The University Honors Program transferred two sets of records to the Archives and Rare Books Library for inclusion in the University Archives. The University Honors Program was created in 1968 as the McMicken Honors Program in the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1991 the program was expanded to include students university-wide and became known as the Honors Scholars Program. The name changed again in 2007 to the University Honors Program when the program was redesigned to better meet the needs of students. Through the program, academically gifted students have the opportunity to enrich their academic experience through honors seminars for academic credit, experiential learning, travel, community engagement, and leadership opportunities.

The first collection, accessioned as UA-09-11, consists mainly of graduation program reception programs and invitations from 1992-2008. This collection also contains a full print-out of the program’s website in 2004. A full finding aid can be found on the ARB website at http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/archives/collections/documents/UA-09-11UniversityHonorsProgram.pdf.

The second collection, accessioned as UA-09-31, contains program records dating back to 1978, including reports, bulletins, minutes, newsletters, and correspondence. The bulk of this collection is made up of outlines, syllabi, and proposals for honors seminar topics from 1982-2004. The seminar records reveal the broad range of knowledge to which honors students are exposed, including history, health, philosophy, science, art, music, literature, religion, language, and many others. Over the years honors students have been given the opportunity to take unique classes such as “Tyranny of the Gene,” “Before There Were Yuppies, There was Becky Sharp,” and “Gadgets and Glitches: Philosophical Problems of Technology.” The full finding aid is at http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/archives/collections/documents/UA-09-31UniversityHonorsProgram.pdf.

– Janice Schulz