Honors Program at George Fox University

Honors Author Highlight: Henry David Thoreau

Junior in the Honors Program, Jaime Miller, highlighted this quote from Thoreau's Walden.

She reflects, "I think it really draws attention to the significance of our lives; even though we might feel small and unimportant, the time and space that we occupy gives us the opportunity to participate in eternity and the divine, which is as far from insignificant as you can get."

Walden is a text from the Junior semester of the Honors Program. Check out the rest of the Honors Program booklist here: https://www.georgefox.edu/honors-program/books.html

Seminar Series: Odysseus and the Concept of Home

In this video, the Director of the Honors Program, Dr. Garcia, examines Homer’s Odyssey in a broader conversation on the concept of home with Zoditu Schwind, a freshman in the program.

The George Fox Honors Program offers students the opportunity to have in-depth discussions about the most influential texts in history with professors who are committed Christians and leaders in their fields of study. This "Seminar" series gives viewers a taste of seminar in the Honors Program. Explore the Honors Program today!

The Honors Program Seminar Series: Odysseus and the Concept of Home | George Fox University In this video, the Director of the Honors Program, Dr. Garcia, explores the concept of home in The Odyssey with Zoditu Schwind, a freshman in the program. Th...

First in a series of Honors Author Highlights! The Confessions of St. Augustine is an honors text read during the second semester of freshman year.

A current honors student highlighted this quote, reflecting that “It’s such a beautiful line. Augustine takes on the voice of God for a moment and reaffirms the promise of rescue and redemption.”

Stay tuned for more Honors Author Highlights from our current honors students!

Seminar Series: Hannah Arendt and the Banality of Evil

In this video, the Director of the Honors Program, Dr. Garcia, explores the problem of evil with Associate Professor of Biblical Studies Dr. Doak through a close reading of Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.

The George Fox Honors Program offers students the opportunity to have in-depth discussions about the most influential texts in history with professors who are committed Christians and leaders in their fields of study. This "Seminar" series gives viewers a taste of seminar in the Honors Program. Explore the Honors Program today!

The Honors Program Seminar Series: Hannah Arendt and the Banality of Evil | George Fox University In this video, the Director of the Honors Program, Dr. Garcia, explores the problem of evil with Associate Professor of Biblical Studies Dr. Doak through a c...

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT

Over the last few weeks, the directors and dean of honors have been reflecting on how we can continue to improve the program as we move forward in a time of great change. After much consideration, we are going to move away from the name William Penn.

William Penn was originally chosen as a figurehead for the program because of his influence as a Quaker statesman in early America, and his charitable relationship with Native Americans. Several students have brought to our attention that William Penn was also a slave owner, something that was not known by us when his name was chosen to represent the program. We have had a series of conversations with administrators, faculty, and students about the name, and how it detracts from our program's purpose and vision. This communication was being finalized last week, and coincided with a student petition to change the program name. We think this is a helpful indication that we are ready to move in a new direction.

The core values of our program are humility, charity, and pursuit of truth. We remain committed to offering a "generous canon" in our program reading list, a reading list that includes a range of perspectives, some of which align with our Christian commitments and some of which do not. A text or figure does not have to represent our values in order to be read and discussed within the program; however, the name of our program should reflect our core values, including the most important value of love, which requires seeing every human being as made in the image of God.

Slavery and racism are egregious sins against Christian love and violations of human dignity. As Christians we stand with those who cry out for racial justice in our world and are committed to promoting love and justice in our community. Changing our program name is one tangible, clear way to do this.

The exact details and timeline for this official change have not been finalized, but for now we will simply call ourselves the Honors Program, a title already used informally on campus.

We pray that God will continue to guide us towards grace, by His grace.

Dr. Garcia, Dr. Favale, & Dr. Clair