First Year Welcome Week

The University Honors Program established the first year Welcome Week initiative in 2006 as part of our movement toward enhancing the goals of an Honors Living Learning Community. The Welcome Week is characterized by a series of linked events that bring together various on-campus members of our Honors community for the common goal of welcoming new students to campus. Members of that on-campus community include faculty, administrators, staff and upper-class Honors students. Welcome Week introduces incoming students to the opportunities and challenges of an Honors university experience.

Preparation for Welcome Week begins during summer orientation when all first year Honors students receive a copy of the First Year Reading Project book. This book, selected by a committee of faculty, staff, and students, establishes a common ground for beginning conversations in the Honors community during Welcome Week.

Events during Welcome Week frame some of the major goals of the Honors Program including a commitment to an Honors Living Learning Community, the recognition of the importance of interdisciplinary learning, and the opportunity to participate in civic engagement. All of these opportunities and more will take place within the supportive environment of faculty, staff and upper-class students.

Post-Welcome Week Programming

Building on the momentum of Welcome Week, we will be offering a new course for all incoming students. Some of our students attended the National Collegiate Honors Council Meetings in Philadelphia in fall 2006 and established a committee to develop a new course with upper-class mentors. That course, Enhancing Honors 101, was team taught with upper-class Honors mentors for the first time this fall. All first year students will be introduced to the larger opportunities available in the program and begin to chart a plan for their undergraduate years. What’s experiential learning? Shall I study abroad? How do I find my way around Boston? Can I juggle everything? What’s an Honors education anyway? All these questions and more will be on the table for conversation during the first semester. You can find a link for this course by clicking here.

Honors First Year Inquiry Series: As part of our commitment to the new NU CORE, the Honors Program is offering a course for all incoming students in the category of Comparative Understanding of Cultures. Professor Susan Setta will offer Theology, Ethics, and Practice in the World’s Religions. Space is available for any entering student who would like to take this course and we encourage your participation. Upper-class Honors students will facilitate discussion groups. Additional First Year Inquiry classes will be offered in the three domain areas of social sciences, arts and humanities, and science and technology. You can find a link for these courses here. Students may also choose from a wide range of Honors separate sections for additional course selections here.