Educational Methods Commons^™

Drawing On Gifts Of International Students To Develop International Partnerships, Kevin W. Dean

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

It was Tuesday of the first week of classes for the fall 2012 term. At two o’clock in the afternoon, swamped with student petitions to register for classes and balancing myriad administrative issues, I found a young man with an unfamiliar accent standing on my office threshold. “I don’t have an appointment, but might you have a moment? My name is Carl. This is my second day in the states from Norway, and I heard about the honors program and would like to join.” A few days exist in an educator’s life that one can consider change moments, and that …

Assessing Honors Internationalization: A Case Study Of Lloyd International Honors College At Unc Greensboro, Chris J. Kirkman, Omar H. Ali

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Lloyd International Honors College (LIHC) of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC Greensboro) is a useful example of the reimagining of a traditional honors program into an honors college with an international focus.1 The process of becoming an internationally focused honors college, which began in 2006, was part of the university’s strategic goal of internationalizing its curriculum, student body, faculty, and culture. It has involved an extended process of program development; campus-wide partnership building, specifically in conjunction with the university’s International Programs Center (IPC) and Global Engagement Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP); and iterative assessment. This chapter outlines the …

Introduction To Internationalizing Honors (2020), Mary Kay Mulvaney, Kim Klein

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

The world of higher education in the twenty-first century recognizes the necessity, not merely the desirability, of educating our students as global citizens. According to the American Council on Education’s Center for Internationalization and Globalization Engagement (CIGE), campus efforts toward internationalization are increasing: approximately half of all institutions now include a global studies component in their general education requirements, roughly half specify internationalization as one of their top five institutional strategic priorities, and nearly two-thirds have identified an international or global outcome as one of the student learning outcomes applicable to the entire student body (Mapping Internationalization). While including an …

Honoring The Whole Person: Indigenous Wisdom And University Honors Programs, Joseph Gazing Wolf

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

As part of the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (2022) collection of essays about the value of honors to its graduates (1967–2019), the author reflects on the personal and professional impacts of the honors experience.

Growing up in “Garbage City” on the outskirts of Cairo left little hope for a better life. Members of indigenous communities of Upper Egypt had been forcibly relocated to this landfill by the Egyptian government decades before my birth. These tribal communities were known in Egyptian culture as “the black savages” and “the trashy ones.” My parents were compassionate people of little means, and although rummaging …

Claiming Debate’S Value For Honors Student Learning, Megan Snider Bailey

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

One reason that honors faculty often engage students in seminar discussions is to keep debate’s features of competition, argument, and discord at bay. Intentionally structured academic debate represents a transdisciplinary pedagogy capable of cultivating ethical and empathetic citizenship through critical and creative thinking. The author uses such debate in a seminar curriculum to engage multiple sides of a single, complex sociopolitical issue with students of different disciplinary backgrounds, thereby fostering new understandings of beliefs: what is believed, why it is believed, and how one might live in accord with one’s beliefs as an ethical citizen. Through research, writing, and oral …

Jnchc: Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council Vol. 21, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2020

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Contents

Call for Papers

Editorial Policy, Deadlines, and Submission Guidelines

Dedication to William “Rusty” Rushton

Editor’s Introduction • Ada Long

Forum essays on “big hearts, big minds”

Teaching from the Heart • Suketu P. Bhavsar

Teaching as a Whole • Mollie Hartup

On the Value of Being in the Moment in Honors Education • Lisa L. Coleman and Anne Dotter

Putting the “Human” into the Humanities • Annmarie Guzy

Infusing Critically Reflexive Service Learning into Honors • Lauren Collins and Michaela Niva

Into the Storm • Robert Gill

The Danger Room • Laura Dickinson

Research essays

Claiming Debate’s Value for …

Infusing Critically Reflexive Service Learning Into Honors, Lauren Collins, Michaela Niva

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This essay describes a service-learning course designed with heart-centered pedagogy. Authors examine the relationship between individual and society in service learning and discuss the rationale and processes involved in curricular design to suggest an alternative approach to community engagement. Understanding service learning as going beyond merely the attainment of hours requisite for course completion, students are asked to develop critical reflexivity by first considering the focus, identity, and needs of community partners. Authors suggest that this curriculum provides practical opportunities for engaging students intellectually and emotionally in order to strengthen self-concept and cultural awareness of a vulnerable population.

Dedication: A Love Song For W. Rusty Rushton

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

On the model of T.S. Eliot's "Prufrock"

The Danger Room, Laura Dickinson

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

is essay describes how an honors classroom introduces public speaking and active listening to encourage heroism and social justice among students. Asserting that people often look for a hero in times of crises, the author suggests that honors programs can become safe places where students learn the skills necessary to advocate for those in need and demonstrably help their communities. By cultivating essential skills in rhetoric and oral presentation, honors students identify with heroic, altruistic aspects of themselves and others.

About The Authors; About The Nchc Monograph Series; Nchc Monographs & Journals; Nchc Publications Order Form

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

No abstract provided.

Into The Storm, Robert Gill

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Many colleges profess a deep commitment to teaching the values of social justice by simply following laws and then using compliance as evidence of building inclusive community. This essay considers practical outcomes for the authentic and compassionate teaching of social justice issues by presenting two (2018 and 2019) seven-week honors offerings that examine minimally stipulated laws and the ways they are enacted by encouraging students to engage in contemporary and historical discourses on the subject. Challenging honors educators to reexamine legal philosophies, historical precedence, and their role in the academy, the author argues for the moral obligation of honors to …

Teaching From The Heart, Suketu P. Bhavsar

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This essay is an invitation to consider a paradigm shift in the academy, one that allows and encourages us to bring our whole selves into our teaching and professional lives. I describe a set of values that permits and encourages the expression of a rigorously examined inner self in harmony with the traditional expression of our scholarly selves in our curricula and classrooms. Drawing from lessons that have defined my aspirations as a teacher, I challenge honors educators to lead the way in courageously examining our pedagogical approaches and to teach from our hearts.

Putting The “Human” Into The Humanities, Annmarie Guzy

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

A recent (2020) report by the Modern Language Association addresses the ethical treatment of graduate students in the humanities, and the author considers this in the context of honors students and faculty. Lamenting missed opportunities for in-person group presentations, student-led Socratic circles, and final individual presentations during the coronavirus pandemic, the author reflects on ways of experiencing joy and practicing compassion in teaching. Students and faculty mutually benefit from exploring and honoring each other’s humanity.

On The Value Of Being In The Moment In Honors Education, Lisa L. Coleman, Anne Dotter

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Recent scholarship demonstrates a direct correlation between the body and brain in academic performance and general wellbeing. This essay considers mindfulness practice as an integrative discipline in honors education. While exercise offers many benefits to college students, the authors maintain that the mindfulness practices of yoga, qi gong, and meditation are uniquely suited to mediate stresses on mental health and improve focus, presence, and cognitive ability. Honors practitioners are encouraged to incorporate mindfulness practice into curricula and classrooms. A review of literature in mindful awareness and meditation practice is presented.

Editor’S Introduction, Ada Long

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In 2019, plans were well underway for the 2020 NCHC conference with the theme “Big Hearts, Big Minds.” Then came January of 2020 and the Corona virus with its vocabulary of social distancing, remote learning, the dangers of personal contact, and the importance of isolation. In addition to upending and redirecting all the conference plans that had been so carefully developed under the leadership of Suketu P. Bhavsar, the new language of COVID-19 was an assault on the very intimacy, connectedness, and close personal relationships in honors that were the theme of the conference. The virus has been an obstruction …

Student Perception And Affinity: Establishment Of An Institutional Framework For The Examination Of Underrepresented Programs Such As Agriculture In Honors, Kayla L. Kutzke, Rosemarie A. Nold, Michael G. Gonda, Alecia M. Hansen, Rebecca C. Bott

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This (2019) study assesses student perceptions of an honors college relative to other colleges in an institutional framework. Disproportionately low enrollments in honors from specific majors (particularly those in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences) prompt researchers to investigate the culture of honors, perceived curricular demands, and the relationship of honors to other colleges and the students they serve. Researchers survey honors and non-honors students (n = 259) across disciplines (n = 59) representing all academic colleges across campus. Data suggest that while a majority of students affirm their abilities to complete the honors curriculum and perceive honors …

Using Possible Selves And Intersectionality Theory To Understand Why Students Of Color Opt Out Of Honors, Cindy S. Ticknor, Andrea Dawn Frazier, Johniqua Williams, Maryah Thompson

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Honors education values diversity, not simply to enrich our classrooms but for equity and social justice. At Columbus State University, students of color were underrepresented in honors education, and we sought to determine if institutional structures hindered them from being able to access educational programming that was commensurate with their ability. We used focus group interviews with students of color who were academically eligible to enroll in honors education yet never participated. We combined focus group interviews with an analysis of our recruiting practices. Using a theoretical framework based on intersectionality and possible selves theory, we found that our participants …

Teaching As A Whole, Mollie Hartup

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Deeply ingrained in honors culture and curricula is the value of connecting with and supporting students as whole persons. This essay offers personal experiences from the perspective of a compassionate educator who invests in the whole student, exploring how authentic teaching leads to rapport and belonging in the honors community and beyond. The author suggests that honors can serve the academy as an example of how investing in the complete person is mutually beneficial.

The River And The Ranger: The Crafting And Background Of An Interpretive Program, Amy J. Heusinkvelt

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The central part of this creative project was the development and presentation of an interpretive program delivered in conjunction with employment at the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. To supplement this place-specific program, a second program was developed retaining similar themes to the first, but designed to be presented in Lincoln. A brief history of the National Park Service as well as the fundamentals of interpretation were researched and elaborated upon to provide both a base and background for presentation of the interpretive programs. The project includes both self-assessment of the programs and research, as well as remarks, suggestions, and …

Jnchc Front & Back Matter, Vol. 20, No 2, Fall/Winter 2019

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Cover

Masthead

Contents

Call for Papers, Editorial Policy, & Submission Guidelines

Dedication -- Art L. Spisak

About the Authors

About the NCHC Monograph Series

Order form

Back cover

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council 20:2 (Fall/Winter 2019): Complete Issue. Forum On Risk-Taking In Honors

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Contents:

Call for Papers

Editorial Policy, Deadlines, and Submission Guidelines

Dedication to Art L. Spisak

Editor’s Introduction — Ada Long

Forum essays on “Risk-Taking in Honors”

Risky Honors — Andrew J. Cognard-Black

An Honors Student Walks into a Classroom: Inviting the Whole Student into our Classes — Brian Davenport

Risk that Lasts: Prioritizing Propositional Risk in Honors Education — Eric Lee Welch

Risky Triggers — Larry R. Andrews

Embodied Risk-Taking: Embracing Discomfort through Image Theatre — Leah White

Academic Risk and Intellectual Adventure: Evidence from U.S. Honors Students at the University of Oxford — Elizabeth Baigent

Disorienting Experiences: Guiding Faculty …

Risky Triggers, Larry R. Andrews

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Risk-taking in honors education entails not only anxiety about grades and intellectually disturbing ideas but also painful emotional responses to course materials. Rather than censoring such “dangerous” materials, faculty should compassionately encourage vulnerable students to acknowledge their pain safely in an open and accepting classroom atmosphere.

Risky Honors, Andrew J. Cognard-Black

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Most educators today are likely to proclaim a commitment to teaching critical thinking. Willingness to take intellectual risks such as questioning orthodox teachings or proposing unconventional solutions is an important component of critical thinking and the larger project of liberal education, yet the reward structures of educational institutions may actually function to discourage such risk-taking. In light of the extra importance placed on grades and high-stakes entrance exams in an increasingly competitive educational marketplace, this problem might presumably be magnified among honors students. This essay concludes by calling on honors educators and other interested parties to contribute their voices, their …

Selection Criteria For The Honors Program In Azerbaijan, Azar Abizada, Fizza Mirzaliyeva

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Designing effective selection procedures for honors programs is always a challenging task. In Azerbaijan, selection is based on three main criteria: (i) student performance in the centralized university admission test; (ii) student performance in the first year of studies; and (iii) student performance in the honors program selection test. This research identifies criteria most crucial in predicting student success in honors programs. An analysis was first conducted for all honors students. Results indicate that all three criteria used in the selection process are highly significant predictors of student success in the program. This same analysis was then applied separately for …

An Honors Student Walks Into A Classroom: Inviting The Whole Student Into Our Classes, Brian Davenport

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This paper explores the risky proposition of encouraging students to question deeply held values and beliefs. After connecting honors pedagogy with transformative learning theory, the author encourages faculty who are willing to take this risk to consider involving the whole student and not simply their cognitive aspects. The author then explores whole student pedagogy and transformative learning, positing how these can be present in the honors classroom. Finally, the use of critical reflection as a tool that facilitates interaction with the whole student is discussed, with suggestions as to how it might most effectively be incorporated into the honors classroom.

Practicing What We Preach: Risk-Taking And Failure As A Joint Endeavor, Alicia Cunningham-Bryant

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Faculty and administrators often present risk-taking as something honors students must do, but rarely do they take risks themselves. In an ideal situation, communal risk-taking would subvert institutional power dynamics, free students from grade-associated anxiety, and enable them to build dynamic partnerships with faculty. This paper discusses how one honors college piloted self-grading in the second semester of its first-year seminar as a mechanism of liberatory learning for both faculty and students. While self-grading was originally intended to provide increased freedom for risk-taking, in truth it led to increased anxiety in students and high levels of frustration for faculty. This …

Disorienting Experiences: Guiding Faculty And Students Toward Cultural Responsiveness, Rebekah Dement, Angela Salas

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This essay examines the challenges of integrating culturally responsive teaching into an honors curriculum at a predominantly white institution. Through self-reflection resulting from three specific incidents, one author examines the trajectory of risk-taking as it pertains to assigning difficult or challenging texts. The second author provides a vital complement to self-reflection: the mentorship of a senior colleague.

Academic Risk And Intellectual Adventure: Evidence From U.S. Honors Students At The University Of Oxford, Elizabeth Baigent

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Many study abroad programs promise students self-knowledge through adventure. Those that involve intense study seem at first sight not to offer adventure nor to entail risky dislocation nor to offer new insights into self. However, evidence from study abroad students at the University of Oxford reveals that they describe intellectual endeavor as adventure, finding that their academic experiences pose risks, demand courage, and are the means through which they and their new surroundings accommodate one another. Oxford faculty encourage academic risk-taking by posing hard intellectual challenges, helping students find their own voice rather than summarizing the views of others, and …

Risk That Lasts: Prioritizing Propositional Risk In Honors Education, Eric Lee Welch

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The fear of missing the mark often shapes how honors students approach risk in the classroom and, consequently, how instructors build risk-taking exercises into their curriculums. This paper explores the concept of propositional risk in the context of honors pedagogy, wherein students are challenged to interrogate deeply held beliefs and tasked with exercises designed to call forth the full complexity of attendant issues surrounding any individual viewpoint. As distinct from strategic risk, which can be characterized as performative and externally motivated, propositional risk requires students to critically evaluate a spectrum of thought, value, and ideology in the context of singular, …

Purpose, Meaning, And Exploring Vocation In Honors Education, Erin Vanlaningham, Robert J. Pampel, Jonathan D. Kotinek, Dustin J. Kemp, Aron Reppmann, Anna Stewart

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This paper examines the importance of cultivating a sense of vocation in honors education. Through examples of coursework, program initiatives, and advising strategies, authors from across five institutions align the scholarship of vocation with best practices and principles in contemporary honors discourse, defining vocation in the context of higher education and describing how this concept works within honors curricula to enrich student experience and cultivate individual understandings of purpose. By focusing on critical reflection processes, Ignatian pedagogy, and theories of moral development and reasoning, the authors offer different models to advance the thesis that honors educators can and should address …