E-HONORS

Frostburg State University's Honors Program Newsletter

October 2003: Volume 2
Issue 2

Honors Seminars Offered Over Intersession
Two Honors Seminars will be offered for the 2004 Intersession semester. Both courses are listed under IDIS 491.

• My Car, My Home, and My Job: Driving More, Enjoying it Less is being taught by Dr. Bullamore Monday through Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. This seminar explores current issues in North American metropolitan areas. Emphasis will be placed on emerging life styles for American families. Public and private decisions about land use patterns and social/economic diversity will be discussed. Contemporary trends such as increasing auto travel, constant levels of racial/ethnic segregation, and growing interest in "smart growth" are considered. Activities include student discussions of assigned readings and oral and written reports. This seminar is co-listed as GEOG 490.
  
  
• Dr. Wakefield will be teaching Power and Control in American Education online. The topics covered include power at the local, state, and national level and court involvement with schools. The politics of curriculum, instruction, and textbooks will also be discussed. The majority of this course will be conducted online, and Blackboard will be used to access reading materials and quizzes. There will be at least one required face-to- face meeting with the instructor. This meeting will be scheduled for early December.

Syllabi for both seminars can be obtained from the Honors Program at 19 Braddock Road. For more information, please call 301 687-4998. Intersession courses begin on Monday, January 5 and end on Friday, January 23. Registration materials will be available later in the semester.

NCHC Logo Design Competition
The 2004 National Collegiate Honors Council Conference will be held in New Orleans with the theme of Bridging Currents and Cultures. The NCHC is having a contest to select a logo appropriate for the theme. Each institution may nominate only one work. Students considering entering the competition should consider the following statement:

"New Orleans is an American city unlike any other. The product of vibrant diverse cultures and the mighty Mississippi River, New Orleans offers visitors and residents alike lagniappe, or 'something extra,' when serving up spicy food, music, history, literature, or New Orleans' signature party, Mardi Gras. As host city for our 2004 conference, New Orleans offers members of NCHC the opportunity to celebrate both the diversity of our students and programs and our common vision of excellence in higher education. We invite you to consider how we bridge our differences and confront the changing currents on our campuses, in academia and American life. Just as the Mississippi River is fed by scores of rivers and streams, so also NCHC exists as a product of individual faculty, students, administrators, Honors Programs and Honors Colleges. We welcome you to join us for our celebration of Honors in one of the most celebrated cities in the world - New Orleans!"

The logo created must be able to be reproduced as large as the front of a tee shirt, and as small as the front of a brochure. The FSU nominee must be in good standing in the Honors Program and provide an original work with no copyrighted or otherwise protected information or material. The logo will become property of the NCHC upon submission. For more information, contact Dr. Connelly at 301 687-4998. Five camera-ready copies of the logo must be submitted to the FSU Honors Program Advisory Group no later than Monday, October 20.

Palace Film Series - Free Tickets Available
The Fall 2003 Film Series, presented by the Frostburg Palace Theatre, will offer free admission to FSU students for two of their upcoming films: Therese, sponsored by the Center for International Education; and Rashomon, sponsored by the Honors Program.

Therese "The stylized screen portrait of Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873- 1897) is an extraordinary film, both as a work of art and as a meditation on spirituality. In a series of exquisitely photographed vignettes, Therese adapts herself to the rhythms and rituals of convent life - the prayers, the periods of silence, the mortifications of the flesh, the joys and humiliations of communal living, the sexual undercurrents, and the eccentricities of the mother superior and the other sisters" (www.alleganyartscouncil.org). This film will be shown at 8:00 p.m. both Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25 at the Frostburg Palace Theatre.

Rashomon "The film by Akira Kurosawa is more than a classic: it's a cinematic archetype. Set during the chaos of 12th century Japan, a woodcutter, a priest, and a commoner wait out a storm in the shadow of a ruined gate. To pass the time the woodcutter and priest tell the commoner of a recent investigation in which they both took part. They tell the tale of a samurai and his wife, who were attacked by the infamous bandit Tajomaru while traveling. The husband is killed and the wife and bandit have sex. However, during the investigation the specifics of the attack are called into question, as those involved relate conflicting versions of the events" (www.alleganyartscouncil.org). This film will be shown at 8:00 p.m on Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8 at the Frostburg Palace Theatre.

Cultural Passport - Christmas from Dublin
The Honors Program has a limited number of "free" student vouchers for the 7:30 p.m. November 26 performance of Christmas from Dublin featuring the Three Irish Tenors. The show is filled with traditional Christmas tunes, including "The Little Drummer Boy," "Adeste Fideles," "Silent Night," and "O Holy Night". Stop by the Honors Program office (19 Braddock Road) to pick up your free voucher by Friday, November 14.

2004 All-USA Academic Team
USA Today is seeking nominations by higher education professors for the first, second, and third teams of the 2004 All-USA Academic Team. A total of sixty students will be selected. The twenty chosen for the first team will each receive a $2,500 cash award. All sixty winning students will be featured in USA Today in February 2004.

Students nominated are expected to excel not only in scholarship, but also in leadership expressed both on and off campus. Students will be judged on an essay they write about themselves and their accomplishments. The judges will not be permitted to review a students' creative work. Selections will be based on the student's ability to describe their efforts in writing, plus the recommendations of the nominating professor and two other persons chosen by the nominee.

Each nominee must meet specific criteria. The criteria include the following:

• Full-time student (carrying at least 12 credits or graduating at the completion of current semester)
• At least sophomore standing
• Pursuing first baccalaureate
• Five-year program students with no degree are eligible
• United State citizenship is not required
• Students planning to graduate in December are eligible

FSU faculty and staff are asked to nominate students. Self-nominations are also welcome. Forward nominations to mconnelly@frostburg.edu by November 1.