Clemson Honors Fall 2012 Newsletter
Content
From the Director’s Desk
Collaboration is at the core of the Calhoun Honors College.
Medallion
A leading German government official with ties to the Calhoun Honors College celebrated the Upstate’s international business climate and Clemson University’s role in promoting the region’s economy at an Oct. 2 luncheon for political and business leaders and Clemson University faculty and students. Harald Leibrecht, a member of the German Parliament and the German Foreign Office’s Coordinator for Transatlantic Cooperation, called the Upstate
The
Fall 2012
Honors hosts German M.P.
We work closely with many departments and programs to give Honors students the best possible educational opportunities. I’d like to update you on a few recent initiatives. Over the past three years, we’ve strengthened our partnership with Clemson Housing to build a thriving living-learning community in Holmes Hall. We jointly hire and train resident assistants, making sure they serve the needs of our students on every level. Our unique residential curriculum focuses on enhancing the residents’ academic, cultural, intellectual and professional knowledge and skills. We also co-designed the new Honors Academic Activities Center, a dedicated space for Honors courses, workshops, and programs. The Honors Center is open 24/7 to all Honors students to study, or just to relax. One of the most popular recent programs is “Thoughts Worth Thinking,” a TED Talks-style lecture series we coordinate with the Pearce Center for Professional Communication. Each month a top Clemson professor or community leader engages students in a discussion on critical issues. (See page 3 for more details.) This year, we’ve partnered with the Clemson English Department and the Pearce Center to launch a pilot Writing Fellows Program. Under this initiative, Clemson undergraduates help their fellow students learn to write more clearly and effectively. This semester, ten Writing Fellows have been placed in five Honors seminars; the Fellows meet with each student at least once to review the first draft of each major paper. So far, the reviews have been positive. Whether their writing skills are adequate or excellent, Honors students understand that the better they write, the more successful they’ll be. The Writing Fellows also are happy, knowing they are improving their own writing, polishing their teaching skills, and helping their fellow students. We are always on the lookout for new ways to work together with Clemson’s talented staff, faculty, and students. We’ll keep you posted as we go forward. Bill Lasser, Ph.D. Director, Calhoun Honors College
Leibrecht with student Freddy Paige
“an impressive example of our strong GermanAmerican partnership” and described Greenville as a leading example of close transatlantic business relations. Leibrecht previously met with Honors students in the Dixon Global Policy Scholars program Leibrecht meets during their with Honors students May 2012
visit to Berlin. In his role as Coordinator for Transatlantic Cooperation, Leibrecht promotes dialogue between Germany and the U.S. Greenville was his first stop on a tour of the Southeast. During his two-day visit to the Upstate, Leibrecht led business classes, met with Honors students and presented a public lecture on the interactions between Germany and the U.S.
Visiting historian of Civil War, Civil Rights teaches Honors seminar, gives public lecture
RIGHT Blight speaks to a capacity audience at the Strom Thurmond Institute. BELOW LeMahieu’s Honors freshman seminar students meet with Blight to discuss Blight’s book American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era.
Yale historian and author Dr. David Blight led Dr. Michael LeMahieu’s Honors seminar in October before giving a public lecture entitled “America’s Oracle? Civil War Memory, Past and Present.” Blight, author of seminal works about the Civil War including Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, lectured on the centennial commemoration of the Civil War during the 1960s civil rights movement.
Summer Stories
Honors students’ learning, work and service don’t stop during the summer. Hundreds found meaningful internships, work and volunteer opportunities around the world. The Honors College awarded more than $80,000 in Educational Enrichment Travel Grants to work and serve in Singapore, Tanzania, Chile, Germany and Japan, to name only a few. The newest Honors students began their Clemson careers through EUREKA!, the Honors College’s summer undergraduate research program that pairs incoming students with top faculty for mentored research. Below are photos from only a few of these two programs.
ABOVE Emily Todd interned at an ExxonMobil refinery in New Orleans. RIGHT Abbey Robinson volunteered in the Dominican Republic. BOTTOM James Wilkins conducted triage work at a medical clinic in Awasa, Ethiopia.
TOP Kaci Bennett studied the 2012 election at Clemson’s Social Media Listening Lab. ABOVE Becca Ready volunteered at a bilingual school in Balfate, Honduras. LEFT Jenna Kohles studied rainforest birds in the Pacava Samiria National Reserve in Peru. BOTTOM LEFT Kate Gasparro, Meg O’Sell and Elizabeth O’Sell volunteered in Nicaragua with Engineers Without Borders.
THOUGHTS WORTH THINKING, Honors’ new partnership with the
Pearce Center for Professional Communication, features monthly TED Talk-style discussions led by top professors. A diverse range of topics encourages students to think about global perspectives and promotes discussion and engagement after the talk. Fall presenters and topics included public health sciences professor Windsor Sherrill on health care reform, political science professor Laura Olson on religion and politics, and physics professor Antony Valentini on quantum mechanics. Spring 2013 presenters will include bioengineering professor Delphine Dean, psychology professor June Pilcher, and former Furman University President David Shi. Visit tinyurl.com/HonorsTWT for details. TOP Dr. Sherrill prior to her talk about health care reform. BOTTOM Dr. Olson leads a packed-room discussion on religion and the 2012 election.
Calhoun Honors College Staff
Director Dr. Bill Lasser [email protected] Associate Directors Ricki Shine [email protected] Jamie Williams [email protected] Assistant Directors Dana Irvin [email protected] Stefani Thachik [email protected] Office Manager Lynn Reeves [email protected] Admissions Coordinator Susan Falendysz [email protected] Administrative Assistant Wini Del Winkler [email protected] Graduate Assistants Miriam Bernard [email protected] Chelsea Muhlhahn [email protected] Mail 105 Tillman Hall Box 345106 Clemson, SC 29634 Phone (864) 656-4762 Fax (864) 656-1472 Web site www.clemson.edu/cuhonors on Facebook www.facebook.com/ ClemsonCalhounHonorsCollege on Twitter @ClemsonHonors Donate www.clemson.edu/ cuhonors/support.html
by Liz Devos History 2013 SASH Advisor Honors introduced a new program this semester to support the success of second-year students: Seniors Advising Sophomores in Honors (SASH) pairs sophomores with senior mentors to talk about everything from study abroad to internships to post-graduate plans. SASH emerged as a recommendation from the Honors Student Advisory Board with the goal of networking Honors students across all ages and majors. The younger members of the board wished they had older mentors to give them guidance, while the older students wished they’d had someone to advise them earlier on as to what they needed to do to stay on top of their future planning. Senior advisors have met with the sophomore advisees throughout the semester, helping them in a variety of areas. This semester has focused on Honors programming, planning for internships and making advance plans for the rest of the students’ time at Clemson and beyond. SASH has met enthusiastic support from both the senior advisors and the sophomore advisees, and we are confident that it will continue to be a success in the future.
For the record Congratulations to the
August and December 2012 Honors graduates below!
ACCOUNTING Elena Dusenbury ANIMAL AND VETERINARY SCIENCE Mary Jenkins, Kaylee Quinn BIOENGINEERING Jonathan Hill, Philip Lee, John Poole BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Mary Jett, Anna McLeod, Elizabeth Sommerfeld, Graham Temples, Remember Watts CHEMISTRY Tyler Duniho CIVIL ENGINEERING Ryan Higbie, Elizabeth O’Sell COMMUNICATION STUDIES Anna Hickey, Raven Magwood, Devon Wrigley ECONOMICS Kelsey Chambers, Kari Tai ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Andrew MacInnes ENGLISH Margaret Landers, Garrett Urban FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Laura Jacobs, Kirsten Lee, Alaina NaabLevy GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS Alyssa Simpson HEALTH SCIENCES James Dezubay LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTH Jessica Meehan MANAGEMENT John Cassil MARKETING Matthew Wehman, Heather Woodward MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Greyson Kerley MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Jonathan Hodges, Christopher West MICROBIOLOGY Christine Dumler NURSING Lauren Dyer, Anna Easler, Lindsey Echols, Andrew Gosnell, Lisa Jennings, Rachel Wadsworth, Caroline Whisenhunt PRE-PHARMACY Holly Able PSYCHOLOGY Brooke Baker, Janelle Cheung SECONDARY EDUCATION Grayson Seegars SOCIOLOGY Susan Falendysz DUAL DEGREES/DOUBLE MAJORS Virginia McCuen (Biological Sciences and Philosophy), Christopher Praktish (Economics and Political Science), Susanne Parker (Theater and French)
105 Tillman Hall Box 345106 Clemson, SC 29634-5106
Support Honors at Clemson
Make a gift to the Calhoun Honors College Foundation at www.clemson.edu/cuhonors/support.html Gifts to the Calhoun Honors College Foundation account will ensure that Honors at Clemson can continue to offer a wide range of enrichment opportunities, including:
• Educational Enrichment Travel Grants for research, service and internships around the world; • Departmental Honors Research and Conference Travel Funds, which provide equipment, supplies, and professional travel opportunities for advanced students; and • Honors Center programs, workshops and mentoring hosted in Holmes Hall.
Stay connected to what’s happening in Honors and to the opportunities available to connect you with current students.
Like Honors on Facebook at facebook.com/ClemsonCalhounHonorsCollege Follow Honors on Twitter @ClemsonHonors Connect with Honors on LinkedIn at tinyurl.com/CHCLinkedIn Update your Clemson Alumni record at tinyurl.com/HonorsAlumniUpdate
Honors alumni
between September 1, 2012, and May 31, 2013,
Donors who give $500 or more
Make your gift today at www.clemson.edu/cuhonors/support.html.
will receive a special thank you gift.
For larger gifts, please contact the Honors College. Donations made to the Clemson University Foundation for the Calhoun Honors College are tax deductible.
Collaboration is at the core of the Calhoun Honors College.
Medallion
A leading German government official with ties to the Calhoun Honors College celebrated the Upstate’s international business climate and Clemson University’s role in promoting the region’s economy at an Oct. 2 luncheon for political and business leaders and Clemson University faculty and students. Harald Leibrecht, a member of the German Parliament and the German Foreign Office’s Coordinator for Transatlantic Cooperation, called the Upstate
The
Fall 2012
Honors hosts German M.P.
We work closely with many departments and programs to give Honors students the best possible educational opportunities. I’d like to update you on a few recent initiatives. Over the past three years, we’ve strengthened our partnership with Clemson Housing to build a thriving living-learning community in Holmes Hall. We jointly hire and train resident assistants, making sure they serve the needs of our students on every level. Our unique residential curriculum focuses on enhancing the residents’ academic, cultural, intellectual and professional knowledge and skills. We also co-designed the new Honors Academic Activities Center, a dedicated space for Honors courses, workshops, and programs. The Honors Center is open 24/7 to all Honors students to study, or just to relax. One of the most popular recent programs is “Thoughts Worth Thinking,” a TED Talks-style lecture series we coordinate with the Pearce Center for Professional Communication. Each month a top Clemson professor or community leader engages students in a discussion on critical issues. (See page 3 for more details.) This year, we’ve partnered with the Clemson English Department and the Pearce Center to launch a pilot Writing Fellows Program. Under this initiative, Clemson undergraduates help their fellow students learn to write more clearly and effectively. This semester, ten Writing Fellows have been placed in five Honors seminars; the Fellows meet with each student at least once to review the first draft of each major paper. So far, the reviews have been positive. Whether their writing skills are adequate or excellent, Honors students understand that the better they write, the more successful they’ll be. The Writing Fellows also are happy, knowing they are improving their own writing, polishing their teaching skills, and helping their fellow students. We are always on the lookout for new ways to work together with Clemson’s talented staff, faculty, and students. We’ll keep you posted as we go forward. Bill Lasser, Ph.D. Director, Calhoun Honors College
Leibrecht with student Freddy Paige
“an impressive example of our strong GermanAmerican partnership” and described Greenville as a leading example of close transatlantic business relations. Leibrecht previously met with Honors students in the Dixon Global Policy Scholars program Leibrecht meets during their with Honors students May 2012
visit to Berlin. In his role as Coordinator for Transatlantic Cooperation, Leibrecht promotes dialogue between Germany and the U.S. Greenville was his first stop on a tour of the Southeast. During his two-day visit to the Upstate, Leibrecht led business classes, met with Honors students and presented a public lecture on the interactions between Germany and the U.S.
Visiting historian of Civil War, Civil Rights teaches Honors seminar, gives public lecture
RIGHT Blight speaks to a capacity audience at the Strom Thurmond Institute. BELOW LeMahieu’s Honors freshman seminar students meet with Blight to discuss Blight’s book American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era.
Yale historian and author Dr. David Blight led Dr. Michael LeMahieu’s Honors seminar in October before giving a public lecture entitled “America’s Oracle? Civil War Memory, Past and Present.” Blight, author of seminal works about the Civil War including Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, lectured on the centennial commemoration of the Civil War during the 1960s civil rights movement.
Summer Stories
Honors students’ learning, work and service don’t stop during the summer. Hundreds found meaningful internships, work and volunteer opportunities around the world. The Honors College awarded more than $80,000 in Educational Enrichment Travel Grants to work and serve in Singapore, Tanzania, Chile, Germany and Japan, to name only a few. The newest Honors students began their Clemson careers through EUREKA!, the Honors College’s summer undergraduate research program that pairs incoming students with top faculty for mentored research. Below are photos from only a few of these two programs.
ABOVE Emily Todd interned at an ExxonMobil refinery in New Orleans. RIGHT Abbey Robinson volunteered in the Dominican Republic. BOTTOM James Wilkins conducted triage work at a medical clinic in Awasa, Ethiopia.
TOP Kaci Bennett studied the 2012 election at Clemson’s Social Media Listening Lab. ABOVE Becca Ready volunteered at a bilingual school in Balfate, Honduras. LEFT Jenna Kohles studied rainforest birds in the Pacava Samiria National Reserve in Peru. BOTTOM LEFT Kate Gasparro, Meg O’Sell and Elizabeth O’Sell volunteered in Nicaragua with Engineers Without Borders.
THOUGHTS WORTH THINKING, Honors’ new partnership with the
Pearce Center for Professional Communication, features monthly TED Talk-style discussions led by top professors. A diverse range of topics encourages students to think about global perspectives and promotes discussion and engagement after the talk. Fall presenters and topics included public health sciences professor Windsor Sherrill on health care reform, political science professor Laura Olson on religion and politics, and physics professor Antony Valentini on quantum mechanics. Spring 2013 presenters will include bioengineering professor Delphine Dean, psychology professor June Pilcher, and former Furman University President David Shi. Visit tinyurl.com/HonorsTWT for details. TOP Dr. Sherrill prior to her talk about health care reform. BOTTOM Dr. Olson leads a packed-room discussion on religion and the 2012 election.
Calhoun Honors College Staff
Director Dr. Bill Lasser [email protected] Associate Directors Ricki Shine [email protected] Jamie Williams [email protected] Assistant Directors Dana Irvin [email protected] Stefani Thachik [email protected] Office Manager Lynn Reeves [email protected] Admissions Coordinator Susan Falendysz [email protected] Administrative Assistant Wini Del Winkler [email protected] Graduate Assistants Miriam Bernard [email protected] Chelsea Muhlhahn [email protected] Mail 105 Tillman Hall Box 345106 Clemson, SC 29634 Phone (864) 656-4762 Fax (864) 656-1472 Web site www.clemson.edu/cuhonors on Facebook www.facebook.com/ ClemsonCalhounHonorsCollege on Twitter @ClemsonHonors Donate www.clemson.edu/ cuhonors/support.html
by Liz Devos History 2013 SASH Advisor Honors introduced a new program this semester to support the success of second-year students: Seniors Advising Sophomores in Honors (SASH) pairs sophomores with senior mentors to talk about everything from study abroad to internships to post-graduate plans. SASH emerged as a recommendation from the Honors Student Advisory Board with the goal of networking Honors students across all ages and majors. The younger members of the board wished they had older mentors to give them guidance, while the older students wished they’d had someone to advise them earlier on as to what they needed to do to stay on top of their future planning. Senior advisors have met with the sophomore advisees throughout the semester, helping them in a variety of areas. This semester has focused on Honors programming, planning for internships and making advance plans for the rest of the students’ time at Clemson and beyond. SASH has met enthusiastic support from both the senior advisors and the sophomore advisees, and we are confident that it will continue to be a success in the future.
For the record Congratulations to the
August and December 2012 Honors graduates below!
ACCOUNTING Elena Dusenbury ANIMAL AND VETERINARY SCIENCE Mary Jenkins, Kaylee Quinn BIOENGINEERING Jonathan Hill, Philip Lee, John Poole BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Mary Jett, Anna McLeod, Elizabeth Sommerfeld, Graham Temples, Remember Watts CHEMISTRY Tyler Duniho CIVIL ENGINEERING Ryan Higbie, Elizabeth O’Sell COMMUNICATION STUDIES Anna Hickey, Raven Magwood, Devon Wrigley ECONOMICS Kelsey Chambers, Kari Tai ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Andrew MacInnes ENGLISH Margaret Landers, Garrett Urban FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Laura Jacobs, Kirsten Lee, Alaina NaabLevy GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS Alyssa Simpson HEALTH SCIENCES James Dezubay LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTH Jessica Meehan MANAGEMENT John Cassil MARKETING Matthew Wehman, Heather Woodward MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Greyson Kerley MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Jonathan Hodges, Christopher West MICROBIOLOGY Christine Dumler NURSING Lauren Dyer, Anna Easler, Lindsey Echols, Andrew Gosnell, Lisa Jennings, Rachel Wadsworth, Caroline Whisenhunt PRE-PHARMACY Holly Able PSYCHOLOGY Brooke Baker, Janelle Cheung SECONDARY EDUCATION Grayson Seegars SOCIOLOGY Susan Falendysz DUAL DEGREES/DOUBLE MAJORS Virginia McCuen (Biological Sciences and Philosophy), Christopher Praktish (Economics and Political Science), Susanne Parker (Theater and French)
105 Tillman Hall Box 345106 Clemson, SC 29634-5106
Support Honors at Clemson
Make a gift to the Calhoun Honors College Foundation at www.clemson.edu/cuhonors/support.html Gifts to the Calhoun Honors College Foundation account will ensure that Honors at Clemson can continue to offer a wide range of enrichment opportunities, including:
• Educational Enrichment Travel Grants for research, service and internships around the world; • Departmental Honors Research and Conference Travel Funds, which provide equipment, supplies, and professional travel opportunities for advanced students; and • Honors Center programs, workshops and mentoring hosted in Holmes Hall.
Stay connected to what’s happening in Honors and to the opportunities available to connect you with current students.
Like Honors on Facebook at facebook.com/ClemsonCalhounHonorsCollege Follow Honors on Twitter @ClemsonHonors Connect with Honors on LinkedIn at tinyurl.com/CHCLinkedIn Update your Clemson Alumni record at tinyurl.com/HonorsAlumniUpdate
Honors alumni
between September 1, 2012, and May 31, 2013,
Donors who give $500 or more
Make your gift today at www.clemson.edu/cuhonors/support.html.
will receive a special thank you gift.
For larger gifts, please contact the Honors College. Donations made to the Clemson University Foundation for the Calhoun Honors College are tax deductible.
