University of Pittsburgh Honors College
Encyclopedia
Undergraduate education
Undergraduate education is an education level taken prior to gaining a first degree . Hence, in many subjects in many educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a bachelor's degree, such as in the United States, where a university entry level is...
college providing a program of advanced study at the Oakland
Oakland (Pittsburgh)
Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...
campus of the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Arising out of the University Honors Program founded in 1978, it transitioned into a college formally dedicated in 1987. The University Honors College provides undergraduate classes that are more challenging and exhaustive than their non-honors counterparts in a wide variety of academic disciplines via collaboration with the other schools of the university. Rather than applying for admission to the UHC and then taking classes solely within it, the honors college does not have a formal membership, but is open to all students meeting certain eligibility requirements, or acquiring special permission, and offers flexibility for students to take advantage of its offerings and resources in accordance to their individual motivation. UHC awards a special Bachelor of Philosophy
Bachelor of Philosophy
Bachelor of Philosophy is the title of an academic degree. The degree usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects...
(B.Phil.) degree to graduates and has successfully helped to culture its students to a school record number of national and international awards including seven Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
s, nine Marshall Scholarship
Marshall Scholarship
The Marshall Scholarship, a postgraduate scholarships available to Americans, was created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom when the Marshall Aid Commemoration Act was passed in 1953. The scholarships serve as a living gift to the United States of America in recognition of the post-World War...
s, 43 Goldwater Scholarship
Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by the United States Congress in 1986 in honor of former United States Senator and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, a Republican from Arizona...
s, 11 Truman Scholarships, and five Udall Scholarships; as well as Churchill
Churchill Scholarship
The Churchill Scholarship is awarded by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States to graduates of the more than one hundred colleges and universities participating in the Churchill Scholarship Program, to pursue research and study in engineering, mathematics, or other sciences for one...
and Gates Cambridge
Gates Scholarship
The Gates Cambridge Scholarships were established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 with a $210 million endowment to enable outstanding graduate students from outside the United Kingdom to study at the University of Cambridge. The awardees are given funding for postgraduate study at...
scholarships.
History
The University of Pittsburgh has a tradition of honors education going back to 1926 when honors courses were implemented in order for students to conduct special individual work under faculty guidance. Although not established as a college of the university until 1987, the University Honors College has its modern origins in the University Honors Program, which began in 1978. The honors program was spearheaded by physics professor G. Alec Stewart, who was appointed to head the program in 1977 and oversaw the opening of the program in January 1978. Stewart suggested extending the honors program into a degree-granting college in 1984, and with the support of then Pitt President Wesley PosvarWesley Posvar
Wesley Wentz Posvar was the fifteenth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh.-Biography:Posvar was born September 14, 1925 in Topeka, Kansas. He attended West Point, graduated first in his class in 1946, and after graduation he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, which later became the U.S. Air...
, the honors program transitioned into a college that was formally dedicated in a ceremony at Heinz Memorial Chapel
Heinz Memorial Chapel
Heinz Memorial Chapel is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
on February 24, 1987 as part of the university's bicentennial celebration. With the college's dedication, Stewart was installed as its first dean. Besides guiding the growth, principles, and philosophy of the Honors College, Stewart also oversaw the acquisition of a 4700 acres (19 km²) Allen L. Cook Spring Creek Preserve
Allen L. Cook Spring Creek Preserve
Allen L. Cook Spring Creek Preserve is a nature reserve considered to be the richest cache of undisturbed dinosaur fossils in North America. It is located near the village of Rock River, Wyoming some northwest of Laramie. The Preserve contains the outcrops of the Morrison, Sundance, and Cloverly...
that was donated to the school in 2006. Stewart served as the dean of the college until his death in 2010. Economics professor Steven Husted was named interim dean while the university conducts a search for Stewart's permanent successor. On May 16, 2011, Pitt named Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience Edward M. Stricker as the new dean of the honors college.
Structure and housing
Throughout its history, the University Honors College has never been a membership organization, instead allowing participation in its offerings to all motivated university students who have maintained a minimum grade point average. However, incoming freshman are required to meet certain eligibility requirements, including a minimum SATSAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
scores and/or minimum placement test score(s), in order to enroll in honors courses and be eligible for honors community housing. Other continuing students not meeting such requirements may still gain special permission to take UHC classes, which is decided on a case-by-case basis.
Specialized honors "Living Learning Community" housing are provided to house students taking UHC-offered courses in the same residence halls. The first-year University Honors College Living Learning Community was originally located in Litchfield Towers
Litchfield Towers
Litchfield Towers, commonly referred to on campus as "Towers," is a complex of dormitories at the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
until the 2006-2007 school year, after which it was moved to Forbes Hall
Forbes Hall
Forbes Hall is a residence hall of the University of Pittsburgh and is located in Forbes Pavilion on Forbes Avenue approximately four blocks from the Litchfield Towers complex...
. For Fall, 2011, it moved to its current location in west wing of Sutherland Hall and which houses 408 first-year honors students. Living Learning Communities for sophomore and junior students had been maintained in both McCormick
Schenley Quadrangle
Schenley Quadrangle is a cluster of University of Pittsburgh residence halls that is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and are contributing properties to the Schenley Farms National Historic District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.The five residence halls...
and Forbes-Craig halls, but after the 2006-2007 school year, they were consolidated into Forbes-Craig Apartments which houses over 100 honors students and is located directly across from the Carnegie Museum of Art
Carnegie Museum of Art
The Carnegie Museum of Art, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an art museum founded in 1895 by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie...
.
Academic offerings and community
The University Honors College offers students the opportunity to earn the Bachelor of Philosophy
Bachelor of Philosophy
Bachelor of Philosophy is the title of an academic degree. The degree usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects...
degree in their major. The degree, unrelated to the study of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, is awarded jointly through the UHC and any of the University of Pittsburgh's other undergraduate programs in recognition of a rigorous course of study and ends with an undergraduate thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
. The University Honors College has had the authority to award such a degree since 1987.
The honors college also provides the programs such as The American Experience Distinguished Lecture Series and the Brackenridge undergraduate research summer fellowship program.
Various student groups exist within the honors college including the Student Honors Activities Council, which plans a variety of cocurricular events for honors students, as well as the Pitt Quiz Bowl team, and various other clubs such as the Pizza and Plays and Pizza and Prose book clubs. In addition, the honors college produces four publications including an award-winning undergraduate literary magazine founded in 1995, the Three Rivers Review
Three Rivers Review
Three Rivers Review, or Three Rivers Review of Undergraduate Literature, is a Literary magazine published by the University of Pittsburgh Honors College. Three Rivers Review was established in Fall 1995 as a student produced magazine called Thirst...
, and Collision Magazine, which publishes nonfiction prose and poetry. Other publications include Pitt Political Review and the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review.
Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review
The Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review (ISSN 0734-3140) is a multi-disciplinary, undergraduate, refereed academic journalAcademic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
published by the Honors College. Founded in 1980, it is published annually, with recent issues available online. The journal publishes original, scholarly, research articles authored by undergraduate students. Submission of articles is open to students at any institution throughout the world, although the journal is an English-only publication. The majority of submissions involve topics in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.
The journal's thorough refereeing process is modeled on that utilized by professional academic journals. Submitted articles are reviewed for originality, clarity, reasoning, and research by at least two experts in a relevant field, pooled from faculty at the University of Pittsburgh and other institutions.
The National Collegiate Honors Council
National Collegiate Honors Council
The National Collegiate Honors Council is the United States non-profit professional association of undergraduate honors programs, colleges, directors, deans, faculty, staff, and students...
supported the journal's founding, which at the time was the first peer-reviewed undergraduate academic journal in the country. The Council also helped to established the Edythe Portz Prize, which rewards each year's best overall submission. The journal was recognized by the New York Times in 2001.
Location
The University Honors College is housed on the 35th and 36th floors of the Cathedral of LearningCathedral of Learning
The Cathedral of Learning, a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...
. The location of the Honors College near the top of the Cathedral of Learning affords students and visitors with large vistas of the campus and surrounding city. In 2002-2003, a renovation to the Honors College's space was completed by Rothschild Doyno Collaborative of Pittsburgh's Strip District. The four-leaf medieval quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
medallion at the top of the Cathedral is a central motif in the design of Honors College. Stained glass behind the reception desk at the center of the space was design by Glenn Greene Glass of Regent Square
Regent Square (Pittsburgh)
Regent Square is a distinct neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. According to the , it is "a neighborhood that includes portions of the municipalities of Pittsburgh, Edgewood, Swissvale and Wilkinsburg", though traditionalists associate the neighborhood exclusively with the...
and centers on a design representing the four seasons, done in polished agate
Agate
Agate is a microcrystalline variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be common in certain metamorphic rocks.-Etymology...
. Wrought ironwork was produced by Vic Reynaud of Technique Manufacturing in the spirit of Samuel Yellin
Samuel Yellin
Samuel Yellin , American master blacksmith, was born in Galicia Poland where at the age of eleven he was apprenticed to an iron master. By the age of sixteen he had completed his apprenticeship. During that period he gained the nickname of "Devil," both for his work habits and his sense of humor...
who did the Commons Room ironwork.
See also
- Three Rivers ReviewThree Rivers ReviewThree Rivers Review, or Three Rivers Review of Undergraduate Literature, is a Literary magazine published by the University of Pittsburgh Honors College. Three Rivers Review was established in Fall 1995 as a student produced magazine called Thirst...
- UHC-sponsored undergraduate literary magazine
External links
- Main Page University of Pittsburgh Honors College Main Page.
- UHC Course offerings A listing of UHC course offerings in recent past and future semesters with instructors.
- Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review