What to Expect from Honors Institute 2018
To celebrate Phi Theta Kappa’s centennial, we’re changing up Honors Institute 2018 to incorporate our Leadership Development curriculum. It’s an exciting move that will benefit both the students and advisors who attend the weeklong event, June 18-23 at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
Advisors will be certified (or re-certified) to teach the Leadership Development curriculum on their campuses. Students will explore their own leadership philosophies through seminar group discussions and collaborative learning experiences and exercises. All participants will take away skills to help them become leaders in their chapters and beyond.
Don’t worry — the “Honors” in Honors Institute isn’t going away. Faculty Scholars will connect the leadership curriculum and Honors Study Topic, Transformations: Acknowledging, Assessing, and Achieving Change.
For instance, when Faculty Scholars use examples to highlight leadership concepts, they can use those that relate to societal transformation. When participants work on exercises, Faculty Scholars will use those debriefs as a way to discuss how the concepts relate to working on Honors in Action and other chapter projects.
So, what can you expect? Let’s break it down.
For Everyone
The opening session on Monday evening will feature Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, the best-selling author of Everybody Lies who uses Google search data to gain new insights into the human psyche. All Honors Institute participants will attend his lecture, “Search and Discover: What the Internet and Big Data Reveal about Who We Are.”
All attendees are divided into smaller seminar groups with whom they will meet throughout the week following the general sessions.
On Thursday, June 21, all participants will visit Historic Philadelphia to view the Liberty Bell as part of the Place as Text session. The group will then split, with members touring Independence Hall and advisors visiting the new Museum of the American Revolution.
For Students
PTK’s unique Leadership Development curriculum is based on great leaders in the Humanities — writers, historians, and filmmakers. Classic cases, leadership profiles, film studies, and experiential exercises are used in a small, discussion-based setting to promote the development of a personal leadership philosophy.
In the second, third, and fourth general sessions, students will gather to watch film clips that are directly tied to the leadership curriculum unit they will be examining. They will then meet with their seminar groups, where activities will include discussing the clips, solving puzzles, and possibly even performing skits.
One sample activity is “Setting Goals for Your Community,” which gives students the opportunity to experience goal setting in teams.
For Advisors
Advisors will participate in a Leadership Instructor Certification Seminar. They will break down the best ways to teach the curriculum to others by performing skits, solving puzzles, and having in-depth discussions about the curriculum units. They will also use the curriculum and exercises to develop their personal leadership philosophy.
One such exercise is “Values Sort,” which allows participants to reflect on their core beliefs and values and identify the ones they value most highly. This helps people consider the personal value systems, beliefs, and attitudes that guide and motivate their behavior and the behavior of team members.
If you can’t make it to Honors Institute, we have another opportunity to get certified: July 9-12 at the Center for Excellence in Jackson, Mississippi. The early registration deadline is May 25. Learn more.
The deadline to register for Honors Institute 2018 is Monday, May 21. Register now!