Scholars Program 

 

More Than an Honors Program

The Scholars Program at Benedictine provides an intensive immersion in the liberal arts tradition designed especially for academically talented undergraduate students. The integrated four-year curriculum is organized around a common core of special seminars intended to develop the student's communication skills, multicultural literacy, and understanding of self and others. 

Scholars courses incorporate the same seminar/discussion format found in many graduate-level courses. Students in the program take one special Scholars seminar each semester along with the regular courses required for their academic majors. In these seminars, Scholars students explore diverse issues in literature, philosophy, world history, and the impact of multiculturalism upon the history of ideas. The program's teaching faculty encourage cooperative learning as an expression of the diversity of talents and varied learning styles that students bring to the program. Writing is an essential part of the curriculum. The smaller class size of the Scholars seminars stimulates student-faculty interaction. Lively discussions often continue beyond the classroom. 

In accordance with the Benedictine traditions of service and stewardship, the Scholars Program emphasizes the education of the whole person, thus, within the context of the leadership seminar, for example, Scholars students not only study theories of leadership, but also explore the needs of the larger community and implement volunteer service projects leading to the resolution of those needs within an enhanced and supportive learning environment. 

But the Scholars Program is not only about service. The program offers its students exclusive benefits such as guest speakers, cultural enrichment events, opportunities to present their work at national and regional academic conferences and, in the near future, the possibility of a short term study abroad experience.