Explore. Create. Experience. Minnesota State University Moorhead Honors Program.
Honors
NEWSLETTER
Fall 2016
Letter from the Director elcome to another great year to be a Dragon in Honors here at MSUM! Our program continues to grow and attract a greater number of outstanding students to campus. More than a dozen graduating seniors completed the program last year and were awarded the Golden Stole by President Blackhurst during the Spring Banquet. And this fall’s freshmen class was at record levels for the fourth year in a row. Faculty involvement in Honors is growing, too, as demand for more honors classes increases. For the second year, we offered an honors-section of First Year Experience (FYE), and the number of Honors 102 Encounters sections continues to grow with faculty from across campus serving as instructors. Students this year can choose
traditional honors seminars such as Masterpieces in Literature, as well as new honors courses like Censorship in American Literature. We continue to foster collaborations across disciplines with non-honors speciality classes offered through other departments including The Nature of Science (Philosophy) and Natural Disasters (History). And new this year we are working with the NDSU Honors Program to promote and encourage students from both schools to take honors classes in each program. Outside of class we always have fun in honors, with signature activities including our Fall Picnic, Classic Movie Nights, private guided tour of the Rourke Art Museum, and annual spring trip. Our three previous trips involved travel, including to the Minneapolis Guthrie Theatre, continued on page 2...
Explore. Create. Experience.
An Interview with Dr. Thomas Hanson By Alheen Mahmud, Economics & Political science homas Hanson went to St. Olaf for undergraduate studies. He was initially interested in majoring in music, but found his calling with math. After graduating St. Olaf with a double major in math and economics, Dr. Hanson acquired his MBA in the University of St. Thomas and proceeded to work on earning a masters degree in statistics in NDSU. He then earned his Ph.D. in finance at Kent State in Ohio. After teaching one year at Cleveland State University, Dr. Hanson moved here to teach at MSUM as a finance professor, and has been with us for two years now. Dr. Hanson recently co-authored a book with his colleague from Walsh University titled Quantitative Research Methods in Translation and Interpreting Studies. This book, mainly intended for graduate studies, combines statistics with translation and interpreting. The book has been well received by graduate universities. Dr. Hanson got involved with the Honors Committee and is working with two Honors Apprentice students. As a child of two teachers, Dr. Hanson really found his place as a professor and loves working with his students. He is working with two students to understand the causes and background of individual and the resulting effect of their understanding of financial literacy. Expanding on that topic, Dr. Hanson is working with the students in understanding the behaviors of financial literacy. Dr. Hanson enjoys collaborative work with students, and wants to focus his efforts on helping students become academically successful. The Honors Apprentice and Honors program provide a great opportunity, not only for the students, but for him to get to know the students better and to help them reach their full potential academically. In the future, Dr. Hanson hopes to enhance student knowledge and research skills with all possible resources including the Honors programs as well as the Financial Management Association. Peter Olson (Finance) and Jenna Kalthoff (Finance) will be traveling to the Academy of Business Research conference in San Antonio to present two research papers related to financial literacy. Peter’s research focuses on the influence of families, communication, and privacy on the development of financial literacy. Jenna’s work examines the outcome of financial literacy, exploring whether people make better investment decisions when they have stronger financial knowledge. Both of them are working with Dr. Hanson in the finance department this year and are active members of the student organization FMA (Financial Management Association).
Letter from Director continued... Institute for Art, and the Soudan Underground Mine. But this past year we stayed in town and opted instead for some “mental exercise”. Student and faculty teams competed to solve a series of puzzles to unlock the secret of the Fargo Escape Room. New this year, the Honors Newsletter is packed with more student stories and news than ever because we are now including highlights from student Honors Apprentices! The Honors Apprentice (HA) is a competitive scholarship awarded through the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid at both the freshmen and upper level. Students are matched with a faculty mentor providing a valuable opportunity for collaboration and achievement. The range of projects is impressive and spans nearly every major, so I’m confident you will enjoy this new part of the Honors Newsletter. Finally, the Honors Program is pleased to announce that four students were selected to receive new Honors Program Scholarships for 2016-17. The Honors Program looks forward to continuing to offer these scholarships in the future and thanks the donors and alumni that make these awards possible. Have a great year everyone! Dr. Elizabeth Nawrot Honors Program Director
Minnesota State University Moorhead Honors Program
Stefan’s Corner with Program Assistant Stefan Nelson, Math Student Research Profile: Kate LeBrasseur Early Childhood Ed
I spent last year working with my adviser, Lisa Stewart of the Psychology Department, and two of her psychology students. We are currently wrapping up the study we conducted last year. Our study looked at math vocabulary and the effects of direct math instruction with pre-K/preschool children. The study lasted six weeks, with two interventions in class and one take-home activity each week. We are currently wrapping up the study and computing our results.
ello fellow Dragons! I am incredibly thankful to have gotten my job as the new Honors Program Assistant this semester, as this program helped to make my first couple of years at MSUM as amazing as they were! With next semester almost here, I wanted to some quick pieces of advice. When choosing which 3 Honors seminars to take (which are in addition to Colloquium and Capstone), keep in mind that they all fulfill LASC goals of some sort. For example, our Honors section of HIST 372: Natural Disasters, qualifies as a LASC 5, 10, and a writing intensive class. I would highly recommend taking this course since it’s an interesting topic and it addresses three goals! Take it from me, the Honors Program is what you make of it. Our program is both a vessel to explore a variety of different subjects and a community of individuals who share a desire to make the most out of their college experience. Take advantage of these! Broaden your horizons through these unique classes and Encounters events and meet some incredible individuals along the way. When I was a freshman, for example, I went to almost all of the Encounters events just for the sake of learning something new. Later on, I used my Honors contract work to start a research project in astronomy, and I also became a member of the Honors Executive Council. Some students see Honors as another item on their list of things to do: I offer that it can be much more than that. Have a great final half of the semester!
Student Research Profile: Tara Kennedy Graphic Design/Graphic Com
For my project I am working with Graphic Communications professor Alex Fogarty. I am currently documenting web design and graphic design trends from when printing technology first began its history to our current state of media on handheld and desktop devices. My job is to predict what design trends will occur next based on the research I have done.
Student Research Profile: Ashely Borchardt, Math My name is Ashley Borchardt, and I am currently working with Dr. Adam Goyt in the mathematics department to create a math history course that satisfies the teacher licensure qualifications for math education majors and the honors program level of rigor and interest. This class, not yet named, is focused on the concept of Equations that Changed the World. In this class, we plan to have a handful of equations that were central to the advancement of mathematics, and the whole of society, and their impact on the world. The class will be primarily project and activity based, as well as highly interactive. We hope to interest students who may not typically enjoy a mathematics course, by showing them a whole new side of mathematics. Our hope is to have our course on the schedule for the spring 2018 semester, so check it out as one of your potential Honors seminars!
Honors Program 1104 7th Avenue South Moorhead, Minnesota 56563
Student Research Profile: Chelby Ward, Elementary Inclusive Ed/Special Ed
Honors Scholarship Winners Honors Alumni Scholarship Nicole Olson (Graphic Design)
With the assistance of my advisor, Keri DeSutter, I am working on a project about the Title I program in education. Title I is a federal program that provides financial assistance to public schools which are serving high concentrations of students who live in low-income families. The financial assistance given is to aid public schools in lowering the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. Currently, I am researching literature on how Title I is implemented in the schools and the Title I services provided to the disadvantaged students. Eventually, I will be observing at the public schools in our area to collect data and compare the results to my literature review. I am looking forward to this great opportunity!
The John Chisholm Endowed Scholarship Shannon Galegher (Biology) The Henry and Carol Raff-Stevenson Scholarships were awarded to Alexis Schmitz (Psychology) and Aleta Sanford (Business).
Student Research Profile: Aschalew Chamiso Physics/Math Minor My research project is on biological application of Atomic Force Microscopy. Atomic Force Microscope is a powerful tool that helps us to study surfaces of various types of samples in air and liquid mediums. Recently, it is widely used to study biological samples like DNA, proteins, and many other parts of the cell. I continued my project at NDSU in Dr. Yongki Choi’s lab and currently we are imaging various proteins including collagens and attachments of MMPs (matrix metalloproteinase) on collagens. This will help us understand the mechanism the MMPs work in different biological and chemical processes in our body.
Honors Program 2017 Schedule of Classes Spring 2017 Hon 102 Encounters Hist 372 Natural Disasters honors-section (LASC 5 & 10) Hon 341 Unpacking the Legacies of War NDSU/tri college
Send news and story ideas to: Website: mnstate.edu/honors Office: MacLean 374C Email: honors@mnstate.edu Phone: 218.477.4104 Director: Elizabeth Nawrot, nawrot@mnstate.edu
Hon 496 Capstone (LASC 9/WI)
DATES TO REMEMBER: ▸ October 17 – registration for Spring classes begins ▸ November 14 – “Night at the Museum” private tour of the Rourke
Assistant: Stefan Nelson, nelsonste@mnstate.edu Honors Learning Community Mentor: Akira Shastri, shastriak@mnstate.edu
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▸ December 6 – Last day of class- turn in final Hon102 reflections and return Hon course contracts ▸ December 15 – Commencement
Minnesota State University Moorhead is an equal opportunity educator and employer and is a member of the Minnesota State system.