Plans and Happy Holidays

Vol. 1 No. 14

Make sure you register for Honors courses this Spring!

COM 115-06 - Interpersonal Communications Honors with Amy Flagler
ENG 101-04 - Composition I Honors with Barbara Murphy
ENG 101-12 - Composition I Honors with Trista Merrill
ENG 102-05 - Introduction to Literature Honors with Curt Nehring Bliss
ENG 102-16 - Introduction to Literature Honors with Curt Nehring Bliss
HON 200-01 - Presidential Greatness Honors Seminar with Brian Bell
HON 200-02 - Analyzing Alice Honors Seminar with Trista Merrill
MUS 117-02 - Master Composers II Honors with David McGuire
PHL 101-90 - Introduction to Philosophy Honors with Mark Worrell
PHL 103-01 - Ethics Honors with Mark Worrell
PHL 105-01 - Philosophy of Religion Honors with Mark Worrell
PSY 100-08 - Introduction to Psychology Honors with Andrew Knapp
SSC 215-01 - Gender and Women's Studies Honors with Vera Whisman
SSC 215-05 - Love and Romance Honors with Linda Ross and Anthony Indorato

Lots of options - sign up today!  And bring your friends because remember...

ALL YOU HAVE TO BE IS CURIOUS... :)

Chaos Matters! (Guest)

Vol 1. No. 13 - Guest blogger:  Dr. Sam Samanta

This week, as the Fall 2016 semester winds down, I thought it would be fun to look ahead to a whole new semester, a whole new year, and a whole new world of Honors courses to explore.  So, I give you a sneak preview of one of the best kept secrets at FLCC - a class in Chaos.  I don't know about you, but I have a lot of Chaos in my life, and it would be amazing to learn how it works in our world!  Consider taking this class which, Dr. Samanta assures me, should not be looked at as "too hard" for any of our students.  If you can Honors, you can do it.  Give it a try!

SCI 137 01 CHAOS: The Self-Organizing Universe  (Writing Intensive)

Dr. Sam Samanta: Fridays 2-4:50 pm Honors House  (Plus 2 hours On-line work) 

Sam.Samanta@flcc.edu    https://twitter.com/InvariantChaos 

Check out #SCI137 and #ChaosDuJour            

CHAOS MATTERS!

Do you ever wonder if the physical world and life driven by random events makes long-term predictions impossible? Scientists have found hidden patterns in solar-flares, weather, forest fires, stock-market crashes, flooding, earthquakes, cities, traffic-jams, internet, social-networks, galaxies, crimes, wars, tornados, hurricanes, and dynamics of human relationships. The temporal patterns of chaos are characterized by equations that can explain the apparent randomness. Through writing, discussion, lab experiences, and computer modeling, this course will explore the relevance of Chaos theory to our lives and demonstrate its impact across scientific disciplines as well as non-science areas such as communications, economics, the arts and humanities.

Now, more than ever before, we need a unified quantitative universal framework for making sense of the world; in order to communicate across disciplinary boundaries and undertake actions through which we affect change in our lives and world at large. We will identify Complexity as intersection of Chaos, Fractals, and Self-organization.

The core values focused at our college are: Inquiry, Interconnectedness, Perseverance, and Vitality. You will exemplify best practices of Inquiry through exploring Interconnectedness of issues that relate your major and/or life-long interests to the concepts and techniques of the Chaos course. We will exhibit Perseverance through the steps we undertake to overcome barriers to quantitative understanding of models and improving articulation of our synthesis through cycles of feedback on both written papers and verbal presentations (using PowerPoint/Prezi.). Through final public presentations to the community at large; we will exhibit Vitality of our intellectual journey and present actionable prescriptions for addressing the concurrent challenges we face at multiple scales: form personal lives, to lives of institutions, nation and world at large.

Your individual project work on this course could become basis for individualized major for baccalaureate and graduate studies or unique specialization in your professional career. This course is not about any singular destination. Your individual journey begins here for discovering new patterns of orderly disorder in the mind and the world; and finding effective strategies for harnessing creative forces from the chaos of life!

    

           

Found Honors

Vol. 1 No. 12

Recently, the Honors Advisory Board developed and conducted a survey of all students enrolled in an Honors course in the Fall 2016 semester.  I don’t know a lot about data and the like, but they tell me that the 26 responses we got back was an excellent return.  I hope to get even more next time we conduct one.  Those that did respond said some amazing things about Honors, though, and I would like to let you see what they said.  To that end, I’ve created a ‘found poem’ – where I built a poem using only the words that were provided on the survey.  The only changes I made were some spelling and tenses here and there.  Other than that, I simply rearranged phrases, shortened sentences, and removed some punctuation to come up with what you see below.  I hope you enjoy.

Honors Survey, 2016

I. The dedicated faculty...

My teachers have been wonderful

truly engaged with both the students and material

They set a great example for their students

and do much to encourage and sustain inquisitiveness

Relatable…

I like how they care about how we do and don't want us to do badly

they are genuinely invested in our education

Knowledgeable but humble and approachable

Teacher's teaching ability…hard work and preparation.

Caring…

The willingness of honors teachers

to go on a 25 minute tangent from the original discussion

to answer a legitimate question you had

about how the subject relates to something else

Eagerness…

Each faculty member is unique and has an interesting perspective

I find these individuals incredibly intelligent

and I want to learn as much as I possibly can from them.

                their dedication to ensure an actual learning experience occurs.

                                                                                    Realness…

Always…seem to care very deeply about what they’re teaching

this makes it much easier as a student to feel engaged

how dedicated they are to their work.

professionalism mixed with fun discussions

Understanding…

The teacher is mostly hands off…

II. The classroom scenery

The relaxed atmosphere is so comforting especially during stressful times

It allows us to learn the way I think we should;

Allowing for students to guide class discussion

Everyone in the class has the same or more interest in the topic as I do

The connection you build with your classmates

because of the small groups you're taught in

                When students teach each other they learn more

and are more interested and motivated to study as well

The small classes, comforting atmosphere,

class discussion rather than lecture, interesting topics

Honors classes attract individuals interested in learning

and having fun while doing so…the atmosphere

III. The honors experience…

It has been one of the best experiences of my life

It's unlike any class I’ve ever had

Honors have been an amazing experience

It helped me to see things differently

Honors just needs to be experienced to be fully understood

Giving Thanks...

Vol. 1, No. 11

There is a practice, in the world of bloggers and writers, to try and say everything you want to say in 300 words.  That is not always easy for me, but in this busy week of snowstorms and holidays, I thought it might be good to keep this blog short.  So, the following is an Honors version of being thankful, in exactly 300 words.

Every day the news seems to show a stricken nation, divided along lines that are too dug too deeply.  We face battles that we don’t know how to fight and we debate things that feel like we should not be debated.  So many of us are frightened, frustrated, and fatigued.  Even those who are winning are feeling the sting of this divisiveness.  The silver lining, however, is that we are afforded an amazing power to ask hard questions, engage in rigorous debate, and fight those battles.  We have voices that we can and are using.  We have individual and collective strength that very may well change the landscape of everything around us.  We can be greater and more powerful than the systems we are standing up against.  One of the ways we can do this in our local community is through the FLCC Values:  vitality, inquiry, perseverance, and interconnectedness.  These values are so much larger than simply what drives us as students and faculty and staff at the college.  They are the kinds of things that make humans better humans to themselves, each other, and the world around them.  Grown from these values are the learning outcomes for Honors that we are piloting this semester.  We want students to reflect on and evaluate their internal learning processes, analyze connections among learning experiences, and be able to articulate the value of intellectual pursuit in a scholarly tradition.  In short, Honors students should find within themselves the power to ask questions, be curious, learn and change and see the world as interconnected where they belong and have a place.  These qualities can carry us through the times that come and will give voice to the silenced, give power to the powerless, and embolden those who need courage.  For this, I am thankful.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." – John F. Kennedy

Go Ask Alice...

Vol 1. No 10.

The following is a slightly edited version of the remarks I made at the Honors graduation ceremony last May.  Since Alice is being offered in the Spring and we are all of us gearing up to end another semester, it seemed fitting to revisit these words of celebration.  The edits made were to tidy up some of the language that didn't quite convey what I should have conveyed...

***

Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); `now I’m opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!’ (for when she looked down at her feet, they seemed to be almost out of sight, they were getting so far off).

….

Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: `Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, THAT’S the great puzzle!

Since I began in the position of director, I’ve spent a good deal of time thinking on this very question in regards to Honors.  I’ve led and attended workshops and conferences, written descriptions of the Honors experience, collaborated with fellow devotees on a mission and goals and I’ve had conversations – so many conversations – with family, friends, students, alumni, faculty, and staff about this very thing.  I had been teaching Honors on and off for years and so I felt that I knew it well, but when charged with the task of leading it and growing it, I came to realize that articulating and codifying the Honors identity was no small feat.

No need to despair, however, for two things quickly came to the forefront of numerous conversations in numerous arenas as being hallmarks of what we do here:  curiosity and transformation.  All of us involved with Honors know that these things apply to the students who were drawn into and become engaged in the Honors experience.  You are those students; you’ve felt the eagerness of learning, the power of being curious, the joy and confidence that can come from a shared intellectual endeavor with like-minded classmates.  You have grown and been changed by your experiences here, and they will stay with you in some measure as you continue here or move onward.  You embody what it means to be Honors and Honors could not exist without you.

For others of you, you serve a different role:  you know those students, you’ve supported them as they struggled and triumphed, smiling at their enthusiasm and doing your best to help them channel their energy.  You have watched with pride and sometimes confusion as your personal Alice changed before your eyes – sometimes more rapidly than you could have expected.  You are an important part of what enables us to be here tonight, encouraging and recognizing the students we are honoring because they got here with your support.  Honors could not exist without its vast network of friends and family standing on the sidelines cheering on our scholars.

But there is still someone else for whom these words ring true.  The Honors faculty.

We are proud of our shiny new slogan that informs and invites students into Honors by telling them that all they need to be is curious, and at first I was somewhat surprised to find myself using this slogan among the faculty.  The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that what happens in Honors courses is not just transformative for the students, but it is often equally so for the faculty who elect to teach them.  Honors courses also serve as an invitation for us to explore topics of interest, to satiate our quest for knowledge and learning that may be off the beaten path but still within our fields.  It is an invitation to look at our core courses in different ways and explore the boundaries with which we are so familiar.  Just like Alice experiences with her change in size, Honors courses can surprise us into looking at ourselves and our disciplines in whole new ways.  I am not the same professor that I was years ago – and while I’m sure that is true for most instructors who stay in the teaching profession, I can make a direct correlation between my transition and my experiences in Honors.  I have gone from being simply Dr. Merrill to being Teach and I am proud of that shift.  My students remind me what it’s like to be excited about learning and they expand my horizons every time I work with them.  I am curious, and they are curious right along with me.  I am passionate and enthusiastic and they have that same passion and enthusiasm.  We feed off each other and the classroom environment – no, the whole learning experience -- is better for all of us.  I know that I would not be the teacher I am without Honors and I know that my fellow faculty feel the same.  So, thank you – thank you for being a constant reminder of why we are here and for making us better than we were.

We are all of us Alice and I am proud to be among you.  

The Heart of Honors

Vol 1., No. 9

We live in a world that seems more and more contentious and intolerant if all the negative stories that cross our paths are to be believed.  I’m not sure about the world as a whole, but I know that there are points of light no matter where you go and FLCC is no different.  November is upon us, and it often brings with it a nod towards things about which we are thankful.  I’m thankful for the moments I observe as a professor; moments that are perhaps far more telling than perhaps the people involved even realize.  So, sit back and meander through an eighty minute class of mine wherein I witnessed four vignettes of student interaction that have stuck with me.  There are more, but I really like these four and I think they say a lot about the students involved and the kind of environment classes can create.  I doubt I need to say that it was an Honors course, but it was. This is not to say that I don’t think these kinds of stories exist all across our campus and beyond, because I believe they do.  In my experience, however, it is in the Honors classrooms where I see these heartwarming stories more often.

“Pardon”

In a moment of waiting for some as others finished up in-class work, one student stood up to draw on the board.  She went to caption her illustration and asked her classmates how to spell a word.  One said, “really?!” in a sort of disbelieving way and she immediately turned around and said, “Hey, I have dyslexia, shut up.”  These last two words were said in a congenial sort of way and without any malice.  The first student asked if she really was and when she told him she was, he said sincerely, “I didn’t know, pardon” and then proceeded to goofily (and obviously) misspell the word for her.  This moment struck me for several reasons. First – a student with documented learning disabilities was enrolled in a 200-level English Honors class.  Second – she was comfortable enough with her classmates to admit this without embarrassment or apology.  Third – her classmate immediately apologized and then carried on as if she were just another classmate.  Because she was.

“I tried”

Another student in the class has near-crippling anxiety when it comes to speaking in class and especially when presenting.  She never refuses to do it, but it is occasionally very painful to watch her suffer, near tears, with whatever is asked of her.  On this day, she had to describe a classmate’s project to the rest of the class, who could clearly tell she was struggling.  Several students offered suggestions – including to put on sunglasses.  She did this, but then had to take them off because they were too dark for her to see what she was reading.  The student who made the suggestion said he tried, and he sounded sincerely disappointed that it didn’t work.  With a few more words of encouragement, they all then listened as she spoke in her shaky voice which kept giving out.  When she was done, there were several nods and smiles of support, and then the class just carried on, leaving her to settle and regain her calm as if that were the most normal thing in the world.  Because it is.

“Third person”

A third student in that same class is transgendered and just this semester, he came out as such.  It has been an adjustment for those who know him, of course, and a terrifying journey for him as well.  I don’t think everyone in the class knows yet, because it generally isn’t the kind of thing that you announce in a classroom setting.  There are some who know, however, and so a casual comment took on a much more meaningful depth when I put him in a group with another male of the same name.  There were comments about them being ‘Name Squared’ and whatnot, but when the other student was commenting on his classmate’s project, someone in the class piped up and said ‘You sound like you’re talking in the third person’ and that was just such a casual and flippant sort of comment until you realized what it actually entailed.  Students accepted their classmate who was transitioning and treating the flipped pronoun as if it were no big deal.  Because it shouldn’t be.

“Make it brighter”

The last vignette involves me.  I had a rough couple of hours before I headed into class that day and, had I not cancelled the class the week before for a personal reason, I probably would have cancelled it that day.  So, I walked in, settled into the room and someone asked me how I was.  For whatever reason, I decided to tell them I’d have a rough day.  Without missing a beat, one of the students said, “Well, let’s see if we can make it a little brighter for you, doctor.”  As if it were no big deal.

But it was.  Time and time again, students in Honors classes form a bond with one another and with their instructor.  Not that they pry or force intimacy where there is none, but I’m sure my fellow Honors faculty will agree with me when I say there is an Honors community that is unlike any other kind of class I’m used to teaching.  Except when I model them on my Honors courses.  There’s something about the Honors approach – the curiosity, the enthusiasm, the passion – that encourages students to let down some of their guard, to acknowledge and work with and around difference, to support and encourage each other, to raise each other up and to create a real learning environment.   They celebrate one another and value one another and, in turn, are valued themselves.  Not as just another face in just another classroom, but as fellow traveler on an intellectual journey. 

It is one of the most satisfying and amazing observations to make as an instructor, because I am only one small part of a much larger being born of synergy and shared experience, and a genuine love of learning.

That…is Honors.

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls” – Anais Nin

Honors Happenings

Vol 1. No. 8

It’s been a crazy week with advising and the spring semester on everyone’s mind along with the ending of the semester looming and Hallowe’en getting everyone excited.  I’ve been working hard on getting ready for next semester – soon you will see posters appearing around campus for ALL the Honors courses in the Spring as well as ones for my own Alice in Wonderland course.  I’ve been talking to various faculty about coming to guest lecture in that class and so far Tim Biehler, Linda Ross, Robert Brown, April Steenburgh, Mary Murphy, Derrick Gentry, and Liz Brownell have all shown interest in doing a repeat performance of their work last time I taught this class.  I have a couple of other folks to come chat as well.

I know that Dr. Brown in the Social Science department is creating a pamphlet to advertise courses in his area, and you should see Brian Bell’s presidential class there.  We should see other posters and things popping up as well.  If you haven’t already guessed, Honors faculty are extremely excited about their own classes as well.  It’s a strange time to get excited about next semester when we are in the throes of this one, but that curiosity and enthusiasm we always talk about is infectious. 

Remember – to find ALL Honors courses for the spring, just select HON from the WebAdvisor pull down menu and that will give you everything from the seminars to Honors in the Disciplines.

Speaking of energy, it was amazingly high and contagious at the Honors dinner as well.  For a first time event, I think it was wonderfully successful and I can’t wait to begin planning for a repeat performance in the spring.  We had 40 or so students there, plus a number of Honors faculty and supporters.  We heard from President Nye, Provost Fragnoli, and the interim AVP of Instruction, Cassy Kent.  We also heard from the faculty teaching some of the more specialized classes and Vera Whisman even got us to think about gender influences things as ‘innocent’ as how we sit.  One of the best parts of the evening was when current Honors students stood up and shared their thoughts with those in attendance.  I had no idea what they would say, and I must say that I was thrilled to hear them talking about all the same things I think of when I think about Honors myself.  Special thanks to Nick Lathrop, Erin Oakley, Megan Scicchitano, and Luke Martin for talking about their experiences from a student perspective.  Speaking of student perspectives, within a blog or two, we will hear from Noel Scouten, who is going to guest blog about her experience with working on an Honors contract this semester in ENG 102 – Introduction to Literature.

We have some big announcements coming soon, but I have to get a couple of meetings taken care of first.  But, keep in mind that big things are coming for Honors and I hope you will be excited as we are about what is to come.

We might even be able to sell T-shirts!  Those were a huge hit!  :D

Stay curious!

“In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision” – Dalai Lama