If accepted into a new academic program in the College of Arts and Sciences, incoming freshmen will have an opportunity to take a new variety of classes to fulfill general education requirements.

The Scholars Program is composed of three courses — Tradition and Inquiry I: The Classical World, Tradition and Inquiry II: Medieval to Early Modern World and Tradition and Inquiry III: The Modern Western World — that incorporate literature, art, archaeology, religion and philosophy instead of the more common first-year classes of introductory English or philosophy.

The focus of the program is an understanding of the history of American culture and how diverse cultural traditions have shaped contemporary life, according to a news release about the program.

Each quarter, students will take one class in addition to major courses, and the three courses will satisfy Tier 1 writing and 15 credits in humanities and social sciences.

“The first 50 high school students who express interest in the program and have a minimum ACT score of 25 will be admitted into the program,” said Ben Ogles, dean of the college, adding that students will have the option of living together in a dorm.
 
Josie Bloomfield, professor of medieval English literature, said the faculty wanted a wide-ranging program that would provide motivated students with general and interdisciplinary education.   

Each Monday, the 50 students will meet together to hear a question of the week, and, during the week, groups of 25 students will meet with faculty to discuss and respond to the question, she said.

Bloomfield said there was trouble implementing the program — which took five years to be approved — because departments in the college were a little possessive about their fields and were not familiar with interdisciplinary courses.

She said it was discouraging, but during Winter Quarter the program was finally approved.

Despite these struggles, Bloomfield said she is looking forward to the program.

“We want to make people feel welcome who want to come and be around people who are excited about learning,” she said.

Letters describing the program were sent, but the 50 students have not been selected.

Tom Carpenter, professor of classics and world religions, said that next year the program will increase to 100 students.

“We wanted to create a program that would offer interested freshmen a challenge,” he said.