Honors Wednesday Memo
Opportunities and Information for Honors Students
edited by Brad Rentz
Volume 3, Issue 2
August 28, 2019
Message from Dean Jeff Vahlbusch
Dear Honors students from across the campus, and Honors College friends and faculty,
Here are three things to know and ponder today:
1. Gratitude: So much of what we can do in public higher education comes from awe-inspiring private generosity. Our lasting thanks to Dr. Penelope Nall, grandmother of one of our wonderful Honors College students, for seeing our need and sponsoring the lovely marigold-yellow Honors College T-shirts worn by our 46 Honors Move-in Team members on move-in day, August 14. Thank you, Penelope, for creating cohesion, building community, and helping us look—and be—better!
2. International Opportunities: Our Honors College international education requirement helps prepare our students to live, work, and serve with global understanding and expertise. Students interested in careers in international affairs: please attend the information session on the generous Rangel, Pickering, and Payne fellowships for graduate study offered by the U.S. Department of State: September 3rd, Three Top Mountain (PSU 169), 12:30 p.m.
3. Exhortation: Honors Cone and Summit Hall residents! Today is voting day for your Hall Council members. Please come out in person in Summit, or go online in Cone, and vote—and then lend your generous support all year to the winners, your new elected representatives.
In thanks always,
Jeff
The photograph above features upperclass Move-in volunteers enjoying the Honors College Cookout, held in the Cone and Summit Hall Courtyard on Wednesday afternoon, August 14th from 4-6pm. Photo submitted.
Upcoming Opportunities:
International Affairs Fellowship Information Session
Are you interested in International Affairs and the world around you? Are you planning a career in the U.S. Foreign Service? Did you know the Donald M. Payne International Development Fellowship, thePickering Fellowship, and the Charles B. Rangel Fellowship will fund two years of graduate study and provide preferential entry into the Foreign Service? Then you should attend the information session on September 3 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm located in 169 Three Top Mountain in the Student Union. For more information, visit our website.
Fall 2019 URA Program information
The Office of Student Research is now accepting applications for Fall 2019 Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) Program. The URA deadline is TODAY (Wednesday, August 28, 2019) with award notifications made by mid-September. This is for fall semester work to begin on or after September 16, 2019. To learn more about the URA Program, click here.
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Workshop
Description: The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based masters and doctoral degrees in fields within NSF's mission. For each year of support, NSF provides a stipend of $34,000 to the Fellow and a cost-of-education allowance of $12,000 to the degree-granting institution. The workshop will be held on September 6 from 10 to 11 am in the JET Building room 387. Register online by visiting our website.
Smith Gallery Hiring Positions
The Smith Gallery is hiring for Gallery Assistants this semester. This is a great opportunity for students who are interested in gaining hands-on experience with the daily operations of a gallery and working with artists to present their projects. Apply today by visiting our website.
TOSS Art Studio
Are you interested in participating in an afterschool program for k-12th-grade students and teach creative thinking through the art of making? Consider this internship opportunity! Time-slots are available Monday through Thursday in the fall and in the Spring. For more information and how to apply, click here.
AHA Upcoming:
General Body Meeting: Thursday, September 5 in the conference room next to the East Side Service desk in Appalachian Hall from 7 to 7:30 pm.
Stay in the Know…
Art Spain Study Abroad in 2020
In this program, students will travel to Spain visiting two major cities Madrid and Barcelona. You will attend historic architectural sites, museums, cultural sites, visit artist studios, and attend Metáfora: Studio Arts Barcelona for a two-week Intensive studio experience. The Metáfora will offer all students their own studio spaces and instruction from regional artists. It provides total immersion in art and culture and an exhibition of works at the end of the program. The informational meeting will be held on Thursday, August 29 from 11 am to 12 pm in the Ceramic Room of Wey Hall (Rm. 112). For more information, click here.
Bryan Stevenson at Appalachian
Bryan Stevenson, author of the Common Reading Program 2019-20 book selection Just Mercy, will speak on Tuesday, September 17, from 7:00-8:00 p.m., at the Holmes Convocation Center. A book signing will follow. The event is free and open to the public.
Time Management Workshop
Do you have what it takes to manage your time effectively in college? If you believe your skills could use some sharpening, consider attending one of the Student Learning Center’s time management workshops! Visit our website to learn more about creating a semester plan, to-do lists, goal-setting sheets, and much more!
Join Team Sunergy
Student-led and student-driven, Team Sunergy began in 2013 in the imagination of then-undergraduate student and Army veteran Dan Blakeley, when he collaborated with classmates to convert a gas-powered golf cart into a solar-fueled vehicle. With team members from all backgrounds and majors, ranging from music and business to physics and sustainable technology, Team Sunergy is a diverse group that embodies Appalachian's commitment to sustainability. Instead of approaching the design of a solar vehicle as an engineering problem, the team sees it as an exercise in problem-solving for a better future. For more information and how to join, click here.
Zippin4LIFE
Come out on September 15th for the inaugural Zippin4LIFE fundraising event. This is an opportunity to help raise funds for LIFE Village, while also participating in something fun: ziplining! This initiative will be hosted by Sky Valley Tours and sponsored by Fraternity & Sorority Life, ACT Office and LIFE Village. The goal is for teams of 10 to raise $1000 collectively ($100 each) for the event, which would pay for the zipline and a donation to LIFE Village. If you are interested in participating in this event, visit our website.
In the Honors Spotlight
Emma Labovitz ‘18 named U.S. Student Program Finalist
The photo above of Emma Labovitz submitted.
Honors Emma Labovitz has been conferred a 2019 Fulbright Study/Research Award. She will spend the 2019–20 academic year in the Netherlands at Erasmus University Rotterdam working on her Master of Public Administration, with a focus on migration and diversity. In addition, Labovitz has been admitted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and awarded funding for the doctoral program in the sociology of population. She is able to defer for a year while in the Netherlands with the Fulbright Student Program.
Click here to read the full story of Labovitz’ recent achievements.
Elizabeth Williams Completes Fourth Study Abroad Program
The photo above features Williams at Cramond Beach near Edinburgh, Scotland on May 25th, 2019. Photo submitted.
This summer Honors senior and Chancellor’s Scholar Elizabeth Williams joined the faculty-led study abroad program, History Landscape, and National Identity of Scotland. Williams is a studio art major and anthropology minor. Dr. Jason White, assistant professor in the Department of History, and Mr. Joshua White, assistant professor in the Department of Art, led twenty students including Williams on this study abroad program to Scotland from May 22 to June 11, 2019. This study abroad trip was William’s fourth international experience while in Honors at Appalachian. She first joined the group of first-year Chancellor’s Scholars on a trip to Dublin over Fall Break 2015. She then took another faculty-led course, a six-semester hour interdisciplinary Honors seminar, Culture and the Arts in Vienna, over the summer of 2016. She also spent the full Spring 2017 semester studying abroad in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Click here for the full story on Williams’ study abroad experiences.
To Stay in the Know and Learn About All Opportunities in Honors, please visit https://honors.appstate.edu/announcements
Appalachian State Honors College on Social Media!
Check us out on Instagram also! Find us by searching “Appalachian Honors College”
Don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook at Appalachian Honors: https://www.facebook.com/Appalachian-Honors-482157301971520/
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.