Philosophy and History
Philosophy
Academic attainment is the foremost concern of the University Honors College (UHC). In particular, the college recognizes that education for the highly able undergraduate should combine incentives and recognition for achievement with special opportunities for intellectual challenge, supplemental advising, and academic community. It is our observation that these ingredients, when combined with enthusiastic teaching by supportive faculty, yield a particularly fulfilling educational experience. Overall, UHC seeks to integrate high academic standards from faculty with correspondingly high expectations for academic initiative by students.
UHC is firmly committed to the ideal of scope within undergraduate education. Graduate schools, professional schools, and the workplace are settings for exclusive specialization toward careers. Undergraduate education is uniquely distinguished by affording the opportunity for broad studies through the sciences and humanities for the sake of genuinely insightful and enlightened perspective in a complex world. As Robert Heinlein once noted, "Specialization is for insects." Different undergraduate schools and majors will afford varying opportunities for outside courses that expand scope, but they all offer some latitude for expansive studies. Students who opt for an easy, passive, or narrow course through these irreplaceable undergraduate years will be denying themselves incalculable adventure, satisfaction, and personal growth.
History
The University of Pittsburgh established the UHC in 1986 to meet the special academic and cocurricular needs of its most capable and motivated undergraduates. Building upon the achievements of the University honors program, begun in 1978, the honors college provides increased opportunity, incentives, and recognition for high academic attainment by students.
UHC is not a membership organization. UHC community activities are open to students throughout the campus. Curricular UHC offerings, such as UHC courses and the Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) degree opportunity, are available to all Pitt students who have shown sufficient academic performance in prior terms to undertake them successfully. As a college, UHC brings undergraduates together with both human and material resources that often are retained at the graduate and faculty levels of a large university. This is accomplished through four basic emphases: formal course work, supplemental advising, academic community, and the option to pursue a unique baccalaureate degree, the BPhil.
University-wide in scope and undergraduate in focus, UHC fuses the scholarly advantages of a major research university with the individualized attention, rigor, and educational commitment of the academically demanding small college. For students with talent, drive, and curiosity, UHC is a combination delivery system and support structure that seeks to maximize academic growth through individual effort and personal satisfaction.