Students Present at FCHC

This February, the Honors Executive Council presented with the Honors Program Directors at the Florida Collegiate Honors Program conference. Joellen Callahan, Megan Darling, Alex Larson, and Izabella Gonzalez led a roundtable discussion with Drs. Rukholm and Tillman about gamifying community in Honors Programs through the ACE points incentive program.

Students can choose to present their research or ideas about Honors at the Florida Collegiate, Southern Regional, and National Honors Conferences and Honors will pay the way. The NCHC application is due March 1, 2024 to go to the conference this fall.

Students might also select to go with their professors to a professional conference in their field. Whether a student attends an Honors or ANY conference, Honors pays for conference affiliated costs, as well, including registration fees, hotel, flights, ground transportation, and meals. All a student needs to do to apply for funding is fill out this form.

Distinguished Speaker Series featuring Edwidge Danticat

The distinguished speaker series features people who have been awarded the highest and most visible accolades in their field, such as the Nobel, Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and National Book Awards. This year’s speaker was Edwidge Danticat. She is the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University. She received her B.A. in French Literature from Barnard College and her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Brown University.

She is the author of seventeen books, including Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection; Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist, The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner; the novels-in-stories, The Dew Breaker, Claire of the Sea Light, and The Art of Death, a National Book Critics Circle finalist for Criticism.

She has written seven books for children and young adults; a travel narrative, After the Dance; and a collection of essays, Create Dangerously. Her memoir, Brother, I’m Dying, was a 2007 finalist for the National Book Award and a 2008 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography.

She is the editor of The Butterfly’s Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States, The Beacon Best of 2000, Haiti Noir, Haiti Noir 2, and Best American Essays 2011. She is a 2009 MacArthur Fellow, a 2018 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, a 2018 winner of the [NEW-STAHT] Prize, a 2019 winner of the Saint Louis Literary Award, a 2020 United States Artist Fellow, a 2020 winner of the Vilcek Prize, and a 2023 winner of the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story. Her story collection, Everything Inside, was a 2020 winner of the Bocas Fiction Prize, The Story Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Prize. Her essay collection We’re Alone is forthcoming from Graywolf Press in Fall 2024.

For this series, she gave readings from some of her books and talked about her life growing up in Haiti and New York, as well as about the process of writing about trauma and home. She then engaged in a Q&A session with one of the Honors Directors, Dr. Vanessa Rukholm, and Honors Executive Council President Megan Darling. The event was followed by a book signing.

Beyond giving the symposium, Danticat also met with students who read and studied her first novel Breath Eyes Memory and engaged in a book chat.

Images here were shared graciously by Ethan R. Martinez, the photographer.

Oxford Study Abroad Program – Cassidy Wilson

My time in Oxford has been nothing short of amazing, both academically and socially. Surrounded by brilliant and like-minded individuals, I’ve had the privilege of engaging in unique tutorial topics that have expanded my perspectives.

In my primary tutorial, I’m working with Dr. Adam Badger on an exciting project: the creation of a sustainable travel journal for my brand, Chasing Cassidy. Together, we’re immersing ourselves in the vibrant Oxford community, conducting market research, and applying innovative social media advertising techniques that are prevalent in the UK. We are currently building the prototype and researching manufacturers! Additionally, I’m working on developing a Sustainable Guide to Oxford, which will be available both in print and online, offering invaluable insights into sustainable travel practices in this historic city.

In my secondary tutorial with Dr. Amy Hinsley, we’re delving deep into the profound impacts of conservation-related NGOs on a global scale. From analyzing their influence on public perception to exploring the realm of animal ethics within sustainable travel, our discussions have helped me tremendously define my career path after I graduate this May! This mentorship has led me to being invited onto a research project that focuses on the depiction of exotic bird feathers in women’s fashion & advertisements during the late 1800’s. We are looking through 30 years of a popular magazine called The Queen to collect this data!

Beyond my tutorials, I’ve been actively involved in the community of Oxford, making connections with leading travel marketing experts and building partnerships with organizations like the Oxford Museum of Natural History. Weekend trips to London and participation in various university clubs and societies, including the Entomology Club and Oxford Nature Conservation Society, have further enriched my experience.