Welcome from the Director
Greetings and welcome to our new and returning members of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Honors Program community. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the Honors Program’s guiding principles: reverence and liberation. If you hear tension between them, you are not wrong. Honors education, which is liberal education, unfolds within and is empowered by that tension. From the Latin liberalis, meaning “befitting a free person,” the liberal education imparted within the Honors Program at SIUE is designed to elevate, enlighten and empower students. We do this work by cultivating both reverence for the monumental achievements of human beings from around the globe and for critical thought that allows us to question what we ourselves, our time, and our culture take for granted and pre-suppose. Together, the cultivation of respect for human achievements and the critical comportment that leads us to step to the side of our presuppositions and prejudices allows us to nurture the development of whole people—people who are rooted yet turned toward the work of building a better, flourishing human future. This freedom of thought and action is meant to be shared; members of our community remain dedicated to building within one another the capacity to be effective and impactful thinkers, leaders and citizens.
It is commonly held that the purpose of a university education is to teach one how to think. That is not precisely true; our aim is to help you pursue that which is worthy of thought. This is the essence of liberal education: to push beyond the mundane day-to-day distractions and arrive at the heart of a particular, pressing matter; to challenge assumptions widely held and largely unquestioned; and to meet fallacy with logic, disinformation with truth, and complex problems with elegant solutions. When we pursue that which is worthy of thought, we are inevitably led to the world and its problems. And it is in the world that we find our purpose along with our communities—the solving of problems, the healing of the world’s wounds. Honors education sets you toward that task and it prepares you for its obstacles.
In solving problems for the benefit of others, one leads. We believe that leadership is not isolated to those who stand above us, but rather is practiced by lowering oneself to serve. When we serve others and tend to the world, by submitting and lowering ourselves, we ascend to our humanity. Service is a set of dispositions and practices that anyone can develop and that can emerge from any place. Within and without the honors classrooms, we cultivate the coordinated set of dispositions, attitudes and competencies that compose leadership. Our students make positive impacts beyond the borders of our campus, recognizing that they are members of a larger community.
We aim to graduate compassionate, empathic, creative and active members of society who are eager to leverage their talents for the common good. To identify the common good, one must first identify common ground–no small feat in such a diverse nation. Creating meaningful connections with all kinds of people and their ideas helps us to celebrate that which we share, and that which we do not.
The Honors Program at SIUE prepares you for a life and not just for a living. In the end, this is our shared directive: to prepare the students of today to confront our common challenges and invent the world of tomorrow. Knowing that we are more than our work—we are children, siblings, spouses, parents, members and leaders of various communities with hopes and dreams all our own—we aim to teach the whole student. We hope that you will answer this call to action and join in or recommit to our urgent work.
