Independent Study
In order to meet the graduation requirements of the Honors College, all students must complete at least six credit hours of Independent Study. Independent Study projects are intended to encourage Honors students to pursue, at an advanced level, their developing intellectual interests and/or career plans. Independent Study requirements can be met by doing extra "Contract Work" in a 300-level course (normally in the major) or by taking a postgraduate course (400-level) where that is permitted by the student's major department. Independent Study requirements can also be met by off-campus internships or, for education or nursing majors, as a part of the teaching or clinical practicum. Studying "on exchange" can also meet part or all of the Honors Independent Study requirement. Exchange programs include study abroad (through the Center for International Studies) or at another North American university (through the National Student Exchange, administered by the Honors College).
Increasingly, Honors students are undertaking Individual Study Projects to meet this requirement. While most Independent Study work will have an academic supervisor (in the Honors College or from an appropriate department), the two main objectives of individual study projects will be to cultivate the abilities to work on one's own and to apply to one's own work an independent and informed critical judgment. How frequently you meet with your independent study academic supervisor is for you and the supervisor to agree; you should (at the least) receive sufficient guidance to set you on a fruitful path of study and/or research. But students and supervisors should remember that these are independent projects.
For students intent on undertaking postgraduate work in their major
field(s) or in a professional field (e.g. medicine, law, business) supervised
independent study can offer a valuable trial run for graduate school.
This is so especially if the independent study is undertaken as an Undergraduate
Research Project, where it can form the foundation of a postgraduate
research program whether in terms of its subject matter, methodology,
or both. An independent study approved as an undergraduate research project
will normally qualify for additional financial support on a cost-of-research
basis.
For details see the Independent Study requirements listed in the Honors College Handbook, here, and/or contact Birgit Noll at 516-4230 or nollb@umsl.edu