Faculty Spotlight : Rick Scott Named Fellow of the National Collegiate Honors Council
Rick Scott, dean of the Honors College, was named a Fellow by the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) at its national conference in Phoenix. Scott is president-elect and a former member of the Board of Directors of NCHC. He will chair its annual conference in 2012 at Boston before presiding over the organization in 2013. NCHC represents more than 900 honors programs and colleges throughout North America, Europe and Asia, serving collegiate honors education through training, publications and conferences. The 2011 class of seven NCHC Fellows is its second, following an inaugural class of 19 awarded in 2010 in Kansas City. Nominees are put forward on the basis of national, regional and/or state honors organization leadership. Dean Scott’s award reflects his service in NCHC, along with publications on pedagogy and the direction of honors education, regional service as executive secretary-treasurer from 2008-11 of the Southern Regional Honors Council and years of consulting with honors programs around the country.
2011 Conference of the National Collegiate Honors Council
UCA Honors College faculty, staff, and students gave a number of presentations at the 46th annual Conference of the National Collegiate Honors Council in Phoenix held October 19-23:
Rick Scott, “Best Honors Administrative Practices: Fundraising Fundamentals for Honors”; “Meet the Conference Planners”; “Potential Promises and Pitfalls of Certifying Honors Programs and Honors Colleges”; “The Future of Honors”
Zach Barber and Patricia Smith, “An Unstandardized Admission Model in the World of Standardized Tests”
Donna Bowman and Allison Wallace, “Stewards of the Material World: Models for Integrating Manual Work into Honors Seminars”
Philip Frana and Adam Frank, “Nurturing a Culture of Undergraduate Research and Self-Assessment on a Campus Divided by Pedagogical Factions”
December 2011 Senior Honors Thesis Presentations
Tamami Akagi
Advisors: Donna Bowman & Phil Bartos
Lumière: An Etsy Business Plan for Hand-Knitted Accessories
Zach Barber
Advisor: Conrad Shumaker
Buddha, Christ, and Science: Finding the Lines that Connect Our World
Sara Bayles
Advisors: Donna Bowman and Taine Duncan
Righting the Wrongs of His Religion: A Journey through Feminist Theology
Brandi Bowlin
Advisor: Richard Tarkka
A Bit about IMAC… No, Not the Computer
Destiny Davis
Advisor: John Swanson
Biotechnology of Tomatoes: A Genetic and Metabolic Approach to Nutritional Improvement
Catherine Demailly
Advisor: Brian Campbell
Meet Your Meat: What the Modern Meat Industry is Hiding, and Why You Don’t Have to be a Vegetarian to Change It
Jax Fliss
Advisor: Balraj Menon
Ontology in Spacetime Physics
Leanne Hampton
Advisor: Carolyn Brown
Q.E.D. Bach: A Union of Rhetoric and Music
Amber Haydar
Advisor: Charles Bane
Where Am I? Being an Account of One Student’s Experience in Culture Shock, Journeying Across the Pond to Visit Four Countries in Two Summers
Mary Beth Hill
Advisor: Phil Bartos
Social Media: The Future of Global Marketing
Michael J. Hinds
Advisor: Conrad Shumaker
Becoming Native: A Look through Native American Cultures into the Environmental Movement for a More Complete Way of Relating to the Earth and the Natural World
Anna Horton
Advisor: Jennifer Brinegar
The Evolution of Aggression: An Evolutionary Perspective on Modern Gender Inequalities
Jenn Hynum
Advisor: Michael Gunter
Animus: A Screenplay
Katelyn Johnson
Advisor: Doug Corbitt
Free “Flipper”: The Senseless Slaughter of Dolphins in Taiji, Japan
Stefani Johnson
Advisor: Adam Frank
Exploring Movement Techniques: Viewpoints and Physical Theater Training
Jordan Karpe
Advisor: Gayle Seymour
Up Against a Wall: Exploring Mural Making as a Form of Visual Art & Expression
Ben Maddox
Advisor: Michael Yoder
Rectoría y Reforma: The Asymmetrical Benefits of Neoliberal Reform in the Mexican Agricultural Sector
Hannah Marks
Advisor: Jennifer Moore (Johnson)
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Healing Under Pressure
Shannon Miller
Advisor: Story Matkin-Rawn
Follow the Yellow Brick Road: American Identity in the Evolution of Oz
Ariel Moore
Advisor: Donna Bowman
The Yarn Diet: An Interdisciplinary Journey through Handcrafting and Service Learning
Alisha Neblett
Advisor: Alana Reid
Mujeres de Magia y Patria: Women’s Defining Roles in Latin America and its Magic Realism
Jonathan Randle
Advisor:Jon-Stephen Stansel
How to Effectively Learn a Second Language
Nathan Robbins
Advisor: Chris Craun
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Culture: The Evolution of Romanitas and the Expansion of Roman Citizenship
Renee Ronquillo
Advisor: Stephanie Vanderslice
Baking Binges and Munching on Mangos: A Memoir about Food, Family, Culture, and Identity
Patrick Russell
Advisor: Doug Corbitt
Martin Heidegger and Hog Farming: How Heidegger’s Later Essays Condemn Industrial Husbandry and Support Biocentric Agriculture
Eric Sanders
Advisor: Gary Bunn
Metacognition: An Academic Guide to Promoting Self-Efficacy
Jo Beth Sence
Advisor: Roger Wainwright
Alternative Therapies for Mood Disorders
Kat Short
Advisor: Alison Hall
Cultural and Biological Linguistic Taboos: Why the (expletive) They Matter
Adrea Walker
Advisor: Ellen Stengel
Fiana: A Fantasy Novel
Shalisa Walker
Advisor: Sharon Ross
Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Services in Arkansas
Garrett Wright
Advisor: Donna Bowman
See You in Another Life: Volition, Redemption and Rebirth in LOST
Featured Student: Ben Maddox’s thesis “Rectoría y Reforma: The Asymmetrical Benefits of Neoliberal Reform in the Mexican Agricultural Sector”
As a senior international relations student at the University of Central Arkansas I have had the opportunity to study the impacts of globalization, economic development projects, and international financial and political entities on local communities. There is no doubt that we live in an increasingly interconnected world in which our communities are no longer bound by geographical limitations. Across the globe, once isolated communities are now being integrated into the global economy. For some, this has meant an increased standard of living and a higher quality of life. But for others it has meant further marginalization, rising income inequality, and the loss of cultural, economic and political sovereignty. In developing my Honors thesis I wanted to explore the hidden social costs of this new political and economic paradigm. I wanted to study how the rights, concerns, and livelihoods of local communities have changed in an increasingly globalized world.
I began my project in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Thanks to a Travel Abroad Grant (TAG) from the UCA Honors College, I was able to participate in a research internship with the Community Agroecology Network (CAN). CAN placed me alongside several students from the Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo (UIMQRoo), who were conducting research in the small town of Huay Max. During my two months in the state of Quintana Roo I interviewed many farmers of Mayan descent who not only still used their ancestral language, but also the agricultural practices of their forefathers. The struggles of these farmers to adapt to the global economy is reflected in the motto of UIMQRoo, which is “Ser en el mundo, ser nosotros” – to be in the world, to be ourselves.
My research through my internship with CAN led to the development of my Honors thesis, which examines the relationship between macreconomic developments and agricultural policy in Mexico. The title of my thesis, Rectoría y Reforma: The asymmetrical benefits of neoliberal reform in the Mexican agricultural sector, reflects my original desire to expose the real human costs of economic development. My thesis attempts to show how misguided agricultural policy and a belief in the infallibility of a particular economic model have prevented the development of an equitable and sustainable agricultural sector. In fact, while many of the government policies I examine in my thesis were designed to improve the conditions of rural citizens in Mexico, I find that, more often than not, these policies have served to perpetuate a high level of rural inequality. In the Mexican agricultural sector, the welfare of local people and local communities has been subordinated to the interests of trans-national companies and international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and Inter-American Development Bank.
In assisting me with my research and the writing of my thesis, I would like to thank the UCA Honors College for not only providing me with this opportunity, but also for the TAG that I received, without which none of this would be possible. I would also like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Michael Yoder and Dr. Allison Wallace and J.D. Cindy Lea for their help in fine-tuning the many drafts of my thesis. – Ben Maddox
Featured Alumnus: Sarah Marsh has been named Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee
It’s hard to believe that six months ago I was writing furiously, trying to finish up the last few sections of my dissertation, and here I sit now at the end of my first semester as a full-time faculty member! It’s amazing how quickly life can change! In August, I began a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Oklahoma Baptist University (Shawnee, OK). I’ve spent the last few months teaching four classes, getting to know amazing colleagues and students, and acclimating to the idea of not being a student for the first time in my life! How did I end up here after my days at UCA? After finishing my B.S.E. in Mathematics (with the Honors minor) at UCA and getting married to Patrick Marsh, I immediately started work on my M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Mathematics at the University of Oklahoma. I kept my focus on the educational side of mathematics (specifically, undergraduate mathematics) and ended up writing my dissertation on the transition to graduate school in mathematics – a topic that was near and dear to my heart after several years of my own graduate work!
My Honors College education helped prepare me for these experiences in several ways. During graduate school, I relied heavily on my solid training in formulating and organizing arguments and presenting them coherently in writing and in oral presentations. People were always amazed that a mathematician could write and speak effectively. (I love defying these stereotypes!) As a faculty member at a Christian liberal arts university, I find that the breadth of my experiences in the Honors College are useful to me on a regular basis. I am able to identify with the authors and topics my students see in their other classes, and I think it sets a good example for them of what a broad, well-rounded education can produce. Because I know the value of Honors education, I am also looking forward to getting involved with the OBU Honors Program in the coming years. – Sarah Marsh