University Honors Program

Marquette’s University Honors Program is designed for intellectually curious, academically engaged students who want to learn in a close-knit community of their peers at the heart of a vibrant research university. Its broadly based, interdisciplinary curriculum addresses our most pressing contemporary challenges with cutting-edge knowledge and research and the wisdom of centuries of Jesuit values and pedagogy. Our Honors values and goals emphasize curiosity and open-mindedness, active listening and dialogue, breadth of learning and experience, and a commitment to equity, justice, and human rights.

The UHP offers two ways to participate in Honors: Core Honors, in which students follow an Honors version of the Marquette Core Curriculum throughout their undergraduate career; and Disciplinary Honors, in which students do Honors work in their majors.  Students may participate in either program or both.  Core Honors is open to incoming first-year students, who apply after being accepted to Marquette; students apply to Disciplinary Honors programs in their sophomore year. For more information on both programs, view our values and goals page, browse our website, or contact us!

HONORS NEWS AND EVENT


Congratulations to Honors Study Abroad Winners for Summer and Fall 2026
Ta’shala Hubanks, A&S, Biological Sciences, Fall 2026, Sogang, South Korea
Wilson von Bohlen, A&S, Data Science,
Summer 2026 Immersion Program, Spain

Honors Director Amelia Zurcher and CORE Director Mike Olson receive Way Klingler Teaching Enhancement Award 
Dr. Michael Olson, director of the Marquette Core Curriculum and teaching associate professor of philosophy, and Dr. Amelia Zurcher, director of the University Honors Program and professor of English, receive a $20,000 grant toward their project, “The Marquette Core Culminating Course as Citizens’ Assembly. More information.

olson and caponeHonors Faculty Awards
Honors students also presented two faculty members with the Class of 2026 Faculty Awards: Dr. Michael Olson and Dr. Abram Capone, both of Philosophy (left). Olson and Capone taught honors sections of PHIL 1001H (Honors Foundations in Philosophy) and CORE 4929H (Honors Service of Faith and Promotion of Justice).

Honors students compete at Big East Research Symposium
Five teams of undergraduate researchers competed at the annual Big East Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium on Saturday, March 15, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Three Honors students competed -- Lennard Fredric Boholst, Sophia Halick, and Jasleen Kaur -- all Honors Undegraduate Research fellows. Boholst, an honors senior studying economics in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, won third place in the social sciences, humanities and business category. Read more here.

Honors Leadership Council
The University Honors Program welcomed nine alumni to campus with the goal of furthering the mission of the program and to support positive alumni relations. Check out the Honors Alumni Leadership Council.

HONORS NEW AND EVENTS


Honors Research Fair
Tues, Nov 17th 4-5:30pm
Sensenbrenner Hall Atriums
Check out the full listing of this year's summer research recipients including their research titles and project mentors. Award winners will present at this Annual Honors Research Fair which includes a browsing session with posters. 

Honors Program Teaching Students to Have Challenging Conversations
The Honors Program is actively teaching students how to debate their fellow classmates. Honors Director Amelia Zurcher helped launch a civil discourse class as part of the core curriculum for many of its first-year students and the course is getting recent media attention. Read more here in the HIGHER ED DIVE.

Behind the Doors of the Honors Living Learning Community

honors videoCheck out this video to see a day in the life of an Honors LLC! Riley Condon is an Honors student with a minor in Digital Media. She created this video to give prospective students a snapshot into the day in the life of an Honors student at Marquette.

New Course Offerings in Spring 2027
Are you looking to broaden your college experience? Then check out the full spring 2027 Honors Course Schedule including this new course:
HOPR 2956H - More than Your Major


Podcast “Breaking Barriers: How One Scholarship Changed a Life,” features  Kennedi Luckett
Honors student Kennedi Luckett, the first recipient of the Wade Scholarship, discusses her journey to higher education and why she chose Marquette. Listen here.


 

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Honors Digest

Published Bi-Monthly
Read through the Honors Digest, a bi-monthly roundup for current students of various upcoming honors events, opportunities, research announcements and more!  Read the current issue.


student on bench

Prestigious Fellowships

Competitive fellowships and scholarships offer unique opportunities, both nationally and internationally, to expand your horizons and deepen your understanding. See more news!
Learn more about prestigious fellowships.


Catholic and Jesuit

Student Highlights


Ryan Smith was featured in Marquette Today for receiving the Fulbright Summer fellowship to study film and cinema at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom for a three-week film program. Read the full article here. 

Natalia Beans received the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship to aid in furthering her STEM endeavors. Read the full story here.

Madelyn Filer was featured in Marquette Today for winning the 2025 Student Employee of the Year award for her position as an undergraduate research assistant with the Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Engineering Center Outreach Lab. Read the full story here.

Sophia Halick was accepted to the Wistar Institute on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus this past  summer. She worked in the Wistar labs doing genetics research with a focus on cancer research.

Sidor Clare, a first-year Biological Sciences major participated in a summer program in data analytics at the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics at Brown University.


Student News Archives, Fall 2025