Honors Wednesday Memo
Opportunities and Information for Honors Students
edited by Brad Rentz
Volume 2, Issue 10
October 24, 2018
Message from Dean Jeff Vahlbusch
Dear Honors students,
Honors courses are the beating heart of Honors education. In the Honors College this coming spring, extraordinary faculty from across the university will guide often one-of-a-kind, interdisciplinary courses that give students opportunities to dare, learn, teach, collaborate, and develop in innovative, useful, and develop in fascinating, innovative, and useful ways. Please join me in reveling in the course list:
- The Honors College's Angela Mead on Harry Potter and Social Justice
- Psychology's Mark Zrull on Art & the Brain
- Education's Nickolas Jordan and Louis Gallien on The (Mis-)Education of the Negro
- Mathematics' Rick Klima on Cryptography
- Watauga Residential College's Michael Dale on The Lives of Animals
- Biology's Khadija Fouad on Evolution and Society
- Education's Chris Osmond on Narratives and the Caring Professions
- Director of Sustainability Lee Ball on Sustainability Leadership and Agents of Change
- The Honors College's Garrett McDowell on the theory and practice of photography
- Education's PJ Nelson on conflict mediation and non-violence
- Belk Library's Mollie Peuler and Scott Rice on the modern Media Landscape
- Education's Brandy Bryson on Critical Perspectives on Race and Whiteness
- Walker College of Business's Leigh Dunston on Tycoons, Titans, and Blaggards
- Theatre and Dance's Cara Hagen Gelber on Artistic Surrogacy (featuring collaboration with universities in Washington and Korea)
- Cultural, Gender, and Global Studies' Kristan Cockerill on Water
- Biology's Howie Neufeldt on The Future of Human Civilization
- Cultural, Gender, and Global Studies Jeanne Dubino on globalization and human-animal encounters
- Education's Louis Gallien on African American Epistemology and Pedagogy
- Cultural, Gender, and Global Studies' Joe Gonzalez on the Cuban Revolution
- Government and Justice Studies' Elicka Sparks on Interpersonal Violence
- Health and Exercise Science's Jonathan Stickford on Physiology, Culture, and Health
Honors College students: take two! Departmental and College of Business Honors students: send me an inquiry (vahlbuschjb); if we have room in a course you are interested in, we will welcome you. Everyone: please thank the departments and colleges across this university for making these courses possible.
We are gratefully and happily in your debt.
Jeff
Please donate to the APPKids Snack and Hygiene drive! The donation box is located in the Honors Library by the door. Photo by Brad Rentz
Upcoming Opportunities:
Dr. Vahlbusch will be delighted to assist with applications!
Pre-Health Conference: MedServe
On Saturday, October 27 from 1 to 2 pm you can attend Appalachian State’s Pre-Health Conference in the Student Union! If you are interested in a career in healthcare, want active clinical experience, or want experience working with community health issues, then this conference is for you! MedServe Representatives will be available at the conference! Please read the Honors Spotlight Story below about Meghan Pavelka and her experience with MedServe. For more information, please visithttps://honors.appstate.edu/appalachian-states-pre-health-conference-medserve for more information.
AHA! Executive Board Applications
AHA!, the Appalachian Honors Association, is electing a new executive board. Here’s your opportunity to help the Honors College develop and thrive. Currently, AHA! is accepting applications for President, Vice President, Junior Rep, Senior Rep, and AHA! Formal Planner. For more information and to find the link to apply, visithttps://honors.appstate.edu/applications-open-aha-executive-board.
Faculty-led Trip to Cuba
Santería: An introduction to the Afro-Atlantic Religion is an 8-day 3 credit hours course that explores the complex intersection between history, religion, and culture. This trip will take place in the Spring from March 2 through 9. For more information, please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/faculty-led-trip-cuba-santer%C3%ADa.
Critical Language Scholarship
Are you interested in learning a completely new language like Urdu or Swahili, or continuing your current language study through a cultural immersion summer program? Apply for CLS by the November 27th deadline. CLS is a fully funded 8 to 10-week summer program for intensive language study and cultural immersion overseas. Language programs include Azerbaijani, Bangla, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Punjabi, Swahili, Turkish, Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. Please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/award-spotlight-critical-language-scholarship for more information and how to register for a workshop.
LLC 2430 Arthurian Legends
This course explores the legends of King Arthur from the middle ages to the present, across time, across national boundaries, and across genres. This class will be offered Monday and Wednesday from 2 to 3:15 pm. Please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/spring-2019-llc-2430-arthurian-legends-honors-contracts-possible for more information!
Stay in the Know…
AHA! will meet TODAY (10/24) in the Honors College Library at 5:00
Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies Lecture Series
All lectures in this series will be held from 6 to 7 pm in Belk Library room 114. There are still three events left in this lecture series, the next will be on October 25, an “Ode to an Unapologetically Free and Sacred Booty” by Cara Hagan. Please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/tison-pughs-talk-tonight-gws-lecture-series for a complete list of the remaining lectures.
Education Career Fair
In two week’s time, we will have School Administrators, Superintendents, and other employers within the field of education who are looking to connect with the teachers and education professionals of the future at our Education Career Fair. The event will take place on Monday, October 29 from 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. in the Holmes Convocation Center. Students should bring their App Card, hard copies of their resume, professional dress and a positive attitude. For more information, please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/mind-future-education-career-fair-two-weeks-away.
Sustainable Energy Speaker Series
Sean Hayes, the Senior Vice President of Operations at Carolina Solar Service will be giving a talk about the Oberlin Project. His presentation will be held on Monday, October 29 from 4 – 5 pm in room 137A of the Student Union. For more information, please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/sustainable-energy-speaker-series-app-state-alumni-edition-oct-29-4pm.
International Alternative Service Experience
Do you love service and education? Do you need an international credit? Do you want to learn more about our neighbors in the world? If so, now is the time to learn more about iASE! Alternative Service Experiences are service learning programs that take place over university break. The sign-up process for international programs that will occur over Spring Break 2019 is now open. Interest forums will be held on Tuesday, October 30, and Wednesday, October 31, from 5-6pm in Beacon Heights, PSU. To learn more, please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/international-alternative-service-experience-iase.
The Aesthetics of Courts, Prisons, and Police
On October 24 at Noon, Dr. Albert Stabler from the Department of Art will speak on the aesthetics of the judicial system on the United States. This lecture is a part of the Anthropology Brown Bag Series and will be held in Belk Hall 342. Please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/october-31st-aesthetics-courts-prisons-and-police for more information.
‘Chew On It’ BFA Exhibition
Graphic design students BFA Exhibition Chew On It is currently showing in the Smith Gallery. The show is open Monday - Friday from 9am-5pm until November 2nd followed by a closing reception from 5-7pm that evening (Friday). Please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/graphic-design-students-bfa-exhibition-chew-it for more information.
In the Honors Spotlight
Honors Meghan Pavelka (’18) Launches Medical Career in Free Clinic
Photo above pictures Pavelka presenting her thesis research at Appalachian State University's Department of Psychology Honors Poster Session held in May 2018. Photo submitted.
Recent Honors graduate Meghan Pavelka (’18) is working in a free clinic in New Bern, North Carolina, in a two-year clinical fellowship program with MedServe. Pavelka is serving in as a Medical Assistant, Medical Scribe, Health Coach, and Quality Improvement Analyst, while also preparing her application to medical school. In partnership with AmeriCorps VISTA, MedServe’s mission is, “Our mission is to immediately improve the health of communities and vitality of primary care practices while exposing tomorrow’s most promising future providers to the great potential for community impact possible through primary care practice in ‘medically underserved’ communities.”
Graduating from Honors at App, Pavelka is a promising future doctor. In both her skill set and professional goals, she fits the mission of MedServe. As she explains,
“My Honors College experience allowed me to develop the necessary grit, organizational skills, and confidence to succeed in my current fellowship position. Through myHonors coursework, I was able to develop a broader understanding of the biopsychosocial factors that affect a patient's health, while expanding upon my abilities to critically assess information and devise novel solutions. I hope that in the next 5-10 years, I'll be utilizing these skills in my pursuit of a medical career, with the goal of eventually starting a free clinic of my own.”
For more on this story by Garrett McDowell, please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/news/honors-meghan-pavelka-%E2%80%9918-launches-medical-career-free-clinic.
Sope Kahn Shares How to Collaborate with Faculty in Research
Sope Kahn (left), of Chapel Hill, is a senior at Appalachian State University majoring in
gender, women’s and sexuality studies. Photo by Ellen Gwin Burnette.
Dr. Ellen Lamont (right), assistant professor in Appalachian’s Department of Sociology. Photo by Marie Freeman.
With a research assistantship supported by the Department of Sociology and a College of Arts and Sciences SAFE grant, Honors senior Sope Kahn and their faculty co-authors published, "Navigating Campus Hookup Culture: LGBTQ Students and College Hookups" in Sociological Forum. Kahn's mentors, Drs. Ellen Lamont and Teresa Roach, assistant professor and lecturer, respectively, in Appalachian's Department of Sociology, co-authored the article.
Kahn credits there Honors experience at Appalachian for, "encouraging me to reach out and pursue academic agendas. The classes in Honors have taught me a lot about writing and thinking critically, and I applied these skills when working on this research."
For more on Honors student-faculty research, please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/news/sope-kahn-shares-how-collaborate-faculty-research.
To Stay in the Know and to Learn About All Opportunities in Honors, please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/announcements
Appalachian State Honors College on Social Media!
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Have news to share? Submissions to the Honors Wednesday Memo can be made by emailing honors@appstate.edu. Any content received by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday will be considered for the following week’s issue.