News

With enrollment for the Fall 2026 semester underway, we’re sharing a reminder of the opportunity to participate in the SMCC Honors Program.

Are you looking for a challenge? Do you want to build your academic resume to transfer to another institution? Do you want to enhance your career credentials?

If you are interested in deep engagement in a course or in your discipline, I encourage you to consider participating in the Honors Program.

The Honors Program is open to all interested students. There are two ways to participate in the program: by enrolling in an honors-designated course and by completing an honors option in a class that is not designated as an honors course.

Honors courses — fall 2026

The honors-designated courses for fall 2026 are:

• ENGL 285 (01) — The Short Story — Michael Bove — Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

• HIST 165 (01) — Social History of the Civil War and Reconstruction — Eben Miller — Thursday, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

• IDST 150 (01) — Nature and Culture — Christopher Hoffmann and Robert Vettese — Wednesday, 9:30-10:45 a.m.

Full course descriptions of each of these classes are provided below. Class meetings for each course will be held on campus in South Portland.

ENGL 285 — The Short Story

This course is a study of the modern short story from its origins in the early 19th century to its current form. Areas of focus will include the history and development of the short story as a prose fiction form, the short story as a reflection of social and cultural movements and issues, and the use of the form as a mode of personal expression and identity. Readings will include a variety of authors, notably key figures in the development of the form as well as contemporary voices poised to influence the future of the genre. This is a writing-intensive course.

• Prerequisite(s): ENGL 100 or ENGL 101

• Corequisite(s): ENGL 115

HIST 165 — Social History of the Civil War and Reconstruction

This course explores the varied causes of the Civil War, examines the experience of the conflict in both the Union and Confederacy, and traces the contested legacies of the war through the Reconstruction period and beyond. Considering more than military strategy, this course ranges well beyond the battlefield and draws widely from original sources that illuminate the social and political impact of the Civil War and its aftermath, paying particular attention to the experiences of ordinary Americans, including common soldiers, women and African Americans.

• Prerequisite(s): ENGL 040, ENGL 080

IDST 150 — Nature and Culture

This interdisciplinary course uses the combined perspectives of sciences such as biology, ecology and economics, together with history, philosophy and literature, to study how cultures and individuals interact with nature. Through close reading of essays, poems and scientific papers, as well as through students’ own field observations and writings on their local environment, this course explores the underlying values and ethical judgments involved in making choices on environmental issues that range from the local to the global. Topics include basic concepts such as evolution and cell theory and current issues such as animal rights, biotechnology, global warming and biodiversity conservation. No college science background is required.

• Prerequisite(s): MATH 030 or higher, ENGL 040, ENGL 080

Honors options

Students in recent years have completed honors option projects in a range of programs, from nursing to political science, history to communications and new media. Recent student honors option projects have included topics such as:

• Documentary photography

• Culturally responsive teaching

• Acidification of sediments

• The Russo-Japanese War

• Health care for refugees and asylum seekers

• Participation in the Adobe MAX creativity conference

• The effectiveness of green crab as lobster bait

• Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

• Ethical dimensions of supporting Black Lives Matter

• Using eDNA techniques to study harmful algal species in Casco Bay

• The 19th-century Underground Railroad

• Health care for the transgender community

• Ona Judge, the enslaved woman who escaped from George Washington

• Graphic design and publication of an original volume of poetry

• Using eDNA to estimate herring biomass in the Gulf of Maine

• Independent study on “The Dawn of Detroit”

• African American women’s leadership in the civil rights movement

• Comparative analysis of the Russian and Chinese revolutions

• The politics of slavery from the drafting of the U.S. Constitution through the Missouri Compromise

• The Kennedy administration and the Cuban Missile Crisis

• Composition of an original short story portfolio

• Analyzing the letters of Abigail Adams

If engaging deeply in your courses while at SMCC interests you, I invite you to reach out to me. I welcome the opportunity to work with you while at SMCC, whether your goal is personal enrichment, strengthening your career credentials or preparing to transfer to another institution.

Students participating in the Honors Program in recent years have transferred to schools that include:

• American University

• Bowdoin College

• Clarkson University

• Eckerd College

• Mount Holyoke College

• Smith College

• St. Joseph’s College

• University of Maine

• University of Maine at Farmington

• University of New England

• University of Pittsburgh

• University of Southern Maine

Students who want to graduate as SMCC Honors Program scholars must complete any combination of four honors courses and/or honors options with a minimum of a B, while maintaining an overall 3.3 GPA.

Students with questions or who want to participate in the Honors Program should contact Professor Eben Miller at emiller@mainecc.edu.

Visit www.smccME.edu to learn more.

Student testimony

Student testimony after completing an honors option project in ENGL 115 — Introduction to Literature on Leo Tolstoy’s novella, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”:

“Career success is not a bad thing and is something that I strive to attain by attending SMCC; however, it can become problematic when it is the sole focus and causes other areas of a person’s life to stagnate. This is why I believe having the opportunity to fulfill personal honors projects and explore courses such as literature and French are beneficial. As a result of completing the honors project in Introduction to Literature, I have gained a greater appreciation of literature and my Russian heritage. Cultural exploration is also another avenue that allows us to gain new perspectives and better relate to others. I will continue to strive to read literature throughout life and experience other cultures, such as by learning the French language. Having the opportunity to complete honors option projects throughout my time at SMCC has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of my courses, both in the technical, career realms and in the humanitarian spheres.”