Discourse across the Disciplines; Campus Leadership; Culture Literacy; Civic Engagement

The final purpose of the curriculum of study in the classical liberal arts and sciences—to establish the foundations for civic friendship in a climate of mutual respect and intellectual rigor—is the guiding ideal of Honors education at Villanova University. The liberal arts and sciences, although presented pedagogically in a sequence from the less to the more complex—when revealed in their systematic unity—provide the more complete context of values within which intellectual and practical skills can mature, and from which professional lives can attain more than mere personal success.

The educational mission of the University Honors Program begins with the premise that the humanities embody the foundational discourse on human value, worth, and sanctity; the first immediate inference is that they are as valuable in preparation for professional careers as they are for their own sake.

The Meaning of the Degree

About the Gateway Portfolio
A four semester project, the Gateway Portfolio will serve as:

*A repository of course work across the core academic disciplines, and opportunities to reflect upon intersections among them

*A forum for peer discussion of contributions by invited speakers, stage and musical performances, and other creative arts made to the artistic and intellectual culture on campus

*An opportunity to translate creative and humanistic knowledge into informed, effective civic engagement

*A sound measure for developing an integrated conception of growth and maturation in intellect, character, and responsible citizenship

Assisting in the maturation within each person of the profoundly essential human qualities of moral integrity, imagination, intellect, and civic engagement—each also requisite for professional success—is primary among the goals of education in the classical liberal arts and sciences.

Thus an Honors Degree cannot be merely an aggregate of courses, culminating in a Senior Project that brings conceptual unity to a single topic within an isolated academic discipline. The meaning of the degree also must embody sustained self-reflexive appropriation of the complex of intellectual intersections among the distinct academic disciplines.

Only in this manner can classical education in the liberal arts and sciences—fully integrated in thought and behaviors—adequately inform the development of persons in the maturation of their own humanity.

Therefore, successful completion of a Gateway Portfolio is required for all Honors students pursuing the Honors Concentration or any of the Honors Degrees (Bachelor of Arts, Honors or Bachelor of Science, Honors).