History, Economics and Geography Return to HTC
13 October 2011
Prospective students considering the Honors Tutorial College have even more Programs of Study from which to choose. History, Economics and Geography are accepting applications for the 2012-2013 academic year.
The History Director of Studies, Dr. Miriam Shadis, said she thinks her discipline fits in well with the tutorial system.
“History lends itself to a lot of reading and writing, and it’s a really engaging experience getting to read deeply into a field,” she said.
Miriam is looking forward to working with highly motivated students and helping them truly understand concepts.
“There is a lot of benefit to working through ideas one on one or in small groups,” she said. “This is work that takes a lot of time — taking a slow and deep approach to the past is an advantageous way to study history.”
Miriam has experience advising history majors outside of HTC, and she is excited to advise the HTC students.
“I really like working with and talking to students,” she said. “I’m hoping for a nice group of students to form a community.”
Dr. Geoff Buckley, the DOS for Geography, is also looking forward to serving as an advisor for HTC students and especially to seeing what research they conduct for their theses each year.
“That’s the thing that really sets HTC students apart--it lets them explore and create,” he said. “It’s a fun adventure to work with students who are pushing the boundary.”
Geography as a discipline works well in a tutorial setting, Geoff said. He experienced tutorials as a student while studying abroad at Edinburgh University.
“I’m a fan of having two and three students in a group,” he said. “It makes it easy to have ideas bounce around the table.”
Students entering the Geography program will have the chance to customize their studies based on their own interests.
“It’s such a broad field,” Geoff said. “So we’ll sit down and sort of design the major for whatever students are interested in.”
Students’ interests will also be the driving force in the Economics program, said Dr. Ariaster Chimeli.
“There are so many different things to explore with economics,” he said. “Economics is way beyond just money; it’s about incentives and how people respond to them. HTC will open avenues for research and discussion.”
When he was approached to act as DOS for the returning program, Ariaster jumped at the chance to work with HTC students.
“I’ve advised a number of grad students in the past, and it can be extremely gratifying for me and hopefully for the students as well,” he said. “One of the most enjoyable things about being a professor is getting to deal with students. Forming a relationship that is intellectually engaging gives you a lot of pleasure.”
Ariaster said that the program will be customized to the needs of each student, and he anticipates having them jump right into economic tutorials during their first year. As a whole, the Economics faculty is looking forward to working with HTC students.
“When I mentioned this in a faculty meeting, everyone was on board,” Ariaster said. “People seemed to be willing to help.”