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How do you define an intellectual life? It’s a question we think about in the Honors Program all the time. We think about it in the work we do with students, faculty, and other colleagues at Tulane. It’s a question that you can answer now, next year, after your graduate, and one that you should continue to ask of yourself and others in your studies, in your work, and for the rest of your life. Through our program, we provide opportunities to help you answer that question in a variety of ways, and we expect that through the Tulane Honors experience, your answer will continuouslyevolve.
It is my pleasure to tell you about the top five advantages of the Tulane Honors Program (with some help from current Honors students as well!).
1. Residential Learning Communities.
Students who want the most out of their Honors experience, live in Wall Residential Learning Community (first year) and Weatherhead Residential Learning Community (second year). Residential Learning Communities are distinguished from other residential halls at Tulane by having faculty members-in-residence that also live in the building and are responsible for fostering an intellectual community among the residents of the Residential Learning Community.
Wall has “Societies” students join such as “Running with Science,” “Gray Matter,” “US Politics,” and “World Cultures” just to name a few. Wall Societies build community among Honors students while creating the opportunity for informal interactions between faculty members and students with the support a resident advisors (RA). Weatherhead continues that intellectual community established in Wall with faculty-led “roundtables” and student-led panels. Jake, a junior in Political Economy and an RA in Weatherhead, says, “There is special academic programming that is different from programming in other residence halls because it is focused on academics and learning. Weatherhead combines the social aspect of other residence halls, with the intellectual aspects of a high-achieving academic environment, which is really rewarding.”
2. Multidisciplinary Courses.
The Honors Program offers a range of multidisciplinary courses exclusively for Honors students, called “colloquium." These course enable Honors students to explore many areas of interest through classroom discussions that carry on in Residential Learning Communities. Elizabeth, a first-year Honors student who lives in Wall, describes that connection: “I really like how I see the members of my colloquium, ‘Globalization and Urbanization Challenges’, and how we carry on our classroom conversations throughout the week in Wall.” Other seminars such as “How Should One Live?”, “The Future of Health Care: Hope or Hype?”, and “Aesthetics and Style” challenge students in new ways and enhance a scholarly community of students in a small classroom setting.
3. Research Opportunities.
From the Honors Summer Research Program to the senior Honors Thesis, Honors students engage in scholarship with faculty. Parker, a junior in mathematics and computer science, explains what he learned while working on his project in the Honors Research Program: “One cool part about my work is that to alter an algorithm, one must have new mathematical insights. There is a beautiful balance between finding new ideas and applying them cleverly to optimize their utility.” Of course, Parker’s comment could be applied to any discipline.
As the culminating achievement of an Honors student’s undergraduate career, the Honors thesis involves substantial independent research under the direction of a professor. The thesis demonstrates the student’s capacity for quality research and provides concrete evidence of mastery of the material and insights in a field. Maeve, a senior in Creative Writing and Gender & Sexuality Studies, explains, “The thesis process is important because of its concentrated focus. Not only did I gain invaluable knowledge in my disciplines, but writing my thesis forced me to consider the intricacies of my academic pursuit. It compelled me to closely examine what interested me, what I wanted to learn from my inquiries, and what components are integral to my studies now and in the future.”
4. Faculty Mentoring.
Through all of these experiences—colloquium courses, Wall Societies, Weatherhead Roundtables, research opportunities, and advising for nationally competitive scholarships—we rely on the expertise and insights of faculty members who provide mentoring to Honors students at various points during their academic careers. Derek, a graduate of the Biomedical Engineering Program, describes his mentor as someone who “shared his research experiences, helped him search for graduate programs, and gave him advice on all aspects of life.” The Honors Program creates situations where students work with faculty both in and outside of the classroom, that benefit and help refine Honors student's career goals and aspirations
5. Nationally Competitive Scholarships.
The Honors Program provides many opportunities for intellectual engagement at Tulane University, but advising for nationally competitive scholarships is one of the main areas where we challenge students to strive for their full potential. One of the ways in which the Honors Program encourages intellectual autonomy and individual passion is through advising for nationally competitive scholarships, such as the Fulbright Program, Goldwater Program, Marshall Scholarship, Truman Scholarship, and the Rhodes Scholarship, to name a few. Honors students receive special advising from the Honors program about prestigious scholarships, professional preparation, and other post-graduate opportunities. We encourage students to explore these opportunities and consider new experiences (with funding) for graduate study, research, studying abroad, and language acquisition that help foster an intellectual life.
Learn more at our website and we hope to see you during a visit in the spring!
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| Charlotte Maheu Vail, PhD, Associate Director of the Tulane Honors Program |
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