Hillyer College Honors Students Head to Hawaii for Winterterm Course

After a three-year gap due to the pandemic, second-year Hillyer College Honors students are once again heading to the island of O’ahu for the annual Hawaii Honors Experience Winterterm course. 

This January, Professor of History Robert Churchill, Professor of Business David Goldenberg, and Instructor of English and Speech Maria Johnson are accompanying the students on the 12-day trip where they will study Buddhism, the cultural diversity of the Hawaiian Islands, the history of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Students will also tour I’olani Palace, Pearl Harbor, and the James Campbell Wildlife Refuge. In addition, they will meet with United States District Court Judge Derrick Watson to discuss current topics in the law.

To qualify for the Hillyer Honors Experience course, students must first earn a minimum GPA in their first year. Faculty make recommendations on which students should participate based on their performance in the classroom, but any student who reaches the GPA is eligible. In their second year, Honors students enroll in the fall semester prerequisite course to prepare for the experience. 

Churchill is teaching this fall’s prerequisite Honors course and noted that the objective of the trip is for the students to study Hawaiian culture and the diverse peoples who have settled on the island. Students complete their experience by writing an essay about their involvement in the Honors course.