HP News September 18, 2012 Dates and Deadlines: First Semester 2012-13: * Monday, September 24: December graduating seniors please e-mail your thesis title and thesis advisor's name to Dr. Berger at pberger1@unl.edu * Friday, September 28: Last day to submit Honors Contracts for First Semester * Friday, November 9: Last day to submit Thesis Completion Form for December Graduation * Friday, November 30: Statement of Academic Interest due for students completing the fourth semester of study in the Honors Program * Friday, November 30: Thesis/Creative Project Prospectus due for students completing the sixth semester of study in the Honors Program * Monday, December 3: Completed thesis due for December Graduation Second Semester 2012-13: * Monday, February 4: May graduating seniors please e-mail your thesis title and thesis advisor's name to Dr. Berger at pberger1@unl.edu * Friday, February 15: Last day to submit Honors Contracts for Second Semester * Friday, March 29: Last day to submit Thesis Completion Form for May Graduation * Friday, April 5: Statement of Academic Interest due for students completing the fourth semester of study in the Honors Program * Friday, April 5: Thesis/Creative Project Prospectus due for students completing the sixth semester of study in the Honors Program * Monday, April 22: Completed thesis due for May Graduation Removal: If you have graduated or are no longer active in the Honors Program and wish to be removed from HP News, please contact Dr. Lyons at klyons2@unl.edu New name: The Memorandum of Study is now the Thesis/Creative Project Prospectus. Honors week: Honors week is October 7-11. Watch for announcements of activities. Plan to participate! Education Abroad Fair Tuesday, September 25, 2012 11:00 am- 2:00 pm Nebraska Union (City Campus) Learn about summer education abroad programs and the Global Gateway Scholarship Advanced Seminar in Public Policy: Water and Policy: 5 spaces will be reserved for undergraduates. The POLS department will open the 498 section. Political Science 931/498 University of Nebraska Spring Term 2013 Wednesdays 2:30 - 5:20 p.m. Professor Sarah Michaels (402-472-2300) (smichaels2@unl.edu) Course description The focus of this course is on policy, the "settled course of action to be followed by a government agency or institution" (Patton and Sawicki 1993 66), in stewarding freshwater within the landscape. Sneddon et al. (2002 664) explains that water ...is simultaneously a prerequisite for all life forms on earth, a crucial agent of change in human affairs, and a fulcrum of diverse social interests. It is, at times, the focal point of intense contestation. At other times, it is the hub of cooperative resource management. Water is unique in the ways it supports, links, and is embedded within complex networks of physical and ecological processes, and in the ways it is configured and reconfigured through political, discursive, economic, and technological processes. It is arguably the most salient element of connectivity in the local to planetary continuum of ecological and social systems. Yet despite the universal characteristics of water, the precise path of its transformation and use by human societies is highly contingent on historical and geographical context. Throughout this course we will question what should be the focus of studying water policy. Should the emphasis be on the processes by which policies about water in the landscape are made, implemented and evaluated or should it be on the substantive content of policies affecting water in situ and the impacts of those policies on water as a resource or how to share the benefits derived from water? Should the stress be on the relations between actors, such as legislators, analysts and stakeholders or should it be on the why, when, how and which policy knowledge actors use? What are the options for advancing our understanding and the practice of developing, implementing and evaluating policies about water? The questions of what are core themes in water policy and how to investigate them are indicative of the evolving debate over whether water policy is a distinct field of inquiry or is a testbed for theory and practice of the broad field of public policy. How much of the study and practice of water policy is a function of distinctive attributes of water and solutions that reflect these distinctive attributes? How much of the study and practice of water policy is dictated by the broader political climate, overarching institutions and forms of governance? The varying answers to these questions contribute to explaining the range of what is regarded as the "gold standard" in water policy relevant scholarship. Two programs for English & Film Studies majors sponsored by the English Undergraduate Advising Office 1. Preparing for Graduate School in the Humanities - September 19th, please see attached flyer for more details 2. Freshman Advising Event - October 24th, please see attached flyer for more details. We plan to offer Engl 200H Introduction to English Studies in the spring semester. This section of our introductory, required major course will emphasize how to get involved with opportunities to work closely with our faculty members on innovative research in English Studies. Council on Undergraduate Research: The Council on Undergraduate Research hosts a Registry of Undergraduate Researchers. The purpose of this registry is to facilitate matchmaking between undergraduates who have research experience and a desire to pursue an advanced degree, with graduate schools seeking high quality students who are well prepared for research. The Registry is open to students and graduate schools in the fields of Anthropology/Archaeology, Arts/Humanities, Biology/Biochemistry, Business, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Economics, Education, Engineering, English and Linguistics, Environmental Studies, Geosciences, Health Professions, History, Journalism and Communications, Mathematics/Computer Science, Physics/ Astronomy, Political Science, Psychology, Social Work and Sociology. Any undergraduate may go to http://www.cur.org/projects_and_services/registry/ to fill out a simple information form. Students may also elect to complete a longer curriculum vitae form. There is no charge to the student and records will be made available to bona fide Graduate Schools that contract with CUR for this service. Organizations or companies seeking the students' information for other marketing purposes will not be granted access. Graduate School representatives may contact students to invite applications or visits to the campus and laboratory, or to share information about their research programs and financial support opportunities. Graduate schools may provide a link to their websites, and may provide a short description of opportunities, such as research fields and fellowships. Our hope that students who are currently in their junior year will register now, but anyone with undergraduate research experience may register at any time. Students will be able to update their listings as appropriate, to include any summer research experience or information about Senior Theses and test scores. CUR believes that this service will be a great benefit for both students and graduate schools by narrowing the search for the right match. Should you have questions, contact: Robin Howard Senior Director, Membership Services Council on Undergraduate Research 734 15th St NW Suite 550 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 783-4810x203 Laura Cockson Scholarship: On Saturday, March 14, 1998, Laura Cockson was killed when a car, whose driver was under the influence of alcohol, struck the car in which she was riding. This $500 scholarship is awarded yearly to a student(s) who works to promote healthy decision-making and responsibility with regard to use of alcohol among students. The on line application can be found at http://asun.sincerityinc.com The scholarship deadline is Friday, September 28th at 4pm. Semester in Wales: UNC Wilmington is accepting applications for the annual Honors Semester Study Abroad Program at Swansea University offered through UNCW. We invite students to apply for the UNCW semester in Wales (Swansea) for the spring 2013 term. The program is accepting applications for students interested in taking the Swansea Pre-Semester course or participating in an incredible internship (3 credit hour equivalent), taking a regular semester of course work from the Swansea University Catalog (12 credit hour equivalent), and a two-hour honors seminar for credit. The internship provides a remarkable experience working with an organization that is tailored to the students' research and career interests. For more information, please contact Leslie Hossfeld, Professor of Sociology (hossfeldl@uncw.edu) or Ms. Kara Pike, Assistant Director of Education Abroad (pikek@uncw.edu) with any questions. Reminder about computer lab policies: -The Honors Program computer lab is for the use of Honors Program students only. Students who are not members of the Honors Program should use other computer labs on campus, regardless of where they live. Please cooperate with this policy. -If the toner is out in one of the printers or if another problem with the printers or the lab arises, please inform the main Honors office. -If you have difficulty printing, save your work and restart the computer before reporting a problem. -Remember you must provide your own paper for the lab. -Please be considerate of the other students working on computers hooked to the printer you're using in order to work out the printing jobs successfully. -It is wise to put contact information on flash drives; in the event you leave one in the computer lab, someone will be able to return it to you. -To open PDFs and other documents from Blackboard, you may need to use Internet Explorer, not Firefox. -Please take precautions to prevent the spread of germs: use hand sanitizer before and after using the lab computers.