"I thrive in an academic atmosphere which encourages independent thinking, and Honors faculty create exactly that environment in their classrooms."

JOHNATHAN TEPPER
Hometown: Madrid, Spain
High School: Christian Academy, Madrid
Major: History and Economics

Johnathan applied to join the Honors Program at the beginning of his second semester at UNC. As a Burch Fellow, he spent the summer between his sophomore and junior year pursuing an independent research project on Ladino, the fusion of Hebrew and Spanish born with the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. Johnathan's research took him to Brooklyn, from there to Toledo and Madrid, and finally to Jerusalem as he searched for medieval manuscripts written in Ladino and conversed with some of the last living speakers of this "dying" language. In his junior year, he became interested in the English "Poor Laws" of the nineteenth century through a tutorial study in the History Department. He conducted archival research on this topic in London the following summer, and that research will become the basis of his honors thesis in history. Jonathan's academic interests continue to lead him outside the United States. As a 1998 Rhodes Scholar, he will pursue the study of Modern History at Oxford University.

"I have always felt I learn best having the liberty to pursue my own independent projects under the supervision of professors. My interest in Ladino actually began in a religion class with a challenging professor, and from there progressed to an independent study under his direction, before culminating in the study I designed for my Burch Fellowship, which carried me to three continents. I thrive in an academic atmosphere that encourages independent thinking, and Honors faculty create precisely that environment in their classrooms."