Honors Courses at Oakton

All participation in the Honors Program begins with signing up for an Honors Course. In this section, we will go through the registration process, how to find course listings, and unique opportunities such as the Honors Contract (the process to turn a ‘regular’ class into an ‘Honors’ class). Scroll down to view course descriptions for current and upcoming Honors Classes.

Quick links:Fall 2026 Course Listings; Honors Contracts

Frequently Asked Questions

Admission into the Honors Program grants you automatic eligibility to register for Honors courses. Our Course Listings are available (see PDF files above, fuller descriptions below). Instructions on finding Honors sections when you register are available here.
There are no minimum course requirements. We welcome all levels of participation! To complete the Honors Scholar Designation requires 18 credits of Honors classes. Any Honors class you take will appear as “honors” on your transcript.
Many students get better grades in Honors classes than they ever have in the past. Why?
- Honors academic work is not necessarily ‘harder’ or more work, but it is academic work of a different kind. Honors courses take students beyond the textbook and focus on experiential learning (e.g., student research, creative projects, site visits), co-curricular learning (e.g., guest speakers, arts events, conferences), and collaborative learning. More than mastering the course materials, your professors are there to help you become a more confident and engaged student.
Nearly all of our courses will fulfill your general education requirements and are transferable in Illinois and nationally. To make your decisions easier, we list the Gen Ed (General Education) and Concentration requirements our courses fulfill with our course descriptions. We also routinely meet with students one-on-one to ensure that our courses fit into their anticipated major and program requirements. In all things, our aim is to support your success on your terms.
The Honors Program offers Honors sections of regular Oakton classes. We change our specific course offerings every semester, but students can expect that Humanities and Arts, Social Science, and STEM fields will be represented.
Learning communities combine two courses from two different disciplines to allow for an interdisciplinary examination of complex topics, such as racial justice (Sociology and Statistics) or global ethics (Philosophy and Global Studies). The seminars are team-taught by two Honors professors, and all students enroll in both courses. Students and faculty form close bonds in these classes and often cite them as THE HIGHLIGHT of their Oakton education.
The Faculty-Student Seminar: Special Topics in Philosophy is offered to Honors students and faculty. Philosophy professors enroll in the class as students, and the seminar offers a unique opportunity to interact with professors as fellow learners. The course is a great option for students who want to explore big ideas in an environment that is very welcoming and supportive.
Work one-on-one with a professor to complete an Honors Contract. Honors credit may not always be available in courses you need. Therefore, you may choose to earn Honors credit in regular classes by ‘contracting’ with your professor to work one-on-one and complete an additional project that enriches your experience of the class. To see examples of past student projects, check out the Honors Student Showcase.
The Honors Scholar Designation is awarded to Honors students who have met the following criteria:
- Maintained a 3.25 GPA *
- Complete at least 18 credit hours in Honors classes with the appropriate distribution:
  - At least 6 credits come from an Honors Learning Community
  - Only 2 classes (usually 6 credits) from Honors Contracts can count towards the Honors Scholar Designation
After the Honors Program has verified your course record, the designation is added to your college transcript. It represents the highest distinction available through the Honors Program. When transferring and applying for scholarships, the Honors Scholar Designation sets you apart from other students with high GPAs and is taken as a mark of serious academic achievement and dedication.
*This may be calculated on the basis of the GPA maintained per semester since joining the Honors Program—recognizing that students may come to Oakton after an absence of some time and a pre-existing GPA that is too low to bring up to a 3.25 by the time of graduation or transfer.

Fall 2026 Honors Courses

Learning Communities (register for both classes):

Honors: Intro. to Literature AND African American Culture and the Arts

Professors Will Crawford and Madhuri Deshmukh

W 6:00pm-8:45pm, Skokie Campus

Gen Eds: Humanities (Fine Arts) x2, U.S. Diversity Studies

Description: In this learning community, we will use a historical framework to analyze the current backlash against critical race theory and being “woke,” as well as book banning, and other forms of silencing as it relates to the resurgence of White nationalism. While there is a long history of anti-Blackness, White violence, and erasure in this country that precedes and contextualizes the current surge we are experiencing, we will explore the continuity that literary works and pop culture, ranging from film, art, TV shows, advertising, and music, add to the discussion of racism and Black resistance in America. The course will analyze racialized oppression, exclusion, and the ways that Black movements have challenged, resisted, and overcome white supremacy, erasure, and violence in the struggle for justice and freedom. We will read and view works by artists such as Isabel Wilkerson, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, Gwendolyn Brooks, August Wilson, Douglas Turner Ward, John Jennings, Faith Ringgold, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Nina Simone, Rapsody, KRS-1, Public Enemy, and Kendrick Lamar. These works will provide us with a framework to investigate and question the way race is understood and constructed in contemporary culture and how the Black imagination has been used as a tool of empowerment and liberation.

The class will be in a hybrid format with one evening-per-week in-person at the Ray Hartstein campus (Skokie), plus online content. Email Professor Will Crawfor d with any questions.

Honors Sections of Gen Ed Classes:

Honors: World Religions

Professor Charles Townsend

Online Asynchronous

Gen Eds: Humanities, Global Studies

Concentrations: Global Studies, Jewish Studies, Writing Intensive

Description: The class will introduce students to the academic study of religion (Religious Studies) through a survey of various beliefs and practices of major living world religions (specifically: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). The class will cover key readings (scriptures and other documents) from diverse global religious traditions. There will be opportunities for those who want to for making in-person site visits with local religious communities, as well as online options for ‘virtual’ visits to religious sites of global significance. The assignments are structured to offer flexible options for fulfilling the course requirements (you can tailor a mixture of different kinds of response papers, site visits, and/or thematic papers). Students will finish the course with an individually guided final project on a current topic of their choice in World Religions. In past semesters, students have gone on to publish and present their final projects, and contribute to chicagoreligions.com.

Honors: Intro. to Social a nd Cultural Anthropology

Professor Lindsey Hewitt

TR 11:00am-12:15pm, Skokie Campus

Gen Eds: Social and Behavioral Sciences, Global Studies, U.S. Diversity Studies

Concentrations: Global Studies; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Description: ANT102 introduces students to the diversity of cultural systems throughout the world with a special emphasis on social justice as analyzed through the intersectional lenses of ethnicity, race, gender, and cultural identity. Students learn about the varied ways people live today and trace the historical, political, and global developments that impact cultural change.

Honors: Ethics

Professor Patrick O’Donnell

Gen Eds: Humanities

Concentrations: Great Books, Peace and Social Justice Studies, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Description: How should I live?We live in a violent, complicated, and fragile world where questions about right, wrong, good, and bad often do not have clear-cut answers. This course starts from the assumption that thinking, feeling, and acting better in this world requires us to better understand the social conditions that surround and shape us. Drawing on historical and contemporary texts in philosophy and adjacent disciplines, we will focus on how structures like capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy, racism, globalization, and their accompanying practices and technologies shape, constrain, and enable not only our own powers to think, feel, and act, but also shape the possibilities for making a better world. If you have questions about the class, please contact Prof. O’Donnell.

Honors: Introduction to Environmental Science

Professor Paul Gulezian

Gen Eds: Lab-Life Science

Description: Honors environmental science is a laboratory course that introduces study of the relationships between natural systems (lakes, forests, atmosphere, etc.) and human systems (economics, politics, agriculture, etc.). Topics will include ecology, evolution, conservation, ecological restoration, food production, water management, energy, pollution, economic systems, urban design, and sustainability. Particular attention will be devoted to learning frameworks that center traditional ecological knowledge, environmental justice considerations, and alternatives to capitalist production.

Honors: Modern and Contemporary Philosophy

Professor Peter Hudis

Gen Eds: Humanities

Concentrations: Great Books

Description: This course is organized around the theme of "Philosophies of Liberation," in which we will explore how twentieth and twenty-first philosophers have addressed such issues as social inequality, racism, sexism, and environmental justice. Our approach wil be global, encompassing thinkers from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, East Asia, and Europe. We will discuss the works of thinkers who have rarely been studied together in one course--such Mabogo Percy More (South Africa), Kohei Saito (Japan), Françoise Vergès (France), Sylvia Wynter (Jamaica), and Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui (Bolivia). We will take a journey of discovery into how their ideas speak to today's struggles for liberation.

Honors: Composition I

Professor Madhuri Deshmukh

Gen Eds: Communications

Description: Coming Soon

Honors: Elementary Statistics

Professor Anna Hammer

Gen Eds: Mathematics

Description: Coming Soon

Honors: Social Problems

Professor Michelle Naffziger-Hirsch

Gen Eds: Social and Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Diversity Studies

Description: Coming Soon

Honors: Effective Speech

Professor Robert Gynn

Gen Eds: Communications

Description: Coming Soon

Summer 2026 Honors Course

Honors Section of GenEd Class:

Summer Field Study: “Intro to Environmental Studies” (With Trip to Marinelab, Key Largo, Florida)

Professor Tess Lesniak

MW 9:00am-11:45am, Des Plaines Campus

Description: Join us for a unique environmental science summer course. We will spend the first five weeks of the semester learning about environmental science at Oakton. Then hit the road and visit MarineLab to learn about marine environmental science first hand. While there we will snorkel daily and explore coral reef, sea grass, and mangrove ecosystems. Students will also participate in research and conservation efforts to support these biodiverse communities. Contact Professo r Lesniak with any questions.

Spring 2026 Honors Courses

Learning Communities (register for both classes):

Honors: A Survey of Ecology AND Social and Political Philosophy

Professors Paul Gulezian and Patrick O’Donnell

TR 11:00am-12:15pm and 12:30pm-1:45pm, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Eds: Life Science, Global Studies, and Humanities

Concentrations: Great Books, Global Studies, Environmental Studies

Description: “Coexistence in the Anthropocene: Can’t We All Just Get Along?”. This learning community is designed to engage students in an exploration of the relationships among humans, ecosystems, and natural environments from both an environmental science perspective as well as through the lens of social and political philosophy. Professors Paul Gulezian and Patrick O’Donnell will team teach this Honors Learning Community together.

Honors: Intro. to Asian American Literature AND Contemporary Culture and the Arts

Professors Mohamed Mehdi and Ji-Hyae Park

TR 9:30am-10:45am and 11:00am-12:15pm, Skokie Campus

Gen Eds: Humanities (Fine Arts) x2, U.S. Diversity Studies

Description: In this learning community, students will take both courses, Introduction to Asian American Literature and Contemporary Culture and the Arts, which will be co-taught by Prof. Ji-Hyae Park (English) and Prof. Mohamed Mehdi (Humanities), and meet back-to-back Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:45 am and 11-12:15 pm on Skokie Campus. The courses will explore compelling connections between canonical Asian American literary texts and more recently published works in Asian American studies. We will also consider how contemporary Asian American arts and culture refract or offer different perspectives on what are considered the “classics” of Asian American literature, which will also suggest possibilities for future directions in Asian American literature, culture, and the arts.

Core Seminar:

Honors: Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Lab Research

Professors Gary Mines and Melodie Graber

T 12:30PM-1:45PM, R 11:30AM-1:45PM, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Ed: Lab-Life Science elective or Lab-Physical Science elective, Recommended for pre-majors

Description: Investigations into the Ecology of Microbial Biofilms. Interested in a career in the sciences? Don’t miss this opportunity to enroll in a course that will give you hands-on experience in a laboratory setting investigating the ecology of microbial biofilms. This class will give you the chance to explore primary scientific literature and participate in the scientific method as we work to identify potential inhibitors and/or promoters of biofilm formation by the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Honors Sections of Gen Ed Classes:

Honors: Microbiology

Professor Suzanne Ziegenhorn

TR 8:00AM-9:15AM, 9:30AM-11:AM, Lee 353, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Ed: Lab-Life Science

Description: This laboratory course introduces the biology of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, protists and viruses. Course content includes metabolism, genetics, identification, control, physiology, relationship to health and disease, and host defense all in a microbial context. Though intended primarily for students in health fields, the content of this course connects directly to many aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic and topics such as viral biology, testing techniques, vaccine development/vaccination and epidemiology are explored and will be of interest to a broad audience. Honors students will engage in an in-depth case study that challenges them to investigate the pathogenic source of a mystery disease and share their findings.

Honors: Religious Diversity in America

Professor Charles Townsend

Online Asynchronous

Gen Eds: Humanities, U.S. Diversity Studies

Concentrations: Jewish Studies, Writing Intensive

Description: Are you interested in understanding the rights and laws that guarantee your religious freedom? In exploring the lives of diverse religious communities throughout American history and in the Chicago area today? The class examines the beliefs and practices of diverse religious communities in American history and today with special attention throughout the class to intersections of religion, race, ethnicity, and gender in the history of religion(s) in America.

The assignments are structured to offer flexible options for fulfilling the course requirements (you can tailor a mixture of different kinds of response papers, site visits, and/or thematic papers). Students will finish the course with an individually guided final project on a current topic of their choice in religion in America with opportunities to contribute to the Chicagoreligions.com website or otherwise share your work.

Honors: Foundational Religious Texts

Professor Charles Townsend

Online Mix, 12 week (late start): partially asynchronous, with synchronous meetings on M 6:00pm-8:50pm

Gen Eds: Humanities, Global Studies

Concentrations: Global Studies, Great Books, Jewish Studies, Writing Intensive

Description: This course will begin with the question, what is “scripture”? We will introduce ourselves to the body of academic literature that interprets scriptures as much more than just “texts”, but rather as living documents that diverse communities interact with in a variety of ways beyond just quiet reading. We will spend the rest of the class deeply reading together excerpts and whole (shorter) scriptures from several different living global religious traditions. The class is on a 12 week session (starts on 2/17) in an “online mix” format, with online materials plus once-weekly discussion meetings (on Zoom) for 12 Monday evenings (6:00pm-8:50pm). Discussions will take an informal weekly “book club” approach to unpacking and understanding the scripture readings together.

The assignments are structured to offer flexible options for fulfilling the course requirements (you can tailor a mixture of different kinds of response papers, thematic papers, and/or site visits). Students will finish the course with an individually guided final project on a current topic of their choice in the broad field of scripture and religious texts with opportunities to share your work beyond the class.

Honors: U.S. History from 1877

Professor Wendy Adele-Marie

Online Synchronous, T 6:00pm-9:20pm, 12 week Late Start

Gen Ed: Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description: Are you interested in American history from 1877 to the present? This course offers an overview of the political, economic, social, and cultural development of the United States from the Gilded Age to the present. Emphasizing the human experience through the use of primary sources, students will complete coursework and then work on a guided project focused on the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. They will use primary and secondary sources to conduct research on a topic of their choice related to Franklin D. Roosevelt or First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, which will be selected in consultation with Dr. Adele-Marie.

Honors: Composition II

Professor Donovan Braud

MW 9:30am-10:45am, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Eds: Communications

Description: This class will use theories of rhetoric from ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and India to construct and analyze arguments for civic and academic contexts. Students will begin with a rhetorical analysis that examines a famous political argument. They will then move on to constructing an argument about a social topic of their choice. This topic will then be subject of a researched argument for an academic subject area of the students' choosing. Finally, we'll do a multi-modal argumentative publication in the form of a 'zine.

Honors: Introduction to Sociology

Professor Michelle Naffziger-Hirsch

MW 11:00am-12:15pm, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Ed: Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description: Do you ever wonder why people do that? Let's find out together. This course introduces the sociological perspective to study contemporary society, with a focus on the United States. Content includes culture, socialization, social interaction, groups and networks, deviance and social control, inequality in society, social institutions such as family or education, and processes of social change. We will go beyond the traditional textbook to read texts by sociologists past and present and critically examine our world using sociological frameworks and tools.

Honors: Topics in Philosophy: “Decolonial Thought in Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America” (Student/Faculty Seminar)

Professor Carlos Briones

R 2:00pm-4:45pm, Des Plaines Campus

Description: The course will examine the concept of "coloniality," which refers to the enduring structures of power established during colonialism that continue to shape the world today. We will ask: What are the historical and ongoing effects of colonialism on Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean? What are the effects of coloniality on our own ways of thinking, practices, and being? What are strategies to decolonize the way we think, institutions such as academia, our imagination, and our being? To answer these questions, we will critically examine knowledge systems, including the identification of Eurocentric biases, and the exploration of the language and ways of thinking of Indigenous groups, with particular attention to ways of thinking about gender. Along the way, we will explore the deep connection between coloniality, capitalism and racism.

Honors: Effective Speech

Professor Robert Gynn

MW 12:30pm-2:10pm, Des Plaines Campus (12 week, late start)

Gen Ed: Communications

Description: Coming Soon

PAST COURSES

Fall 2025 Honors Courses

Learning Communities (register for both classes):

Honors: Animals and Society AND Women and Creativity

Professors Tess Lesniak and Marian Staats

Hybrid: MW 9:30AM-10:45AM, Online Asynch, plus Lab M 11:00AM-1:45PM, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Eds: Life Science (with Lab), Humanities (Fine Arts), U.S. Diversity Studies

Concentrations: Great Books, PSJ, WGSS, ESC (x2)

Description: As we cover the evolution and taxonomy of the animal kingdom, the learning community will explore how we live with other animals, their status and treatment in various domains of culture—as food, pets, entertainment, research subjects, and symbols of ‘wild’ life and wilderness—and how women, as scientists, poets, philosophers, filmmakers, and visual artists, have deepened both our knowledge of other species and the ethical dimensions of our lives with/as animals. Feminist perspectives of our kinship with more-than-human animals will give us the opportunity to better understand how the social construction, status, and oppression of women are inextricably linked with how we treat more-than-human animals, as well as how the creativity and thriving of women is connected to the flourishing of other species.

Core Seminar:

Honors: Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Lab Research

Professors Gary Mines and Suzanne Ziegenhorn

T 12:30PM-1:45PM, R 11:30AM-1:45PM, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Ed: Lab-Life Science elective or Lab-Physical Science elective, Recommended for pre-majors

Honors Sections of Gen Ed Classes:

Honors: World Religions

Professor Charles Townsend

Online Asynchronous

Gen Eds: Humanities, Global Studies

Concentrations: Global Studies, Jewish Studies

Honors: Microbiology

Professor Suzanne Ziegenhorn

TR 8:00AM-9:15AM, 9:30AM-11:AM, Lee 353, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Ed: Lab-Life Science

Honors: Social and Political Philosophy

Professor Patrick O’Donnell

TR 12:30AM-1:45PM, DP 2735, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Ed: Humanities

Concentrations: Great Books; Peace and Social Justice Studies; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Description:What is justice? What is freedom? What is power?How have these concepts been used for purposes of both oppression and liberation? What explains economic, racial, and gendered inequalities? What does justice require of us, both as individuals and as a society? What political, economic, and cultural forces have combined to produce the challenges and possibilities we face as a global community today? Join us in Fall 2024 as we try to get to the bottom of these and other questions through the guidance of modern and contemporary sources drawn from liberal, conservative, Marxist, feminist, anti-racist, and radical intellectual traditions. No prerequisites. All that is required is curiosity and a willingness to read and discuss philosophical texts in a reflective, collegial, and welcoming environment!

Honors: Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology

Professor Lindsey Hewitt

TR 11:00AM-12:15PM, RHC C251, Skokie Campus

Gen Eds: Social and Behavioral Sciences, Global Studies, U.S. Diversity Studies

Concentrations: Global Studies, WGSS

Honors: Composition 1

Professor Olabisi Adenakan

TR 9:30AM-10:45PM, DP 2735, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Eds: Social and Behavioral Sciences, Global Studies, U.S. Diversity Studies

Concentrations: Global Studies, WGSS

Description: Are you attracted to the possibility of exploring certain issues and topics close to your heart? Are you interested in the possibility of presenting your work at a conference and/or possibly publishing your work sometime in the future? Then this course is for you. Join us as we navigate the world of research and writing that will empower you to share your thoughts with stakeholders outside our immediate classroom experience.

Honors: Multicultural Literature of the United States

Professor Madhuri Deshmukh

TR 11:00AM-12:15PM, DP2735, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Ed: Communications

Description: The stories of America are diverse, beautiful, complex. Yet, today eighteen states have passed laws prohibiting the teaching of multicultural literature, and the federal government seeks to enforce a ban on all teaching related to diversity. PEN America has documented at least sixteen thousand banned books, most by and about America's multicultural communities. In this course, we will read stories and poems, watch and listen to films and music that tell us the history of America from the perspective of multicultural Americans who have been part of this nation since its founding. We will see that "multiculturalism" is not a new phenomenon, that America has always been multicultural. We will read works by Native American, Black American, Latin American, Asian American and immigrant writers as we explore what it means to be an American today.

Honors: Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies

Professor Kristin McCartney

T 6:00PM-8:00PM, RHC C110, Skokie Campus

Gen Ed: Humanities

Concentrations: WGSS, PSJ

Description: Coming Soon

Honors: Elementary Statistics

Professor Anna Hammer

TR 8:00AM-9:50AM, DP2735, Des Plaines Campus

Gen Ed: Mathematics

Description: Coming Soon

Honors Courses at Oakton

Frequently Asked Questions

Fall 2026 Honors Courses

Summer 2026 Honors Course

Spring 2026 Honors Courses

PAST COURSES

Fall 2025 Honors Courses

Honors at Oakton

FAQs