News & Events

 

THIS WEEK IN HONORS

WEEK OF APRIL 7, 2008

We are continuing with walk-in advising as of today, and we will continue with it until Monday, April 14. Walk-ins are each weekday between 10 AM and 3 PM.

This week's announcements:

  1. Information session about the Churchill Scholarship - TOMORROW (Tuesday)
  2. Honors Roundtable - last of the year! - WEDNESDAY
  3. Honors juniors: want to teach Honors 135 next year?
  4. Upcoming Virginia Voss Scholarship deadline
  5. Important information for April/August 2008 LS&A graduates
  6. Graduating Honors seniors: are you interested in speaking at graduation? See here for details!

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Information Session

Churchill Scholarships in the Sciences, Engineering, and Mathematics

Tuesday, April 8, 5:00, Honors Lounge, 1306 Mason Hall

On April 8, Peter Patrikis, Executive Director, The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States, will be on campus to talk with students, faculty and advisors about the Churchill Scholarship which provides one year of graduate study at Churchill College, Cambridge for students in the sciences, engineering and mathematics.  The University of Michigan is one of fewer than 100 institutions eligible to nominate candidates for the Churchill Scholarship.

Undergraduate and graduate students who will hold an undergraduate degree by August 2009 will be eligible to apply in the fall of 2008.  Students who will graduate after that date are welcome to attend to find out more about this opportunity.  Criteria include US citizenship, exceptional academic achievement, and outstanding letters of recommendation.  Most successful candidates will have had research or other practical experience in their fields. 

Mr. Patrikis will be able to share information about the conditions of eligibility, programs at Cambridge, life in England, profiles of successful candidates, and anything else you would like to discuss with him. 

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HONORS ROUNDTABLE

This Wednesday, April 9, we will have our next Honors Roundtable in the Executive Dining Room of the South Quad cafeteria from 12:30 until 1:30 PM. Please join us for some fascinating conversation on whatever topics interest you. Honors Director Steve Darwall and John Cantu will be in attendance. If you don't have a meal plan and you'd like to attend, no problem...Honors will pick up your tab. Just contact John Cantu beforehand to make the necessary arrangements. Please join us!

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TEACH HONORS 135: IDEAS IN HONORS NEXT YEAR!

If you will be a senior Honors concentrator in the 2007-2008 academic year, you may want to apply to teach a mini course.

Honors 135, Ideas in Honors, mini-courses are offered each semester by Honors seniors for freshmen. The courses are usually related to the teacher's area of study, but occasionally not. They offer an opportunity for the first-year students to learn something interesting, but not necessarily central to their overall programs, in a small group with a relaxed atmosphere. It also allows them to see first-hand the excitement that Honors seniors have about their academic work. And, of course, it offers the seniors an opportunity to see what teaching is all about. The deadline was last Friday, but, if you are interested, send a course proposal (similar to what would appear in the Course Guide), statement about your Honors thesis plans and your availablilty (can you teach fall and/or winter?), and tentative reading list to Elleanor Crown (ecrown@umich.edu) and we will take it into consideration if we need additional classes. Inquiries can be directed to the same email address.

The classes meet for a minimum of an hour a week for seven weeks. Instructors will be paid a stipend.

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UPCOMING SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINES

Scholarship Information for Winter 2008

For details and application information for these and other scholarship opportunities, see https://www.lsa.umich.edu/honors/current/awards.htm.

Virginia Voss Memorial Scholarships

(Awards for excellence in writing by senior Honors women)
Deadlines: March 24, 2008 for journalism, poetry, and imaginative prose
April 9, 2008 for academic writing

The Voss prizes come with substantial monetary awards.

Applications in journalism, poetry and imaginative prose that are not Honors theses can be made directly to the Honors Program. Just submit the work you want considered to 1330 Mason Hall. Be sure that it has your name on it. If you are submitting an Honors thesis, it should be accompanied by a letter of endorsement from the Honors Concentration Advisor in your department. You can bring a copy of your thesis to Honors.  Just be sure your name is on it.  You should remind the Concentration Advisor that we need a letter.  They have already been told about the process.  If they have questions, refer them to Elleanor Crown (ecrown@umich.edu).

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR APRIL/AUGUST 2008 DEGREE CANDIDATES

Please keep in mind that if you are planning to use your Honors thesis to fulfill your Upper Level Writing Requirement, you must have a Thesis Intent form on file with the Honors Program. Thesis Intent forms can be obtained from either the Honors Program office (1330 Mason Hall) or the Sweetland Writing Center, or downloaded from the SWC's Web site.

Also, if you are intending to graduate in either April or August 2008 and you have not yet applied to graduate, you should do so as soon as possible. Please be sure to bring a concentration release form for each of your concentrations (goldenrod form for Honors concentrations, blue form for non-Honors concentrations) to me, John Morgan, in the Honors Program office in 1330 Mason Hall so that I may do your official Senior Audit and e-mail it to you. There is also a Thesis Card that you need to fill out when you turn in your release forms, which lets us know what you're doing your thesis research on, and also allows us to send invitations to your parents for the Honors graduation ceremony that will take place on Friday, April 25 at 10 AM in the Michigan Union Ballroom. The sooner you get all of your paperwork to me for your official senior audit, the less chance there will be that you will have problems with graduation.

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at jbmorgan@umich.edu, or call me at (734) 647-7396. You can also now make appointments with me - John Morgan, the Honors Graduation Auditor - for any questions pertaining to graduation on Tuesdays between 2 and 4 PM. Appointments are for 15 minutes each. You can make appointments with John Morgan, or any of the Honors academic advisors, on the Honors Web site: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/honors/current/advising.htm. If you want to see me but can't make it on Tuesdays between 2 and 4, please call or e-mail me and I can try to arrange an appointment for you at another time.

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INTERESTED IN SPEAKING AT HONORS GRADUATION?

The Honors Program is looking for several Honors graduates who would like to speak briefly (approximately three minutes each) at the Honors graduation ceremony that will be held at 10:00am on Friday, April 25 in the Union Ballroom.  This is not necessarily the standard graduation talk that summarizes the experience of the last four years.  We like to have students specifically address some aspect of their undergraduate education in Michigan Honors that was significant.  In recent years we have had students who talked about the friendship and support that came from the group of Honors concentrators in a departmental Honors concentration program, about a particularly interesting study abroad experience, about an inspiring instructor or thesis advisor, etc.

If you are interested in speaking, we need to hear from you right away. Please e-mail ecrown@umich.edu with the topic you would like to address and a summary of what you plan to say.  We will try to see that a variety of topics and interests are represented.

I hope to hear from you.  Best, Elleanor Crown