Montgomery Scholars Program (Montgomery College)
Encyclopedia
The Montgomery Scholars Program is a rigorous two-year program of Rockville Campus within the Honors Program system of Montgomery College
in Maryland
, US. The program is intended to offer selected incoming Montgomery County, Maryland
high school graduates a holistic learning experience, spanning from an interdisciplinary humanities core in freshman (first) year to a Capstone research project during sophomore (second) year. The program also provides an almost fully funded study-abroad trip for all of its students, an unusual feature among community colleges. Many scholars have successfully transferred to prominent colleges and universities on graduation.
The program continues to grow and change with the aim of improving the academic experience for the students; further, some adjustments have been necessary owing to lack of support. While the program kept its Capstone topic on "Globalization
and Migration" for the classes of 2003 and 2004, it later changed to "Technology
and the Face of the Future", subsequently reverting to the original theme. Since 2005, the addition of International Relations
within the sophomore year of the program has expanded and further assisted the Scholars in their understanding of globalization. In the same year, Art History
was substituted with World Music
in the freshman core curriculum. Whether or not these change to the core curriculum are permanent is unknown.
Beginning with the Class of 2008, an honor code was instituted that scholars pledged to with their signature. It reads:
Seeing the almost fully funded study abroad of the Montgomery Scholars Program, other campuses have followed in seeking such an opportunity for their own students. Shortly after the establishment of the Montgomery Scholars, for instance, Germantown campus founded the Millennium Scholars Program.
in Cambridge, England. On returning to Montgomery College for their sophomore year, they are then taught how to use their developed capabilities, experience and research on a cross-disciplinary topic; finally, they write a thesis, and present their work formally to a general audience.
, World Literature
, Art History
(since 2005, World Music
) and Philosophy
. The four classes are taught within the same classroom, with all four professors present. Complementing the core classes are honors module classes in English
and Anthropology
, along with Biology
for non-science majors.
lasts for approximately one month; however, most students travel elsewhere after their Cambridge University studies and before returning home for the new fall semester. The Scholars Program participates within Cambridge's International Summer School, and students are required by the Scholars Program to complete several papers and to keep a scholarly journal. They are also allowed the option to take the classes for evaluation for Cambridge credit if they wish, and some (although not most) do take on the rigor of both programs.
and Migration" and the International Relations
class. The scholars write a paper of about twenty pages, assisted throughout their research by a mentor. A Speech
course in fall semester helps the students to learn to communicate effectively, which in turn assists with their presentation of their papers in the "Capstone Colloquium" towards the end of February. The scholars are also encouraged to submit their papers to the annual "Beacon Conference", a competition amongst two-year colleges of the east coast of the United States
from Virginia
up to New England
. A large number of scholars have become finalists within the Beacon Conference competition.
Events are also held seasonally to bring current Scholars and alumni together. Open invitations are extended to all past and present Scholars to attend the Winter Solstice Philo Cafe in December, usually held at a professor's house. In May, the Montgomery Scholars Picnic is held at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg, MD, to welcome the new class of Scholars and introduce them to alumni.
Efforts are currently underway to organize an alumni association.
Cornerstone- As a way of informing students about the incoming year experience aids professors Furgol, White, Collins, and Avery to introduce their disciplines during the last week of August.
, Georgetown University
, George Washington University
, Brown University
, Tulane University
, New York University
(NYU), University of Maryland College Park (UMCP), University of Maryland Baltimore County
(UMBC), Johns Hopkins University
, the University of Virginia
(UVa), Hood College
, American University
, St. Mary's College of Maryland
, the University of Miami
, Mount Holyoke College
, Ave Maria University
, and Columbia University
. By receiving acceptances to such high credential schools, scholars once again prepare themselves for new academic challenges.
Montgomery College
Montgomery College is a public, open access community college located in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. in the United States. The college has three campuses, the largest of which is in Rockville; the other campuses are in Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Germantown...
in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, US. The program is intended to offer selected incoming Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, situated just to the north of Washington, D.C., and southwest of the city of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the United States, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate...
high school graduates a holistic learning experience, spanning from an interdisciplinary humanities core in freshman (first) year to a Capstone research project during sophomore (second) year. The program also provides an almost fully funded study-abroad trip for all of its students, an unusual feature among community colleges. Many scholars have successfully transferred to prominent colleges and universities on graduation.
History
Founded in 1999 by a small group of professors of Montgomery College, Rockville Campus, the Montgomery Scholars Program was intended not only to provide an honors education for students but also to be nurturing and intellectually stimulating, a program that would bring together disciplines normally kept separate, particularly within the humanities. With a freshman core curriculum and a sophomore Capstone research project, the objective of the experience is to encourage students to think critically and to be able to examine cultures and worldly concepts intellectually while still allowing them to work on their on majors of study.The program continues to grow and change with the aim of improving the academic experience for the students; further, some adjustments have been necessary owing to lack of support. While the program kept its Capstone topic on "Globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
and Migration" for the classes of 2003 and 2004, it later changed to "Technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
and the Face of the Future", subsequently reverting to the original theme. Since 2005, the addition of International Relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
within the sophomore year of the program has expanded and further assisted the Scholars in their understanding of globalization. In the same year, Art History
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
was substituted with World Music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
in the freshman core curriculum. Whether or not these change to the core curriculum are permanent is unknown.
Beginning with the Class of 2008, an honor code was instituted that scholars pledged to with their signature. It reads:
"I, (Scholar's Name), hereby acknowledge that I am a Montgomery Scholar, Class of (Year) and as such am part of the Montgomery Scholars learning community and the Montgomery College student body. I fully realize the expectations of attendance, academic integrity and honesty inherent in my position as a Montgomery Scholar and as a Montgomery College student. I agree to adhere to those expectations, always to complete my college assignments with honesty and integrity, to be considerate of my fellow scholars and students, and to abide by the College regulations, as stated in the Student Code of Conduct."
Seeing the almost fully funded study abroad of the Montgomery Scholars Program, other campuses have followed in seeking such an opportunity for their own students. Shortly after the establishment of the Montgomery Scholars, for instance, Germantown campus founded the Millennium Scholars Program.
Curriculum
The Montgomery Scholars Program has been extremely successful in creating its desired educational effect, even though it is restricted to 25 students per class. This small size is intended to make the program more intimate and to allow the professors to pay greater attention towards the students, building bonds more deeply than in the typical classroom. The program is intended to prepare its students to view the world with a broad perspective and to train them, within a nurturing, stimulating environment, to implement this skill academically and professionally. While being exposed as freshmen to an holistic learning process by means of an intensive set of core classes, students are then provided the opportunity to undertake a study-abroad trip to the University of CambridgeUniversity of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in Cambridge, England. On returning to Montgomery College for their sophomore year, they are then taught how to use their developed capabilities, experience and research on a cross-disciplinary topic; finally, they write a thesis, and present their work formally to a general audience.
Core classes (first year)
The core curriculum for the first year of the program includes World HistoryWorld History
World History, Global History or Transnational history is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. It examines history from a global perspective...
, World Literature
World literature
World literature refers to literature from all over the world, including African literature, American literature, Arabic literature, Asian literature, Australasian literature, Caribbean Literature, English literature, European literature, Indian literature, Latin American literature, Persian...
, Art History
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
(since 2005, World Music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
) and Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. The four classes are taught within the same classroom, with all four professors present. Complementing the core classes are honors module classes in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, along with Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
for non-science majors.
Study abroad
The trip to EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
lasts for approximately one month; however, most students travel elsewhere after their Cambridge University studies and before returning home for the new fall semester. The Scholars Program participates within Cambridge's International Summer School, and students are required by the Scholars Program to complete several papers and to keep a scholarly journal. They are also allowed the option to take the classes for evaluation for Cambridge credit if they wish, and some (although not most) do take on the rigor of both programs.
Capstone (second year)
The second year of the program is intended to allow the scholars to put what they have gained from their first year and their overseas trip into practical use. They base their research on the main Capstone topic "GlobalizationGlobalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
and Migration" and the International Relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
class. The scholars write a paper of about twenty pages, assisted throughout their research by a mentor. A Speech
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
course in fall semester helps the students to learn to communicate effectively, which in turn assists with their presentation of their papers in the "Capstone Colloquium" towards the end of February. The scholars are also encouraged to submit their papers to the annual "Beacon Conference", a competition amongst two-year colleges of the east coast of the United States
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
up to New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. A large number of scholars have become finalists within the Beacon Conference competition.
Social Settings
Outside of the educational environment, the Montgomery Scholars program has numerous social functions to introduce new students to the program and also to alumni with Scholars outside of their graduating class. The initial acceptees to the Scholars program are invited to a President's Tea in May, held at Montgomery College President Charlene Nunley's house, to (re)introduce themselves to the professors and the president of the college. Before the new class of Scholars begins their first semester, an overnight retreat in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, is held, typically the last weekend in August before the semester begins and before the more formal orientation to the Core curricula. During the first year, freshmen are encouraged to come to the weekly "Philo Cafes" held in Philosophy Professor White's basement, where students, professors, and guests discuss philosophical issues. Students often create close bonds within the Scholars Program which spills over from the classroom to social life.Events are also held seasonally to bring current Scholars and alumni together. Open invitations are extended to all past and present Scholars to attend the Winter Solstice Philo Cafe in December, usually held at a professor's house. In May, the Montgomery Scholars Picnic is held at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg, MD, to welcome the new class of Scholars and introduce them to alumni.
Efforts are currently underway to organize an alumni association.
Scholars Class of 2008
This year's incoming freshman class is a special one. 276 applications were received; however only 26 students were accepted and given full scholarships for two years. Accepted students were selected from a diverse range of high schools such as Walter Johnson, Wheaton, Covenant Life, Stone Ridge, Rockville, Walt Whitman, Laurel, Watkins Mill, Magruder, Damascus, Springbrook, Blair, Quince Orchard, Holy Cross, Seneca Valley, Kennedy, and Churchill. The 26 scholars got a chance to meet each other at the “traditional” Harpers Ferry overnight retreat in West Virginia.Cornerstone- As a way of informing students about the incoming year experience aids professors Furgol, White, Collins, and Avery to introduce their disciplines during the last week of August.
Class of 2008 Impressive Transfer Options
Many incoming students wonder where scholars have transferred and there is no better class to ask than the class of 2008. Acceptances included: Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(NYU), University of Maryland College Park (UMCP), University of Maryland Baltimore County
University of Maryland Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County is an American honors public research university, located in Baltimore County, Maryland, mostly in the community of Catonsville, Maryland...
(UMBC), Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
(UVa), Hood College
Hood College
Hood College is a co-educational liberal arts college located in Frederick, Maryland. The college serves approximately 1,050 graduate students and more than 1,400 undergraduate students.-Early History :...
, American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
, St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's College of Maryland, established in 1840, is a public, secular liberal arts college located in St. Mary's City, Maryland. It is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges and designated as a Public Honors College . St. Mary's College is a small college, with about 2,000...
, the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
, Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
, Ave Maria University
Ave Maria University
Ave Maria University or AMU is a private Catholic university in southwest Florida, United States, founded in 2003. The university moved to its permanent campus, situated in the planned town of Ave Maria, east of Naples, Florida, in August 2007...
, and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. By receiving acceptances to such high credential schools, scholars once again prepare themselves for new academic challenges.