UMass Amherst

About the Honors Seminar Series

student responding to speaker

The Honors Seminar Series is designed to support Commonwealth College's goal to engage its students in honors-level research by providing small classes with both Commonwealth College's interdisciplinary faculty and departmental University faculty. Students enrolled in both levels of the series also have the opportunity to hone their writing, reading, listening, and presentation abilities.

The first level of the course, Commonwealth Honors Seminar, uses close reading and class discussion to foster synthesis and analysis, and to promote creativity, critical thinking, and intellectual curiosity. The second level of the course, Advanced Honors Seminar, gives departmental faculty members the opportunity to use their individual expertise and research interests to inform the content of the course while guiding students through research and presentation.

The Honors Seminar Series is the result of many years of development and experience. Its predecessor, the Dean's Book Course, first introduced the use of a common text as a starting point for interdisciplinary research to the Commonwealth College curriculum. Over the 8 years it was offered, Commonwealth College students completed a vast array of impressive research on a wide variety of topics. The current curriculum of the Honors Seminar Series owes much to the Dean's Book Course creator, Dr. Linda Slakey and to many more who have contributed their time and knowledge to the pedagogical conversation that has continued over the years.