Honors Wednesday Memo
Opportunities and Information for Honors Students
edited by Lakin Stevens and Kistler Hunt
Volume 5, Issue 27
April 6, 2022
Dean Seeking Advice: Dear students, faculty, staff,
At Appalachian we currently have around 1000 students and hundreds of faculty members engaging together in extraordinary Honors work and learning!
How can we showcase and publicize more broadly our work and life in the Honors College and in departmental Honors programs across this great university?
HON seminars, Honors courses, Honors contracts; wonderful mentoring, teaching, and advising by great faculty and staff; Honors thesis research and writing and defending; Honors residential life, Honors activities and service; great students connecting with great opportunities? And so much else?
Please write to me at vahlbuschjb@appstate.edu with ideas to supplement and complement the work of the Memo.
Sending thanks!
Jeff
Honors students met in Belk Library to discuss their final group project for the Honors seminar HON 3515: Collaborations. Students featured from left to right are Morgan Ray, Jason Dadolf, Hannah Joyner, and Marin Pillsbury. Photo submitted by Hannah Joyner. Photo taken March 17, 2022.
Upcoming Opportunities:
Dean Jeff is happy to help you apply; send him an email at vahlbuschjb@appstate.edu.
21st Annual Diversity Celebration
Appalachian State University is holding its 21st Annual Diversity Celebration on April 5 - April 7. This provides a space where diverse perspectives, cultures and values are accepted, appreciated and celebrated. There are several events planned including a concert, storytelling through dance, a festival, and more. For more information and the schedule of events, click here.
Climate Change Collaborative Workshop
The Department of Geography and Planning will be offering a collaborative workshop surrounding climate change on April 8 from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. in the Plemmons Student Union. The workshop will identify research needs and priorities for the southern Appalachian Mountain region at the intersection of climate and health for rural mountain environments. The full day workshop will provide lunch and feature lectures by App State’s climatology and environmental health faculty. Registration is open but limited. To register, click here and for more information, click here.
Inclusive Literature Book Club
The Inclusive Lit Book Club meets twice a month to discuss books with intersectional, positive, and diverse identities. The April book of the month is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Their next meeting will be April 11 from 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. in the Community-Engaged Leadership Outreach center, room 138 of the Plemmons Student Union. For more information or to acquire a copy of the book, contact Cori Ferguson.
3rd Media Studies Photography Competition
The Media Studies Minor and the Reich College of Education are hosting the 3rd Media Studies Photo Contest. The theme of “Returning to Life” seeks to commemorate and celebrate important memories and events of the last two years and to express thanks for the community care that enables us to return to campus amidst an ongoing global pandemic. All community members are encouraged to submit photos by the deadline of April 15 at midnight. For more details, click here
Future Organic Farmer Grant
The Carolina Certified Organic Farmers Foundation (CCOF) offers grants to higher education and vocational students pursuing degrees or certificates in organic agriculture to help with tuition and educational expenses. $5,000 grants are available for higher education and vocational students studying organic agriculture and production. Applications close on April 15. For more details, and to apply, click here. If you have any questions, please contact Larissa Hernandez.
Upcoming Thesis Defenses:
Dean Jeff urges, “Support your fellow Honors College students and faculty by attending Honors thesis defenses! You'll marvel, learn, and grow. And each defense you attend, you'll make your own easier.”
To attend a defense this semester, please write to honors@appstate.edu.
Kinsey White
April 7, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Presenting “Local North Carolina News Organizations: How Are They Asking for Financial Support”
Mikayla Stahlbusch
April 8, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Presenting “Known By More Than Name, or, A Foundational Satiation: The Platonic Relationship”
Mackenzie Millett
April 8, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Presenting “How Motivation from Physical Therapists Affects Patient Treatment Adherence”
Cielo Murillo-Gomez
April 8, 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
“A Play by Cielo Gomez”
Ramzi Badra
April 12, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Presenting “Motion Analysis of Biomechanical Aspects of the Bench Press Utilizing VICON system vs. iPhone Camera”
Wade Creech
April 12, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Presenting “Locations and Reasons for Physical Activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Snapchat of a Rural Community”
Charles Pace
April 12, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Presenting “The Disputed Plain”
Emily Ketron
April 13, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Presenting “A Sense of Place: An Exploratory Study of Appalachia within Children’s Literature”
Matt Cottrell
April 13, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Presenting “Nontraditional Family: Exploring Artistic Expressions of Queer Love”
Grace Galphin
April 13, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Presenting “The impacts of self-isolation and stay-at-home orders on intimate partner violence and child maltreatment services in the High Country during the COVID-19 pandemic”
Tori Joy
April 13, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Presenting “Changes in physical activity levels of children aged 2-12 years old following a greenway trail enhancement intervention in rural South Carolina”
Stay in the Know:
ARTtalks at the Turchin
The Turchin Center hosts ARTtalks to provide deeper insight into creative practice, context for current exhibitions and contemporary issues shaping the world in which art is created, experienced and interpreted. The next ARTtalk, which will be held virtually on April 7 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., is “The New West, An Old Story” presented by Joan Myers and Steve Fitch. To learn more and register, click here. To learn more about all ARTtalks, click here.
Climate Justice Teach-In
The Office of International Education and Development and the Worldwide Climate Justice Teach-In are co-sponsoring two events on April 8 to learn more about climate disruption and climate responses. One of the events features Maggie Mwape, executive director of the Centre for Environmental Justice, will be speaking from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. about responses to climate injustices in Zambia. For more information and to register, click here.
Passport to the Latin World
The Immigrant Justice Coalition will be celebrating the Latinx community and culture with “Passport to the Latin World.” Join to enjoy tamales, pan de bono and dance and music performances. All proceeds from this event will go towards the Immigrant Justice Coalition’s Scholarship Fund. The event will be held on April 9 from 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. For more information, visit here.
Writing for Change Speaker Series
The Department of English will be offering a virtual speaker series throughout the spring semester that addresses how narratives impact systemic oppression. The next event will be held on April 11 from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. The event features Dr. Jo Hsu, assistant professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin who will be presenting “Story Ecologies and (Re)Writing Home.” For more information and access to the event, contact Dr. Sarah-Beth Hopton.
Spring 2022 Sustainability Film Series
The Office of Sustainability will be showing its last film as a part of their Spring 2022 Sustainability Film Series. The final film offered in the series, “Docuappalachia,” will be shown April 12 at 7:00 p.m. The film compares scenes from a silent film by photographer George Flowers to present-day Appalachia and reflects on what has changed and what has remained the same in the rural southern Appalachian Mountains. For more information, click here.
In the Honors Spotlight
Honors alumna Paige Skinner ‘21 shares her law school experiences
Top photo features Skinner in her announcement to attend the University of Richmond. Photo submitted.
Honors alumna Paige Skinner ‘21 has spent her time after graduation as a student at the University of Richmond School of Law. Skinner graduated from Appalachian State with her bachelor of science in political science with a concentration in pre-professional legal studies and a minor in criminal justice. Through her time at the University of Richmond (UR), she has recognized remnants of her experience at Appalachian in terms of community building. After experiencing the tight-knit community of the Honors College, she soon realized how valuable that experience was to her college experience. Skinner actively engaged with the Honors College, serving as one of the co-founders and director of the Honors Peer Mentoring Program, president and vice president of the Appalachian Honors Association, and a member of the Honors Vanguard. These experiences provided her insight during her law school search and, ultimately, her decision to attend UR.
Read more about Skinner’s experiences here.
Have announcements to share? Submissions can be made to honors@appstate.edu. Any content received by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday will be considered for the following week’s issue.
Have a story to share? Share what you have done, what you are doing, or what you will be doing by submitting a story here.
To stay in the know, learn about opportunities, and take part in the Honors community, find us below!