Admitted Student Resources

Kilachand will host a series of events throughout the month of April that will introduce you to our faculty, staff, and current students and will provide information about our curriculum, community, and other opportunities at Kilachand.

To register for an event, please visit your MyBU portal. If you plan to join us virtually, please complete the Zoom Webinar registration to receive the link and details. We look forward to meeting you!

Kilachand Honors College Open House Welcome
All of the dates below are in-person events

• Friday, April 5, 1:00-2:30 pm
• Friday, April 12, 1:00-2:30 pm
• Saturday, April 13, 1:00-2:30 pm
• Friday, April 19, 1:00-2:30 pm

An Introduction to the Kilachand Curriculum

Virtual event through Zoom Webinar

• Tuesday, April 2, 6:00-6:45 pm

Please note that all times listed are in the Eastern daylight time zone. 

The Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College was founded in 2011 by a gift of $25 million generously given by Boston University Trustee Rajen Kilachand. This was followed by another gift of $10 million in 2012 to provide a residence, Kilachand Hall, for Kilachand students.

Kilachand Honors College provides a diverse living-learning community and a challenging, interdisciplinary curriculum focused on questions of ethical, scientific, social, and aesthetic significance. Students hone their creative, critical thinking, research, writing, and analytical skills as they learn alongside faculty and students from across Boston University. Kilachand students benefit from exposure to a variety of ideas and approaches toward solving major problems through coursework, co-curricular events, and experiential opportunities.

Professor Melissa Holt to lead Kilachand Honors College as the third Director starting July 1, 2023

Learn More

Our faculty, postdoctoral associates, and staff

Our mission, community, and learning objectives

All first-year Kilachand students live together in Kilachand Hall where many Kilachand courses and co-curricular events are held. The Kilachand Directors, Academic Advisors, and Post-Doctoral Fellows also have offices in Kilachand Hall and the frequent, informal interactions among students, faculty, and staff fosters a community of collegiality and support. Please visit our Kilachand Specialty Housing webpage to learn more about Kilachand Living Learning community options for incoming first-year students.

Kilachand Hall Dorm Tour Video

The students who thrive at Kilachand are intellectually curious and courageous, and they want to put their knowledge to use to benefit their communities. We seek students who wish to study an array of subjects across disciplines, as well as focus deeply on their major interests. The Kilachand curriculum asks students to use the tools and methods of every academic discipline to understand global challenges and develop practical solutions. Through rigorous courses and co-curricular events, students hone their capacity for critical reasoning and effective communication, skills that are crucial to every academic, intellectual, and socially responsible enterprise as well as to that all-important pursuit of shaping an engaged and fulfilling life beyond the university.

Kilachand Honors College strives to involve students inside and outside of the classroom. We encourage students to become Peer Mentors, Kilachand Ambassadors, and members of the Kilachand Leadership Advisory Board (KLAB). Kilachand Honors College student groups give Kilachand students the opportunity to engage with peers and administrators in Kilachand, hold leadership positions, and represent Kilachand outside of the College.

The Kilachand curriculum invites students to formulate and discuss questions of scientific, social, ethical, and aesthetic significance and share their conclusions with a broad audience. Through a combination of seminars, lectures, break-out discussions, and experiential opportunities, students hone their creative and critical thinking skills and apply them to problems of contemporary relevance. 

All Kilachand courses fulfill BU Hub requirements, allowing our students to satisfy a majority of their general education goals through the Kilachand curriculum.

View brief conversations between Kilachand faculty, students, and alumni, where they spotlight their unique experiences with our curriculum and related opportunities.

In Conversation: Alumni Perspectives

Celeste Hamre-Awtry (CAS ’16, LAW ‘23) and Dr. Jake Awtry (CAS ’16, GRS ’16) discuss with Kilachand’s former Director of Student Academic Life Amanda Shalian (CGS ’04, CAS ’06, Wheelock ’09, ’15) how their Kilachand experience prepared them for their lives and careers and share advice with the newest members of the Kilachand community.

In Conversation: The First-Year Curriculum

Former Kilachand Postdoctoral Associate, Professor Travis Franks (Utah State University) and Ilana Keusch (CAS’24) give an overview of the Kilachand Studio courses (ST 111 & 112) and discuss the engaging content of Kilachand first-year seminars, particularly (Mis)representing History in Art.

In Conversation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Challenges II

Associate Director for the Center on Forced Displacement (CFD) Carrie Preston and Susritha Kopparapu (CAS ’22) reflect on teaching and learning in the course KHC 302: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Challenges II, in which students examine the global crisis of forced displacement.

In Conversation: The Fourth-Year Curriculum

In the Kilachand senior seminars, students and faculty discuss how to live engaged and fulfilling lives within and beyond the university at a transitional moment in students’ personal experiences. The seminars also support students as they complete their Keystone Projects and prepare for the Keystone Symposium. Former Postdoctoral Associate Emily Hainze and Deema Abdel-Meguid (ENG’21) reflect on academic growth.

In Conversation: The Keystone Project

In the fourth year, Kilachand provides the space and resources for students to engage in their own creative and intellectual pursuits and then share their work with a variety of audiences. Students complete a year-long Keystone Project in their chosen fields under the mentorship of a project advisor. Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences Steve Ramirez, Francesca Davy-Falconi (CAS’21), and Christina Cincotta (CAS’19) discuss research and collaboration.

Kilachand co-curricular events offer students the opportunity to interact with accomplished scholars, artists, and professionals. Co-curricular events engage students in the broader implications of the Kilachand curriculum, help to build our living-learning community, and provide insight into scientific, artistic, technological, and political activities.

Past co-curricular guests include Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi, renowned film director Werner Herzog, and award-winning authors Piper Kerman, Zadie Smith, and Min Jin Lee. Students often visit the Boston Ballet, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Institute of Contemporary Art for private talks and tours and group performances.

All Kilachand students complete a substantial work of empirical or scholarly research, creativity, or invention by the close of their senior year.

The purpose of the Keystone Project is to provide students with a sustained experience of intellectual discovery and an opportunity to share their work with a broader audience. This process begins in the junior year, when students learn to balance the excitement of imaginative approaches to their intellectual interests with the rigor of field-specific methodologies and begin to work on the design of their thesis or project. It continues in the senior year, as students conduct their research, write their thesis or produce their creative project, and assess the significance of the work they have done. The research thesis or project can take a variety of forms, but students must aim for the highest standards of the discipline or interdisciplinary area they select.

Below, Kilachand alum Dr. Jamie Lim (SAR ’14, MED ’19) discusses how support from Kilachand allowed him to conduct research in Nepal for his Keystone Project.

Explore past Keystone projects from our annual Keystone Symposium.

Kilachand Experiential Learning encourages students to pursue personal and academic growth outside traditional classrooms. Our students identify rewarding internships, fellowships, undergraduate research, and study abroad opportunities through supportive Kilachand partnerships as well as established Boston University programs. 

BU School of Medicine Education, Advising, & Mentoring in STEM

The BU School of Medicine Education, Advising, & Mentoring in STEM (BEAMS) provides students the opportunity to develop and lead a global public health course for Boston high school students.

Kilachand students explore the relationship between public health issues through experiential and service learning. As part of this experience, students facilitate global health and life skills lessons, while working closely with both the high school students and BEAMS staff and mentors. The collaboration is a unique opportunity to engage with the Boston community while allowing students to connect what they are learning in the Kilachand curriculum to a real-world experience. Kilachand students, alongside the BEAMS high school students, explore global health issues and strategies for how people work to solve these problems, along with life skills lessons to expand their practical application of said issues. The experience centers around questions such as, “How do public health officials tackle these problems?” and “How can someone who is not a medical professional impact our global health?”

Kilachand Internship Program 

The Kilachand Internship Program (KIP) provides funding to support Kilachand students who secure a summer internship with an organization focused on justice work (social, climate, etc. – as defined by the student), with an emphasis on doing so within local communities. KIP provides living allowance stipends for unpaid or nonprofit internships, as well as mentorship and an educational framework to support and strengthen the internship experience.

To apply for this selective program, Kilachand students must identify an internship opportunity at an organization that they believe promotes justice goals (social justice, climate justice, etc.), submit a statement of their definition of this justice work, a description of their proposed plan of work, and a letter of support from the institution or internship sponsor.

The Center on Forced Displacement

Kilachand Honors College supports experiential learning opportunities through the Center on Forced Displacement (CFD). The CFD fosters interdisciplinary research and engagement with the global challenge of forced displacement. Their projects, research activities, events, and programs bring together multidisciplinary teams of researchers, practitioners, and artists from across schools and colleges at Boston University, around the country, and around the world. These collaborations are crucial to helping us better understand the history and sources of forced displacement, clarify the policies and practices that exacerbate or alleviate human suffering, and generate ethical interventions to improve the lives of displaced communities and their hosts.

Inspired by their experience working with refugees through the Interdisciplinary Program in Forced Displacement Studies (a precursor to the CFD), Hayes Hart-Thompson (CAS’21, COM’21) developed a research project on urban refugees in Beirut that formed the foundation for their Keystone Project. Watch the introduction to their project below.

Kilachand Ambassadors are current students who are eager to share their insight into Kilachand and BU with you! Browse their profiles here to learn about their diverse academic paths and extracurricular interests, and feel free to ask them why Kilachand has been a rewarding part of their college experience.

Enrollment

Join the Boston University community by confirming your place in the Class of 2028 with BU Admissions.

Housing

All Kilachand Honors College first-year students live on designated floors at Kilachand Hall. Please visit our Kilachand Living and Learning Community page to learn more about room and roommate selection, and be sure to complete the New Student Housing Application as soon as you’re able.

Orientation 

BU Orientation, offered by the Office of the Dean of Students, introduces students to resources that support the transition to college, student belonging, and high-impact practices.

During your Orientation session, you will have the opportunity to meet Kilachand faculty directors, academic advisors, staff, and student leaders. Dates and times for Kilachand programming will be shared in June.

Registration

Registration is a virtual experience and registration will open on the same date for all incoming BU students. Students will receive detailed information from their school or college of enrollment and Kilachand in advance, and all Kilachand students will have the opportunity to schedule one-on-one advising meetings with their Kilachand Academic Advisor this summer to review their fall 2024 course choices. You may wish to review Kilachand’s flexible and Hub-rich curriculum in preparation.

Kilachand student Faisal Ahmed (CAS ’24) helps found ARISE (Assisting Refugees through Initiative, Service, and Education), inspired by his participation in the Center on Forced Displacement

Kilachand alum Amanda Katchmar (CAS ’22) publishes Keystone research in Harm Reduction Journal

Kilachand Professor Nathan Phillips Q&A – From Glasgow to Comm Ave: Cutting Methane Emissions

Kilachand Alum Carina Terry (CAS’20) is published in Biological Conservation

Kilachand Alum Macken Murphy (CAS ’20) Creates a Different Species of Podcast

The work of BU anthropologist Cheryl Knott and her drone-flying son, Kilachand student Russell Laman (CAS ’22), featured on the BBC.

Bostonia: Kilachand Director Carrie Preston Featured as One of Seven Researchers Impacting the Human Experience

Kilachand Professor Muhammad Zaman Honored with Guggenheim Fellowship