Welcome to the new University of Montana Western website.

If you are a prospective student, please use this website to learn about Montana Western's many opportunities.

If you are a current student, faculty or staff, please click on myUMW in the upper righthand side of this page to go to Montana Western's existing internal website.

Thank you for visiting umwestern.edu.

apply online

BROWSE PROGRAMS

Featured Profiles

Featured Faculty Profile

Julie Bullard

professor of early childhood education
For the third time in as many years, Montana Western has a Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Faculty Profile

Delena Norris-Tull

professor of education
The 2010 Montana Professor of the Year is continuing a proud tradition at Montana's premier teacher education institution. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Featured Profiles Profile

Kara Einarson

equine studies major
With a post-graduation job already secured in the equine industry, Kara Einarson’s career is off to a promising start. (read more)Featured Featured Profiles
Featured Faculty Profile

Layne Carlson

assistant professor of equine studies
University of Montana Western equine studies professor Layne Carlson brings his 30 years of professional experience as a mixed animal practitioner into the classroom. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Faculty Profile

Alan Weltzien

professor of english
University of Montana Western English professor Alan Weltzien is a champion of Montana literature. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Faculty Profile

Anne Kish

assistant professor, librarian
As a librarian and head instructor of the School of Outreach’s library endorsement program, Anne Kish exemplifies experiential learning. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Outreach Profile

Diana Taylor

school of outreach student
Diana Taylor is pursuing an early childhood education degree to enrich her life and bolster her skills for her job at a Head Start in Butte, Mont. (read more)Featured Outreach
Featured Faculty Profile

Rob Thomas

professor of geology
The Carnegie Foundation's 2009 U.S. Professor of the Year is taking Montana Western's experiential learning to the national stage. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Faculty Profile

Sean Eudaily

associate professor of political science
Sean Eudaily challenges his students to think critically to fully understand how lessons learned in his classroom impact life outside campus. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Faculty Profile

Mike Morrow

associate professor of biology
Montana Western's biology program is now competitive in the national arena thanks to nearly $2 million in grants secured by Mike Morrow. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Faculty Profile

Gay Garard-Brewer

visiting assistant professor of music
As a student in Montana's rural Bitteroot Valley plays their home piano, Gay Garard-Brewer sees and hears the notes over 100 miles away. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Faculty Profile

Eric Dyreson

professor of mathematics
Mathematics is more than mere numbers for Eric Dyreson; it is also a philosophy capable of transforming one's perception of the world. (read more)Featured Faculty
Featured Students Profile

Rebecca Petersen

education major
Rebecca Petersen is a living testament to the proud tradition of teaching educators at the University of Montana Western. (read more)Featured Students
Featured Students Profile

Cathleen Flanagan

history major, drama education minor
For Cathleen Flanagan — secondary education, history major and drama minor — life's a stage and she's in the director's chair. (read more)Featured Students
Featured Students Profile

Sheynoa Mataafa

general studies
On a frigid, snowy day in Dillon, Sheynoa Mataafa, a Hawaii native, does not regret her decision to move to Montana. (read more)Featured Students
Featured Students Profile

Kaitlin Ens

english major
English major Kaitlin Ens counts five published articles to her name. For Ens, it's only the beginning of a promising career. (read more)Featured Students
Featured Students Profile

Mitch Jessen

secondary education major
While most students entering college struggle with the decision of what to do with their futures, Mitch Jessen always knew what he wanted. (read more)Featured Students
Featured Students Profile

Amanda Kortum

biology major
Amanda Kortum, a cellular molecular biology major, is already making a name for herself in her field. (read more)Featured Students
Featured Students Profile

Berett Rosenkrance

environmental sciences major
One of the most shocking moments of Berett Rosenkrance's life came upon her return as a sophomore to the Montana Western campus. (read more)Featured Students
Featured Students Profile

Brandon Brown

health & human performance major
For Brandon Brown, the transition from urban western Washington to Montana Western was like playing basketball: natural. (read more)Featured Students

Through Montana Western’s selective honors program, students take interdisciplinary courses integrating a variety of approaches to diverse topics from all over the world.

HonorsThe honors program emphasizes the experiential teaching and learning so important to Montana Western’s collective mission.

Honors classes are reading and writing intensive and offer opportunities to conduct independent research and travel abroad. Students are challenged to perform at the highest levels and experience great satisfaction in meeting those challenges. The honors program is for ambitious students who enjoy being challenged academically and learn best by experiencing.

Sean Eudaily

Sean Eudaily is a previous committee member and an active instructor in the Honors program. Eudaily taught Experiencing Ireland, for which he co-led the class on a 17-day trip to Ireland. Eudaily also co-taught Reading England with Bethany Blankenship in 2006. Another 2006 honors course of his, Visions of the West, produced a framework document to help guide the development of a program in Western studies at Montana Western.

Sara Glasgow

Glasgow’s interest in the pedagogical approaches to interdisciplinary studies informs her work with the honors program. She studies the political economy of health focusing especially on political ideologies informing public health approaches to chronic, noncommunicable diseases. Glasgow co-taught Environment and Society in the spring of 2007, and in the spring of 2010 she taught the Honors course By the Hammer of Thor: Norse History and Culture.

Linda Lyon

Linda Lyon began working with the Honors program committee in the fall of 2008 and is currently serving as the interim coordinator. She is an ethnobotanist and has helped communities in Madagascar to reinforce the traditional use of plants. She is interested in finding research opportunities for motivated students and has advised Montana Western undergraduates working independently in Yellowstone National Park and at the Lokaro Environmental Reserve in Madagascar. Lyon is also the faculty advisor for the campus environmental interpretation club, which sent four Montana Western students to the National Association for Interpretation conference in the fall of 2008.

Honors students are self-motivated and ready for all the benefits and rewards that come from challenging themselves in both academics and life experience, hallmarks of Montana Western’s approach to learning.

A strong background in liberal arts can be more vital to careers and lifetime success than specific training in any single field. Honors students develop a broad range of skills and experience, from superior writing skills to critical thinking skills and the ability to conduct independent research.

While academic performance is an indicator, criteria for admittance to Honors courses is also dependent on the will and determination of each student to take their education to the next level.

Sample Courses

Here is just one great example of honors courses at Montana Western. For a full course selection, please visit the Honors courses page.

statue

HON 202/402, Axes, Hammers and Sickles: Scandinavian History and Culture

This course will provide a survey examination of the Scandinavian peoples from the medieval Viking era through the present time. Viking era themes will focus especially on tribal political structures and competition; the logic and processes of migration; the role of the family, ethics, cosmology and the processes of Christianization and resistance; and literary and artistic contributions. The course will include an 11-day trip to Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Participation is open to the public as well as students. The trip will be facilitated by Montana Western Professors of History, Philosophy and Social Science Sara Glasgow and Bill Janus.

The Honors program and Experience One open the door to international travel.

Experience One scheduling means students have no other classes to clutter their schedule and can travel freely without compromising their studies.

From the shores of the Galapagos Islands to the historic plazas of Europe, Honors classes have broadened our students’ horizons.

Contact

For more information about honors at Montana Western, contact department chair Linda Lyon:
Block Hall 321
(406) 683-7075
l_lyon@umwestern.edu.