Why Honours?
Why would you want to study more than you need to? I asked myself that question, too, before I began my application process. Why would you go to class and do your normal, day-to-day schoolwork, and then stay for an extra two more hours to do more schoolwork?
The answer is pretty simple: I like being busy. And I like challenging myself. The Honours programme is a 30-credit extracurricular programme, taken over the course of around one and a half years, with classes held on Mondays and Wednesdays. It’s a pretty big commitment, but you’re also doing it for yourself: to improve and expand upon your knowledge. I found it very interesting to learn more about things outside of my study, and in a way, it also helped me avoid burn-out.
I also liked how close the people within the Honours programme seemed to be with each other, and I felt like I needed that connection on campus. Plus, their association room felt extremely cosy, and I could pretty easily imagine myself lounging on their couch and playing board games with the other members. That, in my opinion, is one of the biggest strengths of the Honours programme: all of the students are united by their motivation to do academics after school, and while it’s a bit strange at first, you definitely start forming a real bond with your new classmates.
What Is Honours?
The Honours Programme consists of five different tracks: Entrepreneurship & Business Development, Mathematics, Philosophy, Process of Change, and Shaping the Future. You can choose to apply to two tracks in your application, and the decision is made through interviews with the programme coordinators or former Honours students.
I chose to do philosophy because I’m a huge ancient history nerd, and learned a lot about those dusty ancient Greek philosophers through reading on my own. I thought it would be a good idea to revisit that old hobby not only because I’m interested in philosophy by itself, but also because it was so vastly different from the things I learn in Mechanical Engineering.
For philosophy, we have weekly readings and a short assignment related to the text. On Mondays, we students hold unsupervised discussions without any professor present, just to get a better grasp on the text. On Wednesdays, we reconvene with our lecturer and discuss the text with them, and we’re largely free to speak our minds – what we think about the text, what we agree or disagree on, whether we think the philosopher’s ideas are bonkers. It’s a fun time, and I’m especially fond of the Monday sessions: I feel like I’ve gotten pretty close to my classmates, and we can have long, deep, philosophical conversations together.
Each module has its own theme on philosophy, and therefore its own related assignment. To graduate from the Honours programme, you need to complete your final assignment; for philosophy, it’s an essay. Once you’re finished with that (easier said than done), you receive the Honours Certificate and a pin, and all of your Honours courses are added to your Bachelor’s study transcript.
Applying for the Honours programme
You can only join the Honours programme in the first or second year of your bachelor’s, and selection for the programme takes place in January-February each year. If you’re a master’s student, you can join the Master Honours programmes. There are also small ‘open days’ for the Honours Programme before the selection starts, where you can join a mini-lecture and see if it piques your interest. If you’re convinced, then you need to write a motivational essay on why you want to join, and why you chose those specific tracks, and then send it to the application portal along with your transcript of grades.
Don’t forget to join the association!
The Honours programme also has an active study association, called H.V. Ockham. Call me cliché, but I feel like I’ve made that association my second home – the people and the activities just call to me, somehow, and the association room is addictive to a fault (which can be a bad thing, so I try to limit my time there). However, if you’re looking for a place to have a nice cup of coffee, chat with some great people, and maybe play some board games (we have a pretty decent collection), the Ockham room is located in Technohal!
If you’re interested in meeting other students from different disciplines, or making friends with new people, or just discussing your interests – all while improving your CV at the same time, then I’d definitely encourage you to apply for the Honours programme. If you’re curious about anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Honours Office at honours@utwente.nl or check out the official page.
