I’ve been considering some of the past opinions I’ve written in the last couple of months, and one theme that I’ve noticed is that whenever I bring up the subject of SMU itself I’ve often been very critical of the school. Of course, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

Much like how I believe that the most patriotic among us are the ones willing to point out how their country could improve, so too do I think that appreciation for one’s school can be demonstrated by calling the institution out when it does wrong.

But at the same time, I don’t want to develop a reputation as the unappreciative student constantly attacking his school without offering anything constructive to say. That’s why I think it’s also important to discuss what I love about this school and what I feel it does well.

Last week I was reminded just how fortunate I am to be at this school when I received an e-mail outlining next semester’s course offerings through the University Honors Program.

In addition to many of the stellar honors classes offered every semester, the school is offering three special travel courses in the spring that will go to places like New York City, Italy and France during the end of winter break, spring break and May term (respectively).

Though I’ve not yet taken any of these classes, I can definitely recommend SMU honors courses that encourage travel abroad. Last semester I was fortunate enough to be able to enroll in Professor Kobylka’s “Law, Politics and the Supreme Court” honors research seminar.

In addition to intensively studying constitutional law and Supreme Court history, we also had the chance to spend a week in Washington D.C. doing firsthand research with the papers of various Supreme Court justices at the Library of Congress. We then spent the rest of the semester organizing and studying our research so we could produce a scholarly term paper outlining what we had learned.

The course was certainly intense and not for anyone looking for an easy A, but it was also one of the best learning opportunities I’ve had up to this point here at SMU. Not only that, but the opportunity to travel was a ton of fun. Getting to spend a week with my classmates and professor really helped all of us bond, and to this day, I’m still good friends with many of the people I met in the class. There’s nothing like getting lost in the nation’s capitol on the metro to bring you closer together with a group of people. And the best part about it was that it was paid for in full by the Richter Foundation.

For many students who are already paying outrageous sums to SMU for tuition and boarding expenses, study abroad opportunities are often out of the question because of the costs associated with them. Courses like these are great because they offer students unique chances to learn outside the campus while not burning a hole their individual wallets.

While some of these courses aren’t always paid for in full, the University Honors Program (UHP) is also great about offering additional scholarship opportunities to help offset costs. UHP is committed to offering opportunities to qualified students, and their continued efforts are definitely something to be commended.

Additionally, UHP has really impressed me with one of its course offerings for next semester, the New York Art Colloquium for J-Term. Originally only offered to Meadows students to get art or art history credit, UHP has now decided to let students who take the class receive honors perspective credit, greatly extending the amount of possible students who would be eligible for the class.

Finally, UHP deserves recognition for the quality of professors that it works with in creating many of these classes. Next semester Bonnie Wheeler and Jeremy Adams will be teaching “Joan of Arc: History, Literature and Film,” which will be traveling all across France during May of next year, and according to the course description, “Joan of Arc will never seem the same, and neither will you.”

I would be remiss if I didn’t take the chance to plug Professor Wheeler’s class while I have the chance. She’s one of the finest professors our English department has to offer; even if you don’t have an interest in medieval studies, you will after spending any amount of extended time with her (and I don’t just say that to kiss up to her; she’s not actually teaching any of my classes this semester so my grades aren’t dependent on her.)

So kudos to the University Honors Program. It continues to exceed my academic expectations and it has demonstrated a strong commitment to creating unique educational opportunities for all of its participants. If you’re a student member of UHP, definitely take advantage of these chances while you can; you likely won’t find them anywhere else.

Brandon Bub is a sophomore majoring in English and edits The Daily Campus opinion column. He can be reached for comment at [email protected]