Discussion of texts and issues does not stop in the classroom. Honors Institute students extend classroom colloquies and queries to dinner conversations and occasionally (if truth be told) into the late hours of the evening. But experiences other than intellectual ones also figure prominently in the lives of our students. A beach retreat at the end of the sophomore year features a substantive discussion of texts surrounded by the natural beauty and island delights of Hilton Head, South Carolina. A month’s study abroad in the summer after the junior year (with a college-provided $3500 stipend) provides our students with a memorable experience of places like Rome or Oxford.
In the domain of the performing arts, our students are given opportunities to experience (at minimal cost) symphonic music, modern dance, opera, Broadway musicals and virtuoso renderings by a variety of internationally renowned performers. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, South Pacific, pianist Andre Watts, Irish tenors, a bluegrass band are only some of the performances and performers Honors Institute students have enjoyed in recent years. Usually, students attend three performances a semester.