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NEWSLETTER OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAM FALL 2015

THE ENDEAVOR

2 Director's Corner

3 Home Sweet Home

4–5 New Stars

6–7 Meeting of Minds

8 Student Council News

8 Conference Opportunity

9 Classes In Session

10–11 Study Abroad

12 OSLEP Seminars

13 Research Contest

Pictured: Honors' new home in the Gold Star Building looks

to downtown Oklahoma City

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DIRECTOR’S CORNER

As I write this column from my hotel room at the National Collegiate Honors Council's 50th Anniversary Conference in Chicago and look out over a stunning view of downtown, I’m reminded about the many ways we filter experience through our sense of place. I’ve visited this city many times over the years—for professional meetings, family trips, to visit friends—and it’s been a favorite site for NCHC since the organization's inception. But this is my first time to share the city with a group of OCU students, several of whom are visiting for the first time.

Riding into downtown Chicago yesterday after dusk and watching the skyline come into view, our group was full of expectant energy. Those students who had been to Chicago before—the veterans—quickly took on roles as guides, tracing out the cityscape from the Hancock Center to Willis Tower. The following day all the students set out to explore the city through the City as Text program while I kept tabs on their progress as the photos appeared throughout the day on my Facebook newsfeed (see pages 6–7). Now that the conference has come to an end, all eight of the students have, in their own ways, conquered the city and become NCHC pros; they’ve also gained a collection of experiences that they’ll always associate with this city.

The OCU Honors Program story has been told in and through many different places: the OKC Bombing Memorial, the Leadership Adventures Rope Course, Banning Hall, the Virginia McCombs Honors Seminar Room, and of course the many honors conference destinations. The fall semester of 2015 has been a time for the OCU Honors Program to look both backward and forward. Our HSC President Eric Odum devoted many hours in September to creating a digital time capsule of the program for submission to NCHC. He worked carefully through the program’s archives, sifting through numerous conference programs, senior dinner programs, program brochures, and hundreds of photos to attempt to capture in twelve minutes of frames the program’s 25-year history.

As we continue to look back and honor our traditions, we also take a big step into the future this fall with the inauguration of the new Honors Hall in the Gold Star Memorial Building (pictured above). Our hope is that this multi-use space will both reflect and help cultivate those characteristics of honors education that we hold most dear: serious study, invigorating discussion, open collaboration, genuine fellowship, and creative endeavor, along with formal class meetings and productive office work. We hope the space will also facilitate meaningful relationships with program alumni and community partners who help enrich both curricular and co-curricular activities. We plan to fill our new space with photos of places Honors Program students have visited, through conferences, study abroad, internships, service-learning activities, etc. And we invite further ideas and suggestions from Honors students, faculty, and alumni about ways this space can be helpful and inspiring for the continuing OCU Honors story and for the campus community as a whole.

Dr. Youmans

facebook.com/ocuhonors okcu.edu/academics/honors

STAY CONNECTED

KAREN YOUMANS

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A HOME FOR HONORSOPEN UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND FILLED WITH AMENITIES

JENNIFER TRELOGGEN

“I’m really happy that we finally have a place that brings all of the Honors students together. The weekly Friday Forum has also allowed us to regularly see a lot of people we wouldn’t normally get to run into on campus.”

JOSHUA HERTZ

“The Honors space is a comfortable and cozy place to just set my stuff down and study, and the best part is I can pour myself a cup of coffee anytime I start getting the midday slump. I also enjoy coming to all the events here and just hanging out with some of my other friends who are also in Honors. Honors has always deserved its own space, so it’s nice to see that it has finally been allocated a spot. I can’t wait to see what this space will look like in the coming years!”

The Honors Program has officially acquired its own space in the north wing of the Gold Star Memorial building. This is the first time in OCU history that the Honors Program has been allocated a permanent home.

The space was given to the Honors Program in the summer, and many students have come together to clean up and move furniture. Thank you to Arrash Allahyar, Eric Odum, Dylan Sutton, Joe Wathika, Cassandra Velasco, Alanah Hosford, Laura Jardine, and Joshua Hertz for your efforts in preparing the Honors space for the fall semester.

Although the space is in its infancy, students have many amenities to enjoy. The space has a library containing a large, varied selection of books, including classical literature, religious texts, plays, and even a medical history collection. An Honors student lounge is outfitted with comfy couches, tables, and a coffee bar. The space is open until midnight every day of the week, so please do not hesitate to stop by in your free time to study, get some coffee, or hang out with friends.

All Honors-sponsored events and parties will take place in the Honors space, as well. The weekly Friday Forum brings together Honors students and faculty for an activity or discussion led by a professor, student, or organization.

A SAMPLING OF THE FALL 2015 FRIDAY FORUMS• “Parody, Self-Parody, and Genre Parody in the Magnificent Seven

and ¡Three Amigos!” — Professor Erik Heine• “Rent, Seasons of Love: Historical and Cultural Contexts”

— Professor Paul Gebb• Film Screening: The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail

— organized by Honors senior Colin Earle• “The Goddess Durga: Mythology, Mudra, and Yoga”

— Professors Brooke Hessler and Amrita Sen• “Hermeneutics of A Subtlety: Kara Walker and Paul Ricoeur”

— Professor Scott Davidson

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WELCOME, FRESHMENThe OCU Honors Program is proud to welcome its new freshman cohort of 50 students. This year’s class has students coming in from all over the country and majoring in various fields of study. The new Honors students took advantage of early move-in and participated in many Honors-sponsored events. An Honors open house was held for students and their families to introduce everyone to the program and show them around the brand new Honors space. Honors freshmen also participated in team-building activities and built long-lasting friendships with each other during the annual Honors ropes course. The freshman cohort has been very active in Honors student council, so it is safe to say the future of Honors is in good hands. Everyone in the Honors Program wishes the new class a great first year and many years to come. Welcome, Class of 2019!

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NATIONAL COLLEGIATE HONORS COUNCIL CONFERENCESTUDENTS AND FACULTY PARTICIPATE IN CONFERENCE

From November 12–14, Honors students Eric Odum, Arrash Allahyar, Jennifer Treloggen, Sylvia Hayes, Dylan Sutton, Kenzie Slothower, Adrienne Pierce, and Zoe Settle, along with Dr. Karen Youmans and Dr. Brooke Hessler, attended the 50th anniversary of the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference hosted in Chicago. Honors educators and students gathered for a variety of workshops, master classes, roundtable discussions, and an opportunity to interact and exchange ideas.

Students also participated in City as Text, an NCHC program that allows students to visit the many unique and historical districts of Chicago: China Town, Boys Town, Gold Coast, Magnificent Mile, and many other great locations. A 50th anniversary gala was held the final day of the conference, which included a special performance by the improvisational comedy enterprise Second City and a closing concert by a local Chicago band.

OCU HONORS STUDENTS AND FACULTY PRESENTATIONS INCLUDED:

Sylvia Hayes: What’s In Your Water Bottle? Bacterial Growth on Regularly Used Nalgene Bottles

Kenzie Slothower, Jennifer Treloggen, Adrienne Pierce, Zoe Settle, and Brooke Hessler: Verbatim Theatre as integrative Learning.

Adrienne Pierce: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Helena's Monologue.

Adrienne Pierce and Zoe Settle: Pizza Man: How to do a Scene.

Arrash Allahyar, Sylvia Hayes, and Karen Youmans: Using Hybrid Classes to Enhance Honors Course Offerings in the Disciplines.

Dylan Sutton: Small Mammal Habitat Analysis and Niche Overlap in Canadian County Oklahoma

Eric Odum, Brooke Hessler, and Karen Youmans: From Orientation to Capstone: Connecting the Honors Experience Throughout and Across the Years

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HONORS STUDENT COUNCIL UPDATE

GREAT PLAINS HONORS COUNCIL CONFERENCE

I’m super excited to be in our new honors space in the Gold Star Building! Honors Student Council is developing the honors student lounge so honors students have a centralized place to hang out and call their own. Plans are in place to paint the space, and over time we hope to add furniture and other features that students have requested. If you have any ideas or input, I encourage you send them my way!

The annual holiday party is also set to take place in the Gold Star Building for the first time this year, which is exciting as we continue our past traditions and work to establish new ones in our own designated space.

HSC has continued to see success in involvement within honors student leadership on the council and also in attendance at our events. Over sixty honors students and faculty attended our semiannual enrollment party, which is the highest turnout we’ve seen in my time as president. The executive board is working on a few initiatives, including developing a peer mentor program for incoming freshmen, finding ways to increase campus-wide recycling, and providing organized outlets for students to engage in community service.

It’s been an honor to serve as president the past three semesters, and I’m eager to roll out some of these new ideas for the spring semester. If you’re looking for ways to get involved, send me an email or a Facebook message and I’d be happy to get you plugged in. This is an organization open to all honors students and designed to serve the needs and interests of every honors student. Elections for the executive board will be coming up toward the end of the spring semester, so keep an eye out for those applications!

In service,

Eric OdumPresident, Honors Student Counciledodum@my.okcu.edu

The 2016 Great Plains Honors Council Conference will be held at John Brown University in the beautiful Ozarks of northwest Arkansas from April 10–12. The event will be co-hosted by the students, faculty, and administration of John Brown University and Oral Roberts University.

The conference is an excellent opportunity to present student writing and research and meet other honors students from across the region. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to tour the host city and learn its history. Students will tour downtown Siloam Springs and have the chance to go on a graphic design excursion, hiking excursion, history excursion, and Civil War military excursion.

The keynote speaker for the conference will be David Burkus, a best-selling author, award-winning podcaster, and associate professor of management at Oral Roberts University.

Boe Award nomination must be submitted by Jan. 25, 2016Guidelines: jbu.edu/gphc2016/boe-award-submission/

Poster award nomination must be submitted by Jan. 25, 2016Guidelines: jbu.edu/gphc2016/boe-award-submission/

Oral presentations must be submitted by Feb. 1, 2016Guidelines: jbu.edu/gphc2016/oral-presentation-submissions/

Non-competitive posters must be submitted by Feb. 1, 2016Guidelines: jbu.edu/gphc2016/poster-submissions/

Conference website: jbu.edu/gphc2016/

Submissions must be given to Dr. Youmans before the deadline.

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HONORS CLASSES IN PROGRESS

Honors students in the Liberal Arts Seminar, “The Hero's Journey,” hosted Dr. David Pasto’s Honors Junior/Senior seminar class, ”Science on the Stage.” Students gathered for an in-depth discussion of the play “Oxygen.” All students in both classes attended the performance and read the script, and some students also performed in the show.

Upper-division students Chance Johnson and Hannah Descartin gave presentations on the scientific works of Priestly and Lavoisier, and Dr. Pasto, who directed the play, shared historical information, which helped spark conversations about the nature of scientific discovery, the roles of women in science, and the making of the play.

This gathering is part of a larger goal of bringing new and advanced Honors students together, a project about which Dr. Youmans, Dr. Hessler, and Honors junior Eric Odum facilitated a Best Honors Administrators Practices session at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference in Chicago.

SOCRATES LECTURESHonors students in Classics of Western Culture begin their philosophic journey by listening to the father of philosophy, Socrates, lead them during class, allowing Dr. Davidson and Dr. Sen to take a break from teaching. Socrates was nice enough to take a photo with the class after the lecture.

Make sure to keep your eyes out because Socrates makes guest appearances on campus quite a lot, and he always wants to take photos with OCU students.

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HONORS STUDENT STUDY ABROAD

LAUREN BRANUM

“This semester I have been studying abroad in Brighton, England. It is just a bit south of London, on the coast. Brighton is the only city in England led by the Green Party (and has been since 2010), so it is extremely environmentally friendly. That’s great for me because I am a Biology major hoping to get a graduate degree in Environmental Science. Buildings have solar panels on their roofs (even my residence halls), there is tons of public transportation (the

‘school buses’ even run on cooking oil), and recycling bins are at least twice as accessible as trash bins (the maids even take your recycling out but not the trash). Also of note is the fact that Brighton is known as the gay capital of England. That’s not to say that there are more gay people than straight people but that the city as a whole is very accepting and it has a higher gay population than other England towns.

"When deciding on a program and location, I had some tough choices. I looked at course requirements, climates, atmosphere, language, liveliness, price, value, and a slew of other characteristics. If I had tried to study abroad sooner, I might not have been able to make the right choice. I had to know what my limits were on coldness and amount of darkness per day, and I had to know that I’m a city person but not enough of a city person to love New York City or London. There are plenty of things to see and do, just like any city, but there are no really tall buildings, and Brighton is surrounded by 628.2 square miles of national park. Brighton is such an exciting, friendly, accepting green place, and I know that I made the right choice in studying here – even though it is a bit cold.

"Please follow my blog to keep up with my day to day adventures in Brighton: http://overtheocean-throughthestreets.tumblr.com/.”

RILEIGH DARBY-MCCLURE

“I went to Zurich, Switzerland, and worked in a neuropharmacology laboratory with the Think Swiss Research Scholarship. I studied the regulation of GABA(B) receptors under glutamaturgic conditions using magnetofection, immunocytochemistry, and confocal microscopy. I also had the privilege of visiting many different places in Switzerland and learning about another culture. Contingent upon a project proposal, this scholarship is open to many different disciplines. It is a fantastic opportunity and the application can be found online!”

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ERIC ODUM

“This summer I studied international accounting and Greek in Cyprus. Studying in Cyprus ended up being a great choice because it allowed me to experience a little bit of everything that the island had to offer, rather than being overwhelmed with trying to see everything in traditional locations. The classes were stimulating and the weekly excursions added to the enriching experience, making it a well-rounded program that integrated academics with cultural immersion. After my program ended I decided to backpack through parts of Europe for two weeks on my own, which was the most liberating experience I’ve had in my life. Everybody should have some sort of international experience at some point, and studying abroad allows students to have a unique experience in a foreign country rather than just traveling for vacation.”

ANNA NGUYEN

“I studied abroad spring of 2015 in London and interned in my dream industry. The experience opened my eyes to what one can achieve with hard work and how many possibilities there are once you put yourself in a place that inspires you. When it comes to studying abroad, there’s no greater gift you can give yourself during your undergraduate education. There is nothing more enriching or empowering than allowing yourself to see the wonders of the world.”

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The Oklahoma Scholar-Leadership Enrichment Program is an intercollegiate academic program sponsored by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education open to students at participating public and private universities in Oklahoma.

The OSLEP seminars meet for five days. Students have pre-seminar reading and writing assignments and are expected to complete the assigned readings before the class begins. The visiting scholar selects the readings; the faculty resource person directs the student preparation, evaluates student performance (oral and written), and assigns grades. S/U grades are based on preparation; attendance and participation in the class activities; contribution to the discussions and intellectual content of the class; and performance in the assigned written work or special project. After the conclusion of the class, the students are generally required to write a 10–15-page paper.

OSLEP provides housing for students, and the program is free of charge for OCU Honors students if the course falls within the allowable credit-hour limit for block tuition. The cost of registration and books is all covered. OCU Honors students will also receive three Honors credits upon completion of an OSLEP course. Visit oslep.org to apply.

SPRING 2016 SCHEDULE

The Exotic Universe: The Science Behind the Movie “Interstellar” (3 credits)Jan. 4–8, 2016, at Oklahoma State University Duncan Lorimer, professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University

Biosecurity and Bioterror (3 credits)Feb. 3–7, 2016, at the University of Oklahoma Jeanne Guillemin, Senior Advisor, Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Anti-Americanism: Impact and Policy Implications (3 credits)March 5–9, 2016, at the University of Oklahoma Monti Datta, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Richmond

Galileo, Renaissance Science, and the Arts (3 credits)March 14–18, 2016, at the University of Oklahoma Mark Peterson, Professor of Physics and Mathematics, Mount Holyoke College

Landscape and Memory in the American Southwest (3 credits)May 16–21, 2016, in Santa Fe, New Mexico Alison Fields, Mary Lou Milner Carver Professor of Art of the American West, University of Oklahoma

For more information about these classes, including course descriptions, syllabi, and reading lists, go to oslep.com or email oslep@oslep.org.

OKLAHOMA SCHOLAR-LEADERSHIP ENRICHMENT PROGRAM

BEATRIZE MARTINEZ

“OSLEP was by far the most fun class I've ever taken in college. For a five-day class, it was able to recreate a challenging academic environment which also allowed one to make long lasting friendships. I loved being able to meet new people and discuss controversial topics with people who showed me respect even though my opinion differed from theirs. Being able to tell others about the experience was just as exciting because I know that they will enjoy the experience as much as I did. OSLEP courses are created in such a way that you won't be bored of the material and will gain so much perspective and insight from your peers. I'm very grateful for the opportunity and hope others take advantage of this program.”

TAMARA DOHERTY

“OSLEP gives students the opportunity to step outside the requirements of their majors and experience an interdisciplinary learning environment. I am very grateful for the unique experience I gained through the OSLEP program this past summer.”

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FALL 2015 POSTER CONTEST WINNERS

• Health Sciences: Minh Ton, “To [M]eat or not to [M]eat”• Ecology: Laura Jardine, Prisca Lynch, and Cassandra

Velasco, “Conservation Triage: Is There a Dispute?”• Humanities & Gender Studies: Hannah Lampi, “Gospel

Authorship: The Case for Q”• Critical Race Studies: Madelynn Buckman, “Pseudonyms

and Racism”• Social Sciences: Kimberlea Harlow and Anthony War, “Five

Factors: Personality and Academic Major”• Animal Behavior: Alanah Hosford and Laura Jardine,

“Changes in Social Interactions between Captive Sumatran Orangutans”

• Political Science: Kelley Mogilka, Alexander Beys, and Joseph Ursini, “Peace Studies: Current World Crises”