Honors Program - The University of Tulsa

Honors Program

The TU Honors Program engages students who possess a spirit of intellectual curiosity in a lively and sustained conversation about the great ideas of the past and how they influence the present.

The TU Honors Program engages students in reading and discussing some of the great thinkers who’ve come before us. We read these great books not so much for the answers they give us, but for the questions they provoke. Indeed, the point is not just to study, but to join the centuries-old conversation about what makes for a meaningful and well-lived life.

Through the lively and sustained discussions in class and through their portfolio reflections, students cultivate their curiosity about the ideas we’ve inherited, the habits we’ve adopted, and the conventions and institutions that shape our lives, so that they may live deliberately rather than habitually. And students hone skills so that they may investigate their intellectual interests well. Among those skills are: the ability to engage others (be it in writing or conversation) thoughtfully and generously; the ability to judge for oneself the merits and liabilities of one’s own best thinking; and the ability to imagine the consequences of that thinking.

Because Honors seminars can be used to fulfill both general curriculum and elective requirements, the Honors Program is compatible with any major offered at TU.

Opportunities and Benefits

By participating in the Honors Program, Honors Scholars will:

  • Cultivate the ability to think across disciplines and to make connections between them
  • Develop intellectual camaraderie with students and faculty
  • Find their own voices by investigating pressing questions
  • Shift from strategic learning to deep learning
  • Take ownership of their education
  • Benefit from the guidance of an Honors Mentor
  • Graduate with a bibliography and an intellectual autobiography of their college studies

Honors Scholars who complete both the Honors Core Curriculum and an Honors Plan earn the “Honors Scholar” designation on their transcript and wear an Honors medallion at graduation.

  • Admission

    Students who wish to begin their Honors studies in Fall 2021 as freshmen should complete the Special Programs Application and submit it no later than January 15.

    Current TU students interested in the Honors Program should email Dr. Denise Dutton, Director of the Honors Program, at honors@utulsa.edu.

    In the meantime, if you have any questions about our Honors Program and how it might complement and enrich your studies here at TU, please contact Dr. Dutton at 918.631.2122 or honors@utulsa.edu.

  • Honors Housing (Honors Suites)

    Honors Suites are available on a first-come, first-served basis to incoming Honors. To be considered, Scholars must list Hardesty Hall as one of their preferences in their housing paperwork, as well as inform the Honors Program that they would like to live in Honors Suites. For more information about Honors Suites, contact The University of Tulsa Housing and Dining Services at 918-631-2516.

    To learn more about the Honors Program at TU, email honors@utulsa.edu, call 918-631-2122, or meet with Dr. Dutton, the Honors Program Director, on your next campus visit.