Honors Program

The Honors Program at Lesley University is built around a common academic structure that provides students with a cohesive and rigorous learning experience grounded in discipline-based academic content. Each student completes five designated honors courses (identified below with numbers 1-5), which may include contracted honors course options tailored to a student’s individual interests.

All students begin their journey with a First-Year Seminar, introducing them to interdisciplinary thinking and academic inquiry. For Art & Design students, this seminar takes the form of a designated Honors section of Image In Context (INTGR 1665) while those in Liberal Arts & Business, Education, and Mental Health & Well-Being enroll in an Honors First Year Seminar. This common start helps build a sense of cohort identity, as students share intellectual experiences and begin developing the skills they’ll refine throughout the program.

The Honors Program continues with honors-level sections of required General Education, “CommonLynx”, courses that also provide students with additional shared honors experiences. Students engage in advanced writing practice with Honors CWRIT 1101 Writing as Thinking and Process and cultivate analytical and creative skills through Honors CLITR 1100 Word & Image. Towards the end of their undergraduate studies, they synthesize their learning in Honors CommonLynx capstone course, which serves as the culminating requirement for Lesley’s General Education Program and fosters real-world application of ideas.

All students participate in an Honors capstone course, which can vary slightly by program. The culminating course for students is a contracted Honors course that deepens their expertise and integrates what they have learned across disciplines. This program allows students to push the boundaries of their academic interests, engage with peers and faculty mentors, and emerge from the Honors Program equipped with the critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills essential for success in their future endeavors.

Requirements for honors students:

Students complete five designated honors courses:

1) Students all take First-Year Seminar:

• LA+D students: INTGR 1665 Image in Context (Honors-designated section)
• Liberal Arts & Business, Education, and Mental Health & Well-Being Students: Honors FYS

(2) Honors CWRIT 1101 Writing as Thinking and Process

(3) Honors CLITR 2400 Outsiders in Literature

(4) Students all have honors culminating experience:

• LA+D students: Contracted Honors Course.
• Liberal Arts and Business, Education, and Mental Health & Well-Being students: Contracted Honors course

(5) Honors Applications Course