First-Year Seminars in the Patrick Leahy Honors College 

First-year Patrick Leahy Honors College students take two-courses, one in the fall (HCOL 1000) and one in the spring (HCOL 1500). Seminars during the fall semester engage with a wide variety of contemporary social and ecological challenges; all seminars share a focus on writing and information literacy.  The spring semester seminars build on skills and knowledge formed in the fall and introduce students to collaborative group work and public speaking.   

Through these first-year courses, students become well-acquainted with each other and the PLHC faculty. By living with fellow honors students, and attending social hours and other events, they create together an exciting intellectual community.

Summer Reading and Writing

Every summer, incoming first-year students read a book that is distributed to the entire cohort and complete an essay that is due on the first day of their section of HCOL 1000 in the fall. While the various sections of HCOL 1000 differ in content, engaging with summer read is an experiences that all new PLHC students share.

Common Hour

The entire first-year cohort has Wednesday evenings from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. open on their schedules so that they can attend workshops and events related to academic advising and the first-year experience.  This is additionally a time when Patrick Leahy Honors College students all know that they are available to study together or collaborate on group assignments.