The Freshman Science Honors program (FSH) is structured around the honors versions of the two semester sequence of the introductory chemistry and biology courses. In the fall semester, students take CHEM 115a and BISC 121 followed by CHEM 115b and BISC 221 in the spring. These honors classes and associated labs are smaller in size, thus allowing for greater interaction with the faculty.
Course descriptions and faculty
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Fall 2023 course faculty:
Professor Jed Fuhrman and Professor Trond Sigurdsen
Course overview:
BISC 121Lg is an advanced introductory course that will expose students to the breadth of biological diversity, evolution, and environmental biology. The course is designed to provide relatively even coverage of all major taxonomic groups, providing an evolution-based description of form and function, and an overview of ecology, behavior, population genetics, and conservation biology.
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Fall 2023 course faculty:
Professor Hanna Reisler and Professor Jessica Parr
Course overview:
The CHEM 115a/115b sequence is intended to provide a rigorous introduction to important theories and concepts in the broad area of general chemistry. CHEM 115a is an honors course, and therefore it will be taught at a conceptually, and mathematically, higher level than that of the corresponding non-honors course. Topics will include an introduction to modern theories of atomic structure and chemical bonding; chemical reactions; stoichiometry; intro to organic chemistry; states of matter; solutions; acids and bases; and oxidation-reduction reactions.
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Spring 2024 course faculty:
Professor David McKemy and Professor Bruce Herring
Course overview:
BISC 221 is the advanced introductory course that will focus on Cell Biology and Physiology. In-depth survey of key topics related to advances in our knowledge of cellular biology and physiology; cell composition/metabolism; gene action; organism structure and function.
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Spring 2024 course faculty:
Professor Anna Krylov and Professor Jessica Parr
Course overview:
The CHEM 115a/115b sequence is intended to provide a rigorous introduction to important theories and concepts in the broad area of general chemistry. CHEM 115b is an honors course, and therefore it will be taught at a conceptually, and mathematically, higher level than that of the corresponding non-honors course. Detailed quantitative aspects of solutions, chemical equilibrium, acid-base equilibria, solubility equilibria, electrochemistry, chemical kinetics, and nuclear chemistry.
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