Campus News

Westminster Joins International Honors Consortium

Principia Consortium offers Honors students the opportunity to study at the University of Glasgow

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Krista DeAngelis (801) 832-2682

Dec. 9, 2009

SALT LAKE CITY – Starting in spring 2010, Westminster Honors students will have the opportunity to discover exactly what is underneath the kilt. The college’s Honors program was recently invited to join the Principia Consortium, a group of Honors programs from about two dozen other national liberal arts colleges whose students can now study at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

This unique study-abroad opportunity provides students with a rich learning experience in a foreign country while continuing to benefit from an Honors education.

Westminster Honors students will be able to immerse themselves in the Scottish culture at a premier institution that offers accredited classes in all major disciplines. Students can attend lectures at the University of Glasgow by leading scholars, as well as discussion groups and seminars. This overseas program is different from conventional study abroad learning opportunities because Westminster’s financial aid packages and scholarships will be transferable.

Westminster junior Caroline Hill is the college’s first participant in the program. Along with 3,000 other international students from 24 countries around the world, she will travel to Glasgow to begin classes in January.

Hill believes this opportunity will be a successful and beneficial addition to the Honors program. “It’s important to establish a network of Honors students and to experience an international connection with different cultures,” she explained.

She is also eager to experience intellectual stimulation in a different, yet accessible culture with an entirely new group of people.

The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451 and is an internationally recognized institution with prestigious programs in the sciences and humanities. Glasgow will also offer a specially designed elective Honors seminar entitled "The Ideas and Influences of the Scottish Enlightenment: 18th to 21st Centuries." The course illuminates how major figures and ideas from the Enlightenment in Scotland continue to be important in intellectual and cultural life today.

For more information about Westminster’s Honors Program and the Principia Consortium, visit www.westminstercollege.edu/honors.

About the Principia Consortium
The Principia Consortium represents a diverse group of small liberal arts colleges and universities whose Honors programs emphasize intellectual and cultural enrichment for students enrolled in them. A principal purpose for the Principia Consortium is to create and support a unique “Honors at Glasgow” International Studies program. The University of Glasgow, in Glasgow, Scotland, has agreed to create special courses and other special study and cultural opportunities for the Honors students who are a part of the Principia Consortium. Working together, they are creating a truly exciting international, educational, and cultural experience that will significantly enhance the quality of undergraduate education among the Principia Consortium schools.

About Westminster
Westminster is a nationally recognized, comprehensive liberal arts college. With a broad array of graduate and undergraduate programs, Westminster is distinguished by its unique environment for learning. Westminster prepares students for success through active and engaged learning, real world experiences and its vibrant campus community. Westminster’s unique location, adjacent to the Rocky Mountains and to the dynamic city of Salt Lake, further enriches the college experience. For more information visit http://www.westminstercollege.edu or follow WestminsterSLC or WestminsterPR on Twitter.