Participation in an Honors Colloquium is a completion requirement for the Honors Program.

Since it was first held in 1963, the Colloquium has played an important role in the intellectual life of both the URI campus and the State of Rhode Island. It has brought leading experts on contemporary, controversial topics to URI to share their thoughts and work with students and members of the community.

Colloquium topics have included inequality and the American Dream, new ways to think about gender, the origins of life, healthcare, race in America, global environmental change, hunger, understanding India, and the rise of China.

The Honors Colloquium is a course that students can choose to take either in the Fall or Spring semester. The fall Honors Colloquium combines a topical series of speakers and events with a 200-level honors course that averages between 50 and 70 students. Scholars from all over the world are brought in to give talks to both the class and to the wider community. In addition to the Colloquium lectures and panel discussions that take place on Tuesday evenings throughout the semester, related URI theater productions, films, readings and exhibitions are often featured to complement the weekly events in the series.