Honors Wednesday Memo
Opportunities and Information for Honors Students
edited by Lakin Stevens
Volume 4, Issue 20
February 10, 2021
Message from Dean Jeff Vahlbusch
Dear Honors Wednesday Memo readers,
Please read this HWM from top to bottom: it offers opportunities for learning, appreciating, comprehending, doing, contributing, and being challenged that could each and all be life-changing. And things that change lives can change worlds.
These are not empty words. Every decision we make—to break out of our routine, move in a different direction, open our eyes, commit to doing something new—might determine our whole good lives. True story: if I had not decided to walk down South University Avenue in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on a late September afternoon in 1980, heading back to campus for an event I've now forgotten, I would not, 41 years later, be dean of the Honors College at Appalachian. (Ask me; I'll tell you the whole story).
Each of our moments, even during COVID-19, are charged with possibilities.
Yours,
Jeff
The photo above captured Stephan Colbert talking about Foggy Pine Books in Boone on The Late Show. Photo taken from The Appalachian online. Check out their story here on how this local book store found itself being promoted by Tom Hanks and Stephan Colbert. Dean Jeff and Dr. Audrey are big fans and supporters of this bookstore and highly recommend checking out their selection (or book recommendations)!
Upcoming Opportunities:
Dean Jeff is happy to help you apply; send him an email at vahlbuschjb@appstate.edu.
Book Club Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America
Appalachian State University’s Office of Intercultural Student Affairs (ISA) is sponsoring a book club for Dr. Michael Eric Dyson’s latest book Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America. The books will be provided on a first-come first-serve basis and discussions will be facilitated by ISA throughout Black History Month. Click here to read more about the book and how to join.
Join the AHA! Executive Team
Appalachian Honor’s Association or AHA! Is looking for Honors students to join their executive team. This student organization plans and hosts events in order to promote community within the Honors College. The current team is comprised of mostly juniors and seniors; therefore, they are looking for motivated underclass students to join. Click here to apply by 5:00 pm on February 18th.
College of Arts and Sciences Scholarships
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is accepting applications for several scholarships. Applications are due by March 17th. Scholarship descriptions and applications can be found here.
Appalachian College Advising Corps (AmeriCorps) Hiring
The Appalachian College Advising Corps (AppCAC) is an AmeriCorps program that hires recent graduates and places them as college advisers working alongside high school counselors to increase the rate of college bound students in Western North Carolina. AppCAC is currently hiring for the 2021-2022 cohort of advisors; advisers receive several benefits and compensation. Applicants should have graduated or will be graduating between June 2019 and June 2021. To read more on this position, click here, and for the upcoming AppCAC interest meeting February 11th from 12:00 - 1:00 pm, click here.
Sustained Dialogue Virtual Skills Series
This 10 session series, facilitated by Rhonda Fitzgerald of the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network, will focus on creating a dialogue process that helps diverse groups build relationships and move from talk to action on issues affecting their communities. Each workshop will be held virtually on Wednesday from 9:00 - 10:00 am starting February 11th. For details and registration for the event, click here.
Stay in the Know:
ARTtalk at the Turchin
The Turchin Center for the Visual Arts presents its first spring semester ARTtalks at the Turchin Center. Join Suzanne Sbarge and Holly Roberts as they share the artistic practices and insights behind their exhibition Fictive Strategies currenting at the Turchin Center. Register here for the event on February 10th from 6:00 - 7:00 pm.
Belk Library Food Pantry
The Belk Library Food Pantry is stocked and open for use during normal building hours. Find food resources in room 222 of Belk Library, open all week except for holidays.
Sip & Create: Black Arts Edition
The Black Student Association will be hosting Sip & Create: Black Arts Edition to celebrate Black History Month by representing Black art or creating images or collages of Black artists and what they represent. Learn more and attend here on February 10th from 7:00 - 8:30 pm.
Feelin’ Good Workshops Series
Join the Counseling Center’s upcoming workshops to help students reduce isolation, build new coping skills, and increase mental wellbeing. All events are open to students and do not require registration. The next event titled “Seeking Good Vibes: Managing Stress Through Uncertain Times” will be held February 11th from 4:00 - 5:00 pm. Click here to view all other upcoming workshops and their links.
Collegiate Recovery Community: Recovery Summit Event
The Appalachian Collegiate Recovery Community (CRC) invites all community members to their Recovery Summit which will showcase presentations related to addiction and recovery with the theme “Recovery Includes Us All: Revealing Recovery.” Attend virtually on February 19th from 9:00 am – 12:40 pm. Read more here and for a schedule of events, view here.
In the Honors Spotlight
Honors Faculty Awarded Research Fellowship
Photo features Dr. Mira Waits. Photo by Chase Reynolds.
Honors faculty member Dr. Mira Waits, Assistant Professor of Art History and Visual Culture in the Art Department, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. This fellowship will support her research to complete her book project Colonial Carcerality: The Birth of the Modern Prison in India as Dr. Waits takes research leave this Spring 2021. Dr. Waits has mentored several honors students, taught Honors sections, supervised honors contracts, and much more in support of the Honors College.
For the full story on Dr. Waits, read here.
Have news to share? Submissions 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.
To stay in the know, learn about opportunities, and take part in the Honors community, find us below!