Honors Engaged is a year-long civic engagement program led by the Honors First-Year-Experience (FYE) team. In combination with our “Beyond George Street” course, Honors Engaged is designed to provide a dynamic, interdisciplinary introduction to the life of a scholar-citizen. Our goal is to empower students to take control of their college careers by equipping them with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed and leading them toward rich opportunities for academic, campus, and community engagement. In addition to attending their FYE classes, students will partner with a broad coalition of academic and community leaders to accept their new role as citizens in the larger Charleston community.
Honors Engaged takes students Beyond George Street by engaging them in meaningful experiential opportunities outside of the classroom addressing critical issues such as Education, Sustainability, Inclusive Communities, and Health and Wellness. Civic engagement is supported by in-class workshops and guided reflection exercises, uniting action and academic exploration. Honors Engaged seeks to raise awareness of critical issues and serve specific needs identified by affected communities in the Charleston area and beyond, uniting action and academic exploration. Throughout their first year in the College of Charleston Honors College, students pursue informed civic engagement with a community outreach initiative and reflect on their work as an academic, professional, and civic cohort.
Honors Engaged was founded in 2010, and it has evolved with the needs of the community over time. Initially, the program was called the Literacy Outreach Initiative and it was designed to help local schools meet state standards for education. Over the years, education has remained a major driving theme of Honors Engaged, but we found that our students and our community wanted to devote our work to broader issues. In time, we developed partnerships with other community organizations so that students could work within their structures to help them achieve their missions. We also encourage students to explore critical issues in the Charleston community via research, participation in campus and community discussions and committees, and event planning and attendance. All Honors Engaged approaches are informed and inspired by the principles of social justice and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Honors Engaged is facilitated through the courses: HONS 103A and HONS 103B, and they are integral components of the Honors First-Year Experience.
Supporting Campus Offices:
First-Year Experience
Career Center
Center for Academic Excellence in Peer Education
Center for Civic Engagement
Center for Sustainable Development
Department of English
Multicultural Student Programs and Services
Office of Institutional Diversity
Office of Student Life
Office of the Dean of Students
Office of the Provost