2000-2001 Catalog
SOU Catalog Home >> Special Programs >> Churchill Scholars Honors Program >> Courses

Professors: Ernest Ettlich (Communication), Robert Harrison (History), Sandra Holstein (English), Tom Keevil (Chemistry), Tom Nash (English)

Lecturer: Prakash Chenjeri (Philosophy)

Each year, fifteen to twenty sophomore students officially take their places as Churchill scholars. The program affords this select group of students an unusual opportunity for learning in close association with peers who are highly capable and equally serious about college education. The program is designed to provide these students with a strong liberal arts foundation and training in critical thinking and writing.

Each Churchill scholar embarks on a three-year humanities-based study with a special emphasis on ethics. The sophomore-level curriculum is grounded in literature, philosophy, history, science, and sociology. Juniors gather for honors seminars focusing on global traditions in ethics. Seniors concentrate on research-based community service projects in their own majors.

A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all honors and non-honors University work is required for graduation from the program.

Minor

The minor in interdisciplinary ethics is conferred on all students who complete the full 30-credit program with a minimum GPA of 3.0 in all courses.

Faculty

The program staffs classes with outstanding professors, many of whom have national reputations as scholars, writers, and researchers.

Admission

The Churchill Scholars Honors Program

The Churchill Scholars Honors Program seeks excellent students just entering their sophomore year at Southern Oregon University. The program does not rely on any single academic admission criterion. Equal and careful evaluation is given to each student's motivation and self-discipline, scholarship, industry, achievement within a broad definition of excellence, and potential. Students who have pursued academically demanding curricula during high school and their freshman year at SOU have a decided edge, even over those who may have higher grade point averages in less demanding programs. The best candidates are those who have made the most of available opportunities.

It is recommended that students complete the University Colloquium and at least one or more of the following introductory courses: World Literature (Eng 107, 108, 109), World Civilizations (Hst 110, 111), Introduction to Philosophy (Phl 201), Elementary Logic (Phl 203), and Ethics: Moral Issues (Phl 205). Students are encouraged to complete the philosophy sequence before entering the senior year of the program.

The Churchill Scholars Associates Program

The program accepts a limited number of Churchill Associates. These are well-qualified students, recommended by faculty, who join honors classes after the sophomore year.

Honors Program Curriculum

Year I

Sophomore Seminar: Ethical Systems in the West

12 credits

Each of the courses in the sequence is designed to instill the ability to identify ethical issues and develop the capacity for arriving at informed and reasoned judgments. The focus in fall is the historical development of moral thought in the West (The Ancient World); in winter, the ethical dilemmas raised by social and political institutions (The Rise of the Individual: Renaissance and Enlightenment Periods); and in spring, the contemporary ethical problems associated with the sciences, social sciences, and humanities (The Modern World).

Year II

Junior Seminar: Global Ethics

9 credits

The second-year curriculum provides an ethical counterpoint to the systems of the West studied in Year I through its focus on established voices of ethical thought and alternate philosophies from India, China, and the Islamic world. Fall term begins with An Indian View of Ethics: Tradition and Revolution. Ethics in Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism is the focus of winter term. Analysis of Islamic Ethics: History and Culture occupies spring term.

Year III

Senior Seminar: Community Ethics

9 credits

Third-year courses are based on the following: independent study, mentored/directed research, community-based topics, collaborative work, and a year
long guided research/community service project. Students use the knowledge acquired from the previous two years of coursework in traditions of ethics to complete a project based on their own interests. This revolves around a yearlong research/community service project coordinated and mentored by faculty in collaboration with individuals from the southern Oregon community.

This material is from the 2000-2001 Southern Oregon University Catalog. Page revised August 7, 2000 Copyright 2000, Southern Oregon University. 1250 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, Oregon 97520 541/552-7672