Undergraduate: The Programs

Honors and Advanced Scholarship

Honors Courses

In conjunction with the Llyod International Honors College, students may enroll in an Honors Contract or Embedded Honors version of a course offered by the department. In both instances, students will be responsible for the standard course requirements of the non-Honors course plus additional assignments, readings, etc. Interested students should first contact the Honors College for the most current policies on honors courses.

Students wishing to receive Disciplinary Honors in Mathematics or Statisics will need the two Honors contract courses, MAT 493, and HSS 490.

For students in the Honors College, HSS 490 Senior Honors Project can serve as a shell course for students to receive course credit for their activity. Future shell courses within the department may also become available. A student must select a faculty member willing to prepare and teach the course.

Course-Based Research Experience

Some courses offered by the department may include an active research component that will motivate the course content. As part of their assignments for the course, students will engage in activities (literature reading, hypothesizing, programming, theoretical work, writing) that contribute to our understanding of open research questions. The courses that include these research experiences and the motivating research question will vary by semester.

Independent Research Experience

The capstone experience for many undergraduate students is an independent research project on a novel mathematical or statistical question. The research will often be a part of a faculty member’s ongoing research portfolio, although students may propose projects of their own design. Projects may be a semester long, or they may extend through several semesters. Written and oral presentations of findings at the end of the project are expected. Although it is not a strict requirement, students are encouraged to undertake research projects that are potentially worthy of publication in student or professional research journals.

Finding an Advisor

Interested students should identify a faculty member willing to mentor the student during the project.