Welcome Back!

Vol 3 No 1

Welcome back, returning students and welcome to FLCC to all you new folks!

Honors has so many exciting things to talk about and we hope you are all rested from a summer that was satisfying in whatever it provided for you.  We also hope you’re looking forward to a fulfilling and productive semester at FLCC and that Honors will be an active part of those plans!  Speaking of which, we have a number of dates for you to put on your calendar…

Before we do that, though, we want to remind you that it is NOT too late to add an Honors class to your schedule!  There are plenty of seats in our two seminars and from what we’ve heard, they’ve already started strong and enjoyable!  One – Games and Storytelling – meets on Tuesday nights and has some great speakers and activities lined up.  The other – on Wednesday evenings – is about food.  How can you go wrong?  There are also seats in Perspectives on Tolkien (ENG 230), MAT 101 and Psychology of Killing (SSC 215).  Remember…just change the prefix to HON on WebAdvisor and you can see what’s out there.  Check with the instructor ASAP and good luck!

Now for those dates…

SEPTEMBER 13 from 10:00 – 2:00 – Table Day in the hallway outside Stage 14 – and guess who is going to be there?  That’s right – the new HONORS CLUB.  Head on over to see what SWAG is there and find out how you can participate.

OCTOBER 30 from 5:00 – 7:00 – Fall 2018 Honors Studies Dinner in Stage 14 – open to ALL students who are part of Honors or just curious about it, this dinner has giveaways and a few guest speakers from the college who will voice how much Honors is valued at the college.  Then we hand over the microphone to students to talk about their experiences and answer questions.  You may also hear about next semester’s classes as well.

DECEMBER 5 from 10:00 – 5:00 – Fall 2018 Honors Studies Convocation Poster Session outside Stage 14 – All Honors Students are invited to create a poster born from the work being done in Honors courses.  More information on this later in the semester, but be brainstorming how you could illustrate the work you are doing and show off the kinds of things we are doing in the world of Honors.

DECEMBER 5 from 5:00 – 6:00 –Fall 2018 Honors Studies Convocation Presentations in Stage 14 – Four students will take 15 minutes to orally present their Honors work to anyone in attendance.  As with the poster session, more to come on this as we get into the semester.

There will be many more things that we do this semester and the blogs will go back to their weekly schedule, so you have those to look forward to as well.  We will talk about Honors matters, invite guest bloggers, celebrate accomplishments, invite you to various opportunities and events, and generally celebrate Honors.  In the meantime, don’t forget these important things:

• THIS BLOG!  Perhaps bookmark it:  http://flcchonors.blogspot.com/
• Follow us on Twitter:  @FLCC_Honors
• Check us out on Facebook:  FLCC Honors Studies
• Check out Honors Club on Facebook:  FLCC Honors Club
• Email us!  honorsstudies@flcc.edu
• And last but not least, check out our visuals on Flickr:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/flcc-honors/

Have a GREAT semester and remember….stay curious!

Poetry Matters

Vol 2 No 22

A little something different this week....

Fluidity

Honors kids
Y’all are chill
Active participation
Happy people, fun times

Exploratory
The coolest thing
An open knowledge place
We don’t want to make knowledge restrictive

Gauging interest
Get your voice heard
What’s important to you
Anything we want to talk about, we can

It’s pretty chill
Keeping the motif
A minimal rules club
You never know with rules

Not super structured
No unnecessary hierarchy
That would be a lot of work
And we already do a lot of work

Kinda like a family
It’s all about support
Making a community
We want that space outside the classroom

Fire and drive
Loose and fluid
Instill that spark
All you have to be is curious

…Keep it going…

The above is something called a found poem. I didn't use another 'text' per se, but rather I used the words of Blinne Kreiger (with some help from Jill Bond) during the informational meeting of the brand new, near official Honors Club. As I sat there and listened, I was struck by how their words resonated with me and showed me that all the work we have done in Honors has....well...found root in these students. They are living, breathing embodiment of all that is Honors and I'm so excited to see where this new venture goes. Well done, ladies.

Why Cats

Vol 2 No 21

Before I begin with an apology and the blog – I wanted to remind everyone of this:

I hope you can make it - I've wanted a student Honors Club ever since I became Director and I'm so excited that we have students with the time and energy to make that dream come true.  But they need YOUR help to make it work!  Such a great opportunity...I can't wait to see how this developed!

That said, I want to apologize for being a little late with this blog.  I blame the loss of an hour - but honestly I was just ridiculously busy last week.  But, while I DO miss that hour, at least Daylight Savings Time means that Spring is most definitely coming and your semester is probably in full swing.  Today’s blog is a little bit lighter than last week’s, though the thoughts raised in that last blog are hopefully still in all our minds.  Today I thought I would talk about cats.

Why cats?

As you have probably noticed, we have adopted cats as the unofficial mascot of Honors, with a specific focus on their eyes.  That was a deliberate choice for a variety of reasons, and I’m happy to see that the Honors Club has continued the use of cats to represent them.

Most people know that cats are associated with curiosity…in fact, we all know the adage that curiosity killed the cat.  What many people do not know, however, is that the adage has a second half.  It would not be odd for us to celebrate cats and curiosity, but the killing part is a little strange.  Not to worry, however, for the rest of the saying is but satisfaction brought it back.  The cat will live on as we continue to celebrate curiosity and the fulfilling of the endless questions that seem to drive what Honors students do and are.

Cats have long been associated with independence, intelligence, curiosity, agility, and for being amazing companions in their own, unique way.  It is hard to watch a kitten playing or a cat hunting and not be cognizant of their sense of play and their seeming insatiable desire to explore everything.  They will push their way into places where they don’t necessarily fit and they will maintain a sense of grace while they do it.  Every cat has its own personality, of course, but even the most solitary cat will often find itself ‘accidentally’ in the same room as its human companion.

In short, I have always felt that there is something very Honors-like about cats.  They are a creature of many contradictions on the surface and often misunderstood.  They carry on despite of that and often with grace and seeming indifference.  They are solitary but also social, simple and yet mysterious.  Playful and yet also content to lay sleepily anywhere that they feel comfortable.

One of the things that has always fascinated me about cats is that of all the creatures we have domesticated, we have changed cats the least.  No matter how much we love and pamper them, they will always be true to who they are.  Tigers and lions, cougars and panthers, jaguars and lynxes, cheetahs and leopards, long-haired and short-haired, calico and Persian, tortoises and tabbies – cats of any size will always be curious and thoughtful.

And that is how I see Honors students – some many different variations and yet all harboring some of the same basic qualities of playfulness, curiosity, creativity, and a sense of thoughtful mystery.

That is Honors.

Honors Club Matters!

Vol 2 No 19

A guest blog this week from two Honors Studies students who have something important to share....

Hello everyone!

Our names are Jill and Blinne and we have some exciting announcements for anyone and everyone who is interested in digging deeper into the topics that spark their curiosity. How are we planning on doing that? By starting the Honors Club here at FLCC to offer the Honors Studies experience to all students.

What is the Honors Studies experience, you ask?

You may be thinking that Honors implies more difficult tests, challenging assignments, and classes capped off for “smarter” students. But that is NOT what Honors truly is. Here at FLCC, Honors means interdisciplinary seminars, discussion led courses, and classes that turn into communities. From classes on Women Who Kill, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Love and Romance, food and culture, storytelling in video games, and the Development of Modern Horror, as well as english, math, and social science courses, Honors is all about diving deeper into what makes you tick, and learning about who you are as a learner. 

For more on the Honors Studies experience, click here!

So, what exactly is the Honors Club?

The idea behind this club is to continue the Honors Studies experience outside of the classroom. If you cannot fit Honors into your semester, want to try a class but are nervous about the word ‘honors’, or just want to keep enjoying the same collaborative atmosphere, this club is here for you! We want to continually encourage self-reflective learning and expanding your horizons on an even more personalized level than taking an honors course. This club is all about what you want to explore, what you want to discuss, what you want to understand. Take that idea of ‘honors is for smarter students’ out of your mind, if you want to be a part of this experience then you can. We are here to welcome you with open arms and open minds.
More formally, the Honors Club’s mission is to:

• Develop multi-disciplinary self-reflective learning outside of classes and introducing it into extracurricular activities
• Help students meet who have similar interests and to develop more confidence in regard to such activities as open discussions
• Encourage students afraid to try Honors Studies to, at the very least, try the club
• Foster an environment of fluid curiosity, following what interests whoever makes up the club at any given time

Curious if Honors Studies is all it’s talked up to be?

Well… it 100% is, and we both know the power that an Honors class can have on not just a student’s semester, but on each student as an individual. We met each other last semester during the Honors Development of Modern Horror class, and by the second class we both knew that it was going to be something special. Within just a few weeks the entire class was slipping from just a course full of different people looking to know more about horror, to a community full of people who were truly interested in hearing, challenging, and debating what each other had to say. We learned from each other, helped each other, and truly found connections and friendships throughout the 15 weeks of classes. Leaving the Honors House was painful as our final class wrapped up, but the connections remain. And this is exactly what we are hoping to find and continue with this club. Nothing is as welcoming as a home away from home, and that is what Honors has become for the both of us.

Wondering how you can get involved?

We are looking for anyone and everyone curious about the Honors club and what it has to offer. Whether as a regular attendant of club meetings and events, someone who drops by when they can, or even as an officer- we have a place for you here. You do not have to be currently, previously, or planned to be enrolled in any honors courses to be a part of this club- if you are curious, you are welcome! As Dr. Trista Merrill, Director of the FLCC Honors Studies Program, says- come in and make yourself uncomfortable.

Curious about hearing more? Come to our information meeting on Thursday, March 15th from 1:00 to 2:00 pm (College Hour) in room 4245.

You can email us with questions before the meeting at:

jbond7@fingerlakes.edu

ckrieger4@fingerlakes.edu

We hope to see you there!

-Jill and Blinne

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...

Vol. 1 No. 16

Coming Soon in Honors!

New ways to earn an Honors certificate or diploma

Because we know that some programs are really tight and some students come to Honors late, we are trying to come up with new ways for students to make their way to Honors recognition.  We also want to give Honors an even stronger identity and make it an even more vibrant part of the FLCC Community.  To this end, we have some amazing things coming soon – we just have to go through the proper channels before we can fully explain and explore.

New language

Some of the language associated with Honors does a great job of capturing the academic feel of Honors Studies, but at the same time, it often causes some confusion.   Credits, certificate, and diploma are all words used elsewhere in different ways and we think that can make Honors seem like something it isn’t.  It also runs the risk of unnecessarily complicating what Honors means.  There’s already that stigma that Honors is ONLY for ‘the smart kids’ and we are working hard to break that down, too.

New mission statement

As you may or may not know, there are some exciting new things afoot at FLCC – including the powerful core values.  This list of things that FLCC values sounds very familiar to Honors Students in a lot of ways, so we thought it might be a good time to take a new look at our mission statement.  Mission statements are supposed to capture the essence or spirit of whomever wrote it and really convey what it is that group is trying to accomplish.  That said, we are updating the mission statement of Honors to really reflect the new changes happening in Honors across the board.  It’s not a change in our core meaning, just a change in the wording of that meaning.

New learning outcomes

Although on the surface this might not be interesting to students, it really is the backbone of any class at FLCC.  Each syllabus located on the college website contains the learning outcomes for that course; these are the things that the department (and the college as a whole) have decided are the things you should learn in the process of taking the course.  Honors has their own set of learning outcomes, too – which should really show everyone what Honors is all about.  Just like the mission statement, we are in the process of revamping the learning outcomes to fall more in line with what the college is valuing as a whole, while still staying true to what Honors is all about.  In the end, we are a subsection of the college, so we think it’s important to show how all of it is linked.

New documents

We are also revamping everything from the forms that faculty use to propose an Honors course to the contracts that students fill out to ‘Honorize’ a course.  We are even building a core assignment that will frame the self-reflective essay for all Honors Seminars, Honors in the Disciplines, and Honors Contracts.  This kind of paper trail, so to speak, will allow us to show the rest of the college – and the world! – what Honors is all about at FLCC.  It will also allow us to create something that is lasting and easily passed on to the next generation of Honors staff and faculty.

New relationships

We are also building stronger relationships with the Registrar and with the Educational Planning and Career Services offices so as to maximize the awareness of understanding of what Honors actually IS so we can spread the word and help find like-minded students.  While we never plan to have Honors ‘admissions’ – it doesn’t hurt to cast our net wide so that the people for whom Honors is a good fit will hear about us earlier and get involved earlier.

New student involvement

A student club?  Perhaps?  Interested?  Let me know at Trista.merrill@flcc.edu

This is just a small part of what we are working on in Honors and we cannot WAIT to unroll things once we’ve gone through all the proper channels.  So, be watching for news and for exciting things to come.  And we hope to see you at the Honors Dinner sometime in mid-March.

Stay curious!

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often” – Winston Churchill