ANNUAL REPORT

HONORS PROGRAM AND VISITING SCHOLARS COMMITTEE

2002-2003

 

The highlights of our honors year began from an outstanding Fall, 2002 Honors Colloquium coordinated by Professor Lynn Pasquerella (Philosophy) and Professor Larry Rothstein (Political Science) on the topic of "Genetic Technology and Public Policy in the New Millenium." Headline speakers included Barry Scheck, best known as the DNA expert on the defense team of the O. J. Simpson trial and now for the Innocence Project, Christopher Reeve, well known for playing Superman and now best known for his advocacy on behalf of spinal cord injury, and Dr. Oliver Sacks, award winning author and neurological physician whose work came to world attention in the movie Awakenings when he was played by character actor, Robin Williams. We also brought to campus as the URI Foundation Distinguished Scholar a remarkable address by Dr. Louis Menand on the significance of The Cat in the Hat in relation to post-World War II culture and defense policy. The highlight of the year on the honors student side was an end-of-year day-long conference featuring the work of a record number of seniors completing senior honors projects, thirty-five, and a record number of seniors completing the honors program, thirty-three.

In more routine matters, the Honors Program and Visiting Scholars Committee continued to offer a wide range of stimulating Honors courses, promote scholarship opportunities, sponsor undergraduate research projects, and provide financial support for noted scholars to come to URI for special presentations to students, faculty, and the public. A brief informational report describing specific activities of the Committee for 2001-2002 follows.

A. Eligibility Standards for 2002-2003

The standards of eligibility for students to participate in Honors Program course work continue to be the same: Freshmen must have graduated in the top 10% of their high school class or present a letter of recommendation from their principal or guidance counselor. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors must have earned a 3.2 QPA. Under special circumstances, these requirements may be modified with permission of the Director.

B. Courses and Enrollment

During the Fall, 2002 semester, the Program offered twenty-one Honors courses in addition to Senior Honors Projects and Administrative Internships: twelve 100-level courses, the 200-level Colloquium, six 300-level tutorials, and two 400-level Senior Seminars. In the Spring, 2003 semester we offered twenty-four Honors courses in addition to Senior Honors Projects and Administrative Internships: nine 100-level courses, ten 300-level tutorials, and five 400-level Senior Seminars. Student enrollment in Honors classes was 365 during the Fall, 2002 semester and 313 students during the Spring, 2003 semester. These figures are based on post-drop mid-semester rosters. For Fall, 2003, twenty-two Honors courses in addition to Senior Projects and Administrative Internships will be offered totaling 480 seats.

The Honors Program office keeps a data base of students who are participating in the Honors Program during their undergraduate years, which for 2002-2003 included the classes of 2003-2006. 882 registered URI undergraduates in these class years have participated in Honors courses during their undergraduate career, bringing the program above the national norm for participation which is to involve at least one-fourth of Honors-eligible students in Honors course offerings. These numbers are fairly stable with a slight increase from the 2001-2002 academic year, though having more than tripled since the 1996-97 academic year and introduction of the Centennial Scholars Program.

C. Faculty

During the 2002-2003 academic year, the following URI faculty members taught Honors Program courses: College of Arts & Sciences: Professor Mark August (Communication Studies), Professor Sharman Brown (Communication Studies), Professor Mary Cappello (English), Professor Linda Davidson (Communication Studies), Professor Lynne Derbyshire (Communication Studies), Professor Alain-Philippe Durand (Languages), Professor Victor Fay-Wolfe (Computer Science & Statistics), Professor Cheryl Foster (Philosophy), Professor David Gitlitz (Modern and Classical Languages and Literature), Professor Frank Heppner (Biological Sciences), Professor Galen Johnson (Philosophy), Professor Leonard Kahn (Physics), Professor Sandra Ketrow (Communication Studies), Professor James Lewis (Mathematics), Professor James Loy (Sociology/Anthropology), Professor Lisa McClure (Communications Studies), Professor Richard McIntyre (Economics), Professor Arthur Mead (Economics), Professor Elizabeth Miles (English), Professor Alinda Nelson (Communication Studies), Professor Ronald Onorato (Art), Professor Lynn Pasquerella (Philosophy), Professor Nedra Reynolds (English), Professor Lawrence Rothstein (Political Science), Professor Arthur Stein (Political Science), Professor Judith Swift (Theatre), Professor Michael Tammaro (Physics), Professor Gerry Tyler (Political Science), Professor Walter Von Reinhart (Modern and Classical Languages and Literature), Professor Jean Walton (English), Professor Robert Weisbord (History), Professor Thomas Zorabedian (Development). College of Human Science and Services: Professor George Willis (Education). College of Nursing: Professor Carolyn Hames (Nursing). College of Business Administration: Professor Charles Hickox (Management). College of the Environment and Life Sciences: Professor José Amador (Natural Resource Science).

The following faculty have been selected to teach Honors Program courses during the 2003-2004 academic year: Professor Mark August (Communication Studies), Professor Charles Collyer (Psychology), Professor Nancy Cook (English), Professor Lynne Derbyshire (Communication Studies), Professor Patrick Devlin (Communication Studies), Professor Alain-Philippe Durand (Languages), Professor Victor Fay-Wolfe (Computer Science & Statistics), Professor Cheryl Foster (Philosophy), Professor David Gitlitz (Modern and Classical Languages and Literature), Professor John Grandin (Languages), Professor Frank Heppner (Biological Sciences), Professor Galen Johnson (Philosophy), Professor Peniel Joseph (History), Professor Leonard Kahn (Physics), Professor Valerie Karno (English), Professor James Lewis (Mathematics), Professor Lisa McClure (Communications Studies), Professor Naomi Mandel (English), Professor Richard McIntyre (Economics), Professor Arthur Mead (Economics), Professor Elizabeth Miles (English), Professor Arthur Stein (Political Science), Professor Judith Swift (Theatre), Professor Michael Tammaro (Physics), Professor Gerry Tyler (Political Science), Professor Walter Von Reinhart (Modern and Classical Languages and Literature), Professor Daphne Wales (Communication Studies), Professor Robert Weisbord (History), Professor Thomas Zorabedian (Development). College of Human Science & Services: Professor George Willis (Education). College of Nursing: Professor Carolyn Hames (Nursing). College of Business Administration: Professor Chai Kim (Management Information Systems). College of the Environment and Life Sciences: Professor José Amador (Natural Resource Science), Professor Roger LeBrun (Plant Science and Entomology).

With the support of the Office of the Provost, Deans, and Chairs, twenty members of the URI faculty currently hold three-year limited joint appointments between the Honors Program and their home departments. These faculty members are providing a stable core for Honors course offerings and planning. Those holding limited joint appointments with Honors are: Professor José Amador (Natural Resource Science), Professor Lynne Derbyshire (Communication Studies), Professor Victor Fay-Wolfe (Computer Science & Statistics), Professor Cheryl Foster (Philosophy), Professor David Gitlitz (Modern and Classical Languages and Literature), Professor Carolyn Hames (Nursing), Professor Frank Heppner (Biological Sciences), Professor Charles Hickox (Management), Professor Galen Johnson (Philosophy), Professor Leonard Kahn (Physics), Professor Sandra Ketrow (Communication Studies), Professor James Lewis (Math), Professor Richard McIntyre (Economics), Professor Lynn McKinney (Education), Professor Arthur Mead (Economics), Professor Ronald Onorato (Art), Professor Arthur Stein (Political Science), Professor Judith Swift (Communication Studies), Professor Gerry Tyler (Political Science), and Professor Walter Von Reinhart (Modern and Classical Languages and Literature).

Additional Honors courses continue to be solicited each year from the entire URI faculty, and nominations for additional three-year limited joint appointments will commence in Fall, 2003 to become effective Fall, 2004.

D. Honors Colloquium

As highlighted above, Professor Lynn Pasquerella (College of Arts & Sciences, Philosophy) and Professor Larry Rothstein (College of Arts & Sciences, Political Science) coordinated the Fall, 2002 Honors Colloquium, "Genetic Technology and Public Policy in the New Millennium." The list of outstanding speakers began with the Fall University Convocation address given by Dr. George Annas, Chair of the Health Law department at Boston University's School of Public Health. Among others, additional speakers in the Tuesday evening Colloquium series were Barry Scheck, Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York and Director of the DNA Innocence Project; Philip Reilly, CEO of Massachusetts' Interleukin Genetics, Inc., and past president, executive director, and COO of the University of Massachusetts' Shriver Center for Mental Retardation; Dr. Richard Rhodes, Professor of Animal and Veterinary Science at URI; Dr. Troy Duster, Professor of Sociology at the University of California-Berkeley and New York University; Albert Kausch, Director of Research for HybriGene and a Professor of Molecular Biology at URI and Connecticut College; Dr. Dan Brock, Professor of Philosophy and Biomedical Ethics at Brown University and Senior Scholar in the Department of Clinical Bioethics at the National Institute of Health; Dorothy Wertz, Research Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Senior Scientist in the Division of Social Sciences, Ethics, and Law at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Foundation; and Dr. Oliver Sacks, renowned neurological physician and writer.

Honors Colloquium special events included a staged reading of the play titled The Twilight of the Golds held at the URI Providence campus, as well as a truly remarkable and brilliant art exhibition that drew much comment in the press, "Translations/Transgressions," which was curated by Judith Tolnick in the Main Gallery of the URI Fine Arts Center, an installation of contemporary art from emerging and recognized artists thematically touching on themes of genetics, DNA, and biotechnology. The exhibition also included a display case on the history of eugenics culled from books owned by the URI Library. A full-color catalog for the exhibition, written by Judith Tolnick, was sponsored by Winifred Brownell, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

In addition to financial support from the Honors Program, major grants in support of the Fall, 2002 Honors Colloquium were made by the Providence Journal, URI Foundation, Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities (RICH), Office of the President, Office of the Provost, and Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences. Additional sponsors included the URI Multicultural Center, Theta Chi Fraternity, the URI Student Entertainment Committee, the John Hazen White Sr. Center for Ethics and Public Service, and Matritech. Through the assistance of Dean Winifred Brownell, College of Arts and Sciences, and Thomas Zorabedian, Senior Devlopment Officer, the appearance of Christopher Reeve was sponsored by the Joan Irvine Smith and Athalie R. Clarke Foundation. The evening with Dr. Troy Duster was sponsored by the URI Multicultural Center and the evening with Dr. Dorothy Wertz was sponsored by the John Hazen White Sr. Center for Ethics and Public Service. Beginning in Fall, 2002 and continuing thereafter, the Honors Colloquium is supported by a generous allocation from the President of the University.

The URI Honors Colloquium has grown into a statewide and nationally recognized forum for contemporary issues demanding scholarly attention and debate. The Fall, 2002 evening with actor and activist Christopher Reeve on October 1st discussing "Stem Cell Research Ethics" was attended by approximately 1000 people filling Chafee 271 as well as two nearby overflow rooms with video and audio feed. Major local news television stations were present as well as the print media. The URI News Bureau under the leadership of Linda Acciardo, Director of Communications, and Jan Wenzel, with the support of Robert Beagle, Vice President for University Advancement, have succeeded in achieving public visibility and widespread coverage for the Colloquium. At the conclusion of the Colloquium series, Linda Acciardo produced a booklet of the print media coverage of the Fall, 2002 Colloquium that runs 127 pages. For 2002-2003, the Honors Colloquium was also one of the top 10 clients for the URI Publications Office directed by Mary Patty.

This report takes note, with deep gratitude, of the commitment of time and work made by the Fall, 2002 Colloquium Coordinators, Professors Pasquerella and Rothstein, in conducting such an outstanding series of events and teaching the correlated Honors Colloquium class for 80 students. The Honors Program and Visiting Scholars Committee has selected for the Fall, 2003 Honors Colloquium: "The Futures of Globalization" coordinated by Professor John Grandin (Languages, College of Arts & Sciences), Professor Chai Kim (Management Information Systems, College of Business Administration), and Professor Richard McIntyre (Economics, College of Arts & Sciences). For the Fall, 2004 Honors Colloquium, the Committee has selected the topic of "Hunger," to be co-coordinated by Professor Lynn McKinney (Dean, Human Science and Services) and Professor Kathleen Gorman (Psychology; Director of the Feinstein Center for Hunger).

E. URI Foundation Distinguished Visiting Scholar

With the encouragement of Robert Coleman, Executive Director of the URI Foundation, some re-structuring of the URI Foundation Distinguished Scholar Award was undertaken. The award is now made to a scholar who has not only achieved prominence in his or her academic discipline but also has done work that has gained the attention of the educated public. The scholar is expected to give a genuinely accessible public talk. To reflect this change, the lecture by the selected distinguished scholar is now titled the URI Foundation Distinguished Address. As highlighted above, the recipient of the 2002-2003 Award, Louis Menand, Professor of English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, staff writer at The New Yorker and 2002 Pulitzer Prize Winner for History for his book titled The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America, presented a well-received and very well-attended address in early April, 2003 on "The Cat Who Came In From the Cold: Language And The Cold War."

F. Endowment and Awards

An additional gift was made to the Honors Program Endowment by Mr. & Mrs. Carroll Brown, in memory of Mrs. Brown's mother, Professor Grace B. Sherrer of the URI Department of English who gave the first Honors lecture at the University. Once again this past year, cash awards from the Sherrer endowment were made to ten outstanding Honors Program students, sophomore, junior and senior. Awards are based on GPA, steady progress toward completion of the Honors Program, and additional noteworthy achievements. Five awards were made to seniors, three awards to juniors, and two awards were made to sophomores. These were announced at the fourth annual Spring Honors Convocation on May 7, 2003.

A grant from the URI Foundation in the category of Foundation Competitive Grants ($6000) was received for updating the Honors Program brochure and web page. With the assistance of Cecilia Humphrey, URI Publications Office, a new full-color brochure has been completed, and with the assistance of Robert Pickard, URI Publications Office, the Honors web page has been re-designed.

G. Visiting Scholars

The HPVS Committee received requests totaling $4,335 for Visiting Scholars presentations for 2002-2003. Twelve awards were made, totaling $3,685; these represented a gratifying range of departments, colleges, and disciplines. Although most of the grants are of necessity for small sums, their cultural and intellectual enhancement of the community is considerable. The Committee has provided co-sponsorship with several departments and programs. The Committee always encourages applicants to seek partial funding from other sources.

H. Senior Honors Projects and Administrative Internships

The Program had thirty-five students doing Senior Honors Projects (HPR401/402) during 2002-2003. This is the highest number of senior projects in the history of the program. The previous high number had been twenty-one projects in 2002-2002 as well as 1999-2000. Some of the project titles were: "Campus Wide Diversity Initiatives: Attitudes and Beliefs at a Public University," "Reforming Welfare Reform," "Single Switch Scanning Keyboard," "A Supreme Court Ruling on Stem Cell Research Laws," "How Is Globalization Affecting International Labor Standards," "Poland &endash; Successful Transition, Current Quandaries, Future prospects," "The Cormobodity of Substance Use and Depression as a Barrier to Effective Treatment for Substance Abuse," "A Philosophically Informed Play," "The Mechanized Sex," and "The Physiological Response of Blood Lactate Concentrations to Types and Orders of Exercise."

Senior Honors Projects were presented at the second annual Honors Undergraduate Research Day on May 8, 2003. For the first time, a student conference was organized with concurrent sessions for humanities, social science, and natural science projects. In addition to the Director and two Associate Directors, the mini-conference was organized by Professor Judith Swift, and Professor Stanley Cobb assisted with facilitating the natural science project presentations. Each senior completing a project also contributed an abstract to a booklet of abstracts available in the Honors Center.

One Honors Program student served an administrative internship in the Office of Student Life under the supervision of Lorrie Miller, Assistant Director, Student Life.

I. Spring Honors Convocation

The annual Spring Honors Convocation was held on May 7, 2003, with Professor Judith Swift, of the College of Arts and Sciences, as guest speaker, and included a luncheon organized by the Honors Student Advisory Board. The Sherrer prizes were awarded (cf. section F above) and Senior Honors Projects were presented in the form of a booklet of abstracts prepared by the students. Grateful appreciation was expressed to the twenty-five faculty sponsors of senior honors projects (HPR 401 and 402). Professor Judith Swift was awarded Honors Professor of the Year for 2002-2003.

J. Honors Program and Visiting Scholars Committee

The members of the Honors Program and Visiting Scholars Committee during the past year were: Professor Cheryl Foster (Philosophy), Professor Richard McIntyre (Economics), Professor Valerie Karno (English), Professor Edmund Boyle (College of Business), Professor Michael Vocino (URI Library), Professor Robert Felner (Education), Professor Michael Rice (College of the Environment & Life Sciences), Professor Lynn Pasquerella ex officio (Philosophy), and two Student Senate appointees.

K. Honors Student Advisory Board

The Honors student board has now been in existence for five years. Benjamin Leveillee, 2004, served as President (succeeding his older brother, David Leveillee, 2002) and Lori Facer, 2003, was Secretary-Treasurer. The student board of ten to twelve undergraduates was very active throughout the year in organizing campus-wide social issues forums. Two of these were panels discussing the then-pending war with Iraq. These were in November, 2002 and February, 2003. A December panel was postponed due to a snow storm. The first panel was particularly poignant and well-attended by the student body with press coverage in the Providence Journal, Narragansett Times, and Good Five Cent Cigar. Panelists included Professors Thomas Grigalunas (Environment and Natural Resource Economics), Lt. Col. Paul Krajeski (ROTC), Annu Matthew (Art), Richard McIntyre (Economics), Arthur Mead (Economics), Arthur Stein (Political Science), Judith Swift (Communication Studies), and Alvin Swonger (Pharmacy), as well as Melvin Wade, Director of the URI Multicultural Center and Professor William Martel of the Naval War College, Newport, RI. Honors Program Director, Galen Johnson, served as moderator for the panels. The honors students applied for a grant in support of the social issues forums from Massachusetts Campus Compact in the category of "Student Civic Engagement Dialogues." The grant was not received but the group was encouraged to re-apply in 2003-2004.

L. Major Scholarships

Under Professor Cheryl Foster (Philosophy; Honors Program Associate Director), the National Scholarships Office continues to make its home in the Honors Center. Dr. Foster reports the following activities for 2002-2003.

OVERVIEW

 

 

ASPECTS OF RECENT APPLICATIONS

Two crucial points should be stressed about scholarship activity during the last year.

 

CHALLENGES

 

2002-2003 National Fellowships &endash; Nominations, Finalists and Winners (with majors noted)

Rhodes

Bryan Bannon, Philosophy (semifinalist)

Johnathan DiMuro, German and Chemical Engineering (semifinalist)

Sarah Groleau, History (semifinalist)

 

Marshall

Sarah Groleau, History

Carter Johnson, History

 

Gates

Johnathan DiMuro, German and Engineering (finalist)

Carter Johnson, History

 

Fulbright

Jennifer Hurtubise, German (winner)

 

Truman

Gregory Hughes, Computer Science (winner)

Tom Angell, Psychology (Finalist)

Bethany Toole, Political Science and Spanish

 

Udall

Adam Zitello, Environmental Science and Management (winner)

Kelly Hanks, Environmental Science and Management

Martina Muller, Wildlife Conservation and Biology

 

NSEP Boren

Brendan Franzoni, Political Science and History (winner)

Adam Croce, Economics

Robert Hanson, Political Science

 

Prize Grant, Cambridge University Centre for Economics and History

Carter Johnson, History (winner)

 

Mitchell

Bryan Bannon, Philosophy

Amanda Condon, Sociology

 

Mellon

Bryan Bannon, Philosophy (finalist)

Metcalf Grant

Marie Ventura, History (winner)

 

NCAA Postgraduate

Natalie Popowicz, Exercise Science

 

A-10 Postgraduate

Natalie Popowicz, Exercise Science

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Galen A. Johnson

Honors Director