Nov 05, 2010 - Claremont, Calif. -

Senior chemistry major Zara Seibel recently won the Daniel Garrad Prize from the University of Edinburgh Department of Philosophy. The award recognizes distinction in the philosophy of science.

Seibel took two humanities courses and one chemistry course during spring 2010. She remarked that the British educational system requires a lot of independent study, with grades resting largely on the final exam. The philosophy course she took was mainly lecture based, with a once-per-week discussion section.

"I believe I won the award mainly for performance on the final exam, which was a two-hour, essay-based examination worth three-fourths of my grade in the course. My final exam score was solidly an 'A' by British grading standards."

She found that her Harvey Mudd experience enabled her to handle the work easily, leaving plenty of time for traveling and sight-seeing, including a trip to the highlands of Scotland.

“One of the cool things about studying philosophy in Edinburgh,” Seibel reported, “was that many of the famous philosophers we learned about, such as David Hume, also studied there.”