edited by Kistler Hunt
Volume 6, Issue 27
April 12, 2023
Dear Readers of the Honors Wednesday Memo,
This year in the Honors College, we've been happily doing lots of recruiting work, including daily "Honors Tour + Talk" sessions in Appalachian Hall with Honors College student ambassadors, Honors staff and faculty, and, often, me.
Often during these discussions our visitors, nearly all of whom have toured (or are planning to tour) other Honors Colleges, ask eagerly about many things, including our Honors courses and curriculum. This gives me a chance to give a dramatic reading of course titles, and to talk about the extraordinary creativity, pedagogy, and often daring of colleagues who propose and teach Honors seminars (HON) and Honors courses across the university.
Here are HON seminar titles for fall 2023:
HON 1515: Living Non-Violence; Servant Leadership; Dealing with Doom: Our Climate in Perspective; Introduction to Research; Art as a Way of Knowing; The Human Condition: War, Economy, Technology; Have you Eaten? Food, Culture & Society; Education in Poetry: Learning through Poems; Myth & Reality; Voyages: Spain and the Creation of the Americas.
HON 2515: Light and Color: History, Science, Application; Eating Meat (and Using Meat Products) in the Anthropocene; Research to Action: Wicked Environmental Problems; The Enduring Controversy of Darwin; Harry Potter & the Quest for Social Justice; Of Myth and Meaning.
HON 3515: Resistance; Tycoons, Titans & Blaggards; Gendered (In)Justice; I Am: Identity and Autoethnography; Solutions to Climate Change: Hope through Community Action.
Yours,
Jeff
Upcoming Opportunities:
Dean Jeff is happy to help you apply; send him an email at vahlbuschjb@appstate.edu
Sanctuary Journal Submissions
Sanctuary, a student-led literary and arts journal through the Southern Regional Honors Council, is accepting submissions for their journal. Sanctuary allows students to show their artistic talents and receive national recognition. Students can submit any creative work including poetry, creative essays, short fiction, works in another language, visual or digital art, as well as photography. The deadline to submit a piece for consideration in Sanctuary is April 14. For more information, click here. To submit a creative work for consideration, click here.
Dr. Chip Thomas, Physician Artist Presentation
Dr. Chip Thomas, an internationally known physician and social justice activist, will be hosting a presentation on April 17 at 4:30 p.m. in Leon Levine Hall, Room 103. Dr. Thomas’ presentation will showcase, his work as a physician at a health center in the Navajo Nation and his “Painted Desert Project,” which installs large scale artistic murals in the Navajo Nation as a way to communicate information. For more information, click here.
Celebration of Student Research and Creative Endeavors
The Office of Student Research is hosting its 26th annual Celebration of Student Research and Creative Endeavors on April 19 from 9:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the Plemmons Student Union. The Celebration will feature research primarily completed by undergraduate and graduate students at Appalachian. The event will also feature student poster competitions, poster sessions by the student authors, and more. For more information, click here. For any questions, contact the Office of Student Research.
Honors College Peer Mentor Program
The Honors College Peer Mentor Program is now accepting applications for 2023-2024 academic year. The Peer Mentor program pairs current Honors College students with incoming Honors College students, seeking to help them build relationships and make the transition to Appalachian easier. The deadline to apply is May 5 at midnight. To apply for the Peer Mentor Program, click here. For any questions or concerns, contact Sydney McDonald, Director of the Honors College Peer Mentor program.
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.
Grace Waugh
April 14, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Presenting “Waste to Riches: Heated Vermicomposting Bin from a Repurposed Solar Thermal Collector”
Abby Cope
April 14, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Presenting “What Is Microlearning and How Does it Work? An Analysis of a Maternal, Child, and Family Health Microlearning Program for Health Science Students”
Maddy Babb
April 14, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Presenting “Environmental Influence on Freshwater Sponge Dormancy: A Review and Synthesis”
Sabrina Hess
April 14, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Presenting “The Canterbury Tales: Performing a Moral Lesson on Misperformance”
John Poston
April 14, 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Presenting “Songwriting as a Tool for Understanding Identity and Dealing with Change”
Claire Mooney
April 19, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Presenting “Effects of Dermal Anthracene Exposure on Skin Blood Flow”
Madeline Waechter
April 19, 11:00 – 12:00 p.m.
Presenting “Prehistoric: How One Biracial Community in Appalachia Uncovers an Underappreciated Reality of American History”
Melanie Jordan
April 19, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Presenting “Covid-19’s Impacts on County Parks and Recreation Departments in North Carolina”
Griffin Honea
April 19, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Presenting “The Introduction of National Socialism to the American White Supremacist Movement and its Consequences: 1933-1967”
Kate Bridgers
April 19, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Presenting “Eating with the Earth: An Ecofeminist Critique of Dieting Culture with Eco-psychological and Socio-ecological Solutions”
Stay in the Know:
Sexual Assault Awareness Month Programming
Throughout the month of April, Wellness and Prevention Services will be hosting various events on campus to garner attention towards the topic of sexual assault. Their next event will be held on April 13 from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. in room 415 of the Plemmons Student Union and will focus on the topic of consent. For more information, click here.
Earth Month Presentation: Soil Science Forum
To celebrate Earth Day on April 22, the Office of Sustainability will be hosting events throughout the month of April to increase awareness about sustainability and sustainable practices. On April 13, the Office will host a Soil Science Forum in the Solarium from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. The Forum will allow students to learn about the importance of soil and food systems, how to work with soil, and how to create a garden in one’s own kitchen. For more information, click here. To view the Office of Sustainability’s full programming for Earth Day, click here.
Climate Emotions Book Presentation
The Climate Stories Collaborative will be a hosting author Paul Bogard to present his work “Solastalgia” on April 12 at 5:00 p.m. in room 421 of Belk Library. Bogard is an associate professor in the Department of English at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Bogard’s work primarily centers around the environment. His most recent work, “Solastalgia,” discusses the topic of climate change and how it relates to physical and emotional distress. For more information, click here.
A Day Against Hate
App State’s Hillel and Alpha Epsilon Pi will collaborate with Intercultural Student Affairs and the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies to host “A Day Against Hate,” an event that fosters increased cultural humility and understanding. The event will take place on April 16 from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. on Sanford Mall. Students will learn about Judaism and different cultures, try new cultural foods, win prizes through educational trivia, become connected with support resources, and build relationships. For more information, click here.
Former US Poet Laureate Presentation
The next presentation of the Spring semester for the Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series hosted by the Department of English will feature two-term (2012-2014) former US Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey on April 20 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. in room 201 of the Plemmons Student Union. Trethewey will discuss her work, one of which won a Pulitzer Prize. For more information, click here.
In the Honors Spotlight
Honors College alumnus pursues M.D./Ph.D. in Neuroscience
Top photo features Travis Tabor in the Holtzman Lab at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Photo submitted.
Honors College alumnus Travis Tabor is now a fifth year M.D./Ph.D. student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Tabor is currently working to obtain a doctorate in neuroscience in Dr. David Holtzman’s Alzheimer's Disease research lab. Tabor found that participating in the Honors College community was incredibly impactful. The advice of Dr. Leslie Sargent Jones, former director of the Honors program and professor in the department of biology, helped him become a more competitive medical school applicant. Tabor also said that “Being surrounded by a group of particularly focused and hardworking students did push me to achieve more.” After Tabor completes his M.D./Ph.D. in the spring of 2026, he aspires to run a research lab, while maintaining direct patient care interactions.
To learn more about Tabor’s experiences in Washington University’s M.D./Ph.D. program, click 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!