospective Students
Ready to find your place in the Honors community? We're here to help.
- The Honors Curriculum: 18 credits in HONR classes or pre-approved academic experiences
- Applying to Honors: application is easy via the Common App
- Frequently Asked Questions: about the RWU Honors Program and honors education more broadly
Resources for Current Honors Students
Curriculum
Copies of Catalog language by year [PDFs]
Academic Standards Policy
Capstone Deadlines
Capstone Rubrics and/or Synopses
Suggested Capstone Experiences by Program
Capstone Reflection Guidelines
Forms
Engaged Learning Grant information sheet [PDF, forthcoming]
Core Contract form [PDF]
Core Contract guidelines [PDF]
Community Engagement Petition [PDF]
Community Engagement Guidelines [PDF]
Capstone Declaration form [PDF]
Honors Ambassador Application [PDF]
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook at RWUHonorsProgram
Contact
RWU Honors Program
Roger Williams University
One Old Ferry Road
Bristol, RI 02809
(401) 254-3663
Email: Honors@rwu.edu
William Palm
Director, RWU Honors Program
Associate Professor of Engineering
(401) 254-3750
Email: wpalm@rwu.edu
Robert Dermody
Associate Director, RWU Honors Program
Professor of Architecture
(401) 254-3094
Email: rdermody@rwu.edu