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Message from the Dean

Welcome to the Pennoni Honors College at Drexel University.

Since the founding of the Honors Program at Drexel in 1991, Honors has been a vital presence on campus, developing into a self-standing College in 2002. In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our long-awaited Honors House, Bentley Hall, was completed. It is an addition to the Bentley student residence, which opened in 2019. Bentley is a meeting place for students across campus and across disciplines, providing the chance for them to enrich each other and become broadly educated through programming and course opportunities.

We thank Gregory and Caroline Bentley, the Pennoni Advisory Board, and Drexel alumni for making this building and its programming possible. We also acknowledge our benefactor, Drexel alumnus and former interim President, C.R. "Chuck" Pennoni, for helping make Honors an unparalleled site of innovation, creativity, and intellectual exchange.

The College sponsors initiatives that serve all Drexel students interested in pursuing excellence. We encompass three units: our Academic Programs unit includes the Honors Program, the Custom-Designed Major, the interdisciplinary problem solving minor, and the theme-based Symposium; our Undergraduate Research and Enrichment Programs offers research through STAR and SuperNova; mentoring through the Aspire Program; and opportunities to prepare and apply for competitive grants and fellowships; the Marketing and Media unit offers students involvement with a nationally recognized online journal, The Smart Set, and an array of programming connected to our Center for Civil Discourse, including a nationally distributed television talk show, The Civil Discourse. Please check out the links for more information on these units and the events and programs associated with them.

The Pennoni Honors College has a range and depth of offerings unique among Honors Colleges in the country. Involvement with the College helps students become the best they can be: broadly educated, socially engaged, and culturally and intellectually fulfilled.


Paula Marantz Cohen
Dean
Pennoni Honors College
Distinguished Professor of English

Published Works by Dean Paula Marantz Cohen

Articles

The Seminar Course Can Save Civility | Wall Street Journal | December 1, 2019 [PDF]

Arthur Miller's Shame | TLS | May 17, 2019

The Divine Artistic Hand in My Late Mother's Beauty | Wall Street Journal | May 10, 2019 [PDF]

What 'Othello' Can Teach Us All | Wall Street Journal | April 4, 2019 [PDF]

This Side of Paradise | American Scholar | December 3, 2018

Shakespeare's Uncomfortable Message for Baby Boomers | Wall Street Journal | October 26, 2018 [.DOCX]

Don't Race Through a Great Book | American Scholar | April 11, 2016

Commentary: Prepare students for diverse world that awaits | Philly.com | April 4, 2016

A Course of Revelations | Philly.com | January 11, 2016

The Humanities Need a Course Correction | The Wall Street Journal | October 9, 2015

College Honors Programs in Various Forms | The New York Times | August 24, 2015

The Complete Class Notes blog | American Scholar | 2011-2014

What I've Learned in the Classroom | Chronicle of Higher Ed | July 22, 2013

Creative Plagiarism | Chronicle of Higher Ed | October 22, 2012

Jack the Ripper's Interdisciplinary Rap Sheet | Chronicle of Higher Ed | September 4, 2011

The Making of World-Class Universities, of the Chinese Variety | Chronicle of Higher Ed | February 17, 2011

Shylock, My Students, and Me | American Scholar | December 1, 2009

Books

Jane Austen in Boca: A Novel

Much Ado About Jessie Kaplan: A Novel

Beatrice Bunson's Guide to Romeo & Juliet: A Novel

What Alice Knew: A Most Curious Tale of Henry James & Jack the Ripper

Suzanne Davis Gets a Life

Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the SATs

Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth

Getting Dressed: Confession, Criticism, Cultural History