What is the undergraduate fellows program?
College is a time of significant personal growth (exposure to new ideas, experiences, and challenges). Yet, personal growth comes also from ideas, experiences and challenges that one doesn’t find in the strictly academic environment of today.
The undergraduates’ fellows program at the Austin Institute focuses on a broad understanding of human flourishing and wishes to give you the opportunity to make the most of all that these amazing years have to offer. Our program accompanies undergraduate students at the University of Texas at Austin in their development and growth as fully formed adults. Our program is designed for non-conforming students who want to ask bigger questions—students who know there should be more to college than preparing for a job and more to life than work and screen time.
What do we offer?
We offer a one-year program, divided into four sessions per semester. Together, we address topics that seek to help students set broad goals for their transformation and personal growth.
Students who register for the program also have the opportunity to receive individualized mentoring. The mentorship aims to accompany undergraduate students in developing their "Life Project." The tutoring or mentorship session sets a plan for learning attitudes and acquiring good habits for self-evaluation and planning of individual actions to allow comprehensive growth and a commitment to improving themselves and their communities (families, friendships, etc.).
In addition to the content and formation offered, the Undergraduate programs serve as a space for access to a community environment, as students get to meet people from different backgrounds, majors, professions, and age groups, which constitutes an essential component of a healthy life that is not that accessible during the college years
WHO CAN APPLY?
The program is open to undergraduate students in any field or major currently enrolled in a higher education institution in Austin.
2023-2024 Sessions
Fall 2023
September: "Self-Knowledge" with Dr. Benjamin W. Bellet
October: "Ambition and Leadership" with Dr. Gonzalo Doña
November: "Modernity and its challenges" with Dr. Kirsten Hall Herlin
December: "Community and belonging" with MS. Joe Zaghrini
Spring 2024
January: "Happiness, Beauty, Nature, and The City" with Dr. Phillip Bess
February: "The Meaning of Sexual Love and Sexual Purity" with Dr. J. Budziszewski
March: "Infatuation, Friendship, and Love" with Dr.Amy Hamilton.
April: "Powerful Women of Christian Europe: An Historical Overview" with Dr. Bronwen Mc Shea.
Testimonies
"The Austin Institute has been solid intellectual ground amidst the turbulent waters of day-to-day college life. The companionship I have found here has been embracing, stimulating, and edifying. The quality of conversations and character at the Institute is unmatched—I am truly lucky to have found it."
Hannah, University of Texas, Undergraduate Fellow
