A Message From The Dean

Welcome Back!! I hope that your break was relaxing and followed a successful Fall semester. As we begin our Spring semester, I would like to remind you of a few upcoming events in the WHC.

Akron Roundtable

Once again the Williams Honors College has purchased a table for the Akron Roundtable Luncheon, to be held Monday, January 27 at 11:30am. This month's speaker will be Sherrod Brown, the senior United States Senator from Ohio. In his talk “Desk 88 – Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America,” he will tell the story of eight Senators who previously sat at the desk he currently occupies on the Senate floor, highlighting their contribution to American society. Also, on March 19 the Williams Honors College will partner with the Roundtable to welcome John Urschel, a former NFL player for the New York Giants and current doctoral student in Mathematics at MIT. The monthly program begins with lunch at noon, presentation at 12:20 p.m. and concludes by 1 p.m. If you would like to attend, please email your interest to Peggy Walchalk at peggy1@uakron.edu as soon as possible.

Honors Advantage

The WHC will be kicking off the Honors Advantage program this semester. The Honors Advantage is a program designed to encourage students to participate in events and experiences that will help define their college and Honors experience. How do you experience The Honors Advantage? Earn points by participating in events, speakers, and activities on campus. Obtain 2000 points to graduate with The Honors Advantage medallion. All current WHC students should be enrolled in a course titled The Honors Advantage on Brightspace. Students must log your points by completing the survey through the link in the Announcement section of the Honors Advantage Brightspace site. Events not listed may count towards your Honors Advantage points. We will accept events from fall semester as well. More information and details will posted on Brightspace. Please contact Sarah Psihountakis with any questions about the program. 330.972.6261 or sas107@uakron.edu.

Research Workshop

The UA Libraries are once again holding a series of workshops, providing practical examples and activities to strengthen your research skills and maximize your use of library resources. These workshops are targeted to you, helping to prepare you and get you started with your Honors Research Project. The workshops will be held every Monday from 4:00-5:00pm in the Jacobson Honors Common Room, beginning January 27. To register or for more information please visit our website.

Honors Commuter Association

Do you like playing games? Do you like having a good group of friends? Do you like to have fun? If you answered YES to any of these questions, then the Honors Commuter Association, HCA for short, is just for you! We meet on a weekly basis and we play either a card game or board game for about an hour to an hour and a half. This hour is a great stress reliever! You should come on down to the Honors Common Room and join us! If you can't stay the whole time and can only come for a little while that is OK! We still haven't decided which day and time we'll meet during the Spring 2020 semester, and that's where you come in! If you are interested in joining us, please fill out this doodle poll! It is also not unheard of for this group to do activities during the weekend! If you have any further questions, please email Jake Waller at jaw279@zips.uakron.edu. Please fill out the doodle poll by the January 20th and send Jake an email. Jake will determine the best time from the doodle poll submissions and relay that to all who participated and the honors college shortly after. Despite the name, this group is open to all students but is an active group specifically designed for honors commuters... so tell your friends!

The Ben Auburn Award in Cultural Criticism

The Williams Honors College is pleased to announce this year’s Ben Auburn Award competition, which provides an opportunity to win $500. This competition stimulates the production and recognition of works of cultural criticism—broadly construed—by any undergraduate student attending The University of Akron. The award competition will be held in April 2020, but its always a good time to think critically about the world around us.

Walk-in Advising Hours

Our WHC advisor, Kim Roy, has walk-in advising hours available on the following days/times for January 2020. To schedule an appointment for all times outside of walk-in hours please call 330.972.7966 or 330.972.4198.

Again, welcome back to campus, and if you need anything or have any questions about the above announcements please do not hesitate to reach out to me at quinn@uakron.edu or stop by my office in the Honors Complex.

Regards,

D. Dane Quinn