John Jay College Honors Program

Honors at John Jay is a diverse and inclusive community of learners that is committed to equity, democracy, and dialogue. We value intellectual risk taking, knowledge, and resilience, and act with integrity, respect, and compassion. The intellectual theme of the John Jay College Honors Program is "the common good." This theme reflects the college mission statement and provides an intellectual framework for the honors curriculum. The program is designed to promote academic excellence and is inclusive of students in all majors at the college. The curriculum encourages students to explore research in their chosen disciplines that addresses contemporary community problems. Honors program students take between 17 and 29 credits in Honors courses, depending on their point of entry into the program. Students write a senior thesis and present their honors research at a conference open to the campus and the wider community.

The year-long Honors Colloquium (HON 181 and HON 182) introduces new students to the 'common good' framework and its relevance to their personal, academic and civic life.

The sophomore level courses (HON 201 and HON 202) introduce students to diverse intellectual perspectives on the Common Good, and examples of how individuals have championed the Common Good in their pursuit of a more just world.

The junior level courses (HON 301 and HON 380) guide students through using the process of research to conduct rigorous study in order to address unanswered questions and unsolved problems across a variety of disciplinary perspectives, while Honors special topics courses (HON 380) give students the opportunity to explore a topic or issue of interest to the community in greater depth.

The final senior seminar (HON 401, or HON 484-HON 485) is the culmination of students’ undergraduate careers in which they work with a faculty mentor on a sustained research project that either builds on their academic work in their major (HON 401) or provides the opportunity to apply research to pressing issues facing their communities or professional field (HON 484-HON 485).

In addition to these academic requirements, Honors Program students are expected to engage in a minimum of four extracurricular events (cultural, scholarly, and community) designated by the Program each year, to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.3 each semester, and to uphold the standards specified in the Honors Program Contract, which students sign upon entering the Program.

Learning Outcomes. Students will:

demonstrate a critical understanding of the concept of the common good, and its relation to issues of social justice.
integrate and communicate perspectives of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences in written and oral work, and in research endeavors.
apply leadership skills to their research projects, community work and other professional endeavors.
write and speak with competence in appropriate academic language.
develop their own perspectives on ethical issues regarding community, society and the common good.

Credits Required. 17-29 (Freshmen entry requires 29 credits, Sophomore entry 23 credits, and Junior entry 17 credits)

Faculty Director. Raymond Patton, PhD, Associate Professor of History (646.781.5207, rpatton@jjay.cuny.edu)

Program Manager/ Advisor. Alana Philip (212.484.1122, aphilip@jjay.cuny.edu)

Student Support Manager/ Advisor. Adrienne Fitzgerald (212-393-6407, afitzgerald@jjay.cuny.edu)

Specialist/ Advisor. Sara Shaw-Clarke (sashaw@jjay.cuny.edu)

Advisor. Alexander Probst (aprobst@jjay.cuny.edu)

Macaulay Honors Program at John Jay College Advisor. Aisha Abdelmula (aabdelmula@jjay.cuny.edu)

Admission

Application required

There are three entry points into the Honors Program:

Entering Freshmen. Admission is based upon the student’s high school average, their application essay and other materials, and an interview.

Continuing and Transfer Students. Admission is based upon the student’s college GPA, their application essay, and an interview. John Jay students who have completed 2-4 semesters of college and have a minimum of four semesters remaining at John Jay may apply to join the program as sophomores (at least six semesters remaining) or juniors (at least four semesters remaining). To be eligible, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher, and no more that 75 credits completed at the time of entry into the program.

Required Courses for Freshman Entry

Freshman Year
ENG 101 Composition I (Honors Section)
ENG 201 Composition II (Honors Section)
FYS First Year Seminar (Honors Section)
HON 181 Honors Colloquium I (formerly HON 191)
HON 182 Honors Colloquium II (formerly HON 192)

OR (for students who bring in credits for Composition)

ENG 260 Grammar, Syntax, and Style: Writing for All Disciplines (Honors Section)
LIT 237 Literature as Witness [CO: Learn from Past] (Honors Section)
FYS First Year Seminar (Honors Section)
HON 181 Honors Colloquium I
HON 182 Honors Colloquium II

Sophomore Year
HON 201 Critical Perspectives on the Common Good
HON 202 Leadership and the Common Good
HON 380 Selected Topics or HON 385 Faculty Mentored Research