University of Kansas Honors Program

10/13/2026

Last week, the students of Dr. J. Christopher Brown's HNRS 190 course, You Are Where You Eat, gathered in Nunemaker Center to hear from Chris Reimer, land relations manager at the Land Institute, who shared details about the institute's work to promote sustainable agriculture that will flourish for generations to come.

The class then enjoyed homemade pancakes — some that were prepared from scratch by Dr. Brown, and some using flour made from Kernza, a regeneratively grown perennial grain bred for soil health, clean water retention, and the enhancement of wildlife habitats.

10/09/2026

On Tuesday, honors students took the opportunity to celebrate Life on Land and take a closer look at local flora and fauna at the biannual honors nature walk. 🌱🍂🌾

Led by history professor and former Honors Faculty Fellow Nathan Wood, participants chatted and got to know each other better, observed changing seasonal foliage, and saw plenty of spiders, butterflies, birds, moths and snakes.

We're already looking forward to next spring's walk! ☺️

10/02/2026

Our first-year honors seminar assistants are student leaders who volunteer their time in the program's HNRS 190 and 195 seminars, offering their advice and perspective to students just beginning their time in the program. We're so grateful to have such a solid group of dedicated students who work hard every day to make our newest students feel included and inspired. 💛

10/02/2026

Interested in KU Honors? Harry will answer all your questions at 12 p.m. on October 15!

Have questions about the KU Honors Program? Join us Oct. 15 from 12–1:30 p.m. for a live Ask-Me-Anything with Harry Swartz, Associate Director for Admissions & Operations for the University of Kansas Honors Program.

Join us to ask your questions and learn more about the University Honors Program directly from Harry. The AMA will take place on the Campus ESP Class of 2031 discussion board: https://ku.campusesp.com/users/sign_in

We hope to see you there!

10/01/2026

What an insightful and illuminating panel we had about careers in healthcare on Tuesday night! Students interested in working in the medical field heard from KU Honors graduates Aarthi Aruna, a second-year doctoral student at KU Med, and Dr. Ryan Xiao, an orthopedic surgeon with LMH Health, about their experiences in medical school and in the professional world. Students then had the chance to ask their own questions about how to get started in healthcare.

We love hearing about what our amazing alumni are up to, and are so glad they enjoy giving back to the honors program and offering their knowledge and skills to future healthcare professionals.

09/29/2026

Last week, Prof. J. Christopher Brown's HNRS 190 course, You Are Where You Eat, took a unique trip to the Prairie Acre Restoration Project and learned more about the area from their expert tour guide, Prof. Bob Hagen.

Prairie Acre is an unplowed, native prairie remnant established in 1932 on KU’s Lawrence campus, and is the last remaining patch of native tallgrass prairie on the Hill. Surrounded by the kind of tallgrass that covered Mt. Oread before KU was established, students learned how the prairie functions ecologically and how Native Americans used and managed the prairie for food.

09/25/2026

Making big plans for next semester while enjoying cinnamon rolls — what a treat! We loved seeing so many great conversations at this year's Roll Into Spring schedule release party.

09/23/2026

Congratulations to this year's class of Millennium Fellows! 21 KU students were selected out of 76,000 applicants worldwide to participate in this leadership program, in which they will create actionable, community-based projects, guided by UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This year, Aarjo Roy and Aadhya Bhatia are serving as campus hub co-directors. As a co-director, Roy described how he and Bhatia’s goal is to make sure that students have the resources they need for their projects to reach their full potential. “We, as humans, depend on one another, and that's something that I'm really looking forward to continuing in the future,” said Aarjo.

Read more about KU's 2026 Millennium Fellows here: https://news.ku.edu/news/article/21-university-of-kansas-students-selected-for-the-2026-millennium-fellowship-class

09/23/2026

We loved reading the article KU Study Abroad & Global Engagement recently published about Mansha Sharma's experience as a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow at the Salk Institute, where she researched the effects of aging on neurons and how this process contributes to neurological diseases like Alzheimer's.

Mansha (second from left) will be among the senior Global Scholars cohort who will present at the program's research symposium this April. (Applications for the 2027 Global Scholars cohort are open through Monday, Sept. 28.) https://studyabroad.ku.edu/sharma-salk-institute

09/21/2026

Big ideas and insightful conversations abounded at Thursday's Planning Your Honors Path event, where first-year students currently enrolled in HNRS 190 seminars learned more about the program's Enhanced Learning Experience requirment. In roundtable discussions, students brainstormed co-curricular ideas of their own with the help of honors ambassadors and seminar assistants who served as peer facilitators.

We know the transformative role ELEs play, and can't wait for our program's newest students to confidently embark on their own journeys thanks to the groundwork started at PYHP — the first of four Your Honors Path events in an honors student's career.