Experiential Learning
The Honors College’s curriculum emphasizes learning beyond the traditional classroom. Our students work individually and collaboratively, within and across disciplines, developing the skills necessary to become leaders who will make a difference in their communities and in the world.
Berglund Seminar Series
Named after one of our previous Honors Directors, Dr. John Berglund, the Berglund Seminar Series was created to bring a wide array of intellectual scholarship from VCU faculty to Honors students. While the series still brings in VCU faculty and their expertise, it has evolved to focus on community leaders and partners in RVA to help inform our students about pressing issues that the RVA community faces.
Diverse Conversation Series
The purpose of the Diverse Conversation series is to generate meaningful discussions and debates outside of the classroom on topical (and sometimes controversial) subjects. Our Diverse Conversations are designed to bring a small group of students (10-15) together to engage in conversation around topics of diversity and inclusion specifically.
A host of career-focused workshops are offered throughout the academic year to prepare students to gain real-world experience to enhance their undergraduate experience and prepare for life after graduation.
The Honors College inspires and prepares students to gain a deeper understanding of their responsibility to create a world where each person has an opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential.
There are many ways to volunteer and engage in the Richmond community. The Community Foundation Engagement Center is a great resource to find one time and on-going service projects, plus internship and job opportunities in the non-profit sector. For more information, visit their website.
Other resources include:
The Honors College wants to enrich our students' experience by providing experiential learning opportunities. Internship opportunities allow for real-world experience to be gained in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Internships are now fundamental opportunities to help students explore career areas, but also allow them to perform higher-level tasks in the workplace. More and more, internships are almost all but essential for many future employment opportunities for students after graduation.
If you are considering an internship for Honors credit, please read through the corresponding internship information.
Additionally, check out our Honors internships page to learn more about previous interns' experiences and our internship employers.
Located within the Honors College, VCU's National Scholarship Office recruits and prepares Honors students (and others) who are applying for (inter)nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships. Many of these awards will help Honors students and recent alumni pursue opportunities to study abroad or attend graduate school.
VCU faculty conduct research across a broad range of disciplines and embrace the opportunity to engage with Honors students. You'll gain research experience that will often prepare you to compete for nationally competitive awards, co-author peer reviewed publications and present at conferences, such as the National Conference on Undergraduate Research or the VCU Annual Research Symposium. These are experiences that will give you confidence and are often, the key to igniting future personal and professional opportunities that you couldn't have imagined.
The Honors College strongly encourages its students to study abroad. Honors students are eligible to participate in the full range of study-abroad programs offered by VCU and many programs offered outside of the university. In addition, the Honors College has created its own study-abroad programs that are only offered to our students. Over the last two years, the Honors College has offered opportunities for its students to study in Spain, Italy, Bolivia and Northern Ireland.