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Overview

South Carolina Honors College (SCHC) provides highly gifted and motivated students with the opportunity to develop their intellectual potential to the fullest. It emphasizes small classes with close exchange between students and teachers and a curriculum designed to exploit fully the talents of both students and teachers. The college is structured to permit any qualified student, regardless of major or career interest, to participate in this unique educational experience--the benefits of a small college in the context of a comprehensive research university.

Admission

Admission to the college is based upon proof of a student's potential for high academic achievement. Admission criteria include outstanding work in high school, high aptitude test scores, the ability to write well, and a strong intellectual curiosity. A candidate for the college must be accepted to the University and then must submit a separate application for admission to the Honors College.

The admissions policies are determined by the South Carolina Honors College Policy Committee and administered by the coordinator of admissions for South Carolina Honors College in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The normal standards to be considered for admission include, but are not confined to, an SAT of 1300 and a strong academic performance in high school, as well as evidence of keen analytical skills and a clear writing style. Transfer students and students already enrolled in the University who have a GPA of 3.40 on a 4.00 scale also may be considered for admission. Admission of such students will be contingent on a review of the student's overall college record, the quality of the application, and the availability of space in the Honors College.

Housing

Students enrolled in South Carolina Honors College have the option of applying through University Housing for available SCHC housing. Honors residential communities are available for all four years. Vacancies in residence halls located on the historic Horseshoe, the site of the original South Carolina College, are offered first to South Carolina Honors College upper-level students in residence halls located on the Horseshoe. In order to emphasize the relationship of the college and its students to the general University, approximately 25 percent of the housing space is made available to students not enrolled in the college. Housing for freshmen is in the freshman honors residence, Maxcy College, located directly behind the college's administrative offices.

Regulations

Students enrolled in the college must maintain a minimum GPA on a sliding scale from 3.00 in their freshman year and rising to 3.30 by their senior year in order to remain in good standing; they are permitted one semester of probation.

Advisement

During Freshman Orientation, incoming freshmen will be advised by the staff of South Carolina Honors College. Once students select a discipline for their major, they will be advised by specially chosen advisors in that discipline, as well as by the administrative staff of South Carolina Honors College.

Honors College Distinction

To graduate with honors from South Carolina Honors College, students must complete at least 45 credit hours in honors courses, including a senior thesis or project. Two courses each in English, science, and the history of civilization are required, as well as one course in analytical reasoning and two additional courses in liberal arts. The curriculum is designed so that all students, regardless of their major, can complete the requirements without additional course work.

Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae

South Carolina Honors College also offers a unique degree, the Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae (Bachelor of Arts and Science). Admission to the degree program is based on outstanding academic work and a commitment to developing intellectual breadth. Each program is tailored to the student's own needs and aptitudes. The individual curriculum is supervised by an advisory committee which aids candidates in course selection and career orientation. The traditional major and cognate or minor are replaced by a wide range of courses designed to develop intellectual inquisitiveness. Students must satisfy the basic degree requirements of both the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Science and Mathematics; students will also demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language at the third-year level, submit a senior thesis or project worth 9 to 15 credits, and complete a total of at least 69 credits within South Carolina Honors College. A 3.50 cumulative GPA is required to graduate with the baccalaureus. The degree is most suitable to students preparing to continue their studies beyond the baccalaureate level, especially in areas expecting a broad educational experience like law, government service, various graduate areas, and medicine. Additional requirements will be established by each student's advisory committee, depending on individual goals, needs, and lacunae. See the SCHC Student Handbook for further details.

Minor in Inquiry

This minor is designed for students who wish to prepare for an intensive undergraduate research experience. The program of study, designed in close consultation with both the student's major and SCHC advisors, will provide a richer understanding of the logic, conduct, and context of inquiry in related disciplinary arenas.

Application. Interested students must complete an application and qualify for the minor. Applications can be submitted any time after completion of the first year. Normally, students will be expected to have at least a 3.30 grade point average. Applications will be evaluated on overall merit by the Minor in Inquiry Oversight Committee. Applications may be obtained from the South Carolina Honors College, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Mathematics, and online on the Honors College Web site.

Opportunity to Participate in the Honors College. The Minor in Inquiry is open to all qualified undergraduates, in and outside the Honors College. All students in the minor will be given priority access to minor-eligible courses offered in the Honors College. They will also be given priority consideration for the SCHC Undergraduate Research Assistantships. Finally, non-honors students in the minor will be given the opportunity to undertake a senior honors thesis or project. Non-honors students admitted to the minor will be assigned the appropriate Honors College advisor who will work with the student and the student's major advisor to plan the most suitable program.

Requirements. Eighteen credit hours are required to satisfy the minor, distributed over three levels. At least half of the credits must be in the Honors College. Each student must take at least one of the appropriate Level I, "Fundamentals," courses. These courses introduce some fundamental problems of inquiry confronting those working within related disciplines (for example, the natural sciences). In addition, a student must take at least three courses from Level II. Level II courses must be taken outside of the student's major discipline. These courses, chosen in close consultation with the student's advisors, are intended to broaden and deepen the student's understanding of the nature and problems of inquiry introduced in the Fundamentals course, as well as explore new areas affecting the conduct and context of inquiry in the student's area of interest. In some cases a student may elect to take a second Level I course. The final two courses may be selected from among advanced research courses (400 level and above) in the student's major discipline including the senior thesis/project. Disciplinary courses counted toward the minor must be approved by both the student's major and honors advisors and cannot count toward major credit. Alternatively, the student may elect to take additional Level II courses.

Required Level I Course

Each student must select the appropriate course from the following:

SCCC 280A Fundamentals of Inquiry in the Social Sciences
SCCC 281A Fundamentals of Inquiry in the Humanities
SCCC 285A Fundamentals of Scientific Inquiry

UNIV 201 Fundamentals of Inquiry may be substituted for this requirement.

Level II Courses

The following courses address fundamental issues in the logic, context, and conduct of inquiry in certain broad areas of research. Students must select at least three of these courses with the advice and approval of their major and minor advisors and are expected to reflect the area of the student's research interests. These courses must be outside their particular major. They may substitute a second Level I course for one of these three.

ANTH 313 Ethical Dilemmas in Anthropology
ANTH 359 Theories of Culture
ANTH 551 Medical Anthropology: Fieldwork
ENGL 388 History of Literary Criticism and Theory
ENGL 440 Principles of Modern Literary Theory
ENGL 449 Special Topics in Theory
ENGL 473 Film Theory (=PHIL 473)
ENGL 620 Computer Methods for Humanistic Problems (=CSCE 508)
GINT 301 The Political Science Discipline
HIST 380 Historiography
HIST 452 History of Science in America
HIST 479 Oral History
LING 300 Introduction to Language Sciences (=ANTH 373, PSYC 470)
LING 340 Language, Culture, and Society (=ANTH 355)
LING 541 Language and Gender (=ANTH 555, WOST 541)
LING 565 Philosophy of Language (=PHIL 517)
MATH 500M History of Mathematics
PHIL 312 Medical Ethics
PHIL 315 History and Philosophy of Science
PHIL 317 Ethics of Science and Technology
PHIL 510 Theory of Knowledge
PHIL 512 Philosophy of Science
PHIL 513 Philosophy of History
PHIL 517 Philosophy of Language
PHIL 518 Philosophy of Social Sciences
PHIL 528 Concepts of Evidence
SOCY 320 Individual and Society
SOCY 352 Sociology of Literature
SOCY 550 Sociology of Science
SCCC 312A Statistics
SCCC 332T Investigating Culture
SCCC 380K Philosophy of Technology
SCCC 383N Information Search, Organization, and Presentation
SCCC 394C Design of Inquiry in Science
SCCC 483B Visual Thinking
SCCC 485B Creativity
STAT 506 Experimental Design
STAT 515 Statistical Methods I
STAT 516 Statistical Methods II

Level III Courses

At Level III of the minor, students will have the option of using up to 6 credit hours of advanced research courses (400-level and above) from their major discipline, including Senior Thesis/Project, toward the minor. If they elect to do so, these courses could not count toward their major requirements. Students may also choose to complete their minor by taking additional contextual Level II courses, while taking advanced research courses in their discipline as part of their major program. Minor-eligible, advanced research courses must be approved by both the honors and major advisors. Examples might include BIOL 498: Biological Research for a biology major or HIST 692: Historic Preservation Field Experience for a history major.

Further Information

For further information contact: Dean, South Carolina Honors College, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, or the USC Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Additional information may also be found on the Web site of the South Carolina Honors College: http//schc.sc.edu.

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Curriculum (SCCC)

• 101, 102 -- Principles of Biology. {=BIOL 101, 102} (4 each) Must be taken in sequence.
  
• 103, 104 -- Principles of Chemistry. {=CHEM 111} (4 each) Must be taken in sequence.
  
• 115, 116 -- Descriptive Astronomy. {=ASTR 111} (4 each) Must be taken in sequence.
  
• 125, 126 -- Special Topics in History. (3)
  
• 158 -- Rhetoric. (3) May substitute for THSP 140.
  
• 167 -- Music History. (3)
  

Note: The following courses are proseminars, with specific topics to be selected as need and interests dictate. Generally limited to 18 students, they are either an extensive study of a broad area or an intensive examination of a specific problem.

• 255 -- Studies in British Literature. (3)
  
• 259, 260 -- Proseminar in Philosophy. (3 each)
  
• 263 -- Proseminar in French. (3) Satisfies Track II requirement.
  
• 264 -- Proseminar in Spanish. (3) Satisfies Track II requirement.
  
• 265 -- Proseminar in German. (3) Satisfies Track II requirement.
  
• 280, 281 -- Interdisciplinary Proseminar in the Liberal Arts. (3 each)
  
• 284, 285 -- Interdisciplinary Proseminar in Science and Mathematics. (3-4 each)
  
• 301 -- Proseminar in Biology. (3)
  
• 301L -- Biology Lab. (1) (Coreq: SCCC 301).
  
• 311 -- Proseminar in Mathematics. (3)
  
• 312 -- Proseminar in Statistics. (3)
  
• 321, 322 -- Proseminar in American History. (3 each)
  
• 325 -- Proseminar in History. (3)
  
• 330 -- Proseminar in Psychology. (3)
  
• 331 -- Proseminar in Sociology. (3)
  
• 332 -- Proseminar in Anthropology. (3)
  
• 333 -- Proseminar in Political Science. (3)
  
• 334 -- Proseminar in International Studies. (3)
  
• 335 -- Proseminar in Economics. (3)
  
• 337 -- Proseminar in Geography. (3)
  
• 350 -- Proseminar in American Literature. (3)
  
• 351 -- Proseminar in British Literature. (3)
  
• 352 -- Proseminar in British Literature. (3)
  
• 353 -- Proseminar in Comparative Literature. (3)
  
• 354 -- Proseminar in Creative Writing. (3)
  
• 355 -- Proseminar in Poetry. (3)
  
• 356 -- Proseminar in the Novel. (3)
  
• 357 -- Proseminar in the Drama. (3)
  
• 359, 360 -- Proseminar in Philosophy. (3 each)
  
• 361, 362 -- Proseminar in Religious Studies. (3 each)
  
• 363 -- Proseminar in French. (3) Satisfies baccalaureus requirement.
  
• 364 -- Proseminar in Spanish. (3) Satisfies baccalaureus requirement.
  
• 365 -- Proseminar in German. (3) Satisfies baccalaureus requirement.
  
• 366 -- Proseminar in Art. (3)
  
• 380-389 -- Interdisciplinary Proseminars. (3-4 each)
  
• 390-398 -- Proseminar. (1-3 credits per semester) South Carolina Honors College courses offered for variable credit.
  
• 399 -- Independent Study. (3-15) Required of all baccalaureus students. Contract approval by instructor, department advisor, and dean or associate dean is required.
  
• 401 -- Proseminar in Biology. (3)
  
• 401L -- Biology Lab. (1) (Coreq: SCCC 401).
  
• 411, 412 -- Proseminar in Mathematics. (3-4 each)
  
• 422 -- Proseminar in American History. (3)
  
• 423 -- Proseminar in European History. (3)
  
• 425 -- Proseminar in History. (3)
  
• 430 -- Proseminar in Psychology. (3)
  
• 431 -- Proseminar in Sociology. (3)
  
• 433 -- Proseminar in Political Science. (3)
  
• 434 -- Proseminar in International Relations. (3)
  
• 437 -- Proseminar in Geography. (3)
  
• 450 -- Proseminar in American Literature. (3)
  
• 451 -- Proseminar in Pre-1660 British Literature. (3)
  
• 452 -- Proseminar in Post-1660 British Literature. (3)
  
• 453 -- Proseminar in Comparative Literature. (3)
  
• 454 -- Proseminar in Writing. (3 each)
  
• 455 -- Proseminar in English Language and Linguistics. (3)
  
• 456 -- Proseminar in Criticism. (3)
  
• 457 -- Proseminar in Literature. (3)
  
• 458 -- Proseminar in Theatre and Speech. (3)
  
• 462 -- Proseminar in Religious Studies. (3)
  
• 463 -- Proseminar in French. (3)
  
• 465 -- Proseminar in German. (3)
  
• 466 -- Proseminar in Art. (3)
  
• 472 -- Proseminar in Journalism. (3)
  
• 480-489 -- Interdisciplinary Proseminar. (3-4 each)
  
• 498 -- Honors Internship. (3-15) Sophomore standing or above; Honors College; approval of honors dean required.
• 499 -- Senior Thesis/Project. (3-15 hours subject to individual college requirements) Required of all students graduating with honors from South Carolina Honors College.
  

Note: The following courses are offered infrequently and should not be considered a regular part of the SCCC curriculum.

• 105, 106 -- Principles of Geology. (4 each)
  
• 107 -- Principles of Marine Science I. { may be substituted for MSCI 111} (3)
  
• 107L -- Marine Science Lab I. { may be substituted for MSCI 101L} (1)
  
• 108 -- Principles of Marine Science II. { may be substituted for MSCI 112} (3)
  
• 108L -- Marine Science Lab II. {may be substituted for MSCI 102L} (1)
  
• 109 -- Principles of Physics. {may be substituted for PHYS 211} (4) Must be taken in sequence.
  
• 110 -- Principles of Physics. {may be substituted for PHYS 212} (4) Must be taken in sequence.
  
• 166 -- Art History. (3)
  
• 201, 202 -- Proseminar in Biology. (4 each)
  
• 203, 204 -- Proseminar in Chemistry. (4 each)
  
• 205, 206 -- Proseminar in Geology. (3 or 4 each)
  
• 207, 208 -- Proseminar in Marine Science. (4 each)
  
• 209 -- Proseminar in Physics. (3)
  
• 209L -- Proseminar in Physics Lab. (1)
  
• 210 -- Proseminar in Physics. (4)
  
• 212 -- Proseminar in Mathematics. (3)
  
• 213, 214 -- Proseminar in Mathematics. (4 each)
  
• 221, 222 -- Proseminar in American History. (3 each)
  
• 223, 224 -- Proseminar in European History. (3 each)
  
• 225, 228 -- Proseminar in History. (3 each)
  
• 230 -- Proseminar in Psychology. (3)
  
• 231 -- Proseminar in Sociology. (3)
  
• 232 -- Proseminar in Anthropology. (3)
  
• 233 -- Proseminar in Political Science. (3)
  
• 234 -- Proseminar in International Relations. (3)
  
• 235 -- Proseminar in Economics. (3)
  
• 237 -- Proseminar in Geography. (3)
  
• 252 -- Studies in Writing. (3) (Prereq: see note above) Theory and practice of rhetoric and study of selected writings. Minimum of three papers and a term paper.
  
• 253 -- Comparative Studies in Literature. (3) (Prereq: see note above) Broad historical or generic topics in literature. Minimum of three papers and a term paper.
  
• 254 -- Studies in American Literature. (3) (Prereq: see note above) Broad historical or generic topics in American literature. Minimum of three papers and a term paper. Students may not receive credit for both SCCC 254 and English 287.
  
• 258 -- Proseminar in Theatre and Speech. (3)
  
• 261, 262 -- Proseminar in Religious Studies. (3 each)
  
• 266 -- Proseminar in Art. (3)
  
• 267 -- Proseminar in Music History. (3)
  
• 268 -- Proseminar in Theatre History. (3)
  
• 270, 271 -- Proseminar in Engineering and Information Technology. (3 each)
  
• 272, 273 -- Proseminar in Journalism. (3 each)
  
• 274, 275 -- Proseminar in Business Administration. (3 each)
  
• 276 -- Proseminar in Public Health. (3)
  
• 277 -- Proseminar in Education. (3)
  
• 278 -- Proseminar in Pharmacy. (3)
  
• 279 -- Proseminar in Nursing. (3)
  
• 302 -- Proseminar in Biology. (3)
  
• 302L -- Biology Lab. (1) (Coreq: SCCC 302).
  
• 303, 303 -- Proseminar in Chemistry. (4 each)
  
• 305, 306 -- Proseminar in Geology. (4 each)
  
• 307, 308 -- Proseminar in Marine Science. (4 each)
  
• 309, 310 -- Proseminar in Physics. (4 each) Open to students with sophomore standing.
  
• 323, 324 -- Proseminar in European History. (3 each)
  
• 326, 328 -- Proseminar in History. (3 each)
  
• 358 -- Proseminar in Theatre and Speech. (3)
  
• 367 -- Proseminar in Music History. (3)
  
• 368 -- Proseminar in Theatre History. (3)
  
• 370, 371 -- Proseminar in Engineering and Information Technology. (3 each)
  
• 374, 375 -- Proseminar in Business Administration. (3 each)
  
• 376 -- Proseminar in Public Health. (3)
  
• 377 -- Proseminar in Education. (3)
  
• 378 -- Proseminar in Pharmacy. (3)
  
• 379 -- Proseminar in Nursing. (3)
  
• 402 -- Proseminar in Biology. (3)
  
• 402L -- Biology Lab. (1) (Coreq: SCCC 402)
  
• 403, 404 -- Proseminar in Chemistry. (4 each)
  
• 405, 406 -- Proseminar in Geology. (4 each)
  
• 407, 408 -- Proseminar in Marine Science. (4 each)
  
• 409, 410 -- Proseminar in Physics. (4 each) Open to students with sophomore standing.
  
• 421 -- Proseminar in American History. (3)
  
• 424 -- Proseminar in European History. (3)
  
• 426, 427, 428 -- Proseminar in History. (3 each)
  
• 432 -- Proseminar in Anthropology. (3)
  
• 435 -- Proseminar in Economics. (3)
  
• 459, 460 -- Proseminar in Philosophy. (3 each)
  
• 464 -- Proseminar in Spanish. (3)
  
• 467 -- Proseminar in Music History. (3)
  
• 468 -- Proseminar in Theatre History. (3)
  
• 470 -- Proseminar in Engineering and Information Technology. (3-6)
  
• 471 -- Proseminar in Engineering. (3)
  
• 474, 475 -- Proseminar in Business Administration. (3 each)
  
• 476 -- Proseminar in Public Health. (3)
  
• 477 -- Proseminar in Education. (3)
  
• 478 -- Proseminar in Pharmacy. (3)
  
• 479 -- Proseminar in Nursing. (3)