Enhance your College of Business Experience in the Oregon State University Honors College
Learning Through Play: Exploring Commerce with Board Games
In this popular Honors College seminar, students dive into the history of commerce by playing and analyzing board games. Guided by College of Business instructor Dennis Adams, the course blends student-led discussion, hands-on gameplay and historical inquiry to create a low‑key, collaborative learning environment where taking risks—and having fun—is part of the process.
At Oregon State, the Honors College offers a chance to take your College of Business journey even further. Including engaging classes, the opportunity to develop an original project and a prestigious degree, the Honors College helps you build skills, connections and confidence.
Here’s a few ways it can benefit you:
- Take honors courses on unique topics with deeper collaboration.
- Build your network through faculty mentorship and honors community events.
- Complete an honors thesis that showcases your original work and strengthens project development and communication skills.
- Graduate with an Honors Baccalaureate Degree — Oregon State University’s highest undergraduate distinction.
The deadline to apply to the Honors College is Feb 1, but you can apply today! Visit your Beaver Basecamp portal and fill out the Honors College application form. You can also learn more about what the Honors College offers and send questions to [email protected].
The honors thesis is an opportunity to develop an original project in an area you are passionate about.
Recent thesis topics completed by College of Business Honors College graduates:
- Ashley Robinson — Honors College and College of Business Class of 2024, thesis topic: Shareholders Reaction to Equal Pay Discrimination Laws — A Comparative Analysis
- Evelyn Wood — Honors College and College of Business Class of 2023, thesis topic: The Effects of Historicism on Color Forecasting and Silhouette in Apparel Design
- Rylie Tiffin — Honors College and College of Business Class of 2021, thesis topic: Creating a Climate for Inclusion in Hospital Settings
- Hamza Molvi — Honors College and College of Business Class of 2020, thesis topic: An Exploration of the Relationship between Direct, Tactile Contact with Nature in the Workplace and Consequent Creative Performance
- Victoria Houdeshell — Honors College and College of Business Class of 2020, thesis topic: Relationships Between the Media’s Rhetoric and the Sentencing of White-Collar Criminals
- Alec Westbrook — Honors College and College of Business Class of 2020, thesis topic: Examining Footwear Wear Patterns for Injury Prevention
The thesis can include analytic research, innovation development, a business plan and more. Whatever your goals, the thesis will put you in a position to take them to the next level.
Alumni Highlight
Marisa used her honors thesis as an opportunity to investigate fashion bloggers’ influence on consumer spending.
“For my honors thesis, I really wanted to pursue this idea around ‘influencers’ that we see on social media and how they impact our purchase decisions, which is all we talk about in retail now. But at the time of writing my thesis, ‘influencer’ wasn’t even a word that I could use. When I pitched my research, no one in the faculty understood the concept I was trying to go after.”
Marisa Chen, '20, Merchandising Management
