Scanned using Book ScanCenter 5033

Lawerence Wheeler, program director, feels the Hon­ ors program gives students a wider educational base than an average degree. Honors pro^ students to ( As the Honors Program stresses the classics of Western civilization, some students may perceive it to be an outdated fossil serving an elite group of snobs. What does the "Canon," whose authors are sometimes referred to as Dead White Males, have to offer a modern university? "In order to make judgements about anything else, you need to start from the beginning," said Melody Wilson, an Honors student majoring in English. Having a solid foundation in the humanities can prepare students for al­ most any career, Wilson said. The program emphasizes learning how to care­ fully analyze what one reads or hears, she said, questioning the validity of ev­ ery "fact" before accepting it. If students are not given such training in critical thinking, is there a danger that they might be susceptible to manipulation? "If you teach people the idea that knowledge is based on external data, that it is not subject to forces of change ... then, yes, they are subject to being easily manipulated," said Laurence Wheeler, director of the Honors Program. Courses such as Michael Reardon's Intellectual History class give students the history behind ideas and the political movements which generated or di­ rected them, Wheeler said. If students are not given that context, and are un­ aware of its existence, they may be more likely to accept information as fact, rather than questioning its source, he said. Many students at PSU are concerned about how their degree affects their marketability. A program concerned with intellectual pursuits might seem su­ perfluous in the midst of an economic crisis. What can the Honors Program offer students who are more interested in employability than expanding their mental capacities? "If we train them in technology, the minute they graduate, it will be obso­ lete," Wheeler said. Acquiring critical thinking and problem-solving skills gives students the flexibility to adapt to rapid technological changes, he said. The Honors Program could even increase the marketability of PSU stu­ dents who are not involved with the program, Wheeler said. By producing students who are accepted by graduate programs at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cambridge and other prestigious universities, PSU's reputation is improved, he said. Increasing PSU's status makes all degrees more attractive to employ­ ers, he added. Scholarship has often been viewed as ineffectual. Pragmatic members of the community tend to see the pursuit of knowledge as an activity which ex­ cludes the public. The scholars lock themselves in their ivory towers, some , believe, and forget about human beings. How,can ideas feed the hungry, combat racism or prevent war? "Assimilating those ideas (from the classics) helps you learn how to listen to people and communicate with them," said Ginger Redlinger, senior in En­ glish. The ideas provide a foundation upon which one can build a common ground between two people of different backgrounds or ethnicities, Redlinger said. Redlinger pointed out that the Honors Program is not eurocentric, as it has expanded to include Eastern literature. The program also challenges students to go beyond the normal expecta­ tions of a public university, she said. The instructors of the Honors Program are enabling students to best serve the world, said Mary Jo Harper, General Studies and Philosophy major. "Stu­ dents are called upon to stretch themselves in ways that they wouldn't other­ wise," she said. —Greg Barnhouse 100