Spring 2020 Alumni Newsletter

In Honors Seminars, Learning Happens Inside AND Outside the Classroom

Discussion-based seminars have long been a hallmark of the University Honors Program, but increasingly, the faculty teaching Honors seminars are finding ways to take students' learning beyond the classroom.

From a neuroscience-focused Zombie walk timed for Halloween, to tagging fences around Lincoln with positive (and temporary) street art, to attending a conference at U.S. Strategic Command as part of Dr. Tyler White's "You MAD Bro? Mutually Assured Destruction, Deterrence, and Assurance" seminar on the politics of nuclear weapons, Honors students have had many opportunities this year to put what they're learning in their seminars into practice in new and exciting ways.

One of many such examples is the advertising and public relations seminar, "I'm Not Buying It: Examining Truth and Deception in Advertising" taught by Prof. Patti Harney, Honors Faculty Fellow for the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. In Harney's Fall 2019 class, first-year students had the opportunity to examine the effects of ubiquitous advertising in a way that transcends the disciplines of marketing or communications.

With the help of guest faculty and visiting professionals, Harney helped the students navigate complex ethical dilemmas. Dr. Andy Bohart, for example, discussed with the students how to evaluate medical advertising and see through claims that, though legal, might not necessarily be ethical – a conversation that was particularly valuable for pre-health students, according to Harney. Other guests spoke about the ethics of political communication, social media algorithms and online ads, and personal dilemmas they had encountered in their own careers.

When not learning from industry professionals, the students spent much of their time in class debating questions such as "where is the line between pulling on heartstrings and emotional manipulation?" and considering the impact of messages on specific audiences and society at large.

For their final project, students were asked to put what they had learned into practice by developing their own advertising campaign. In small groups, they were tasked with developing a campaign for the Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools (FLPS) to raise money while navigating the sometimes sticky question of how to solicit funds in a way that was ethically sound. Through a field trip to Lincoln High School and meetings with Wendy Van, President of FLPS, the students researched and designed their advertising strategies, concluding with a final opportunity to pitch their proposals to the Foundation.

According to Harney, the class projects are already having a real-world impact on students: "The Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools is actually moving forward with one of the class campaign ideas, 'Be A Mom To More,' so students are thrilled to see how their research and strategic thinking will work in the real world."

Brynn Fuelberth, one of the first-year students behind the campaign ultimately selected by FLPS, appreciated that the lessons learned in this Honors seminar extended beyond the fall semester:

"This class was a great introduction into what the world of advertising and public relations has to offer, and altogether just an interesting class. Our final project was a perfect way to apply the variety of topics and methods that we had discussed throughout the semester to a real life situation. It gave me experience and insight I see in my life every day and continue to use in many other classes."

Honors Program Collaborates with UNL's New Center for Transformative Teaching

By partnering with UNL's new Center for Transformative Teaching, the Honors Program seeks to provide students with even more great experiences inside the classroom.

The Center for Transformative Teaching (CTT) collaborates with educators across departments and programs to promote evidence-based, inclusive, innovative, and effective teaching for all learners. CTT staff provide leadership and support for the enrichment of teaching and learning by focusing on evidence-based pedagogy, best practices, and the appropriate integration of learning technology in online, blended, and face-to-face classrooms.

This fall, UNL hired Nick Monk to be the director of the Center for Transformative Teaching. Nick came to UNL from the University of Warwick in England where he was Director of the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning and a Professor in the Department of English.

The Honors Program is collaborating with Nick and his team at CTT in many ways. In addition to providing workshops for Honors faculty and students, Nick and his team are providing crucial mentoring for students leading Honors Afterschool Clubs.

Our most exciting news: in August 2020, our offices are collaborating to create two positions for Postdoctoral Associates in Teaching Innovation and Interdisciplinarity. Honors Teaching Associates will spend half of their time working with the CTT, where they will research, learn, and practice pedagogy. They will spend the rest of their time implementing their ideas and new approaches in the University Honors Program, where they will teach and pursue an interdisciplinary research project of their own design. This amazing collaboration will allow these Postdoctoral Associates to expand the Honors Programs transdisciplinary research and pedagogy.

We are grateful to Nick and the CTT for helping make faculty and students better teachers and learners!

Honors Program Introduces New Experiential Tracks

I'm Jordan Soliz, a new Honors Program faculty fellow and a professor in the Department of Communication Studies, where my teaching and research focuses on how people talk about and across difference in a variety of personal and community settings. Engaging others in a manner that acknowledges and respects their experiences and worldviews—especially for those from marginalized communities—is important for creating more equitable communities, addressing important social issues, and enhancing well-being for those in our communities. Therefore, I am extremely excited about the opportunity to assist in facilitating the Civic Leaders Honors Track starting in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Honors Experiential Tracks are a new initiative available for students in the 3rd and 4th year of the program, and the purpose of the Civic Leaders track is to "cultivate a lifelong habit of civic engagement." Through their coursework, co-curricular activities, work and civic opportunities, and engagement with community leaders, students in this Honors track will "develop skills for collaborating with various community groups, dialoguing across differences, and utilizing professional competencies to improve quality of life in communities." Through shared coursework and other activities, our aim is to create a community of civic leaders that will last beyond their time at the university.

In addition to working with faculty and staff in the Honors Program and community leaders as part of the Civic Leaders honors track, I will be teaching the Honors 395H seminar, Dialoguing Across Difference. In this course, students will learn about and engage in the processes and formats that facilitate constructive outcomes when talking with individuals from different social identities (e.g., race-ethnicity, religion), worldviews, and political ideologies. Students will also have the opportunity to develop programs that can be used to facilitate discussions on important social and civic issues in the campus and local community.

I am extremely excited about the future of the Civic Leaders Honors Track as well as the other tracks offered to students in the Honors Program.

Nebraska Honors Teams Up to Offer Test Prep, College Readiness Curriculum

It is no secret that most high school students cringe at the thought of sitting through hours of standardized test preparation. Preparing for standardized tests like the ACT or SAT for college can be a tedious process -- even for a student who understands the value of college and the importance of these tests for their admission and scholarships. However, for a student who does not envision themselves going to college, test preparation is often be written off as a waste of time.

To address what some call "the motivation gap" around standardized tests, the University Honors Program is partnering with Beyond School Bells to create a summer program called "Elevate: College Success Bootcamp." Elevate will be created, led and implemented by Honor students. The purpose is to get rising high school juniors more engaged in test prep through a program that is interactive and hands-on. Honors students will not only bring more passion to the process, but they will also serve as role models. This "near-peer mentoring program" will not only inspire more high school students in Nebraska, but Elevate will help Honors students gain additional leadership skills. The program will be piloted this summer in Grand Island and Lincoln high schools and will equip students with much more than just basic test taking strategies; it will help them to develop a vision for what college could mean for them.

The curriculum for Elevate will be developed through a design intensive with 6 Honors students, along with the help of facilitators from Beyond School Bells. John Baylor, one of the biggest names in test prep, will serve as a consultant for the project. Students from a wide range of disciplines will come together to create activities and lesson plans that will make test-prep fun and engaging for younger students.

Dr. Tawana Grover, Superintendent of Grand Island Public Schools, and a member of the University Honors Program’s external Friends of Honors advisory board, emphasizes the critical need for novel approaches to test preparation and college readiness:

"UNL continues to be a strong partner with Grand Island Public Schools in recognizing that the excitement and preparedness for college starts long before graduating from high school. I applaud the program for connecting with our district and providing innovative solutions to expand the reach of the UNL expertise into Grand Island."

Part of the Honors Program’s goal for this summer is to have current Honors students from Grand Island and surrounding school districts return home to facilitate the Elevate curriculum, a move that Dr. Grover appreciates:

"It's special to have UNL students from Grand Island Senior High come back and inspire current high school students and show them that they, too, can succeed in college. The UNL students understand the experiences the current GISH students have because they were in the same place not that long ago."

New Honors Course Explores "The Science of You"

Hi, my name is Troy Scheer, and I am a second year Nutrition and Health Sciences major in the Honors Program. This semester, I am serving as a learning assistant (LA) for a new Honors course called "The Science of You." The objective of this class is to help students better understand the various factors that shape who they are. Each week, we dive into topics that range from diet and social media use to emotional intelligence and family influence. Each 75-minute class session involves solo and group activities with time for discussion that pushes students to think critically and share their ideas with the class.

There is no textbook for this course; instead, students are assigned scholarly texts, articles, and videos each week before class, and tasked with bringing their newfound information and personal experiences to the lecture, where we explore the topics with greater detail. Each week we challenge students to use systems thinking to realize how each aspect of their lives is intertwined, and help them to understand the complexity of those connections more fully. Homework challenges students through thought-provoking assignments that ask them to explore on their own before coming to class. These assignments aim to document information like food or social media intake or even daily emotions. These assignments have received praise from the students in helping them better understand each aspect of their day-to-day life that they would have otherwise overlooked.

This class has, without a doubt, helped me better understand the science behind who I am, but it has also pushed me in ways I couldn't have imagined when I first started. Earlier this semester, I was tasked with leading activities and conversations during the class period. This challenge pushed me to examine my abilities as an undergraduate student and recognize how I could use them to my benefit as I led the class. After much planning and preparation, the class activities and discussions I led were a success.

As a learning assistant, I work behind the scenes with several Honors faculty members to facilitate the development of the course curriculum. Becoming an LA has not only made me more involved with the Honors Program, but has also allowed me to find a place where my input is valued and my hard work noticed. No other organization or department on campus has provided me with the same opportunities as the Honors Program. Volunteering as a teaching assistant has introduced me to new responsibilities inside and outside the classroom, while pushing me to improve my public speaking and lecturing skills. I am thankful for receiving the opportunity to work closely with Honors faculty and to be an active participant in my fellow peers' education. The experiences I have gained during this semester alone will go a long way in propelling me to become the best student leader possible.