You’re the type of person who gives 120% to everything you do.
Why should your college experience be any different? At Lesley University, we’ve created our Undergraduate Honors Programs for people like you.
Our Honors Programs bring together students from across majors to push ideas and concepts further. As an honors student, you’ll work closely with faculty and peers to take your learning to the next level.
Dig deeper into topics that interest you. Gain additional career-building skills. Meet professionals and thought leaders in your field. Surround yourself with people who are just as committed to personal and academic growth as you are.
- Self-motivated, with a record of strong academic performance
- Excited to engage in classroom discussions and/or critiques
- Interested in enhancing learning through additional projects, professional experiences, or research
- Indicate your interest in your application to Lesley University
- Once you’ve been accepted to Lesley, you will receive a link to the online Honors Program application, which includes a 300- to 500-word writing prompt
- Complete and return your essay using the online form
- Keep your fingers crossed—we’ll be in touch within 10 days with a decision
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Honors Program
You’re relentlessly passionate about not only understanding the problems we face as a society, but doing something to fix them. So are we. As an honors student at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, join a close-knit community of creative, committed, and independent thinkers. Together through two linked courses in your first semester, investigate the promise and perils of service in democratic community. Work with community partners to connect theory to hands-on practice. Pair up with a peer mentor, and strengthen bonds with fellow honors students on outings to museums, plays, nature walks, and more.
The next year, continue building relationships within the honors community during the Sophomore Honors Seminar. On your own, choose to make any course an Honors Course. Simply sign an Honors Contract with your professor, and work closely together to plan additional projects and assignments related to topics that interest you. For instance, honors students have:
- Interviewed counselors working on policy implementation in domestic violence shelters
- Created an original theater piece
- Researched methods to develop psychosomatic awareness among actors
- Developed workable protocol for a biological experiment
- Written a research paper on holistic healing, wartime commanders, and Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw
This way, you'll define your own academic path and foster mentor relationships with faculty who are experts in your field. As you progress through the program, you'll grow as an independent scholar and critical thinker. You'll gain access to thought leaders in your field, like Anita Hill or Bill McKibben, for instance. And you'll bring all your learning and hard work together senior year during a capstone research project related to your major.
The Sociology of Disaster: Hurricane Irma and Maria
by Lesley Ells
From the Dining Halls [documentary]
by Najifa Tanjeem
Does Size Matter: Investigating the Correlation Between Food Size and the Catching Behavior of the Eastern Grey Squirrel
by Kasriel Linzer
Psychological and Emotional Trauma Experienced by Latino Immigrant Children
by Mia Depalo
Annual Honors Symposium
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Annual Honors Symposium features powerful student presentations.
Meet Honors Student Caitlin Hanley ’19
College of Art and Design Honors Program
You’re determined to find your way in the professional art and design world. As an honors student, challenge yourself to grow as a critical thinker and a creator. Engage in seminars and critiques with artists and designers who push you to think differently and take bigger risks. Over your four years in the program, tackle a series of collaborative projects that build your ability to conceptualize and pitch ideas to professionals in the local arts community.
Starting during your First Year Experience, connect with peers from all departments in the College of Art and Design. With seminars that serve as incubators for solutions to real-life problems, hone your abilities to think and learn collaboratively while generating concepts for local organizations.
For example, during the first-year Honors Seminar, students worked together to respond to a proposal for a floating art installation in South Boston’s Fort Point Channel. After generating and critiquing ideas, honors students selected concepts to present to Fort Point Arts Community, Inc. (FPAC) at the end of the semester.
As you progress, go deeper into a series of studio projects, with more focus on risk-taking and experimentation. Your final year in the program focuses on completing a thesis and body of work for exhibition, while also setting goals to continue your artistic practice after graduation.
Throughout your honors experience, take trips to New York City, visit world-class museums like the Museum of Fine Arts, and meet design professionals, gallery owners, and curators in Boston and beyond. Infuse your studio practice with the real-world experiences and perspectives you’ll need to succeed, as a student and an artist.
Meet Honors Student Jessica Mahoney ’21
Lunder Arts Center
- 617.349.8800
- admissions@lesley.edu
- Contact a counselor.
- Physical Address
Undergraduate Admissions
1627 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138 - Center for the Adult Learner
13 Mellen Street
Cambridge, MA 02138 - Mailing Address
29 Everett Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
- 9:00 am–5:00 pm (Monday-Friday)
9:00 am–1:00 pm (select Saturdays)