Theatrical, Musical and Cultural Group Outings

The University Honors Program is committed to the ideal of full, well-rounded education. We realize that “being educated” means more than merely learning skills or preparing oneself academically for a specific vocation. A good education seeks also to find connections between the classroom and life; it embraces learning how to live as a Christian as well as how to be a productive and knowledgeable member of society.

One place we make these connections is in the arts. Therefore, the UHP includes in its larger “curriculum” an exposure to the arts in a variety of ways. For example, in 2002, our Honors Scholars

• attended a Lubbock performance of the Broadway musical Les Miserables
• witnessed a Shakespeare in the Park production of Comedy of Errors
• attended the Lubbock performance of the Broadway hit, Greater Tuna

In 2003, in addition to three Broadway productions in Lubbock, students in the UHP will have an opportunity to study abroad in London during spring break; travel to Ft. Smith, Arkansas, for the annual conference of the Great Plains Honors Council; and travel to Chicago for the annual conference of the National Collegiate Honors Council. Every one of these activities will bring its own list of cultural richness to deepen and expand the education available to the students of the UHP.

Speaker/Lecture Series

In addition to the arts, the UHP seeks to expose students to a host of other intellectually- stimulating activities outside the classroom. In 2002, Honors Scholars

• heard former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto speak at the Great Plains Honors Council annual conference in Ft. Worth
• examined the Vatican Exhibit that came from Rome exclusively to Lubbock
• pondered the ancient artifacts of the Khirbet Iskandar Exhibit that LCU’s own archaeologist Dr. Jesse Long brought to campus
• attended a corresponding series of lectures on biblical archaeology
• met and listened to a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author discuss his Native American heritage, his poetry, and his mountain-biking adventures on an Alaskan glacier

In all these activities students and faculty alike had the priceless opportunity to experience the marvelous diversity of the human condition, to make connections between learning and life, and to add to their education a greater understanding of their own potential and worth.

Dinner at the Prof’s and Other Social Events

The University Honors Program is not just about learning, however. The students insist that one of the greatest benefits of the program lies in the lifelong friendships they form with other students with whom they share the wealth of opportunities the program affords.

Among the most enjoyable of times for students in the program is the monthly pizza gatherings, at which students have time just to visit informally among themselves and with their Honors professors over lunch. In addition, at least once a semester, the students and faculty get together for an evening meal in the home of one of the Honors professors. These occasions provide an opportunity for everyone to relax and get better acquainted outside the classroom and add to the warm bonds of friendship that only deepen as time goes on.