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This minor is designed for students who wish to prepare for an intensive undergraduate research experience. The program of study, designed in close consultation with both the student’s major and SCHC advisors, will provide a richer understanding of the logic, conduct, and context of inquiry in related disciplinary arenas.

Application. Interested students must complete an application and qualify for the minor. Applications can be submitted any time after completion of the first year. Normally, students will be expected to have at least a 3.30 grade point average. Applications will be evaluated on overall merit by the Minor in Inquiry Oversight Committee. Applications may be obtained from the South Carolina Honors College, the College of Arts and Sciences, and online on the Honors College Web site.

Opportunity to Participate in the Honors College. The Minor in Inquiry is open to all qualified undergraduates, in and outside the Honors College. All students in the minor will be given priority access to minor-eligible courses offered in the Honors College. They will also be given priority consideration for the SCHC Undergraduate Research Assistantships. Finally, non-honors students in the minor will be given the opportunity to undertake a senior honors thesis or project. Non-honors students admitted to the minor will be assigned the appropriate Honors College advisor who will work with the student and the student’s major advisor to plan the most suitable program.

Requirements. Eighteen credit hours are required to satisfy the minor, distributed over three levels. At least half of the credits must be in the Honors College. Each student must take at least one of the appropriate Level I, “Fundamentals,” courses. These courses introduce some fundamental problems of inquiry confronting those working within related disciplines (for example, the natural sciences). In addition, a student must take at least three courses from Level II. Level II courses must be taken outside of the student’s major discipline. These courses, chosen in close consultation with the student’s advisors, are intended to broaden and deepen the student’s understanding of the nature and problems of inquiry introduced in the Fundamentals course, as well as explore new areas affecting the conduct and context of inquiry in the student’s area of interest. In some cases a student may elect to take a second Level I course. The final two courses may be selected either from among advanced research courses (400 level and above) in the student’s major discipline including the senior thesis/project—Level III courses—or from additional Level II courses. Disciplinary courses counted toward the minor must be approved by both the student’s major and honors advisors and cannot count toward major credit. Alternatively, the student may elect to take additional Level II courses.

Minor Requirements