Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College Weekly Update

Warm Wishes for the Holiday Season!

This will be the last Honors Weekly Update of the year. It carries with it warm wishes for the holiday season and a wish for some quiet days in December and January.

American writer Henry David Thoreau reminds us, “There is a slumbering subterranean fire in nature which never goes out, and which no cold can chill,” and asks us to consider “What fire could ever equal the sunshine of a winter’s day, when the meadow mice come out by the wallsides, and the chicadee lisps in the defiles of the wood?” For Thoreau, this subterranean fire is echoed in the human heart, and winter is the season for tending to our inner life. Consider how you will replenish your fields of thought and energy for the year ahead!

Look for information in January about Honors spring events and opportunities including: an Honors Hour about Civic Engagement in mid-February sponsored by the student council, a Town Hall in early March with special guest President Jay Golden, and the Great Plains Honors Council Conference hosted by WSU and Hutchinson Community College March 20-22 (Yes! You should submit a paper or poster for presentation! This is a student-centered conference.) Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to earn recognition for your community service.  

Keep your heart warm. We look forward to welcoming you back to campus in January.

 -Kimberly Engber, Dean

Honors Community News

Hiring Research Peer Mentors

Honors will be hiring SRI Peer Mentors for the Summer Research Institute (SRI) in FYRE 2020 hosted by the Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College and sponsored by the National Science Foundation Kansas Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (KS-LSAMP). To learn more about SRI visit www.wichita.edu/sri 
  
SRI Peer Mentors will assist with camp preparation during the months of April and May. SRI Peer Mentors serve as a mentor, lead team building activities, help an incoming fellow Shocker transition into college life, participate in research alongside the campers, and assist the SRI team with other activities the week of the camp, June 7-11, 2020.
Apply here!

Submit to the 2020 Great Plains Honors Council Conference held at Wichita State

All honors students are invited to submit their papers and presentations to the 2020 Great Plains Honors Council Conference co-hosted by Wichita State University and Hutchinson Community College from March 20-22. 

This interdisciplinary undergraduate academic conference is open to all members of the Great Plains Honors Council, including students of the Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College. Students will be present from the entire Great Plains region. This is a priceless opportunity to share your research, ideas, and work with your peers outside of Wichita State. The Honors College will cover the cost of registration for honors students who are presenting.

In addition to the opportunity to present, attendees will be able to choose from a selection of exciting excursions and activities.

To learn more about the conference and presentation opportunities, visit www.wichita.edu/gphc2020. Submissions to the conference are made by the Honors Director/Dean. Materials are due to honors@wichita.edu by Tuesday, January 21^st.

Successful Aging Honors Seminar Open to All Majors

 How should businesses respond to an aging population? What can artists do to promote successful aging? You might consider these questions and more from the perspective of psychology in this new honors course.

Catalogue Description: Reviews current interventions which promote successful aging.  Theoretical bases of this work in biomedical and life-span-developmental psychology will be featured.  This course is intended for advanced students in the College of Health Professions, Liberal Arts & Sciences and Engineering.

PURPOSE: Psychosocial and biomedical factors contribute to well-being and high quality of life; successful coping with disease and disability allow preservation of a sense of purpose as we age. The goal of this class is to promote awareness and application of this knowledge to a wide variety of fields.  In addition to class reading and discussion, students will explore these concepts with a person over 65-year-of-age (with the help of the instructor), bringing firsthand experience and classroom instruction together culminating in a research paper.  For the research paper, students will be asked to focus on a particular aspect of aging that is meaningful to them and explore it in depth.  For example, students might focus on health care or wellness promotion (medical, psychological, or physical), social policy (e.g. developing housing policies), the arts (music, painting, writing or singing), technology and its use to create age-friendly environments, or business and finance (e.g. developing products and services to meet the needs of older adults). 

Meeting Times: MW, 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., 310 Lindquist Hall

Louis Medvene, Ph.D. is a social and community psychologist, and Professor Emeritus in the department of psychology at WSU.  Dr. Medvene has been at WSU since 1992 and became an Emeritus professor in September, 2019.  His primary interests are in social relationships and their influence on development over the course of the life-span.  He developed and first taught this class on successful aging in 2016.

Turn a Spring 2020 Course into an Honors Course

Honors Options are agreements, arranged between an individual Cohen Honors student and instructor, which add depth and/or breadth to a student’s academic experience in a course. This allows the student to have an “honors” experience in any class with the agreement of the instructor.
 
Students typically submit the form at the beginning of the semester and the form must be submitted by the end of the THIRD WEEK of classes.
   
The Honors Option Agreement form for Spring 2020 is available in the Current Student section of the Honors College webpage under Forms and Publications.
 
Please review the form if you are considering submitting for the Spring as it contains an overview of the process and the intent. If you have questions, please email the Honors academic advisor at Honors@wichita.edu 

Apply to attend the Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol

The Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol event is an opportunity for students to present their research experiences to state lawmakers in Topeka on March 4, 2020. Up to 40 students participate each year representing each of the state’s eight public four-year institutions.

Please visit wichita.edu/undergradresearch for more information and to apply.

Apply for the Outstanding Cohen Honors Student Award 2020

The Outstanding Cohen Honors Student Award recognizes a high-achieving senior leader who takes on challenges and demonstrates commitment to academic excellence in Honors. Awards are presented each year at the spring Senior Honors Banquet. For more information, visit the Current Students section of the Honors webpage and click on Outstanding Honors Student Award.

Eligibility Requirements 

• Graduating Senior who has completed at least 90 credit hours by the end of the summer prior to award being selected
• Active standing in Honors

Campus News

Fairmount College to induct three into Hall of Fame

A professional golfer/business owner, an ambassador and a physician, all of whom exemplify the merits and advantages of a liberal arts and sciences education, will be inducted at the inaugural Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame ceremony from 1-2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, in Wiedemann Hall. Induction into the Fairmount College Hall of Fame is the highest recognition of outstanding alumni who have had a significant impact on the region, nation and world. The event is open to the public.

12 Days of Christmas sale until Dec. 14

New Student Health Wellness Center opening in January

Student Health Services and CAPS are moving to the Steve Clark YMCA building. Both departments will be closed Dec. 16-Jan. 6, to pack and relocate. The departments plan to reopen at 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, in the new Student Wellness Center.

Honors Office News

Advising Appointment protocol 

To schedule an Honors Advising Appointment email Honors@wichita.eduHonors@wichita.edu or Jessica.Raburn@wichita.edu. If you happen to be in the Honors College or nearby when a question occurs to you, please feel free to stop by to see if the Honors Academic Advisor can visit with you immediately.  

-Jessica Raburn, Assistant Director and Academic Advisor

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