Honors Students’ Perceptions of the Strength and Growth Areas of Liberty’s Honors Program: An Ethnography

In her pursuit of both exploring and documenting Liberty University’s Honors culture, the author takes an ethnographic research approach; surveying existing literature on the history and development of Liberty’s Honors Program, expounding upon the concept of honors culture, surveying the effects of the new Honors College track’s implementation, and identifying honors students’ perceptions of the strengths and growth areas of the Honors Program. This study includes a literature review, the collection of 12 formal interviews, and use of the participant observation research method to analyze Liberty honors students’ perceptions of the program; ultimately ascertaining what they believe to be the program’s greatest strengths, as well as analyzing both their perceptions of the program’s growth areas and their recommendations for future development. This ethnography was designed so that the results could be implemented in further development of Liberty’s Honors Program; that through the surveyance of honors students’ perspectives, both the Honors Program and the greater student body alike might know how to better equip, support, and serve the honors community.