Gifted Education Commons^™

The Video Essay, Nicholas Vick

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The video essay is an opportunity for students to record their words and combine other visual elements to complete the typical requirements of a standard written paper. Applicable across disciplines and pedagogically aligned with an honors ethos of self-directed learning, video essays allow for individual and collaborative forms of expression while providing unique approaches to compositional assessment on an array of subjects.

The Role Of Admissions Practices In Diversifying Honors Populations: A Case Study, Andrea Radasanu, Gregory Barker

Honors in Practice Online Archive

While there is scant evidence that standardized test results (SAT/ACT) predict college success, these scores can act as barriers to college admissions and honors programs, particularly for students in underserved communities. This study examines the impact of transitioning from an honors admission framework—in which standardized tests are a key variable in the process—to a test-blind environment with holistic admissions protocols that identify students who are academically strong as well as engaged in extracurricular activities. Parallel (test-dependent and test-blind) admissions protocols were used in 2020–2021 applications to determine if a test-blind environment fostered greater inclusivity and diversity in the first-year honors …

Health And Wellness: An Honors First-Year Experience Assignment In Response To The Pandemic, Cathlena Martin

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Responding to pervasive mental and physical stresses of the COVID-19 crisis, the author assigns first-year students various routine wellness practices for one hour each week along with requisite reflective writing exercises. Student expectations, experiences, and outcomes are presented.

Fostering Community In The Face Of Covid: Case Studies From Two Community College Honors Programs, Anne Dotter, Kathleen King

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This article features the work of two community college honors programs toward establishing and fostering community amid the COVID-19 crisis. Authors describe shared goals and priorities for their students during abrupt and extended shutdowns of both campuses. While working in tandem to ensure that their students felt cared for and contented, each program achieved the same goal in different ways, leading to long-lasting changes to be preserved after the pandemic.

Founders Award Acceptance Speech (18 December 2020), Jeffrey Portnoy

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Jeffrey A. Portnoy offers some history of the journals and monographs published by the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) as well as insights into the work done by NCHC’s Publications Board and its editors. He provides several morals or lessons based on his leadership roles and long career in honors education.

(What follows is a slightly revised version of the address that Jeffrey A. Portnoy delivered on December 18, 2020, at the Zoom Awards Ceremony during the COVID pandemic. Portnoy received the Founders Award in recognition of his inauguration and editorship of NCHC publications during the past two decades.)

From Program To College: The Vision And Curriculum Evolution Of The Virginia Tech Honors College, Stephanie N. Lewis, Anne-Lise K. Velez, Desen S. Ozkan, Raymond C. Thomas, Kimberly A. Carlson

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This article describes one program’s thoughtful and strategic transition to a college and subsequent innovations to its curricular framework. Acknowledging that such a change affords honors practitioners the opportunity to implement best practices established within the honors community, authors describe the unique evolution of the honors college experience at their institution by way of expanding collaborative transdisciplinary courses, offering a new diploma option, and increasing opportunities related to undergraduate research. Collaborative transdisciplinary courses encourage critical thinking about complex problems in a small group setting. A new diploma option combines disciplinary depth with transdisciplinary capabilities through a four-year, multidisciplinary studio curriculum. …

We Found Ourselves In The Twilight Zone, Brigett Scott

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The author describes how using free internet extensions allowed for the continuation of a media-based honors course during the COVID-19 crisis.

I am a big fan of science fiction and have a bit of a crush on Rod Serling, so deciding what topic to teach in my Honors Forum course this semester was a clear choice. The Twilight Zone television series provided a wide selection of material that could be linked to the students’ diverse fields of study. The television series tackled social issues through nonthreatening disguises (okay, sometimes aliens were threatening), moral lessons, and fun. These features fitted well …

Building Bridges In Interdisciplinary Team-Taught Honors Seminars, Laurence Carlin, Heike Alberts

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This study presents perceived advantages of thematic, teamtaught interdisciplinary seminars for first-year honors students. Two student cohorts (n = 174) surveyed in two subsequent years (2018, 2019) weigh in on the challenges and benefits of different team-teaching models. Three first-semester offerings on the themes “Food,” “Creativity,” and “Social Justice” are evaluated. Results indicate that most students (70.1%) recognize the understanding of multiple perspectives to be the greatest benefit of the team-taught seminar. Other perceived benefits include the acquisition of additional information (21.3), cultivation of critical thinking (13.2), and the ability to make transdisciplinary connections (10.9). Data suggest that the degree …

Teaching Hamilton: A Team-Taught, Interdisciplinary Honors Course, Rusty Jones, Gregory Shufeldt

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This essay gives a broad overview of a team-taught course on Alexander Hamilton that merges discourses in music theory and political science. Authors describe pedagogical approaches to teaching both the musical Hamilton to non-musician students and Hamilton’s history and politics to students not majoring in these fields. Contrasting challenges and outcomes of the seminar’s first (2017) offering with its second (2020), authors consider the scope and implications of cultural intelligence and scholarly interdisciplinarity, maintaining that courses team-taught by instructors of different disciplines make connections across disciplines more explicit for students and enhance the transdisciplinary nature of the honors experience. Pre-course …

Virtual Improvement: Advising And Onboarding During A Pandemic, Lucy Morrison

Honors in Practice Online Archive

An honors practitioner describes various challenges in onboarding and training a new academic advisor during the coronavirus crisis. Virtual interaction and multitasking skills prove fruitful for training in best practices while also bringing experienced and first-year students together in unexpected ways. The author cites several improvements in advisement, observing how remote technologies also allow for certain privacies and discretion.

Tough Talks: Student-Led Programs To Facilitate Civil Discourse, Leah Horton, Doug Corbitt, Booker White

Honors in Practice Online Archive

These student-led, co-curricular programs are designed to give honors students the opportunity to learn and practice civil discourse through difficult conversations. Issues such as race, religion, politics, gender, and sexual orientation are carefully curated to help students practice and hone their dialogue skills outside the classroom where grades are not a factor. A brave spaces ideology provides the foundation for shared pools of meaning, encouraging students to move from certainty to curiosity with the shared understanding that discomfort is an opportunity for growth. By teaching students how to engage in controversy with civility, Tough Talks support an honors ethos of …

Coordinating Multi-Campus Honors Programs And Colleges, Larry Andrews

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The leadership responsibility for coordinating a multi-campus honors program or college can be complex, and it needs to succeed in an atmosphere of mutual respect and flexibility. The work can be broken down into several key components: institutional context, quality standards, curriculum, faculty selection, student mobility, communication, scholarships, budget, and governance.

About The Authors

Honors in Practice Online Archive

No abstract provided.

Free Minds Book Club: Students Reading And Responding To Incarcerated Writers' Poetry, Bonnie Gasior

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Nearly two hundred students, faculty, staff, and community members gather in a series of events to read and respond to poetry written by incarcerated authors. The program engages inmates in poetic self-expression, reflection, and personal growth while challenging honors students to consider what they have learned in literature classes in a broader context of incarceration. Monthly write-nights via Zoom and Miro prove rich and cathartic during the coronavirus crisis.

Checking-In To Create Instructor-Student Immediacy In Honors, Cadi Kadlecek, Rebecca Bott-Knutson, Hanna Holmquist

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Weekly, self-evaluative briefs are used to assess students’ general wellbeing during the coronavirus crisis. Authors discuss the efficacy of personalized check-ins and remote, interpersonal rapport, suggesting a positive impact on student learning outcomes.

Uproot, Jake Gentry

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Short story titled Uproot by Jake Gentry in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 177-180.

First sentence

My Grams glanced up from her newly planted irises, her blue eyes spotting her 7-8-9-something-year-old grandson across the yard.

What Isn't There: Four Poets And The Art Of Absence, Petra Ellerby

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

A critical essay titled WHAT ISN'T THERE: Four Poets and the Art of Absence by Petra Ellerby in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 163-176.

Two (2) Slices Of Baloney, Mercury-Marvin Sunderland

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

A poem titled Two (2) Slices of Baloney by Mercury-Marvin Sunderland in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 159-162.

Fried Egg, Mercury-Marvin Sunderland

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

A poem titled Fried Egg by Mercury-Marvin Sunderland in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 155-158.

The Maiden Of The Lost, Jeneva Grace Midgett

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

A short story titled Maiden of the Lost by Jeneva Grace Midgett in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 152-154.

My Mother's Golem, Amanda Vannierop

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

A poetic short story titled My Mother's Golem with an abstract/artist's statement by Amanda VanNierop in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 150-151.

Abstract/artist's statement

This piece was composed for the 2020 Inspired By Showcase, where it received first place for undergraduate written work. The competition asked students to create a piece of art reflective of the themes in Michael Chabon’s novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

Over time, the Golem has taken on varying symbolism both in and out of Jewish culture. To titular character Joe Kavalier, the Golem represents escape. …

Them Ribbons Were Gold, Lucas Thompson

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

A short story titled Them Ribbons Were Gold by Lucas Thompson in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 142-149.

“In Between The Virgin And The Whore”: Decentering The Cultural Paradigms Of The Virgin Of Guadalupe And La Malinche In Four Writers, Miren Neyra Alcántara

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

A critical essay titled “In Between The Virgin and The Whore”: Decentering the Cultural Paradigms of The Virgin of Guadalupe And La Malinche in Four Writers by Miren Neyra Alcántara in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 130-141.

First paragraph

There are several oppressive cultural paradigms in Mexican culture that try to subject women. These cultural formulations are forged through historical events, in this case the colonization of Mexico. The two of the most important feminine archetypes in Mexico are “The Virgin of Guadalupe” and “La Malinche”. Both effigies of femininity are fundamentally anchored …

Adventures In The Drawing Room: The Ambiguity, Exoticism, And Artifice Of The Bourgeois Parisienne In Alfred Stevens’ The Visit, Piper Prolago

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

A critical essay titled Adventures in the Drawing Room: The Ambiguity, Exoticism, and Artifice of the Bourgeois Parisienne in Alfred Stevens’ The Visit by Piper Prolago in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 123-129.

First paragraph

Alfred Stevens’ The Visit, housed in the Dallas Museum of Art collection, not only encompasses the aesthetics of the bourgeois decorative, fashion, and artistic tastes in 19th century France, but also captures the artifice of European fascination with Asian aesthetics. The Visit depicts two women in a richly decorated interior visually disjointed by a lacquer screen.

Queer Refugee Experience: An Inquiry Into The Studies Of Transnationalism And Its Relationship To The Livelihood Of Syrian Refugees Who Identify As Lgbtq+ And Have Migrated To Turkey, Anne Frances Bennett

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Critical research titled Queer Refugee Experience: An Inquiry into the Studies of Transnationalism and its Relationship to the Livelihood of Syrian Refugees who Identify as LGBTQ+ and have Migrated to Turkey by Anne Frances Bennett in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 101-122.

First paragraph

This paper will explore the missing elements of the studies of transnationalism by analyzing the vulnerable identities, inclusive exclusions, and states of exception of LGBTQ+, Syrian refugees migrating to Turkey. Since the Syrian Refugee Crisis began, masses of migrants have escaped to Turkey in search of freedom, especially those …

Adolescent Literature & Intersectional Oppression, Zacharia Jefferson Macneal Cross

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Critical essay titled Adolescent Literature & Intersectional Oppression by Zacharia Jefferson Macneal Cross in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 73-78.

First paragraph

Healing Historical Trauma in The Marrow Thieves

In this essay I examine how Cherrie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves acknowledges and works through the struggles of Native Americans, allowing the characters a way through their seemingly impossible survival and clearing a path to heal their historical trauma. The ability to dream is a key element of this processing of trauma, as well as the very thing that they are hunted for.

Controlling Wickedness: The Journey To Penal Reform And The First Prison Systems In New York And Pennsylvania From 1820-1840, Joseph Antonio Flores

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Critical research titled Controlling Wickedness: The Journey to Penal Reform and the First Prison Systems in New York and Pennsylvania from 1820-1840 by Joseph Antonio Flores in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 79-100.

Abstract

This research examines discipline methods and architectural design in New York and Pennsylvania prisons from 1820 to 1840. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Cesare Beccaria discussed Enlightenment-era punishments. Benjamin Rush and William Bradford framed prison discussions through American ideals. After New York and Pennsylvania replaced most capital punishment with hard labor and solitary confinement, legislatures erected their first prison systems. New …

Racial Consciousness, Uplift, And Justice In Harlem Renaissance Poetry, Alexandria E. Schultz

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Critical research titled Racial Consciousness, Uplift, and Justice in Harlem Renaissance Poetry by Alexandria E. Schultz in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 53-72.

Abstract

Were you surprised or confused by the recent Black Lives Matter protests? Were some of the arguments for or against the movement hard for you to understand? This essay intends to help readers see, through the lens of poetry, how the current Black experience in America came to be, and what Blacks have been saying and doing about their unequal circumstances for the past 100 years. Throughout the history …

The Effect Of News Format And Personal Relevance On Affect, Sophia R. Morrow, Hannah M. Hood-Johnson, Brianna L. Scandell, Matthew P. Newman, Grace E. Fink

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Research titled The Effect of News Format and Personal Relevance on Affect by Sophia R. McMorrow, Hannah M. Hood-Johnson, Brianna L. Scandell, Matthew P. Newman, and Grace E. Fink in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 25-52.

Abstract

Considering the ubiquitous news coverage of COVID-19, it is important to examine the relationship between news consumption and affect, an important aspect of mental health. This study examined how news format and personal relevance influence affect. Participants watched 15 minutes of news clips or read their text transcriptions, which had either high personal relevance (e.g. COVID-19 …

Molecular Genetic Modifications In The Human Genome: Racial Discrimination As A Biological Stressor, Nicolette Dobson

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Research titled Molecular Genetic Modifications in the Human Genome: Racial Discrimination as a Biological Stressor by Nicolette Dobson in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 1-24.

Abstract

Racial discrimination enhances group separation and places individuals into stereotypical categories based on race and other factors (e.g. gender, behavior, etc.). As seen in studies on physiological diseases and psychological disorders, minority groups (e.g. African Americans) face cellular senescence at an increased risk due to health-related comorbidities and prevalent experiences of racism. This review provides an analysis of modifications within the human genome that may lead to …