Torrey Honors College
Mission
The Torrey Honors College is a general education program in the liberal arts for undergraduates at Biola University. It is dedicated to forming leaders through the study of the master works of Western civilization, with a special emphasis on the Bible and Christian authors. Students in the program, who come from a variety of majors, are outstanding examples of academic ability, Christian character, and potential for leadership. They learn in a rigorous discussion group format to think and express themselves clearly in both verbal and written forms.
Program Plan
B.A. students need 57-58 credits to satisfy their Torrey Honors College program requirements. B.F.A, B.M., and B.S. students are exempted from HNRS 467 and need 55-56 credits to satisfy their Torrey Honors College program requirements.1 To gain a four-year degree, students must meet all other academic, social, and spiritual requirements of Biola University. For further details, see the Torrey Course Sequence.
In addition to their Torrey Honors College requirements, all students must complete courses in the following Core Curriculum areas: ENGL 313/Writing Competency (3 credits), Foreign Language (4-8 credits), GNST 102 (1 credit), Kinesiology (2 credits), Math (3 credits), and Science (3 credits). See Core Curriculum section for details.
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Robotics and Engineering majors are exempt from HNRS 467 and BBST 465/HNRS 465 and need 52 credits to satisfy their Torrey Honors College program requirements.
Torrey Honors Certificate
A student who completes the full Torrey program will be awarded the Torrey Honors College Certificate. A student need not graduate from Biola University to receive the Certificate. Certificates are presented at a commencement ceremony each spring.
Advanced Placement Credit
Although most Torrey Honors students will have earned Advanced Placement credit in high school, they will not be exempted from any Torrey required classes. Advanced Placement courses are helpful in preparing the student for Torrey, but not equivalent to Torrey classes in style, content or rigor.
Transfer Students
Applications for admission from transfer students with outstanding academic merit will be considered for the Torrey Honors College. Transferred credits may satisfy some standard Biola general education requirements, and major prerequisites not covered by Torrey coursework; however, no transfer courses will satisfy any Torrey Honors College course requirements.
Torrey Off-Campus
Torrey Off-Campus (HNRS 465) offers opportunities to live and study away from the Biola campus for credit. Students read books, attend lectures, participate in discussion groups, and visit cultural points of interest in the area they are visiting. Torrey Off-Campus provides the opportunity for intellectual growth in a more intensive format than is possible during the school year. Students are supervised and led by a tutor in the Torrey Honors College. Torrey Off-Campus may be applied to either HNRS 337, HNRS 339, HNRS 443, HNRS 458, HNRS 467, or as the Integration Seminar (BBST 465).
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| HNRS 465 | Torrey Off-Campus | 4 |
| Total Credits | 4 | |
Program Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Torrey Honors College, students will be able to:
- Oral Communication in the Great Conversation: Students will join the great conversation of the great books tradition by contributing to intellectual discussion of enduring human questions with others confidently, critically, and charitably (ULO 1, 2 and 3).
- Information Literacy in the Great Books Tradition: Students will demonstrate an independent, responsible reading life that discerns and uses the best resources from the past to seek true answers to enduring human questions (ULO 3).
- Critical Thinking with the Masters: Students will ask and explain enduring human questions and seek true answers to them by thinking with the authors of diverse and challenging master works through careful interpretation and analysis, thoughtful synthesis and evaluation, and cogent argumentation (ULO 1 and 3).
- Written Communication of Wisdom: Students will communicate wisdom acquired from the great books tradition through academic writing characterized by careful analysis, clear and cogent argumentation, and persuasive exposition (ULO 1).
Each Program Learning Outcome (PLO) listed above references at least one of the University Learning Outcomes (ULO 1, 2, 3), which may be found in the General Information section of this catalog.
Admission Requirements
The Torrey Honors College is highly selective. The average applicant to Torrey is among the top ten percent of students planning to attend Biola University in terms of academic, social, and spiritual leadership. High school students wishing to apply to Torrey should take four years of each of the core disciplines. Torrey applicants should have completed successfully some honors or Advanced Placement work, if such is available at their high schools. Students wishing to enroll in any courses in the Torrey Honors College must have outstanding skills in both written and spoken English. The prospective student will demonstrate the former in the Torrey application and the latter by a personal interview.
Curriculum Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Program Courses | ||
| HNRS 101 & HNRS 102 | Argumentation & Critical Thinking I and Ancient Civilizations: Greek & Hebrew 1 | 8 |
| HNRS 105 & HNRS 106 | New Testament Literature & Early Christian Theology and Argumentation & Critical Thinking II 1 | 8 |
| HNRS 210 & HNRS 215 | Medieval & Reformation Theology and Studies in Pauline Epistles 1 | 8 |
| HNRS 230 & HNRS 231 | Western Philosophy Survey and Dramatic Arts 1 | 8 |
| HNRS 324 & HNRS 326 | American Political Theory and Its Origins and Old Testament Literature 1 | 6 |
| HNRS 337 & HNRS 339 | Rhetoric & Oral Communication and Theodicy 1 | 6 |
| HNRS 443 | Literature of Cosmic Order | 4 |
| HNRS 458 | Epistemology & Modern Thought 2 | 4 |
| HNRS 467 | Colloquium 3 | 2 |
| BBST 465 | Integration Seminar 4 | 3-4 |
| or HNRS 465 | Torrey Off-Campus | |
| Total Credits | 57-58 | |
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The paired courses HNRS 101 & 102, 105 & 106, 210 & 215, 230 & 231, 324 & 326, and 337 & 339 are corequisite and consubstantial courses. Each pairing functions as one coherent course, rather than two distinct courses, and therefore cannot be separated under any circumstances without written approval from the director.
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Engineering Physics majors are exempted from HNRS 458.
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B.F.A, B.M., and B.S. students are exempted from HNRS 467.
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BBST 465 is required for Torrey students. They must fulfill it through their major's integration seminar (if required), our HNRS 465 course, or any BBST 465 offered at the university. Robotics and Engineering majors are exempt from this requirement.
Elective Course Options
Beginning in the Junior Spring semester, students may elect to replace the standard curriculum with optional electives, with permission of a faculty mentor and the program director.
Students may receive credit for the corequisite courses HNRS 337 and HNRS 339 via registration for HNRS 465, HNRS 467, HNRS 490, or HNRS 491, totaling no fewer than 6 credits.
Students may receive credit for HNRS 443 and HNRS 458 via registration for HNRS 465, HNRS 467, HNRS 490, or HNRS 491, totaling no fewer than 4 credits.
Students may receive credit for HNRS 467 via registration for HNRS 465, HNRS 490, or HNRS 491.
Students may combine HNRS 465, HNRS 467, HNRS 490, or HNRS 491 to replace a maximum of 14 upper-division credits throughout their undergraduate career, while taking no more than 12 credits of HNRS 465, HNRS 490, or HNRS 491, and no more than 8 credits of HNRS 467. Any requested substitution beyond this is subject to written approval from the program director. HNRS 465 can also be used to satisfy Biola's Integration Seminar requirement (BBST 465).
Program Departures
If a student does not complete all Torrey Honors program requirements but continues at Biola, the following Biola Core Curriculum requirements are satisfied by passing grades in the following Torrey courses.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Torrey Course and Biola Core Course Granted Upon Torrey Program Departure | ||
| HNRS 101 | Argumentation & Critical Thinking I (Satisfies ENGL 100/ENGL 112) | 4 |
| HNRS 102 | Ancient Civilizations: Greek & Hebrew (Satisfies BBST 103) | 4 |
| HNRS 105 | New Testament Literature & Early Christian Theology (Satisfies BBST 210, BBST 306/BBST 316/BBST 326/BBST 336) | 4 |
| HNRS 106 | Argumentation & Critical Thinking II (Satisfies COMM 281) | 4 |
| HNRS 210 | Medieval & Reformation Theology (Satisfies BBST 165, BBST 251) | 4 |
| HNRS 215 | Studies in Pauline Epistles (Satisfies BBST 354) | 4 |
| HNRS 230 | Western Philosophy Survey (Satisfies PHIL 214) | 4 |
| HNRS 231 | Dramatic Arts (Satisfies ARTS 100) | 4 |
| HNRS 324 | American Political Theory and Its Origins (Satisfies POSC 225) | 4 |
| HNRS 326 | Old Testament Literature (Satisfies BBST 209, BBST 300/400 elective) | 2 |
Students who depart Torrey Honors after completing their fifth paired semester (HNRS 324 & HNRS 326) will not be granted any further substitutions in Biola's Core Curriculum than those listed above. There are no transfer substitutions for HNRS 337, HNRS 339, HNRS 443, HNRS 458, HNRS 465, HNRS 467, HNRS 490, and HNRS 491.
NOTE: This is a suggested sequence only. Because of the differences in Torrey students' degree options, students should consult with both their major department and Torrey Honors College for customized course sequencing and degree planning.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| HNRS 101 | 4 | HNRS 105 | 4 |
| HNRS 102 | 4 | HNRS 106 | 4 |
| Foreign Language (see Core Curriculum) | 4 | Foreign Language (see Core Curriculum) | 4 |
| GNST 102 | 1 | KNES 107 | |
| 13 | 12 | ||
| Total Credits 25 | |||
| Second Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| HNRS 210 | 4 | HNRS 230 | 4 |
| HNRS 215 | 4 | HNRS 231 | 4 |
| Science (see Core Curriculum) | 3 | Math (see Core Curriculum) | 3 |
| 11 | 11 | ||
| Total Credits 22 | |||
| Third Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| HNRS 324 | 4 | HNRS 337 | 4 |
| HNRS 326 | 2 | HNRS 339 | 2 |
| KNES Activity (see Core Curriculum) | ENGL 313 | 3 | |
| Writing Competency Requirement | |||
| Graduation Petition due in Registrar's Office | |||
| 6 | 9 | ||
| Total Credits 15 | |||
| Fourth Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| HNRS 443 | 4 | HNRS 4582 | 4 |
| BBST 4651 | 3 | HNRS 4673 | 2 |
| 7 | 6 | ||
| Total Credits 13 | |||
HNRS 101 - Argumentation & Critical Thinking I Credits 4
Introduces critical analysis, argumentation, and composition as skills fundamental to the formation and communication of thought. Coursework includes critical reading, collaborative discussion, and a variety of writing assignments. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 102.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 102 - Ancient Civilizations: Greek & Hebrew Credits 4
Introduces the student to Mediterranean and Ancient Near Eastern thought through discussion of works such as Homer, Plato, and the Pentateuch. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 101.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
Course Fee: $225.
HNRS 105 - New Testament Literature & Early Christian Theology Credits 4
Introduces the Gospels and early Christian literature in their Greco-Roman cultural context. Considers the theological formation of the early church with major works from church fathers including Athanasius and Augustine. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 106.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 106 - Argumentation & Critical Thinking II Credits 4
This course develops the critical analysis, argumentation, and composition skills fundamental to the formation and communication of thought through critical reading, collaborative discussion, and a variety of writing assignments. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 105.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 210 - Medieval & Reformation Theology Credits 4
Considers both medieval and reformation theological visions, reading major works including Augustine's Confessions, Dante's Divine Comedy, and Calvin's Institutes. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 215.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 215 - Studies in Pauline Epistles Credits 4
Considers the dynamics of Pauline thought through careful study of his epistles as well as their interpretation in theological works. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 210.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 230 - Western Philosophy Survey Credits 4
Examines the Western philosophic tradition with particular attention to the epistemological and metaphysical concerns of early modern philosophers including Descartes, Locke, and Hume. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 231.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 231 - Dramatic Arts Credits 4
Considers early modern English drama with an eye to its reception of biblical poetry and its literary context. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 230.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 324 - American Political Theory and Its Origins Credits 4
Considers the vision of the American project by reading its roots in works such as Plato's Republic, its ground in Founding Documents, and its growth expressed in major works from the Civil War, Abolition, and the Civil Rights Movement. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 326.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 326 - Old Testament Literature Credits 2
Explores the history of Israel from the time of the judges through Isaiah's messianic expectation to the Evangelist Matthew's proclamation of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of the long-awaited Messiah. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 324.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 327 - Old Testament Literature Credits 4
Explores the history of Israel from the time of the judges through Isaiah's messianic expectation to the Evangelist Matthew's proclamation of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of the long-awaited Messiah. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 324.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 337 - Rhetoric & Oral Communication Credits 4
Analyzes notions of rhetoric through texts such as Plato’s Phaedo, I II Corinthians, and speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 339.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 338 - Apocalyptic Literature Credits 4
Includes biblical apocalyptic literature, the books of Daniel and Revelation, in conversation with other texts that pursue a vision of ethics. Grade Mode: A.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 339 - Theodicy Credits 2
Readings include Psalms, Aquinas’s Treatise on Law, and Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals, alongside other texts that offer a vision of the truth of God in the face of terrestrial suffering. Grade Mode: A.
Corequisite(s): HNRS 337.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 382 - Torrey Total Bible Credit 1
Readings focus on all remaining books of the Old Testament not covered in the standard Torrey Honors College curriculum, including I II Chronicles and the minor prophets. Grade Mode: A.
Restriction(s): Must not be Freshman Class; and must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 443 - Literature of Cosmic Order Credits 4
Examines a variety of poetry, biblical literature, and philosophy that considers the creative and aesthetic dimensions of human experience, including works such as Aristotle’s Physics, Traherne’s Centuries of Meditations, and lyric poetry from G.M. Hopkins and William Wordsworth. Grade Mode: A.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 458 - Epistemology & Modern Thought Credits 4
Includes readings focused on the nature of knowledge and the mind, such as Augustine’s On Christian Teaching, Newman’s Idea of a University, Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, and CS Lewis’ Abolition of Man. Grade Mode: A.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
HNRS 465 - Torrey Off-Campus Credits 1-4
Independent readings chosen by the professor. When Offered: Summer. Note(s): May be repeated multiple times with different readings. Grade Mode: A.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
Repeat Limit (after first attempt): 2.
HNRS 467 - Colloquium Credits 2
Revisits a seminal work or author from the Torrey Honors curriculum, providing students with an opportunity for advanced study and application of the skills developed throughout the whole program. Topics include Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Augustine’s Confessions, and the Gospel of John. Note(s): Special approval required. Grade Mode: A.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
Repeat Limit (total number of credits): 8.
HNRS 490 - Selected Readings and Topics Credits 1-4
Designed primarily for upper-division students in Torrey who want to study specialized topics not covered in catalog course offerings. Note(s): May be repeated multiple times with different readings. Grade Mode: A.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
Repeat Limit (after first attempt): 2.
HNRS 491 - Independent Study Credits 1-4
Independent readings on a topic chosen by a professor in consultation with the student. Note(s): May be taken multiple times with different readings. Grade Mode: A.
Restriction(s): Must be Undergraduate Level.
Repeat Limit (after first attempt): 2.
