Honors Program

Curriculum

Majors offered

Students should complete 6 Honors courses (3-4 LAC and 2-3 Major-specific courses) in addition to three workshops.

Courses Offered

LAC Honors Courses

Arabic

Arts

Cultural Studies

History

Literature

Philosophy

Psychology

Science

Social Sciences

Major-Specific Honors Courses

Architecture

Bioinformatics

Biology

Business

Computer Science

Economics

Engineering

English

Political Science

Psychology

Workshops offered

Soft skills are what accompany the hard skills, that’s why it’s so important to focus as much on soft skills training and development as you do on traditional hard skills.

Soft skills are increasingly becoming the hard skills of today’s work force. It’s just not enough to be highly trained in technical skills, without developing the softer, interpersonal and relationship-building skills that help people to communicate and collaborate effectively. These skills are more critical than ever as organizations struggle to find meaningful ways to remain competitive and be productive. Teamwork, leadership, and communication are underpinned by soft skills development. Since each is an essential element for organizational and personal success, developing these skills through specialized workshops is crucial for career success.

 

The workshops offered: 

 

WRK 200H: Emotional Intelligence I: An Introduction to Understanding and Applying Emotional Intelligence

 Emotional Intelligence is the ability to recognize and effectively manage our emotions as well as the emotions of others. As a result, emotional intelligence increases individual’s capacity to make good decisions, build relationships, and better deal with stress and change. The goal this workshop is to introduce the concept of emotional intelligence as well as give an overview of the components of Emotional Intelligence.

 

WRK 201H: Emotional Intelligence II: An In-depth Look into Ways to Improve Emotional Intelligence

Pre or Co-requisite: Honors Program workshop H1.

Emotional intelligence increases individual’s capacity to make good decisions, build relationships, and better deal with stress and change. In order to accomplish more while maintaining a harmonious environment, it is becoming critical not only to perform technical skills and deliver outcomes but to be able to analyze and understand one’s self and others. This workshop aims at going more in depth into the topic so that students can apply theory into practice.

 

WRK 202H: Life Balance

In this millennium of ever-changing environmental factors and expanding opportunities, individuals find themselves overwhelmed and often end up burning out while becoming increasingly demotivated. With the growing professional, global, cultural and personal responsibilities, individuals have to find alternative ways to perform, deliver in multiple areas of their lives while maintaining a healthy overall wellbeing. The workshop will assist students in finding and maintaining excellence both as a student at LAU and as a human being in other areas of life.

 

WRK 203H: Skills of Debate

The workshop will focus on the three elements of debate that help develop and enhance skills like critical thinking, decision-making, teamwork, active listening and leadership. These are 1) argumentation and cross-examination, 2) public speaking and the use of verbal and non-verbal delivery and 3) formal debate structure. Participants will get first-hand experience of the power of logic, structure and delivery in persuasion all within the context of an actual formal debate.

 

WRK 204H: Goal Setting and Vision Boarding

Goal setting is the process of identifying something that the student wants to accomplish, and establishing measurable goals and time frames. Smart goal setting involves the development of an action plan designed to motivate and guide a person to achieve his/her goal on a personal and professional level. Vision boarding is a visual representation of what one wants to create in life; it is a powerful tool for creating a roadmap to success. The vision board is created by using images and words of the set goals and dreams, crafted together on a board. It will help students define their intentions and desires, gain clarity, perspective, focus, and go from imagining to envisioning with purpose.

 

WRK 205H: Steer your Career I 

Steer Your Career workshop aims to raise the students’ awareness of professional skills and challenges faced as they take their first steps in the professional career path. It will empower and prepare them using modern day tools, methodologies of career development and expert trainings with sessions covering concepts in professionalism and the work place.

During this workshop, students learn about the art of leading people in a transparent and authentic manner, including understanding and developing leadership skills. Students explore the art of public speaking and the use of technology in professional communication. In addition, students are introduced to the basics of different types of business and professional writing including résumés, business letters, and emails.

 

WRK 206H:Title: Steer you Career II

Steer Your Career workshop aims to raise the students’ awareness of professional skills and challenges faced as they take their first steps in the professional career path. It will empower and prepare them using modern day tools, methodologies of career development and expert trainings with sessions covering concepts in professionalism and the work place.

During this workshop, students are introduced to the basics of problem solving and to the decision making process. Students explore the team development process and learn key tips in managing effective teams. Finally, students review key steps and successful tips for finding a job such as having a plan, self-knowledge, preparing a cover letter and resume and the interviewing process.

Upon completion of Steer Your Career I and II, students will be able to:

  1. Identify and demonstrate the work-readiness skills needed to research, get and keep a job.
  2. Develop innovative personal strategies to achieve lifelong learning pursuits and career opportunities.

 

WRK 207H: Leadership and Change

This workshop will help students acquire some core skills required to better deal with change and explore new perspectives designed to prepare them for future leadership roles. Students will be able to:

  1. identify different types of change and the way people and organizations may react to them.
  2. explore one change management theory.
  3. explain why people resist change and how resilience could help them overcome their resistance.

 

WRK 208H: Comm-U-nicate

There is no “one size fits all”, especially when it comes to communication. Today, more than ever before, we communicate with different types of people, all of whom perceive the world in their own way and we often take this for granted. We expect them to understand us, but yet for some reason, we often refrain from attempting to understand them.

Through “Comm-u-nicate”, students will be able to:

  1. Explain why miscommunication happens using a renowned model, and what one can do to communicate better with others.
  2. Identify the various differences between Hearing and Listening, and explain how the latter is correlated to enhanced communication.
  3. Practice using a questioning technique that helps conversations flow better.

 

WRK 209H: Ace your Interview

Students start looking for great opportunities to enter the workplace way before their graduation. Organizations carefully design series of interviews to select the best-fit candidates among graduates. The trouble is, students simply aren’t told what to really expect, and that makes thing more complicated and borderline unfair.

“Ace your Interview” will offer students insights on how real interviews are conducted, from both sides of the table. After completing this workshop, students will be able to:

  1. Explain the most common types of interviews and why they are used.
  2. Analyze the STAR method and how to leverage it to ace their interview.
  3. Apply best practice that will help leave a lasting impact on interviewers.
  4. Practice nonverbal techniques and tips to impress interviewers.

WRK 210H: Own the Stage: How to Deliver More Impactful Presentations

“OtS” is designed as a holistic learning experience that reflects a real challenge students face as they are about to enter the workforce: presentations! At the mere sight of the word, hearts start beating faster, palms get sweaty and voices start to shake. With that in mind, “Own the Stage” offers students a safe learning environment where they must simply practice.

Through a series of constructive iterations, participants will be able to attain a more personal touch to their overall style and learn how to deliver more impactful presentations.

After completing this workshop, students will specifically be able to:

  1. Identify the core requirements the make presentations impactful.
  2. Re-align nonverbal communication with verbal approach.
  3. Practice delivering to an audience of peers.

 

WRK 211H: Performance Elevated

Students always feel that there isn’t enough time and that deadlines creep up from out of nowhere. It is essential for students to learn how to manage their time, and ultimately deliver a better performance in their career as well as their personal lives.

“Performance Elevated” is designed to expose students with a different paradigm on the concept of time management. After completing this workshop, students will be able to

  1. Manage their time in a better way by applying a proven framework.
  2. Set goals in an optimal fashion that will offer the highest chances of success.
  3. Identify a set of strategies to cope with daily interruptions.

 

WRK 212H: Stress and Time Management for Effective Decision Making

We work in a highly competitive environment where stress is part of our life styles. This workshop will provide the participants with the key skills to manage both their stress and their time effectively. It will explore the students to ways of using the positive effects of stress to make adequate decisions and perform better in their lives. Upon the completion of this workshop, students will be able to:

  1. Identify the most common time wasters and how to cope with them.
  2. Distinguish between urgent and non-urgent tasks.
  3. Develop basic skills to manage one’s time at the office, home and throughout one’s life.
  4. Understand the connection between time management and stress, and identify some symptoms of stress on body, mind, emotions and behaviors.
  5. Identify key steps in rational decision-making and understand the constraints in this process.
  6. Pinpoint some “mental locks” that inhibit creativity and categorize elements of creative problem solving.
  7. Appreciate the brainstorming approach in decision-making.

 

WRK 213H: Best Tools to Optimize Your Digital Marketing Presence

This course teaches the foundations of search marketing to an audience with or without previous experience in the field. The course includes an overview of the main search strategies currently available online and explains how we can use each to promote brands and businesses on Google, in a cost-effective way.  By attending this program, students will acquire what they need to create and implement successful digital search marketing campaigns and promote their websites in order to raise awareness, build brand trust, increase traffic and generate sales and conversions. Upon completion of this workshop participants will be able to:

  1. Understand the basics of search marketing.
  2. Understand the difference between SEM and SEO.
  3. Read and generate reports on Google Analytics

 

WRK 214H: Creating Self-Awareness through Emotional Intelligence

Emotions highly impact the way we perceive ourselves.  Understanding the root causes of our emotions is the first step in developing good self-awareness for better Emotional Intelligence (EQ).  Research shows that people who have high EQ are more likely to succeed in the workplace and in their personal lives. Workshop Objectives:

  1. Enhance participants’ knowledge about emotions and how they can hijack their actions and decisions.
  2. Establish the importance of Emotional Self-Awareness as the first step in the development of EQ
  3. Allow participants to practice with tools and exercises so they can increase their emotional self-awareness

 

WRK 215H: Identifying “Character Strengths” to Create Self-Awareness

Discovering and understanding character strengths will have a great impact on people’s work and life. In 2004, psychologists Martin Seligman & Chris Peterson published key findings about Character Strengths, which are a constellation of character traits that make each human distinct or unique. Research reveals that people who know and use their character strengths every day are: more productive, 3 times more likely to report having an excellent quality of life, 6 times more likely to be engaged at work, and 15% less likely to quit their jobs. Workshop Objectives:

1. Participants will be introduced to their personal character strengths (through an assessment).

2. Participants will know how to use their character strengths for greater efficiencies.

3. Participants will know where they are special to help develop their self-esteem.

 

WRK 216H: Developing Stronger Relationships through Emotional Intelligence

Recent research from Armour (2007) showed that employees who had better relationships at work demonstrated higher job satisfaction, higher involvement/commitment and were less likely to leave their job.  Emotions impact our relationships in different ways.  Having the right Emotional Intelligence (EQ) skills can help people develop trustworthy intimate relationships that are an essential component of strong leaders today. Workshop Objectives:

  1. Thoroughly understand how emotions impact relationships.
  2. Understand why relationships are an important part of Leadership.
  3. Understand the components of Building Trusting Relationships.
  4. Apply this learning through tools and exercises

 

WRK 217H: Using Emotional Intelligence for Managing Decisions and Procrastination

An important part of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is understanding how emotions are impacting our decisions and throwing us into procrastination.  Making sound and timely decisions is key for good leadership. Workshop Objectives:

  1. Understand the proper decision-making process
  2. Understand the role of emotions in decision making
  3. Practice sound decision making through tools and exercise

 

WRK 218H: Identifying the Stressors and Learning Approaches for Stress Management

 For our ancestors, stress was a survival skill during life threatening situations. In today’s world, people are constantly bombarded by stressors of different kinds: work deadlines, traffic, and family obligations. The over-activation of our stress hormones have been linked to high blood pressure, heart attacks, lower immunity, depression, anxiety, and more. Workshop Objectives:

  1. Understand Stress and its impact on our success in Life.
  2. Take a Look at our Life and Identify the main stressors.
  3. Learn different Approaches to help participants manage their Stress.

 

WRK 219H : Pitching in Public

In this time and age of social media and start-ups, we stand witness to a total transformation in career success/failure. Public exposure and visibility have become the new normal. No doubt about it, we’re living in the age of public speaking and public engagement! The power to communicate our ideas is our only way to success, or more truly, to survival. This workshop on Pitching in Public is a hands-on training opportunity into the art of pitching. It introduces participants to pitch drafting (ideas generation and categorization) and pitch delivery (public speaking and voice coaching). Most importantly, the workshop offers a real platform for participants to pitch their ideas/projects.

 

WRK 220H: Building Resilience:

Resilience is the ability to bounce back after hardship or challenge.  People with low resilience are more prone to mental health issues likes anxiety and depression. This workshop will teach students:

  1. How to develop strategies to face challenges
  2. How to protect themselves from overwhelming situations
  3. How to keep balance in their life

 

WRK 221H: Rewiring your Brain by shifting from Negative Thinking to a more Positive Outlook

Negative thinking can be detrimental to us as humans.  It increases the likelihood of developing anxiety and it blocks us from moving forward and achieving our goals.  In this workshop, students will:

  1. Understand the origin of Negative thoughts
  2. Understand the Impact of Negative thoughts
  3. Learn Strategies to address Negative thinking & Worrying

 

WRK 222H: Learning Agility

Learning agility, sometimes described as “knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do” is not necessarily an academic skill. It rather encapsulates a person’s ability and passion to study and deal with a new problem by his/her own learning process to get a clear understanding before making the correct decision. The general objective of the session is to revolve around preparing the attendees for the so-called real world highlighting at a more realistic perspective of what to expect from the job market these days, while increasing their employability.

 

WRK 223H: Understanding and Accepting Emotions in Challenging Times

The unpredictable and challenging times that we are going through can be overwhelming and detrimental to our mental health. Although we cannot predict the future, we can equip ourselves with skills that allow us to better adapt to our environment. Understanding and accepting emotions are key elements of emotional intelligence that help develop resilience in the face of adversity.
The workshop objectives are:
1. Assessing emotion identification skills
2. Learning how to identify emotions in ourselves and others
3. Understanding the role of our emotions
4. Accepting emotions to better adapt in challenging times
 

 WRK 224H: Assessing and Regulating Emotions in Challenging Times

Our emotional states are often an interaction between ourselves and our environment, and as our current environment is uncertain and unpredictable, this can hinder our well being. The ability to regulate our emotions is key to better navigate our circumstances and maintain our internal emotional stability.
The workshop objectives are:
1. Assessing emotion regulation skills
2. Learning strategies to manage emotions in ourselves
3. Learning strategies to manage emotions in others
4. Applying emotion regulation strategies in the face of adversity

 

WRK 225H: Meaning and Purpose Discovery 

Life Is Never Made Unbearable By Circumstances But Only By Lack Of Meaning And Purpose”. Viktor Frankl. Many times, you stop and wonder about the Meaning and Purpose of your life. Understanding the core of discovery is crucial for a clear path. Meaning and Purpose questions are always awaiting you to be discovered, answered, lived and actualized.  And if not discovered and acted upon, it will have an undesirable effect on your wellbeing and life processing.

In this workshop we will be:

 

WRK 226H: Meaning, Purpose and Well Being 

“The Quest For Meaning Is The Key To Mental Health And Human Flourishing” Viktor Frankl. It is proven that Meaning is positively related to happiness, wellbeing, life satisfaction, resilience, coping skills, hope, gratitude, health, self-esteem and empowerment. A random living exempt from Meaning leads to Existential Vacuum that will affect your overall wellbeing. Happiness and pleasure are only a side effect of Meaning fulfillment and not the mere end. Finding and living your unique Meaning and Purpose is essential to your Life, to your Mental Health and to your Well Being! 

During the workshop we will be exploring:

 

WRK 227H: Finding Optimism In Challenging Times 

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. Viktor Frankl. During your journey of living, and as you encounter beautiful uplifting moments, you are not exempt from reality! You are not exempt from a certain kind of challenge that will be part of your life at some point, be it on personal level or collective level. Finding optimism in said situations is a challenge by itself. You being prepared to deal with it and develop it are crucial for your life process.

During the workshop, you will be subject to:

 

WRK 228H: Guideposts To Choice And Conscious Decision Making

A Human Being Is A Deciding Being. Viktor Frankl. When you become aware of the fact that you are whom you decide to be, then the choices you adopt are a key element and a game changer in each moment of your life. Choices tell us that we as human beings have lots of power. It is you by the choices you adopt and the decisions you take that you will steer your life. And what is most important is that Choices plays a major role in your Meaning and Purpose Discovery

In this workshop, we will be exploring the below:

 

WRK 229H: How To Undergo A Meaningful Fulfilled Life

Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure or a quest for power but a quest for meaning. Viktor Frankl. We all want happiness in our life; we love to enjoy, have balance, we want security, we like to accomplish, we appreciate relationships… They are all beautiful and rightful for each person. BUT is this what life is all about? Are they the core of a meaningful life or an authentic fulfillment? You can consider your life to be just a mere coincidence, or you can choose to be aware that you were born for a purpose, that there is a Meaning behind your existence, and this Meaning is the true path for a fulfilled life.

In this workshop, we will be exploring the below:

 

WRK 230H: The Values Workshop

Values cannot be taught, Values must be lived. Viktor Frankl. To live a life that is satisfying to you, you must live up to your value system. Your value system constitutes your Unique Authentic Identity. It is your pathway to Meaning and Purpose Discovery. Not knowing the values that matter to you and that you ought to live by and actualize will lead to misdirection in many areas of your life and also will affect tremendously your search for Meaning and Purpose. 

In this workshop, students will be:

 

WRK231H : Building Life Resilience Through Meaning 

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. Viktor Frank. During your journey of living, you are not exempt from different kind of challenges. Being aware of this fact and being prepared to deal with it is resilience.  Meaning is a crucial element in fostering resilience. Without Meaning, your life would be so fragile. It is what allows you to deal with the Tragic Triad or what we call reality and to find optimism in challenging times and turn these challenges into triumphs.

During the workshop, you will be exploring: