Published on May 14, 2018 by Sean Flynt  
Samford University student Mia Owens
Samford University student Mia Owens

Samford University French and Global Studies double-major Mia Owens will study in the Samford In France program this summer thanks in part to a prestigious Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant. The $1,000 grant is one of fifty presented to U.S. students this year by the nation’s oldest and most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor society.

The rising senior has studied French since the sixth grade, and expanded that interest at Samford by combining majors and building on the academic core of Samford’s honors program.

“Since completing the Western Intellectual Tradition (WIT) sequence with the University Fellows program, my participation in French literature and film courses with Dr. Mary McCullough and Dr. Mike Ledgerwood has allowed me to continue studying and discussing the ideas running throughout the Western Intellectual Tradition,” Owens said.

In addition to McCullough and Ledgerwood, Owens said professors Heather West and Joanna Bradley offered encouragement by making her an assistant in a French language lab. She said professor Annie DeVries served as her Global Studies mentor.

The Study Abroad Grant is the latest in a series of Phi Kappa Phi honors for Samford students and alumni. English and classics alumnus Stone Hendrickson, physics and philosophy alumnus David Bayless, physics alumna Stevie Carnell and music education alumna Rachel Lim earned various national honors from the organization in recent years.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.