Honors Signature Programs

The Edge of Discovery

• Colloquium: Faculty & Facilitators

  Every first-year Honors student's introduction to college starts with a Facilitator — and that could be you. As a Colloquium Facilitator, you'll co-lead retreat, mentor a cohort of incoming students, and pick up real, resume-ready experience in project management, teaching, and team leadership. It's one of the most competitive peer-leadership roles in Honors and at the university, and one of the most rewarding.

  To learn more, contact Dr. Kaplan (leslie.kaplan@unf.edu).

• Osprey Scholars

  If you're the kind of student who understands how sustained research will open doors like Fulbright, a Rhodes, or a Goldwater, then “Osprey Scholars” is built for you and provides a scholarship each year you take part. A highly selective opportunity, from as early as your first year, you'll get individualized mentorship, research support, and application coaching designed to make you a genuine national contender as well as specialized opportunities with faculty and Honors leadership along the way.

  For details, contact Dean Pewitt (will.pewitt@unf.edu) and Dr. Kershner (tiffany.kershner@unf.edu)

• Crossing Currents

  Interested in global interactions, the humanities, or the social sciences? Crossing Currents is UNF's own transcultural undergraduate research journal, featuring original research into the ways the world has evolved through cross-cultural contact and conflict. Whether as a contributor or an editor, it is a rare chance to add a prestigious print and digital publication credit to your resume before you even graduate.

  For more information, contact Dean Pewitt (will.pewitt@unf.edu) or visit the Crossing Currents website.

• DHI Tech Fellows
  Get hands-on with the tools of digital humanities — audio and video production, archival digitization, interactive media — inside UNF's working DHI labs. Tech Fellows support real faculty research and campus projects, then present their own work at research symposia, on campus and nationally. The position comes with a scholarship provided by both HHC and DHI for these positions that blend tech skills with humanities scholarship.
  
  For details, contact Dr. McCarl (clayton.mccarl@unf.edu).

Local Roots, Global Reach

• Research Excursions
  Spend a week immersed in your field alongside faculty and a small cohort of peers — from national conferences to landmark cities to behind-the-scenes access most people, let alone students, never get. HHC’s Research Excursions are consistently rated our most transformative student experience: these trips tie together the opportunity to build your resume with eye-opening explorations of local culture and institutions.
  
  For details, contact Dean Pewitt (will.pewitt@unf.edu) and Clio Chazan-Gabbard (clio.chazan-gabbard@unf.edu).
• Honoring the Ocean
  Spend time aboard a fully operational research vessel out of the Keys or St. Pete, running live marine science alongside students, scientists, artists, historians, and writers. No matter your major, this highly competitive opportunity asks you to apply and interview for a seat in the experience, taking part in light curriculum, a trip into the Atlantic or Gulf, and the production of a deliverable of your own choosing that reflects your interests and expertise—making HTO one of the most sought-after experiences in Hicks Honors.
  
  For more information, contact Prof. Jennie Ziegler (jennie.ziegler@unf.edu) and visit Honoring the Ocean.
• UNF Shakespeare
  Whether you are looking to act, direct, design, market, or run the show from backstage, UNF Shakespeare is a full theater company built and run as a faculty-student collaboration. With collaborations reaching Shakespeare's Globe and an invitation to perform at the Shakespeare Association of America, this is a recognized project-based, team-driven experience with a broad stage, performing a mainstage show in Fall terms and a separate touring barestage show in Spring.
  
  For details about upcoming casting calls or getting involved in crew, contact Dean Pewitt (will.pewitt@unf.edu) or visit the UNF Shakespeare website.

The Pulse of Public Life

• Real World Policy

  Take your original policy research straight to Washington, D.C. — and present it to real people at the State Department, the National Security Council, and Congress. You'll leave with a published piece and a firsthand sense of how policy actually gets made.

  For more information, contact Dr. Nancy Soderberg (n.soderberg@unf.edu) and Dean Pewitt (will.pewitt@unf.edu).

• Presidential Fellows (CSPC)

  Conduct original research alongside faculty, then take it to Washington, D.C. for the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress's national summit — the same kind of prestigious, often Ivy-funded fellowship you'll see on the resumes of future policy leaders. It's one of the most competitive credentials Honors offers.

  For details, contact Dr. Kershner (tiffany.kershner@unf.edu) or learn more about the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress.

• Discovering America: Honors Adventures

  Camp under the stars in the Great Smoky Mountains, or take in an elite film festival — alongside faculty who are there to mentor and connect, not assign a research paper. Think of it as a domestic study abroad: new places, new people, and a network you'll keep long after the trip ends.

  For details, contact Clio Chazan-Gabbard (clio.chazan-gabbard@unf.edu).

• Civic and Cultural Board Fellowships

  Get an actual seat at the table — literally. This program places high-achieving students in real governance roles, like the Board of Trustees at MOCA Jacksonville or a student Vice Presidency of Phi Kappa Phi, where you help lead established institutions instead of just observing them.

  For further info, contact Dean Pewitt (will.pewitt@unf.edu) and Dr. Meg Fowler (m.fowler@unf.edu).

• World Affairs Council Student Facilitators

  Help lead the next generation of civic dialogue. Student Facilitators guide discussions with local high school students following conversations with internationally renowned speakers, developing confidence in facilitation, public speaking, and mentorship while engaging directly with global leaders and pressing international issues. Hicks Honors provides scholarships for participating students.

  To learn more, contact Rachel Paul (rachel@worldaffairscounciljax.org).

Care in Action

• Student Food Security Coalition

  Turn compassion into leadership. The Student Food Security Coalition is a student-led, university-wide effort tackling food insecurity in direct partnership with the Brooks College of Health — real coordination, real impact, and real experience building something that matters.

  For ways to get involved or apply for leadership, contact Dr. Jamie Marchio (jamie.marchio@unf.edu).

• Florida Blue Center for Ethics

  Ethics lives beyond the classroom — Ethics is the deciding factor in medicine, law, business, engineering, and government. Home to the largest single gift to an academic program in UNF history, the Center offers students real ways in: fellowships, scholarships, and Ethics Week programming that put moral reasoning to work across every field. HHC provides scholarships for “Ethics Scholars” who work on a sustained mentored-project with the Center, leading to presentation or publication.

  For details, contact Dr. Jon Matheson (j.matheson@unf.edu) or learn more about the Florida Blue Center for Ethics at UNF.

• Arboretum Reading Series

  Bring stories to life for the community at UNF's own natural preserve. It's a low-key, high-impact way to build real teaching and public-engagement skills while sharing your love of storytelling with local readers of all ages.

  For info, contact Clio Chazan-Gabbard (clio.chazan-gabbard@unf.edu).

• Impact Alliance

  Volunteer when it works for you—and make it count. Founded by Honors students and supported by Hicks Honors, Impact Alliance connects students with meaningful service opportunities across Jacksonville without requiring another weekly meeting or club commitment. Whether your interests are education, health, the environment, or civic engagement, you'll build relationships with like-minded students while turning compassion into action.

  To be added to the network, contact Evelyn Motz (n01577409@unf.edu) or Kaitlyn Dixon (n01615038@unf.edu).

Risk and Reinvention

• The Innovator Lab

  Work on a real problem for a real partner — not a hypothetical. HHC’s curricular “Innovation Lab” is composed of student teams working directly with organizations like the American Heart Association through MedNexus or the Cummer Museum through Public Narratives, so their innovative practices see wider implementation.

  For info on upcoming initiatives contact Dean Pewitt (will.pewitt@unf.edu).

• Professional Futures

  Get in the room with people who are already doing the job you want. Professional Futures is an intimate speaker series that puts you in real conversation with industry and community leaders — the kind of networking that actually turns into opportunity.

  For info on future events, contact Clio Chazan-Gabbard (clio.chazan-gabbard@unf.edu).

• Braver Angels

  Learn to disagree without the conversation falling apart. Braver Angels trains students in faculty-guided practice for bridging political divides — a skill that's more valuable, and rarer, than almost anything else you'll pick up in college right now.

  To learn more, contact Dr. Kaplan (leslie.kaplan@unf.edu).

• Osprey Competitive Programming

  Compete. Collaborate. Solve. Osprey Competitive Programming is where students sharpen their computational thinking through fast-paced algorithmic challenges and regional and national competitions. Along the way, you'll strengthen the problem-solving, teamwork, and programming skills that distinguish top candidates in computing, engineering, data science, and beyond. Hicks Honors provides scholarships for participating Honors students, beginning in Fall 2027.

  For more information, contact Dean Pewitt (will.pewitt@unf.edu).