Our Goals

A perennial questions asked of honors programs, including PLU's, is what in fact makes honors, honors?

At PLU, the honors curriculum is defined by four core foundations: multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, historical and internationally focused study, intentional intellectual and ethical formation, and the establishment of a cohesive learning community.

Rooted in the university's liberal arts foundation, International Honors challenges students to engage PLU's educational mission of thoughtful inquiry, service to others, leadership in public life, and care for the earth's diverse communities and natural resources.

Honors asks students to consider the ways in which their unique interests and intellectual gifts can be of service to the common good. Consequently, honors courses introduce students to primary artistic, legal, philosophical, scientific, and theological events, thinkers, and works that continue to shape our contemporary world.

 As a program and a university influenced by the early modern study of history, all honors courses study the historical contexts in which forms of knowledge and cultural practices arise. Through such broad and deep learning, students are challenged to consider their vocation as leaders within both local and international communities.