First Year Honors
Honors at a University is not like Honors classes in High School. The Honors Program Director, Loree Crow, explains, "High School Honors classes prepare you for college level, but you've made it to the college level." Now, an Honors education will help you to reach your goals, and to go beyond the walls of the classroom and the confines of the textbook.
First Year Honors Experience
The Honors First Year Experience offers incoming students the opportunity to experience Honors instruction as part of a learning cohort while practicing interdisciplinary analytical skills and building a foundation for academic success.
The University Honors Program is designed to support students who…
- Take intellectual risks
- Ask challenging questions
- Make interesting connections
- Explore their world
- Create new ways of doing things
Incoming first year students may apply for the Honors Program and begin their journey in honors with the “First Year Honors Experience”. The First Year Experience is designed to provide students in all majors at UNC the opportunity to complete honors courses without impeding their regular studies. Many of the course options count toward Liberal Arts Curriculum or general electives for graduation. Honors curriculum provides advanced creative thinking skills and the ability to problem solve by providing in depth examination of challenging concepts. Students also engage with the entire honors community including faculty and peers through the Honors Connect extra-curricular components. First Year students may choose to live in the Honors Residential Community (which is optional for Honors students).
Apply for UNC's Honors Program
Apply to honors as an incoming first year student from high school. First year students complete First Year Honors Experience through one honors interdisciplinary course in Fall and Spring, and then may choose to continue on with University Honors.
First Year Honors - Spring 2026 Courses
HON100: Honors Connections I: Creativity in the Academic Journey: Find your Passions through Exploration and Performance Art
Anna Ursyn, Professor of Art & Design
This first-year honors seminar introduces students to the process of academic self-discovery through interdisciplinary exploration and a learning method that combines multiple subjects. It will create a new line of thinking by drawing upon various subjects simultaneously, and promote critical thinking by engaging in the solution of complex problems. Students will investigate their personal interests, strengths, and values while learning about the breadth of academic majors and career pathways available. The class will develop a collaborative performance, where everyone will select their own production roles based on personal interests.
HON200: Honors Connections II Viewing Identity
Nancy Matchett, Professor of Philosophy
Use the history of film as a vehicle for exploring concepts of individual and group identity. Films will be used as primary texts and documents of self-formation, film lets us pay attention to the tension between us and others, appearance and reality, representation of self in reality and the real world.
Circle of students on the grass during an honors course.
HON180: Great Ideas in Context - The Vikings
Kristin Bovaird-Abbo, Professor of English
Norse culture and literature pervade the modern imagination, from our weekday terminology, multiple holidays, and by providing the inspiration for writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien. Our focus in this class will be on the surviving literature of the Viking Age (approx. 750-1100 CE). We will begin with Norse mythology and then move into the sagas. We will address issues such as the notion of the hero and the monstrous, gender roles, ethnicity, the impact of Christianity, social structure, globalization, myth vs. history, magic vs. divination, the afterlife, and the construction of identity. We will also consider how White Supremist movements in the United States have appropriated Norse mythology and culture.
Dr. Kristin Bovaird-Abbo teaching at an Honors Colloquium.
HON267: Culture and Consciousness
Michael Kimball, Professor of Anthropology
Conduct experiments on meditation, dream analysis, and illusions. Investigate how societies around the world understand awareness. Use cross-cultural research to approach the phenomena of consciousness.
Mike Kimball Leading panel discussion for the Culture and Consciousness course.
HON395-003: Olympics in Society
Eli Klyde, Professor of Communications, Media Studies
Learn about history, political science, economics, media, race, class, and gender through the lens of the Olympic Games. Travel to Milan, Italy-Home of the Winter 2026 Winter Olympics to understand how the Olympics affects cities. Create content for The Mirror, UNC’s Student Newspaper, during and after the trip.
Students on study abroad trip to Greece during HON395 Spring 2025 course, at a visit to a honey farm
HON395-005: The Anatomy of Pessimism
Richard Bownas, Professor of Political Science
Take a tour of the ‘dark side’ of the human experience, as illuminated in literature and philosophy from many historical and modern texts, from the Book of Job to Rick and Morty. These texts will help open our minds to new possibilities and create new understandings of everyday emotions.
Richard Bownas presenting on Positive side of Pessimism.
Honors Opportunities
Discover more about Honors First Year Curriculum requirements.
Honors Connect is a program that connects honors students with other honors students, with their communities, with professional opportunities and with faculty engagement. Students earn points towards benchmarks in the program to maintain active status, at minimum of 5 points should be earned each semester.
Students may choose to live in any UNC housing option, including in one of the Honors Residential Learning communities, either on Central Campus or on West Campus.