A new college by the name of Honors College of Research and Interdisciplinary Studies has been added to the University of Liberia (UL), thus bringing to eight the number of colleges in the University\u2019s undergraduate academic programs.<\/p>\n
At a colorful and well-attended ceremony held last Friday, September 6, on the UL Fendall campus, UL President Dr. Ophelia Inez Weeks paid homage to her predecessor, Professor Dr. Emmet A. Dennis, for starting the Honors Program that has now transcended in an Honors College.<\/p>\n
Dr. Weeks said in many institutions, honors programs and colleges are developed to highlight the best students and faculty that they have to offer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program is long overdue,\u201d she said. \u201cYou want to be able to highlight the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me. You don\u2019t want the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me to get lost in the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Weeks said she hopes that as the University of Liberia evolves, everyone will work together to make the college live its true meaning.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so, as we move or transition or evolve, I hope that all of you, the entire University family, will work together to make sure that this Honors Program, soon to be Honors College, thrives and becomes \u2018the best! \u2018the best! \u2018the best!\u201d she said with much enthusiasm.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll start off with \u2018the best in the area, then \u2018the best in the region,’ and then \u2018the best beyond.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
According to its overview, the Honors College will empower students with the research knowledge and skills needed to solve critical national issues.<\/p>\n
The ceremony was attended by Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, who delivered a special statement of appreciation and commendation to the UL Administration.<\/p>\n
Said Vice President Howard-Taylor: \u201cWe have been rescued by academicians who have provided all of us an environment for debate, research, critical thinking, analysis, knowledge expansion, competence, excellence, and advocacy, among others.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the areas of academic interest to be focused on in the new college is gender studies, and Vice President Howard-Taylor, who is a life-long champion and advocate of female empowerment and gender equity, lauded the UL Administration for recognizing the need to do more research in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy their decision to include this subject matter in the curriculum \u2013 \u2018I am of the opinion that this opportunity provides a safe space where our national discourse can be broadened, our horizons elevated and clarity and substance added to our debate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope you can all imagine how I feel today standing here and being a part of history. It is, therefore, a distinguished, yet humbling honor to launch this monumental milestone achievement of Programs in Gender and Research Studies at the Nation\u2019s premier Institution of Learning; the University of Liberia; my alma mater,\u201d said Vice President Howard-Taylor enthusiastically.<\/p>\n
Gender Minister Williametta E. Saydee-Tarr delivered the keynote address, applauding the UL Administration for the establishment of a college that places emphasis on gender studies, especially for Liberian students and the region as well.<\/p>\n
She said the establishment of the college was an assurance that societal understanding of gender in Liberia is taking a dramatic trend from just the official public discussions to a more critical academic and intellectual deep \u2013 dive.<\/p>\n
Minister Saydee-Tarr recommended social inclusion, gender budgeting, gender statistics, women in peace and security, social protection, among others, to be added in the college\u2019s curriculum.<\/p>\n
Also attending the ceremony was Ms.\u00a0 Telia Urey, who recently contested the representative election in District # 15.\u00a0 Ms. Urey said she hopes the Honors College of Research and Interdisciplinary Studies will identify solutions to some of the problems faced by Liberia, adding, \u201cWe also hope that it will find creative solutions to these complex issues that we\u2019re faced with as a country and as a people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope this school will help to shape public policy and act as a \u2018think-tank\u2019 to move our country in the direction that it should go in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Miss Urey said she is optimistic that the college of gender studies will include other areas of interest to get a holistic understanding of issues the country is faced with, stating: \u201cAnd it\u2019s my sincere hope that this college will break these barriers to understanding, and give room for innovative learning, critical thinking and creative problem-solving.\u201d<\/p>\n
She then pledged to provide 15 scholarships every semester.<\/p>\n
Using the University of Cape Coast\u2019s Model, the UL Honors Research College developed eight research areas based upon the Liberian National Agenda and Global Sustainable Development Goals, which include education, agriculture, chemical, and physical research, engineering and innovation research, business research, social science research and biological and health science research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new college by the name of Honors College of Research and Interdisciplinary Studies has been added to the University of Liberia (UL), thus bringing to eight the number of colleges in the University\u2019s undergraduate academic programs. At a colorful and well-attended ceremony held last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":9,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Sumo Charles D","author_link":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/author\/5c1969f41eff7aa5\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ul.edu.lr\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}