About the Honors Sciences and the Humanities Bachelor’s Program
The Bachelor of Arts in Honors Sciences and the Humanities (HSH) degree is designed for capable, curious students who are pursuing a broad and challenging course of study that will prepare them for a variety of careers and a lifetime of active citizenship. Most university graduates change careers several times during their lives. Therefore, this degree emphasizes “portable skills” such as critical thinking and problem solving that equip students with career flexibility. HSH also leads to knowledge and skills that qualify students for admission to graduate and professional programs such as law and medical schools. Students who seek a career in health professions can complete their science requirements while pursuing the HSH major.
The HSH major emphasizes a broad, humanistic approach to understanding the world. Students pursuing a HSH major must be admitted to the Honors College. HSH students are strongly encouraged to complete an undergraduate thesis, and those who succussfully do so will graduate “with Highest Honors from the Honors College.” Students in HSH must complete one of the following concentrations: Medicine, Global Health, & the Humanities; Humanities Driven STEM; Environmental Science & the Humanities; and Politics, Philosophy, Economics, & Law. For further information about HSH see honors.ttu.edu.
HSH majors are strongly encouraged to include a study abroad experience as part of their education and are required to take a foreign language through the first semester of the third year (3000 level), which is good preparation for study in a foreign country. Study abroad may be at one of the Texas Tech University overseas campuses or anywhere else in the world where it can be arranged. Most students will study abroad during the spring semester of their junior year, but students in the Medicine, Global Health, & the Humanities concentration may opt to study abroad in the summer to avoid interrupting the sequence of required science courses.
Communication Literacy Plan. The Honors Sciences and the Humanities (HSH) major provides a solid foundation of humanities-based coursework. This coursework emphasizes holistic communication skills which include oral and written mastery emanating from close reading of primary and secondary texts, critical analysis, preparation of oral and written arguments, receiving criticism, and re-writing. Communication Literacy coursework for the Honors Sciences and the Humanities major includes ENGL 2391 and HONS 4302 – HONS 3300 and HONS 4300 are strongly encouraged – and an upper-level foreign language course taught in the student’s selected language.
Contact: Prof. Kurt Caswell, 201A McClellan Hall, kurt.caswell@ttu.edu, 806.742.1828
Recommended Sample Curriculum
The B.A. in Honors Sciences and the Humanities (HSH) is designed to allow students to exercise creativity in crafting a flexible course of study rooted firmly in the humanities while permitting space for five to ten unspecified concentration courses of the student’s own choosing. Concentration classes must be writing intensive and have thesis-related, upper-level hours approved by the HSH advisor. The degree requires 120 credit hours, 40 of which must be upper level. Minors are not required for the HSH degree but are optional and should be chosen in consultation with the HSH advisor.
