Philosophy

Philosophers once believed that the universe was composed of four physical essences (earth, air, fire & water). A fifth essence (from which we get the word "quintessence") gave vitality and spiritual meaning to the merely physical. A university education typically consists of four years. Collegium V is our attempt to bring to these elemental years a fifth component that will provide academically gifted and ambitious students the quintessence of a truly superior education.

The Collegium V Program mission is to reflect and enhance the institutional commitment of The University of Texas at Dallas to high quality teaching and research. Collegium V will give concrete programmatic expression to the concept of excellence in undergraduate education.

In the context of this broad mission, the goals of Collegium V are:

• to respond to the academic needs of our most outstanding and ambitious students.
• to offer creative, challenging honors instruction that enriches the learning experience for both students and faculty.
• to foster creative inquiry that perceives connections among disparate disciplines and modes of thinking.
• to promote and facilitate closer, more productive interaction among students and faculty.
• to nurture the highest level and quality of intellectual conversation on campus.
• to enhance the public image of the university as a place where undergraduate scholarship and research are both encouraged and rewarded.