Economics Honors Track

Mission

The purpose of the Economics Honors Track is to serve our majors by facilitating and encouraging their participation in the University's Honors Program.

The Economics Honors Track provides our most highly motivated majors the chance to conduct advanced study and research in close contact with a faculty advisor from the department.

The research-oriented Economics Honors Track admits students after they join the University's Honors Program. Regardless of their future plans, distinguishing oneself with an Honors Degree in Economics promises to be very rewarding and gives students a beyond undergraduate experience. By becoming an Economics Honors Track student, students greatly increase their chances of going to top graduate schools with scholarships.

All relevant details about admission, course load, graduation and evaluation can be found in the links above.

Courses

The Economics Honors Track students must complete all requirements of the Economics major and Honors Program. Some Economics courses may substitute for required Honors Program courses as detailed below, and thus enable graduation with minimal impact on overall course load.

Four year Honors pathway (joining Honors as first year student): students are required to take 2 HON courses and a minimum of 1 A-section course such as ENG 100A)
Upper Division Honors pathway (joining Honors in the junior year): an HON 291 to HON 491 course, or, by petition, an Economics graduate course

ALL STUDENTS regardless of pathway above:

Submission of a 10-12 page written research proposal, accompanied by a signed proposal and mentor form. This should be accomplished with at least two full semesters remaining. We highly recommend taking HON 495: Introduction to Research (3 credits, W-Writing Intensive and O-Oral Intensive), which is designed to guide students through the process of writing a research proposal. This proposal should include an abstract, outline, focused bibliography, and as much preliminary writing (e.g., a review of relevant scholarship) as possible. See the guidelines for the proposal on the Honors website for more information.

HON 494 Honors Workshop
(0 credits)—taken after submission of proposal (typically taken first semester of senior year)
This is the companion workshop for the first semester of HON 496 or ECON 499. It is designed to familiarize students with the protocol for independent study with their faculty mentor, criteria and timeline for the Senior Honors Project, and requires students to submit a detailed plan of research for their HON 496/ECON 499 work.
HON 496: Senior Honors Project
(6 credits)—taken in the last two semesters of senior year (at least 3 credits of “ECON 499: Advanced Directed Research” should be used for this requirement)
This course is an independent study under the supervision of an Economics faculty advisor selected by the student.

Admission

Students can participate in the Economic Honors Track any time after they are accepted into the UHM Honors Program and have secured a faculty mentor from the Economics Department.

Requirements:

Acceptance into the UH Honors program
A declared Economics major
Econ GPA of 3.3 (note this is a higher GPA than the Honors minimum 3.2)

For further information, please contact Professor Theresa Greaney, Undergraduate Chair of the UHM Economics Department.

Forms

Here are a list of forms for the Economics Honors Program: