Brittany Sherwood '11
Pell Scholar, secondary education and math major.
Pell Scholars Honors Program
The Pell Scholars Honors Program was created to serve as an interdisciplinary honors program that focuses on international relations and public policy. It was created to honor the life and work of former United States Senator Claiborne Pell (RI-D, Ret.).
Senator Pell was the longest serving United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving six consecutive terms over 36 years. His career included serving on the Foreign Relations Committee for 34 years with 17 of those years being as its chair or ranking member. Senator Pell was instrumental in the creation of Pell Grants, which provide direct deferral funds for low and middle income students seeking higher education. He was also the driving force behind the establishment of both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which support arts and humanities programs throughout the United States.
The goal of the Pell Honors Program is to create a learning community of students from different disciplines. The honors education is an enhancement of the core curriculum with a focus in international relations and public policy emphasizing civic responsibility and action. Students are required to take classes together, participate in either an internship or study abroad experience, and write and publicly defend a senior thesis.