People
Student Profiles
Kyle Karches
Arts and Letter Preprofessional Studies and Philosophy
Class of 2008
Cincinnati, OH
"The ability to perform original research is one of the most challenging and rewarding facets of the Honors Program. Because I am interested in medical ethics, I plan to research and develop a thesis about either the ethical issues involved in psychopharmacology or the different Western systems of health care delivery. If I choose the former, I will draw upon both my summer experience working in a psychiatric hospital and library research to write about potential abuses of psychoactive drugs. If the latter, I will likely apply for a grant that will allow me to spend time in either Canada or Great Britain learning about a universal health care system and gathering data to compare it with the American system.
"Although all incoming Notre Dame students are advised to develop relationships with their professors, the Honors Program made this interaction easy by providing outstanding professors who go to great lengths to get to know their students personally.
" My honors seminar professor, Brad Gregory, was the perfect teacher for a small class. Although the readings he assigned were challenging, he was always able to stimulate fruitful discussion without dominating the conversation. He also made the effort to get to know each of his students; not only did he hold “social hours” in an on-campus restaurant every Friday, but he also invited the entire class to his home for a Christmas party.
"My Honors Theology class was larger but Professor Gary Anderson also made himself available for students. He too held social hours every week and had long office hours to allow students to meet with him individually. After these classes ended, I continued to meet with both of these professors, either in their offices or over coffee at Starbucks to talk about class material, discuss newsworthy events, or make predictions about the next Notre Dame football game. I also consulted both of them for advice before I switched my academic major, and their input was very valuable to me as I sorted through my options."
