Hillsdale College seeks to enrich the academic experience of high-performing students by providing opportunities to become broadly and deeply versed in the contents and methods of inquiry of the liberal arts, preeminently of the Western intellectual tradition of humanistic and scientific learning, in a manner consonant with the aims of the College’s Core Curriculum. This goal is met through a combination of special seminars, campus lectures and discussions, retreats, subsidized foreign travel to a destination relevant to the Program’s purpose, and the completion of an interdisciplinary senior thesis. Students meeting the minimum GPA requirement of 3.4 are encouraged to apply during the second semester of their freshman year.
The current director of the Collegiate Scholars Program is Dr. Eric Hutchinson; further information about the Program—admission, curriculum, and opportunities—may be obtained from him.
ADMISSION AND RETENTION
A maximum of 30 rising sophomores and transfer students may be admitted to the Collegiate Scholars Program each year. In some rare cases, it may be feasible for rising juniors to apply. All applications will be reviewed by the Collegiate Scholars Committee, which is tasked with making decisions of admission to the Program. Interested candidates should have a minimum GPA of 3.4, though exceptions are possible at the discretion of the selection committee.
All students in the Collegiate Scholars Program must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.4 and must exhibit character and behavior consistent with the goals and purposes of the Program. Students whose GPA falls below 3.4 but who are otherwise successfully completing the requirements of the Program will be placed on probation and given one semester to attain the required standard. Failure to do so will normally result in dismissal from the Program. A failing grade in any course at the College is grounds for dismissal from the Program.
THE CURRICULUM
The curriculum of the Collegiate Scholars Program is intended to be complementary to the Core Curriculum common to the student body as a whole. Students in the Program are required to take a one-hour seminar (CSP 101) on the tradition of liberal learning in the West. In addition, each semester a number of one-hour Collegiate Scholars Seminars (CSP 250-269) are offered to broaden and deepen students’ familiarity with the res publica litterarum spanning from antiquity to the present. Students must take a total of four such seminars during the sophomore and junior years. In the second semester of the junior year, students must take a one-hour course on the calling of the scholar and research methods in preparation for the senior thesis (CSP 301), at the end of which the student will have a polished proposal. The senior year is devoted to researching and writing the thesis (CSP 401 and 402; one credit per semester), followed by a public defense. The seminars and thesis constitute the curricular portion of the Collegiate Scholars Program.
CSP 101: The Liberal Arts Tradition 1 hour
An introduction to the history and ideals of liberal learning in the Western tradition, from the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome to the present. Open to all students but required of Collegiate Scholars by the end of the fall semester of their sophomore year. Freshmen who express an interest in the Collegiate Scholars program will be encouraged to take this seminar during the spring semester of their first ye ar. Offered fall and spring.
CSP 250-263: Collegiate Scholars Seminars 1 hour
Seminars generally build on Hillsdale College’s core curriculum by focusing attention on one work, author, or theme from the core. Preference will be given to faculty proposals that focus on complete works covered only selectively in the core curriculum; a single author represented by only one work in the core; or a single thread or theme that unifies the core. Examples include Homer’s Iliad, Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Ethics, or Tocqueville’s Democracy in America; Galileo, Francis Bacon, or Milton; the epic, political tyranny, or What is Reason? Seminars will reinforce the College’s core and also exemplify the interdisciplinary pursuit of the life of the mind in which no author or book belongs exclusively to one department or major. Four seminars required by end of senior year. Offered fall and spring. Open to all students.
CSP 301: The Life of the Mind 1 hour
A seminar dedicated to 1) readings on the calling of the scholar, 2) training in research methods appropriate to the distinctive features of the senior thesis, and 3) preparation of an approved prospectus for the senior thesis, along with the establishment of a thesis committee. Fall or spring of junior year.
CSP 401-402: Senior Thesis 1 hour
A year-long sequence of courses that guide the student in the final research, writing, and public defense of the senior thesis. The thesis will maintain focus on the interdisciplinary nature of liberal learning while also benefiting from the particular disciplinary knowledge and skills the student has acquired. Enroll for one credit each semester, senior year.
EXTRACURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES
The Collegiate Scholars Program offers a wealth of extracurricular opportunities to its members. These include retreats during the summer and each semester at a location in the region, at which previously assigned books are discussed with peers and professors in a community of learning, as well as frequent events on campus and open to the public, which generally feature presentations from faculty members of the College on topics of interest to the budding scholar and in service to the Program’s mission. Trips to regional museums and cultural events are a further possibility for academic enrichment.
Finally, the Program offers heavily subsidized foreign travel after the junior year to a location whose sites and heritage are of direct relevance to the goals of the Program and the College’s Core Curriculum.