The Cultural Encounters Model: Incorporating Campus Events into the Honors Curriculum

Abstract

Honors students are, almost by definition, committed to excellence. As a result, they tend to be overextended (Guzy). They also “tend to be more eager, exploratory, and experienced than their non-honors counterparts” (Achterberg 77). They typically take a full load of coursework while at the same time juggling clubs, learning communities, governance bodies, athletics, music, theater activities, and community service (Long and Lange 2002). One also assumes that they cultivate a social life and perhaps hold down a part-time job. Such a conspiracy of curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular realities can make it difficult for honors students to engage fully in the cultural resources available to them on a college campus