Although the Honors courses are challenging and invigorating, a large part of the NMU Honors Program experience happens beyond the courses and the physical classroom. Students are required to participate in a senior capstone project. Additionally, they are encouraged to learn a foreign language, study abroad, do research, attend and present at conferences and publish.
Conference, Presentations, Publications
The Honors Program facilitates and encourages travel to state, regional and national honors conferences for those who are presenting. It also encourages students to present their work at the local level through the HSO forum each semester, or through independent venues.
International-ization
For an Honors designation, the Honors Program requires students to learn a language other than English and also encourages them to volunteer and study abroad. The Honors Program works with academic departments to create special study abroad opportunities and our national council organize semesters abroad for Honors students nationwide.
Research at NMU
Unlike many larger universities, NMU undergraduates have many opportunities for collaborative research with the faculty. Honors students are encouraged to pursue such opportunities. The Honors Program director can assist in helping program participants to learn what’s available and how to become involved.
Excursions
Many interesting cultural venues and historical sites in the U.S. are located within a day's drive of Marquette. Every year, the program takes a weekend trip to a major Midwest city to enjoy cultural activities and fine food, while strengthening relationships among students, faculty, and staff. During the 2023-24 school year, we visited Minneapolis that fall, attending the classic play "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the Guthrie Theater, and visiting the Minneapolis Institute of Art. In Winter 2024, we took a daytrip to Appleton, WI to see the infamous "Les Misérables" at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.
Previous trips include enjoying the world premiere of a play at the Minneapolis Guthrie Theatre, seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In the Heights" at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, when Honors 211 (Food and Society) visited the Lansing and Detroit areas, and the Honors 111 (Modern Art European Sources) trip to the Chicago Art Institute.
Past field trip experiences
Many interesting cultural venues and historical sites in the U.S. are located within a day's drive of Marquette. Featured on this page are field trip experiences enjoyed by NMU Honors students- another example of activities beyond the classroom.
Eight freshman Honors students traveled to Milwaukee in late September to visit Ten Chimneys the home of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne and attend a Milwaukee Symphony concert.
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne are widely considered the greatest acting team in the history of American theatre. Every summer they would return to their home west of Milwaukee and invite fellow artists to spend time with them.
Their home is now a National Historic site where visitors get to learn about their lives and friendships against the backdrop of the American theatre.
The group traveled by van from Marquette to Milwaukee, en route to 10 Chimneys the group stopped off in Hartford Wisconsin for lunch. Dr. Broadway, the interim Honors Director, stopped to ask the mounted policeman where a good place for lunch was - the policeman recommended the Mineshaft- Wisconsin's largest restaurant and bar.
In the evening the group headed out for dinner at the John Hawks restaurant on the Milwaukee riverfront and walked to the concert hall where they heard a Brahms Symphony and a Beethoven piano concerto.