Teaching in Honors
We welcome your proposal, but before you submit, kindly read the following information.
The mission of the University of New Mexico Honors Program is to provide a vibrant, interdisciplinary educational environment for the intellectually curious and scholastically capable student. It is also our mandate to serve as a catalyst for innovative growth and change in the University community. As such, we provide an educational environment in which it is both stimulating and rewarding to teach. In order to deliver an enhanced learning experience to superior students, faculty who teach Honors classes are actively encouraged to explore their own pedagogical boundaries. We are looking for professors who join excellence in teaching with research, and who will offer ingenious and original approaches to teaching.
The Honors Program is always seeking new courses at all undergraduate levels. UHP seminars often involve much more student-faculty interaction than a typical non-Honors class. Students are encouraged to “discover” knowledge through discussion, critical reading, writing, laboratory experience, and research. The model can be similar to a graduate seminar format. But while Honors students have generally superior scholastic abilities, the instructor should not expect them to perform at graduate levels. Rather the instructor should be committed to fostering appropriate undergraduate-level skills and development.
Honors seminars will not involve substantial extra work when compared with non-Honors classes. Seminar emphasis is on exploring the given subject matter a little more thoroughly. The goals of an Honors education are greater breadth and more enrichment. Oral and written expression are major components of the Honors experience. This may take the form of lively class discussions, journals, papers, laboratory reports, and a variety of other techniques.
Breadth of Education
The Honors Program embraces the concept of the broadly educated student. As such, we encourage our instructors to draw from a wide range of disciplines while presenting material within the professor’s own area of competency. We believe the Honors Program is an important vehicle on campus for launching courses that cross disciplinary lines for the purpose of giving students a fully integrated perspective on human knowledge.
The Honors Program seeks faculty with a student-centered philosophy, innovative ideas, engagement in creative, experimental teaching such as community-centered learning, computer-assisted learning, and participatory field work. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate a record of scholarship and service and strong interpersonal skills.
Rewards of Teaching in Honors
Whether you teach as an adjunct instructor or are a Continuing Faculty Member in Honors we know you will enjoy countless benefits of working with some of the most engaged and talented students this University has to offer. Here are few of the perks:
- Classroom ambience. Virtually all of the rewards for teaching in Honors are intrinsic. The chance to teach small classes of highly inquisitive, unusually well-prepared, generally responsible and typically motivated students is one of the most gratifying experiences in college teaching.
- Innovation. Honors offers the chance for truly creative teaching. Professors are encouraged to innovate in Honors classes, to try techniques that they may have considered, but have never had a chance to implement because of class size or the quality of students.
- Honors Program recognition. The Honors Program gives an annual Outstanding Professor Aaward. The recipient's name is inscribed on a permanent plaque maintained in the Honors office, and the instructor will be recognized at our annual Awards Ceremony.
REVIEW TRAITS OF HONORS SEMINARS
