Food For Thought Volunteer Opportunity
Join Honors in packing food kits for students in Denver!
Honors goes to the Symphony 2024
Honors Spring Ball 2024
Joy presenting her Honors Thesis at the Honors Thesis Symposium in Fall 2023
Undergraduate Studies Fall Block Party 2023
Honors Orientation 2023
Painting in the Park Fall 2023
Honors Thesis Symposium Celebration Lunch
Undergraduate Studies Fall Block Party 2023
MSU Denver Honors at the Western Regional Honors Conference at CSU Long Beach California in Spring 2024
Honors Thesis Symposium Celebration Lunch in Fall 2023
Honors Summer Camping Trip 2022
Visiting Fulbright fellow from Pondicherry University to Honors Colloquium in Fall 2022
Honors Thesis Symposium
Western Regional Honors Conference in Missoula 2019
Western Regionals Honors Conference 2018
Honors Summer Camping Trip 2018
Honors Program "NerdHerd" Pizza Party
MSU Denver Honors at Western Regionals Honors Conference 2019!
Upcoming Events
Most Honors events are open to all MSU Denver students! Honors students earn co-curricular points for attending events.
Upcoming Honors Conferences
Western Regional Honors Conference 2025 | MSU Denver, Colorado
Submission Deadline: December 20th
Current Honors Colloquium Courses
HON 39AK: Homelessness, Un-housing, and the Production of a Crisis
Students learn critical frameworks and approaches to understanding (un)housing and state failures to 'solving' homelessness.
HON 391A: Debate in Democratic Life
This course introduces students to the history, theory, and practice of debate in democratic life. Click below for more info!
What is the Honors Program?
About: The Metropolitan State University of Denver Honors Program is a community of highly motivated and academically adventurous students and faculty members dedicated to working together to attain new levels of achievement. The program is designed to develop in our students the ability to apply critical and creative thinking as well as conduct high-quality research and creative work. Honors students learn to integrate a variety of disciplines in their approach to a given project, demonstrate civic and intercultural knowledge and engagement, and reflect critically upon their values and the learning process. This is an innovative program that allows students to achieve the Honors Program credential by completing an individually tailored combination of both academic courses and co-curricular honors options.
The Honors Program is designed to develop in our students the ability to apply critical and creative thinking as well as conduct high-quality research and creative work. Honors students learn to integrate a variety of disciplines in their approach to a given project, demonstrate civic and intercultural knowledge and engagement, and reflect critically upon their values and the learning process. This is an innovative program that allows students to achieve the Honors Program credential by completing an individually tailored combination of both academic courses and co-curricular honors options.
Who is an Honors Student?
Are you the kind of student who truly enjoys learning? Do you read for pleasure? Are you curious about more topics than you have time to pursue? Do you enjoy in-depth dialogue and/or debate? Does intellectual challenge motivate you? If you find yourself answering in the affirmative to many of these questions, you just might be an honors student!
Open to new, continuing, and transfer students in all majors, the Honors Program provides an enriching academic experience for motivated students with broad academic interests. Designed to promote independent thought and creative inquiry, the majority of honors credits are earned in conjunction with your degree program—not as additional hours. Students who enroll in Honors should expect a challenge that stimulates curiosity and research while broadening perspectives in unexpected ways.
President Davidson visits the MSU Denver Honors Program, which provides a challenging curriculum and engaged community for high-achieving students.
Why join the Honors Program?
Students in the MSU Denver Honors Program enjoy the combined benefits of a small community of engaged learners and dynamic instructors, while also having access to the substantial resources of MSU Denver and its vibrant urban campus.
- Supportive community
- Access to the Honors House and its many resources
- Priority registration
- Unique honors courses
- Additional advising and academic support
- Undergraduate research opportunities
- Funding for local, regional and national conference travel
- Work closely with faculty
- Recognition at graduation and Honors designation on transcripts
- Improved preparation for graduate and professional school
- Special cords at graduation
Program Requirements
Admission Criteria
This program is designed for highly engaged and intellectually curious students who want to achieve their best and get more out of their college education. The Honors Program brings together a vibrant community of students from diverse academic backgrounds and with many different approaches to learning. This program promotes community engagement, interdisciplinary study, and independent research and creative scholarship.
The Honors Program is open to any student who wishes to apply. Admission is based primarily on the essay submissions. The essays are the focus of our admissions process because they help us to determine if the program is a good fit for the applicant. Honors is a good fit for students who are excited about learning and thinking critically about topics and ideas beyond their major; participating in a dynamic community of learners; completing an independent research or creative project as part of their degree process.
Essays will be evaluated on both form and content. The essays should demonstrate good control of language and clear organization of ideas. They should also include content that gives a clear sense of who you are, your interests, goals, and personal perspectives.
If a student is denied admission, based on their essays, they are encouraged to rewrite and resubmit their essays for reconsideration. The Writing Center offers support to students for the re-application process.
Program Requirements
The Honors Program curriculum requires 21 units of approved courses and activities. Each student is able to design their own path through the Honors curriculum by completing the Honors core courses and combining a selection of academic and co-curricular options.
Please note that typically, students need at least 2 academic years remaining (or 60 credits) to be able to complete the Honors Program along with their degree requirements. For students who only have 1 academic year left (30 credits), the Honors Program offers a Thesis-only track. Please contact us for more information.
To become a member of the Honors Program community, complete the form below. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Good Standing
Good standing means being active in the program by taking at least one honors course per academic year and passing honors courses with B- or better. Participation in co-curricular events also indicates active participation in the Program and earns units that count towards the honors distinction.
Graduating with Honors
To graduate with MSU Denver Honors Program distinction, each student completes Honors coursework and an Honors thesis, and achieves a 3.3 undergraduate GPA by the time of graduation.
**Most of the Honors Program courses are offered face-to-face only. If you are an online-only student, please reach out to us before applying.**
Students wishing to apply to the MSU Denver Honors Program should complete the Honors Application and submit it to the Honors Program. Applications will be evaluated on an ongoing basis for the following semester.
The application form requires the following information:
- Writing samples including short answer questions and two essays of 400-500 words each. Preview the application writing prompts here.
- Optional submissions: Applicants are invited to include any of the following additional items if they wish to do so. However, these are not required to apply: current GPA, standardized test scores, a paper or a creative piece that shows your abilities, and/or a reference letter.
Please be advised that the Honors Program House has stairs at the entrance and is not wheelchair accessible. Please contact Jennifer O’Dell to schedule an appointment in another location if needed.
If you have questions, please contact the Honors Program, or call 303-615-1154.
Apply Now!
Click here to apply
Spring 2025 - Colloquium Courses
Date/Time: Spring 2025 | M/W 9:30-10:45
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Rey Hernandez-Julian
Description: Although some things in life are definite, most decisions must be made under a burden of uncertainty. Students in this course will spend a semester taking a close look at this reality of risk. The course’s first topic is the neurobiology and psychology of risk. Why does our brain sometimes seek it out, but other times avoid it? Why does it sometimes thrill us, but other times makes us anxious and unhappy? What if liking risk too much becomes a problem? Next, we examine the economics of risky behaviors, mainly crimes, drugs, and sex. Does human participation in these behaviors change over time and in different places? What rules do societies create around these behaviors, and do these rules make us better off? Third, we examine financial markets (where more risk is associated with a higher return), gambling (where we pay to add extra uncertainty to our lives), and insurance (where we pay to reduce the uncertainty). Finally, we move past individual level risk and consider the risks that affect humanity as a whole: nuclear war, catastrophic meteoric impact, and climate change.
Date/Time: Spring 2025 | T/R 2:00-3:15
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth Kleinfeld
Description: This course draws on disability studies, rhetoric, fat studies, creative writing, and other disciplines to explore ableism in public and private domains and imagine a world that centers disability (such as chronic illness, autism, and ADHD) and other forms of difference. Students will learn about physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities, and study how social and institutional structures position disability as strange, inferior, and problematic. Students will use memoir writing, ethnographic research, and other methodologies to explore how disability and ableism have impacted them. The final project will invite students to imagine a world that subverts ableist assumptions about non-normative bodies and minds.
Date/Time: Spring 2025 | M/W 11:00-12:15
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Judith Strathearn
Description:This year’s Exploring Community Engagement course will focus on the memoir First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung. The memoir centers on Ung’s experiences during the Cambodian genocide and Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. Ung crafted her memoir from the horrors of the Khmer Rouge she and her family experienced yet blended these with messages of hope and survival.
Our course will center on an in-depth investigation of Ung’s memoir and address many of the topics included in the memoir through an interdisciplinary lens. We will engage with other professors across the MSU Denver campus, including Music, History, Social Work, & Psychology, making the course a unique opportunity to learn from a variety of educators. In addition to focusing on the memoir from a literary perspective, students will examine Cambodian history and culture, the violent tactics and the psychological impacts associated with war, activism for human rights, and paths to healing.
The course will be discussion-based and include experiences such as researching Cambodian culture, crafting an empowerment and healing playlist, tasting Cambodian foods, researching trauma in spaces impacted by war violence, and examining trauma-informed practices for healing. It will culminate in the construction of an activist memoir.
This course is hosted by the Honors Program, but it is open to all interested MSU Denver students. Students interested in history, psychology, the arts, literature, and social work will find it engaging.
Spring 2025 - Honors Courses
Date/Time: Spring 2025 | M/W 9:30-10:45
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Rey Hernandez-Julian
Description: Although some things in life are definite, most decisions must be made under a burden of uncertainty. Students in this course will spend a semester taking a close look at this reality of risk. The course’s first topic is the neurobiology and psychology of risk. Why does our brain sometimes seek it out, but other times avoid it? Why does it sometimes thrill us, but other times makes us anxious and unhappy? What if liking risk too much becomes a problem? Next, we examine the economics of risky behaviors, mainly crimes, drugs, and sex. Does human participation in these behaviors change over time and in different places? What rules do societies create around these behaviors, and do these rules make us better off? Third, we examine financial markets (where more risk is associated with a higher return), gambling (where we pay to add extra uncertainty to our lives), and insurance (where we pay to reduce the uncertainty). Finally, we move past individual level risk and consider the risks that affect humanity as a whole: nuclear war, catastrophic meteoric impact, and climate change.
Date/Time: Spring 2025 | T/R 2:00-3:15
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth Kleinfeld
Description: This course draws on disability studies, rhetoric, fat studies, creative writing, and other disciplines to explore ableism in public and private domains and imagine a world that centers disability (such as chronic illness, autism, and ADHD) and other forms of difference. Students will learn about physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities, and study how social and institutional structures position disability as strange, inferior, and problematic. Students will use memoir writing, ethnographic research, and other methodologies to explore how disability and ableism have impacted them. The final project will invite students to imagine a world that subverts ableist assumptions about non-normative bodies and minds.
Date/Time: Spring 2025 | M/W 11:00-12:15
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Judith Strathearn
Description: This year’s Exploring Community Engagement course will focus on the memoir First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung. The memoir centers on Ung’s experiences during the Cambodian genocide and Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. Ung crafted her memoir from the horrors of the Khmer Rouge she and her family experienced yet blended these with messages of hope and survival.
Our course will center on an in-depth investigation of Ung’s memoir and address many of the topics included in the memoir through an interdisciplinary lens. We will engage with other professors across the MSU Denver campus, including Music, History, Social Work, & Psychology, making the course a unique opportunity to learn from a variety of educators. In addition to focusing on the memoir from a literary perspective, students will examine Cambodian history and culture, the violent tactics and the psychological impacts associated with war, activism for human rights, and paths to healing.
The course will be discussion-based and include experiences such as researching Cambodian culture, crafting an empowerment and healing playlist, tasting Cambodian foods, researching trauma in spaces impacted by war violence, and examining trauma-informed practices for healing. It will culminate in the construction of an activist memoir.
This course is hosted by the Honors Program, but it is open to all interested MSU Denver students. Students interested in history, psychology, the arts, literature, and social work will find it engaging.
Date/Time: T/R 11:00-12:15
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Jason Jordan
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description: This course teaches students how to design and deliver effective, ethical presentations. The ability to adapt to different audiences and contexts – such as professional or public situations – is emphasized. The course provides instruction on and practice of organization, delivery and performance, technology, and research skills. Students also learn effective listening techniques and critical thinking skills. The course empowers students to become successful professional presenters and public speakers.
Note: Credit will be granted for only one prefix: COMM or HON.
Sections of this course may be offered in-person, in hybrid format, or online.
General Studies: Oral Communication
Date/Time: M/W 11:00-12:15
Credits: 3
Instructor: TBD
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description: This is a course for students in the Honors Program and addresses the process of writing extended essays supported by research. The course includes an introduction to research methods, practice in critical reading, thinking, and writing across the disciplines, integration of source material, and the conventions of MLA and APA styles of documentation. Students can expect to do a series of shorter writing and research assignments leading to the longer, documented paper and will write reflectively on their writing process.
General Studies: Written Communication
Date/Time: T/R 12:30-1:45
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Todd Laugen
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description:This course surveys the history of the United States with a particular focus on the development and meanings of race and ethnicity. This includes an exploration of the political, social, economic, and cultural experiences of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and some first generation immigrants from Europe. Students explore long-term changes and developments from the fifteenth century to the present.
General Studies:Historical
University Requirement(s): Ethnic Studies & Social Justice
**Must be CRN: 31205 to count for Honors credits**
Date/Time: T/R 11:00-12:15
Credits: 3
Instructor: Sabina, Mlodzianowska
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description: In this course, students are introduced to the ‘economic way of thinking,’ enabling them to analyze macroeconomic phenomena, both historical and contemporary, and to evaluate their implications for societal well-being. They discover how to measure economic performance, inflation, and unemployment. Additionally, students investigate the factors underpinning long-run economic growth. Emphasis is placed on recognizing the role, limits, and implications of macroeconomic policies, including the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve and the government’s fiscal policies.
Note: B- or better required for Honors credit.
General Studies: Business/Social and Behavioral Sciences
**Must be CRN: 30543 to count for Honors credits**
Date/Time: M 11:00-1:50
Credits: 3
Instructor: Glenn Furton
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description: This course offers an introductory analysis of economic decision making in a market system. The roles, actions, and interactions of consumers, firms, and the government are explored. Market failure and government failure are also considered. Microeconomic principles and analysis are applied to current events and problems and are used to explore human behavior.
Note: B- or better required for Honors credit.
General Studies: Business/Social and Behavioral Sciences
**Must be CRN: 30695 to count for Honors credits**
Date/Time: TBD
Credits: 3
Instructor:Dr. Julie Clockston
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description: This course is an interdisciplinary inquiry where students learn about the dynamics of social change. Discussions focus on important examples of radical social transformation throughout history and from around the globe. Students explore definitions and theoretical models that can be used to explain and institute change. Students are also encouraged to learn about and connect with community-based organizations involved in creating change and promoting social justice. Some sections of this course may be offered as Service Learning courses.
Note: B- or better required for Honors credit. Some sections of this course may be taught as Service Learning.
General Studies: Social and Behavioral Sciences, Global Diversity
Date/Time: T/R 3:30-4:45
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Roger Green
Prerequisite(s): ENG 1020 or ENG 1021, Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description: In the Modern Period, Critical Theory emerges as a decidedly multidisciplinary field that challenges the foundations of the existing social order through in-depth analysis of capitalism, culture, power, the family, and the individual. This course provides an overview of the development of the field of Critical Theory and examines some of its major currents. Topics may include: Psychoanalytic Criticism, Marxist Criticism, Discourse Theory, Feminist Criticism/Gender Studies/Queer Theory, Deconstruction, Race Theory, Postmodernism, New Historicism, Cultural Studies, Narratology, and Digital Media Studies.
Note: B- or better required for Honors credit.
General Studies: Arts/Humanities
Date/Time: Online
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Luis, Rivas
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description: Students study the expectations that shape scholarly writing in their various academic disciplines. Students draw on research appropriate for discipline-specific peer-reviewed publications and/or conference presentations. During this course, students learn to transform their written work into submission-ready artifacts with the guidance of instructor feedback and peer review. This course is ideal for students who plan to attend graduate school or are in writing-intensive degree programs.
Note: B- or better required for Honors credit.
General Studies: Written Communication
Date/Time: Online
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Jessica Parker
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description: Students explore the expectations that shape scientific writing in their various scientific disciplines and employ the correct forms, interpret and synthesize the literature and present their researched writing to various audiences. Students draw on research appropriate for discipline-specific publications and/or conference presentations. During this course, students transform their work into publishable/presentable texts with the guidance of instructor feedback and peer review. This course is ideal for students who are majoring in a science discipline.
General Studies:Written Communication
Note: B- or better required for Honors credit.
General Studies: Written Communication
Date/Time: W 2:00-4:00 Hybrid- synchronous in person. Class meets in person on the following Thursdays: 1/23, 2/6, 2/20, 3/6, 3/13, 4/3, 4/17, 5/1
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Philip Bernhardt
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment in the Honors Program or Permission from the Honors Director
Description: In this senior experience course, students will have opportunities to synthesize the knowledge, skills, and theoretical constructs learned throughout their undergraduate studies. Students will design an action research project relevant to their field of study, discipline, and/or profession. The course requires students to identify applicable research topics, formulate research questions, analyze the quality and credibility of research, synthesize research to develop and organize a literature review, select appropriate research designs and methods, and develop a research proposal aligned with the elements and requirements outlined by MSU Denver’s IRB process and Human Subjects Protection Program. Students will have the opportunity to present and discuss their research proposals to demonstrate developed expertise.
Note: B- or better required for Honors credit.
General Studies: Senior Experience
Grads in the News
President’s Award winner blazes his own trail
For Gabriel Trujillo, the path to graduation has been paved with challenges and characteristic determination.
Substance abuse and the mother-child bond
Graduating student’s research sheds light on how addiction impacts new moms.
The opportunity of a lifetime
How one student’s passion for scientific research landed him a full ride in an Ivy League doctoral program.
Double-major role model
MSU Denver’s Individualized Degree and Honors programs helped chart Shayla Bischoff’s path through college.
DIY disease detection
Testing for Carrión’s disease in Andean populations is severely lacking.
Becoming Ted
Saya “Ted” Richthofen turned his personal struggles into a passion for making the Auraria Campus a more welcoming place.
A Sustained Ability to Reinvent
Becky Alter toured much of the world as a musician. Her next gig is preserving it for generations to come.
Honors Program Location
We are located just west of the West Classroom, or south of the restaurant Los Molinos along the row of old houses. Look for the yellow one!
Location MapMonday: 8am-5pm
Tuesday: 8am-5pm
Wednesday: 8am-5pm
Thursday: 8am-5pm
Friday: 9am-2pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
Honors House
1033 9th Street Park
Denver, CO 80204
Connect with the Honors Program!