Departmental Honors Requirements:
- Candidates must be philosophy majors with a 3.30 GPA in the major.
- Students complete PHIL 5991 and write a substantial paper or significantly rewrite a paper submitted for another philosophy course.
- Students must notify the department head of their intent to participate in the honors program by the end of the first week of the semester of graduation.
- The paper must be approved by a faculty member at least 30 days before the end of the term.
- The paper is presented orally in a department colloquium with the approved manuscript submitted to the department head at least one week before the presentation.
Awards and Scholarships
The philosophy program is supported by several scholarships and awards directed specifically at philosophy majors and minors:
- The Ehlers Scholarship
- the Ehler's Book Award
- Center for Ethics and Public Policy Book Prize
The Ehlers Prizes
The Ehlers Scholarship was established from gifts by family, friends and colleagues of the late Henry Ehlers, founder of the Philosophy program in 1947. This scholarship is for a full-time undergraduate philosophy student in good academic standing and based on potential, need and character.
The Ehlers Book Award provides textbooks needed for philosophy courses taken by the recipients over the following year. Awards are made to continuing philosophy students based on their grades in philosophy courses.
Center For Ethics and Public Policy Book Prize
The Philosophy program's Center for Ethics and Public Policy (CEPP) also recently established the Center for Ethics and Public Policy Book Prize, an essay contest which awarded $250 (in textbook reimbursement) to the winner. The competing essays all concerned a topic that is under the purview of the Center's mission -- ethics and/or public policy (e.g., proportional representation, animal rights, amnesty for illegal immigrants, euthanasia, energy policy, etc.).