Honors program to receive new faculty adviser
Westblade to step down after five years; program seeks to facilitate interdisciplinary discussion and bond students
Aaron Hummel
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News
The Hillsdale College honors program will have a new faculty advisor next year, current advisor and Assistant Professor of Religion Donald Westblade said last week.
The new advisor will be announced shortly after spring break, Westblade said.
"I've finished five years with this program, which is as much as anyone has ever done, and I've felt that it's time to bring in some fresh energy and ideas to the program," he said. "We obviously want someone who is a good match for student interests in that area."
Because there is no formal selection process, Westblade said he is primarily responsible for recruiting a successor.
"Dr. Westblade does an amazing job as the faculty advisor for the honors program," said Mary Claire Andwood, sophomore and honors program trip coordinator. "He takes a nonrestrictive approach to heading up the program, which allows us as students to take the initiative to tailor the program to our needs."
The program facilitates interdisciplinary discussion in and out of the classroom so artificial barriers between academic subjects will be torn down, Westblade said.
This is achieved by a variety of activities such as peer-to-peer discussions, faculty-led discussions, tray dinners, weekend, spring break and summer trips, and a three-day retreat the week before school begins in August. The program's biggest event is a month-long trip to Turkey that starts shortly after commencement each spring.
For the 108 students involved, Westblade's attempts to facilitate interdisciplinary discussion seem to work.
"The honors program is basically a collection of people who want to pursue knowledge as it should be:interdisciplinary," Andwood said. "It's a group of like-minded people who are interested in talking about and discussing these things from a variety of perspectives."
But for some students, the honors program is at its best a social outlet.
"You get to meet a lot of different people through it," sophomore and honors program President Lauren Heilborn said. "I'm a science major, and I don't set foot in Lane or Kendall [halls], so the people I have dinners and discussions with are different than the people I go to class with."
The new advisor will be announced shortly after spring break, Westblade said.
"I've finished five years with this program, which is as much as anyone has ever done, and I've felt that it's time to bring in some fresh energy and ideas to the program," he said. "We obviously want someone who is a good match for student interests in that area."
Because there is no formal selection process, Westblade said he is primarily responsible for recruiting a successor.
"Dr. Westblade does an amazing job as the faculty advisor for the honors program," said Mary Claire Andwood, sophomore and honors program trip coordinator. "He takes a nonrestrictive approach to heading up the program, which allows us as students to take the initiative to tailor the program to our needs."
The program facilitates interdisciplinary discussion in and out of the classroom so artificial barriers between academic subjects will be torn down, Westblade said.
This is achieved by a variety of activities such as peer-to-peer discussions, faculty-led discussions, tray dinners, weekend, spring break and summer trips, and a three-day retreat the week before school begins in August. The program's biggest event is a month-long trip to Turkey that starts shortly after commencement each spring.
For the 108 students involved, Westblade's attempts to facilitate interdisciplinary discussion seem to work.
"The honors program is basically a collection of people who want to pursue knowledge as it should be:interdisciplinary," Andwood said. "It's a group of like-minded people who are interested in talking about and discussing these things from a variety of perspectives."
But for some students, the honors program is at its best a social outlet.
"You get to meet a lot of different people through it," sophomore and honors program President Lauren Heilborn said. "I'm a science major, and I don't set foot in Lane or Kendall [halls], so the people I have dinners and discussions with are different than the people I go to class with."
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