FLCC Comic-Con - Honors Approved!

Vol 2 No 4

An Event to Remember!

"Highlighting literary graphic resources through speakers, presentations, and other unique learning experiences"

We are excited to announce the FIRST Honors Approved Event being held this Activities Day – October 17, 2017. This event is sponsored by the Charles J. Meder and funded in part by Student Corporation and the Humanities Department.

This event, hosted and held in the Library, has so many amazing parts to it – from costume contests and crafts to food and a movie. It seems like there is a little something for everyone. What really gets Honors Studies excited, however, are the presentations. Held by students, faculty, staff, and community members, these presentations touch on so many deeper aspects of comics and super-heroes. These sorts of things show us that popular culture is rife with things to study, explore, and reflect upon. For instance, take a look at what you can expect if you go:

Lights, Sounds, Buttons, Sensors (Bill Pealer)
This presentation shows the ins and outs of creating props with Arduino and various materials. The discussion and workshop will include how to program props to light up, buzz and more using simple cost-effective tools.

Kick-Butt Costuming 101 (Dave Ghidiu)
Making award-winning costumes isn't hard - but it does take a tiny bit of money and tons of time. Come learn how to make stellar costumes out of easy-to-obtain materials. Participants will learn techniques and experienced tips for making costumes that stand out and will walk away with information on where to go for the next step. Some participants will even get to participate in a rapid build!

Force, Mass, and Acceleration: The Dangers of Being Super (Trevor Johnson-Steigelman)
Superman and Supergirl are able to leap tall buildings in a single leap, but do they get charged for replacing sidewalks? The Flash and Quicksilver are quick, but do they have liability insurance for causing whiplash? Why should Spider-Man consider taking a physics class or two? Let’s investigate how Newton’s Second Law is mangled in the comics and the movies.

The Culture of Japan (Anime Club Presentation)
The student-led discussion will include Japanese history, diet, and cultural standards. The presentation will start at 12:30 to give our comic fans a chance to grab their lunch.

My Life in Comics Q & A (Sal Otero)
Sal Otero is an artist living in Upstate New York. Currently, Sal is working on the TMnT comics. In his presentation, Sal will discuss his experiences in the comics business and his journey to becoming an artist within the industry. There will be a brief Q & A session following his presentation. 

Jenny Burnett, Automated Systems Librarian and the mastermind behind Comic-Com, has the following to say about this Honors Studies Experience:

In the past I have found many students think that ComiCon is just about comics; this event gives the Library a chance to truly change the minds of students when it comes to comic events and comics themselves. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, the Library events have the opportunity to pique the scholarly interests of various students, faculty, staff and the community. This event contributes, not only to the culture here at FLCC, but also to the culture of the community, giving everyone a unique opportunity to explore this medium in a safe and welcoming space…ComiCon gives students and members of the community an opportunity to reflect on their views and will show them that the stereotypical Comic-con comic reader, can be quite different than they had originally thought. The FLCC Library ComiCon has a strong tradition of breaking the mold in this respect. Our first years have shown hundreds of students comics can be scholarly, non-fiction, physics lessons, instructional, and they can be for everyone. Students might also find that they are the ones who have been closed off to these experiences, and do some additional self-reflection and evaluation on why they feel this way. Each speaking guest gives students the opportunity to analyze new ideas, and old themes both inside the comics’ medium and beyond.

Look for posters and other advertising around campus for more information and we hope to see you at the FLCC Comic-con – an Honors Approved Event!

If you need more information on how to earn Honors Studies Points for this and other Honors Studies Events, please email the Director of Honors Studies, Dr. Trista Merrill at trista.merrill@flcc.edu or honorsstudies@flcc.edu.

Coming Soon!

Vol 2. No 3

Starting this semester, albeit in a somewhat limited way, you can earn Honors Studies Points by attending Honors Approved Events! You should start seeing the sticker shown below pop up here and there to designate an event as one you can attend and then reflect on to get Honors Studies Points. That prompts two questions, I'm sure. First..."what are Honors Studies Points?" and second, "What do you mean, reflect on it?" Well, read on, my curious friends!

The straight up definition of Honors Studies Points that they are the formal tracking of a student’s success in Honors Studies and are earned by taking Honors Studies Courses (including contracts) and attending Honors approved events. Earn enough of them and you become an Honors Studies Scholar, which is someone who has earned at least 15 points of Honors Studies Experience at the end of their time at FLCC and has an overall GPA of at least 3.25.

9 of your points needs to come from taking courses, but the other 6 or more can come from Honors Approved Events. Once you attend an event, you will be expected to complete a 500 or more word journal about the experience wherein you reflect on what you experienced and connecting it to other expectations and other experiences. We can give you prompts to help with this part of it. At the end of the semester, you will write a reflective essay that connects that event to any others you took and explores the same three questions you explore in all Honors reflective essays: where have I been, where am I now, and where am I going. From there, you can explore the event or events specifically through this addition to those questions:

The Honors Studies events you attended this semester covered, most likely, a wide variety of topics. As you revisit your reflective journals and explore the prompts above, think about connections you see in the topics offered and those you chose to explore further. Explore the activities you choose to attend and the ones about which you reflected on in a journal. Why? How do activities like these serve as learning experiences? Discuss the impact of the setting (such as location, time of day, attendees, and seating) on your interaction with the content. Explore the extent of your engagement in these activities, particularly the ones in which you actively participated. How did these activities influence your work in your classes or vice versa? In other words, use this reflective essay to fit the activities you attended and the reflective journal you kept into the intricate pathways you are taking on your journey as a learner.

One of the events we are most excited about is the Honors Convocation.  This event will be a chance to share your Honors Studies work with others and see what other Honors Studies students have done as well.  More on this in a future blog!

Remember to save the date - October 18th at 5:00 - the Honors Studies Dinner.  And guess what?  That is an Honors Approved Event!  :)

New Old Words

Vol. 2 No 2.

So, what does the foundation of Honors look like?  In many ways, it's the same as it always has been:  reflection, inquiry, and collaboration in the pursuit of learning that lasts beyond the classroom and the institution.  But we feel that we've infused it with a few more words that capture the essence of what Honors at FLCC is and where it came from.

Curiosity.  Passion.  Engagement.  Challenge.  

So many who teach and learning in Honors Studies will tell you that it's not MORE work, it's different work.  But it's not just about 'work' - there are so many other words and things that you should know if the core of Honors Studies is something you seek to really understand.  From our mission, talked about last week, comes our learning outcomes.  These are the things we want students to have gained by the time they leave us and FLCC.  

• Students will be able to reflect on and evaluate their internal learning process
• Students will be able to analyze external connections among their own learning experiences
• Students will be able to articulate the value of intellectual pursuit in a scholarly tradition

Can you see them?  Those same ideas of reflection, new modes of learning, inquiry, and intellect.  There are some parts that might look or sound new, though they are really not.  We've just found new ways to say them.  And we made sure that the things that we hold as the heart of Honors Studies link to the FLCC Values.   It wasn't hard to do - they overlap and inform each other in so many exciting ways.

Vitality is reflected with all three of our learning outcomes in Honors Studies, most readily with the third one.  Exploring scholarly tradition really encourages us see how the concepts and content of a course exist outside the classroom in complex ways.  Within the classroom, the second learning outcomes leads Honors Studies students to explore their learning in a collective context, while self-evaluation (in the first learning outcome) is directly linked to well-being.  We have to look to ourselves to engage in self-care at all levels - emotionally, physically, intellectually, and even spiritually.

We find interconnection most obviously in the second learning outcome where you will be directly challenged to find connections among learning experiences.  The first learning outcome hopefully leads to us realizing that our internal selves is what connects all the arenas of our lives and the one thing over which we have the most control.  Internal reflection also encourages you to connect with other students as well as faculty and staff. Meanwhile, the third learning outcome highlights that a discipline is a community of scholars and the conversations of the classroom are just one facet of conversations going on all around us.

All of the Honors Studies learning outcomes require perseverance.  Our emphasis on analysis, reflection and scholarship requires the continual push against intellectual, emotional, and circumstantial barriers.

Similarly, reflection, evaluation, analysis, and scholarship are based squarely in inquiry.  When students meet the three Honors Studies learning outcomes, they demonstrate the ability to pose questions and utilize endurance to pursue the answers.

So, there you have it.  The events, courses, and experiences you have in Honors Studies is so much more than just 'fun classes' that are taught in a different way.  We've put so much work in behind the scenes so you could have these experiences and we hope that you find just as much value in them as we do.  We also couldn't do ANY of this without you.

“It is only once in a blue moon that you are able to honestly say the experience of a classroom has changed your outlook on life. This course was one of my blue moons.”

-Amber

Honors Gets the Works

Vol. 2 No. 1

Welcome! Or…welcome back!

Over the summer, Honors Studies implemented some changes.  Here’s the rundown of what you need to know and why changes were made.

One of the most important things we tried to do was simplify the language and detach it from language that was constantly being confused with other areas of the college.  No longer will you hear about the Honors PROGRAM or Honors DEGREES, DIPLOMAS, CERTIFICATES, or CREDITS.  None of these things REALLY applied in the traditional way anyway, so it was time to make a change.  We also wanted to make it easier for students to achieve Honors status upon leaving FLCC.  So many of our programs have gotten tighter and more restrictive, and so many students are transferring to four-year schools (both SUNY and private) that it was time for us to make some changes to help you take Honors with you when you did that. 

So…what do you need to know?  In a nutshell....

• We are now officially called Honors Studies.
• If you earn 15 points of Honors Studies Experience and have a 3.25 GPA when you graduate or transfer from FLCC, you will be designated an Honors Studies Scholar on your transcript, with supporting documentation.
• There are four ways to earn Honors Studies points – three of them have not changed: Honors Studies Seminars (HON classes), Honors Studies in the Disciplines (courses with Honors in the title), and Honors Studies contracts (making a non-Honors course into Honors once you’ve taken at least one Honors course). The fourth way is by attending and reflecting on Honors Studies Events.
•  Honors Studies Events are events hosted or approved by Honors that encompass our learning outcomes and mission through the content of their offering. By attending these events, and then writing a journal and an Honors Reflective Essay about your experience, you will earn at least one point.
•  All Honors Studies Experiences will have the same basic prompt for their reflective essays – where you will be challenged to think about where you have been, where you are, and where you are going in the context of the class or event of which you were a part.

Our goals in Honors remain what they always have been – to celebrate who you are as a learner and to help you hone those qualities that will support you being a lifelong learner.  We’ve crafted a new mission statement to reflect this:

Self-reflective learning meets innovative teaching within and between the disciplines in Honors Studies at FLCC.  Our seminars and activities foster an atmosphere of interconnection, inquiry, and curiosity where students become lifelong learners.  Honors students develop the confidence to contribute to their local and global communities.

There’s lots to talk about this semester, but I don’t want to overwhelm you as you start the Fall 2017 semester, so we will keep this short.  Just remember… all you have to be is curious!  We look forward to working with you this semester and hope that you have a fantastic learning experience.

SAVE THE DATE:  October 18 – the Honors Studies Dinner!  Open to all students!