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Hypatia Women in Engineering Learning Community
Hypatia is sponsored by the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity within the College of Engineering. The residential aspect of the program provides engineering students with built-in study partners and a ready group of other first-year engineering students who share similar interests. A fall semester seminar course provides an academic environment that assists participants in their efforts to become a successful engineer at Virginia Tech and in today's workplace. For the spring semester, guest speakers, field trips, and group projects provide the opportunity to explore engineering through first-hand accounts and experiences, while simultaneously building networking skills. Student leadership is developed through community service projects. Students are block scheduled together in their first semester classes, providing an environment that complements their residential activities. The fall semester seminar has both small group sessions and large combined lectures through the week. Topics covered include academic success strategies, professional and career development, health and student life issues, and diversity. Participants of Hypatia and Galileo, the men's engineering learning community, are encouraged to collaborate in spring semester activities and events.
Download the Engineering Learning Communities brochure [PDF: 2.4MB] Completed applications will be read if they are submitted by 5pm on Friday, June 26th
HypatiaWomen in Engineering Learning Community, located in Slusher Wing, brings together female first-year engineering students in a residential environment to provide encouragement and support in pursuing a career in engineering. Hypatia participants are enrolled in a fall semester seminar class that covers such topics as successful academic strategies and exploring critical issues surrounding women's roles in predominately male fields.
Course RequirementsParticipants are required to enroll in a fall-semester seminar course that meets twice per week. Each community meets separately for small group classes tailored toward issues pertinent to their program. During the second class of the week the communities are combined in a larger group setting that covers overriding themes of the course. Specific areas that will be covered include: Professional Development—resume writing, Career Services, career fairs, interviewing, professionalism, scholarships, undergraduate research opportunities, networking, etc. Academic Success Strategies—time management, academic integrity, study skills, learning styles, test taking, stress management Diversity—gender issues in engineering, engineering in a global workplace, importance of diversity for future engineering professionals Personal Development—service-learning, team building, personal health, alcohol and drug education For additional information about the seminar course please view the tentative course syllabus: Hypatia Seminar Course [PDF: 64KB] Frequently Asked QuestionsWho can participate?
Where would I live?
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Are there additional costs?
Who Was Hypatia?Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Hypatia was raised by her father, Theon, who set out to create the perfect human being in his daughter. As her most influential mentor, Theon raised Hypatia to be well-rounded in the worlds of mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy as well as training her to be physically fit. Early on Hypatia surpassed her father's knowledge and struck out to further her own career. Through her studies of mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy, she became a well-known teacher and lecturer. People from far and wide came to hear her speak. Hypatia is credited with annotating and editing the works of Diophantus and Ptolemy, as well as On the Conics of Apollonius, a study of conic sections. Her influence on these works greatly impacted the early survival of mathematics. In A.D.400, Hypatia became head of the Platonist's school at Alexandria, a monumental accomplishment for a woman of her time. Because of her involvement in the philosophical community of Neo-Platonic thought, she was called a Pagan by the Christians of her era. In addition, her friendship with Orestes, the prefect of Alexandria, was seen as a threat by Cyril, the Christian patriarch. He felt threatened by her vast political influence, and she was eventually murdered by some of Cyril's followers. Hypatia was chosen to represent the community because she is a symbol of strength, hard work, and dedication. She was a pioneer in her fields of philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy as we are today as women in the field of engineering. Her incredible success encourages participants to follow their dreams and reach for their goals. Contact InformationFor more information about Hypatia please contact Whitney Edmister, assistant director of Hypatia, at hypatia@vt.edu. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0431646. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. |
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