The Honors ProgramFall 2014

NEWSLETTER

Freshmen RetreatHow Was Your Summer? Six Honors students tell usabout their summer researchand internships

Back from Glasgow: Q&A with Michael Holdsworth

Letter from Dr. HausePlus:60 Second Lecture Series is Back! Spring 2014 SAMs

Letter from the DirectorThe Creighton College of Arts and Sciences recently implemented a new core, somewhat lighter and more flexible than the outgoing legacy core. When the Faculty Senate debated the shape and function of the new core, one description rose over and over: The new core should be “more like Honors.” And in fact, the new core does give students a measure of the flexibility and self-determination that students in Honors have enjoyed for many years.

Honors students might describe the revised core as an encroachment on our distinctiveness, but that would betray a deep misunderstanding of our program. After all, what makes us the Honors Program never was freedom from the strictures of a rigid core. I saw first-hand what makes us Honors at this year’s freshman retreat. We collected in one place fifty students who share a bond of hope and trust in each other; they work together to achieve what they could never do without each other’s friendship and support. They threw themselves into the activities, a sign of their willingness to throw their energy into efforts that will help achieve common goals. Their lively, intelligent, and consistent participation at the retreat was inspiring. Finally, like so many classes of Honors students before them, they will be inspired by a sense of intellectual adventure. They will be open to new visions of the problems they work on in biology, literature, philosophy, and political science, open to creative solutions that require courage of imagination. It’s these characteristics that explain why our graduates make it to top graduate and professional programs, why they are important scholars in their field or contribute so much to the common good. Hope and trust, courage and imagination, passion and adventure: These are what make us Honors.

All the Best,

Jeffrey Hause, Ph.D.

1 The Honors Program Newsletter

Honors Freshmen Retreat Recapby Jesse Kramme, Class of 2017

The annual Creighton University Honors Program Freshman Retreat is an important part of the Honors tradition. Every year, the Honors Program’s newest class of scholars takes an overnight trip away from campus to socialize with one another, learn more about the Honors Program and their place in it, and reflect on where they have come from and where they are going.

This year’s retreat took place on September 12th and 13th at the Gene Eppley Camp and Retreat Center in Bellevue, Nebraska. The residents of the ninth floor of Swanson Hall departed from campus late Friday afternoon, arriving at the retreat center to a meal of self-serve tacos. After getting their fill, floor resident advisors Dominic Dongilli and Carissa Hernandes set the tone for the rest of the retreat by leading discussions on social justice case studies in education and facilitating hands-on group decision-making and conflict activities.

Following this, the new students participated in an Honors favorite event: one-on-one walks. During this, the students got the chance to get to know another person on a deeper level by taking an hour to hike around the retreat grounds while making valuable connections. One student remarked, “I wish I could do one on one walks with everyone,” and this sentiment was shared amongst many others.

The evening’s activities continued with a mock-60 Second Lecture event, during which several members of the Honors Program Student Advisory

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Board introduced themselves to the new class and then got to engage them in conversation around a table. Following this, the Honors Program’s resident Jesuit – Father Ross Romero – spoke with the new students about the importance of past experiences and how they impact one’s life and academic endeavors within the Honors community, specifically in relation to reflection and the Jesuit values as unique concepts at Creighton. After this, the new members had the evening to spend time with one another and to get ready for the next day of the retreat.

Saturday’s events began bright and early with breakfast, followed immediately by a discussion with another member of the Society of Jesus – Mr. Nate Romano – who spoke with the new class about his own

experiences in a Jesuit university’s Honors Program and how what he learned while in it helped to shape who he is today. To begin the closing portions of the retreat, the new honors students reflected about the retreat and their community that included writing of a letter to themselves, which they will receive upon graduation to reflect, once again, upon their four years at Creighton. To conclude, Creighton University Honors Program director Jeffrey Hause engaged in a lively discussion with the group about the purpose of the Honors Program and its formative goal in the lives of each member. Finally, after enjoying one more one-on-one walk, the newest members of Creighton University’s Honors Program returned to campus – ready to take on a new chapter of life. §

60 Second Lecture Series AnnouncedThe Honors Program Student Advisory Board is pleased to announce that the annual 60 Second Lecture Series has been scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7:00p.m. in the Skutt Ballroom. The topic of this year’s lectures and discussions is “Crime and Punishment.” The confirmed speakers at the event are Dr. Theodore Burk, Biology; Dr. Heather Fryer, History; Dr. James Bailey, Economics; Dr. Kathleen Rettig, English; and Dr. Michael Brown, Philosophy.

Conservative Political Theory Dr. James Wunsch, Political Science

Imagination to Invention Drs. Snipp, Natural Science

Literature, Religion and Philosophy Dr. Hause and Dr. Cooper

Spring 2014 Source & Methods CoursesThe Novel as African History Dr. Jallow, English

Graph Theory Dr. Mordeson, Mathematics

An upper-level foreign language course (modern or classical) will count for SAMs credit next semester.

3 The Honors Program Newsletter

Anna HenselSenior Journalism major

“This summer, I had the honor of participating in the American Society of Magazine Editors’ Summer Internship Program. Every year, approximately 30 rising journalism seniors are placed to work at magazines in New York City and Washington, D.C. I worked at Inc. Magazine, a national business magazine focused on entrepreneurs. At my internship, I had intensive, hands-on exposure to basic reporting, fact-checking and editing skills. Our group of interns also met weekly with editors at top magazines to discuss the future of magazines and multimedia journalism, including at The New Yorker (pictured above). I feel that my honors classes prepared me well for my internship—as a journalist, one is expected to become an expert on whatever he or she has to report on for the day, and having a well-rounded course load made me more than ready to take on new challenges.”

Senior Anna Hensel interned for Inc. Magazine in New York City.

Patrick BruckJunior Biology major

“This summer, I got a scholarship to research with the MCO (Molecules, Cells, Organisms) program at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. I worked with Dr. Rachelle Gaudet and graduate student Sriram Srikant to study the mechanism of ABC transporters. More specifically, our research was focused on measuring the export efficiency of Sterile6, a pheromone exporter in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in response to various mutations and phylogenetic expression.

I also had a great time outside of the research. Some of the firsts I experienced on the trip were: leaving the Midwest, flying, riding a subway, and seeing the ocean. I also spent a weekend in New York City, which was pretty cool, albeit being quite sketchy for various reasons. Lastly, I should also note that the MCO graduate students and faculty are extremely friendly, helpful, and collaborative: not exactly what I expected going in, but it made for a great summer!”

Honors students were drawn to places across the globe and close to home for life-changing experiences this summer. A handful of students shared the details of their wonderful research and internship positions.

How Was Your Summer?4Fall 2014

Emma HoppeSenior Biology major & Economics minor

“This summer I participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. I was working on a bioinformatics project investigating the predictability of reliance and susceptibility in mice exposed to acute social defeat. The results of the research will hopefully be used to better predict who will develop PTSD after serving in the military and who is most susceptible to depression and bullying. I had minimal exposure to bioinformatics and no coding experience before the summer, so there was a huge learning curve. However, it really was a great experience to learn about coding (Python was my language of choice) and everything you can accomplish with it.

I also was able to spend a lot of time exploring New York City. I particularly enjoyed sampling famous bakeries, seeing a number of Broadway shows, and listening to the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic.”

“Every rule I had growing up and every warning the State Department had issued went out the window the moment I stepped outside of the Port-au-Prince airport and into the hot and humid Haitian air.

In my first ten minutes on the island, I spoke with some strangers, let others carry my bags, and even left the airport building without knowing the plan. I didn’t know who or what I was looking for – I just knew that I needed to find my ride from the airport to the house I would be staying at for the next three months.

On the other side of a gate stood two young boys holding a sign with my name on it, so I began to drag my suitcase towards them. A Haitian wanted to help me, so I let him, even though I didn’t have anything to offer him in return. I approached the two boys and, without question, followed them to a run-down jeep and hopped in the back seat. As we pulled away from the airport and towards the

city, I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of my situation. I had just arrived in Haiti, knew no Kreyol, and was in a strange car hopefully being taken to the school that had promised to house me for the summer.

Fortunately the car made it up into the mountains and dropped me off in Thomassin in one piece. I planned to spend my summer conducting my Honors research, teaching English, and taking Kreyol classes, but I ended up experiencing so much more. I built relationships with the people of Haiti and began to understand their struggles, hopes, and dreams.

They taught me what it means to love unconditionally and to share what little I had. I grew as a person over the course of the three months – and I left with not only a clearer picture of what to pursue for the rest of my life, but also with an idea of the kind of person I want to be.”

Augusta HermanSenior Medical Anthropology major

Editor’s note: Augusta’s summer research program in Haiti was supported by an Honors Program research grant. For more information, please visit the Honors program website or contact Dr. Hause.

5 The Honors Program Newsletter

Adrienne PyleSophomore Medical Anthropology & Spanish major

“This summer, I was fortunate enough to be part of David Young’s campaign for Congress in Iowa’s Third Congressional District. When the campaign manager pulled me aside and told me that I should plan on having no free time this summer, I was disinclined to believe him until I found myself juggling the many brochures and handouts I carried from door-to-door in countless Iowa towns and cities, knocking on doors and greeting new faces. I was unprepared for the innumerable phone calls I was to make that summer–from phoning local citizens and encouraging them to vote in the primary elections, to engaging convention participants in political persuasions, coordinating guest lists and schedules with the Secret Service for speaker events.

Out of six candidates for the primary election, David Young finished fifth. However, none of the candidates won by a constituted majority--36%--and thus, the vote continued to convention. Through careful planning and extensive personal outreach to voters and citizens, David surpassed all of the other candidates and pulled a strong victory on the final vote at convention. It was an unbelievable sight: our small campaign team found ourselves hugging each other and crying with joy. Soon, the original staff was promoted to higher responsibilities. This meant longer trips, parades, debates, town council meetings, voter interaction at farmers markets and the Iowa State Fair, and speaker events, including Speaker of the House John Boehner, Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Rand Paul, and Rep. Paul Ryan.

Despite all the overwhelming responsibilities I was deeply appreciative of the level of healthy discomfort it brought me for one sole reason: for the first time, I felt wholly responsible for something that truly mattered.”

Sophomore Adrienne Pyle with House Speaker John Boehner. Pyle spent the summer working on a campaign for Iowa’s David Young.

Continued “How Was Your Summer?” p. 8

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Q: Which courses did you take while you were in Scotland?I took Scottish Enlightenment: Ideas and Influences, Macroeconomics, and The God Question: Exploring Christianity. The University of Glasgow limits students in the Principia Consortium program to 60 ScotCat credits, which is almost always 3 courses.

Q: Outside of the classroom, what does Glasgow have to offer?A tagline for the city while I was there was ‘People Make Glasgow’ and that is completely accurate. The people I met were absolutely wonderful and made it a great experience. Outside of that, Celtic football games are a ton of fun, Kelvingrove Park is beautiful, and there are a bunch of free museums. Also, the International Club takes trips into the Highlands every weekend which were spectacular and cheap for what they offered.

Q: How does one apply for the program in Glasgow?The process is done through the Study Abroad office, and requires the student to fill out a sheet about potential classes, and then the student

Back from Glasgowinterview with Michael Holdsworth by Michael Kotrous, Class of 2015

Junior Michael Holdsworth spent a semester abroad at the University of Glasgow in Scotland this Spring. I decided to catch up with Michael about his time in Glasgow.

Continued “Back from Glasgow,” p. 8

7 The Honors Program Newsletter

Back from Glasgow (cntd.)applies directly through the University of Glasgow once Creighton gives approval. It’s time consuming so start early, but it’s pretty painless.

Q: I’ve heard the University of Glasgow is a lot like Hogwarts, but do the students play Quidditch?I never saw any Quidditch, but I did join the curling team. So there’s pretty much a club for whatever you want to do, maybe even that.

Q: What’s your opinion of Scotland’s decision to stay in the U.K.?Thank God. It would have been great from a cultural perspective for independence, but in the end it was a much smarter decision to stay in the U.K., especially regarding economics. Thankfully the brain triumphed over the heart in this case. §

Caity EwersJunior Art History & Latin major“I spent a month and a half of my summer in Cyprus, the easternmost island of the Mediterranean and the point at which Southern European, Middle Eastern, and Northeastern African cultures coalesce. For the past quarter of a century, the Athienou Archaeological Project (AAP) has been excavating and researching at Malloura, a site in south-central Cyprus with a long history of occupation and use; the project’s current focus is the site’s extraurban, open-air sanctuary, which was in use from Geometric through Roman times (around 1000BCE to 300 CE). Working with Creighton’s

How Was Your Summer? (cntd.)own Dr. Erin Averett, and with Americans and Cypriots from various academic backgrounds, I participated in the project and gained a better understanding of the modern interdisciplinary approach to archaeology. For a large part of my time on the island, I served as an undergraduate research assistant for the pilot phase of an exciting new project to integrate archaeology and the digital humanities. Using a structured light scanner and purpose-built software written by graduate students at the University of Kentucky’s Center for Visualization, this project scanned and digitally reconstructed three-dimensional images of

around seventy artifacts from Malloura. The next phase of the project will endeavor to use scans such as these to explore surface treatments and to identify and match unique joins with the ultimate goal of reconstructing fragmentary artifacts. I also worked extensively in the Larnaka District Museum cataloging artifacts excavated by AAP within the past several years, in the AAP lab compiling stratigraphic unit reports from supervisors and ceramicists to determine the security and general time period of various excavation units, and on my own research concerning the nature and significance of Malloura’s corpus of Artemis imagery.” §

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Copyright © 2014 Creighton University Honors Program

The editor would like to thank all the students who contributed to the creation of this newsletter. Without you, this program,

and its newsletter, would be nothing.

Cover: Dominic Dongilli, Swanson 9 R.A., at the freshmen retreat.