FACT SHEET

What is the Honors Interdisciplinary Studies program?

The Interdisciplinary Studies Program at the Clearwater Campus is a structured and integrated Honors curriculum that fulfills 27 hours of the College’s general education requirements. These requirements include liberal arts courses in English, the humanities, and the social sciences. The curriculum is intended to provide students with a general understanding of content while encouraging intellectual curiosity. The fields of study that develop such habits of mind are traditionally believed to be literature, history, philosophy, ethics, fine arts and the social sciences. This program emphasizes critical thinking, reading and writing skills and analysis/synthesis skills by focusing on the intellectual and cultural heritage of Western civilization. See Interdisciplinary Studies Option in GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ASSOCIATE IN ARTS DEGREE for additional information on courses.

The Honors Interdisciplinary Studies Program offers both large and small group instruction, flexible class scheduling, broad inter-related perspectives, and the unique opportunity to study with other selected, motivated students in this rigorous program.

Entrance to this Honors program is by invitation according to the student performance on the SPC Placement Test, or SAT scores, or by IDS instructor interview.

* Outstanding liberal arts background
* Efficient scheduling of class time
* A low student-teacher ratio
* Association with peers of similar abilities, interests and motivation
* An excellent opportunity to acquire the academic skills needed in the junior and senior years at a university
* The opportunity to work closely with enthusiastic teachers who are interested in the student's intellectual development
* An understanding of how different subjects inter-relate
* Honors distinction on transcript
* Career exploration and guidance
* Field trips, speakers, team projects
* A sense of community among students who work together for four semesters
* Close articulation with receiving institutions about transfer credit