John Martinson Honors Program

February 10, 2025

Newsletter link: https://mailchi.mp/19f181675bbf/this-week-in-honors-feb-10-2025

• From the Director
• This Week in Honors
• Advising Updates
• Service Updates
• Honors Student Association
• Outside of Honors

From the Director

Friends,

I hope you are having a good weekend. Hard to believe we are headed into week five of the spring 2025 term: if you have big exams this week, good hunting on them!

 I’ve been having a pretty chill weekend—doing some cooking and some reading. One of the things I have been reading is Spring Snow (1968) by Mishima Yukio (1925-1970). Mishima was one of the great novelists and public intellectuals of Japan’s Twentieth Century. He was interested in creating new forms of life and expression, new forms of art and politics, that were rooted in the past yet adequate to the contemporary age, assembled from both East Asian and European resources. Spring Snow is set in the Japan’s Taisho Era (1912-1926); the Taisho is an era of transition and liminality. Japan is modernizing and industrializing; in a remarkable act of reinvention, it is incorporating European ideas and practices into its economy, society, politics, and culture. That work introduces discontinuities and conflicts into Japan: an old world dying and new one struggling to be born. Mishima’s novel explores those tensions and conflicts, by focusing on a wealthy eighteen-year old boy—Matsugae Kiyoaki—a member of an old samurai family that has acquired new wealth: “ominously handsome and a dreamer, so arrogant yet so prey to anxiety.” As Kiyoaki struggles with coming of age, falling in love, trying to figure out who he is and what he wants to do with his life, his struggles to forge a future for himself mirror those of Japan at large. Mirrors are powerful images in the novel; Kiyoaki gets lost in them. He wonders what and who he is: where he ends and society begins. Here is a part of an exchange he has with his best friend, Honda:

I was struck by this exchange. It made me think of our times, our styles, our personalities. We, too, seem to be at an inflection point, struggling to shed limits from the past, while witnessing an unimaginable future being born. What truly belong to us and what to the cultural ‘fishbowl’ within which we swim? What part of our action, our behavior, belongs to us? How much is the product of our unique choices and how much depends on the fact that we all “will be carried inexorably into the mainstream of our period, even though we’re unaware of what it is …. We’ll all be lumped together.” As I have been reflecting on this exchange, I have been thinking about the world around me and trying to practice epistemic humility—trying to foreground the range of experiences of which I am ignorant. That changes, for me, the way I encounter the world and others: with less judgement, but with more openness.

On a more concrete note, I wanted to provide you a brief update about the capital development project that has been approved for the John Martinson Honors Program. Mr. Martinson’s gift will allow us to build a new suite of offices and spaces on the east side of Lovejoy Library’s Third Floor. The Martinson Honors Suite will have offices for the faculty and staff of the Program as well as ample spaces for students to study and work, individually or collectively. It will house the John Martinson Honors Collection—a collection of books that support honors education being developed in collaboration with Lovejoy Library. It will allow us to highlight the work and achievements of past, current, and future honors students and faculty. Aligned with the design plan and aesthetic vision of Gyo Obata (the architect who designed the master plan for SIUE and all of the original buildings, including Lovejoy Library) the suite will be open and dynamic.

The plan was developed in the second half of last year. It was approved by the SIU Board of Trustees in November 2024. It will be sent out to for a bid in the next few weeks. Our hope and aim are to have a contract in place by the end of March so that construction can begin before the end of the Spring 2025 term. If we are fortunate, we will be moved into our new space by the beginning of Fall 2025. As we get better at organizing our communication, moving the JMHP into the new suite will allow it to become the central hub of the work of honors education.

Last week, I highlighted Aman Pai. This week, I would like to solicit from you work and achievements that should be highlighted. If you or a friend who is an honors student has done something, is doing something, will do something that deserves to be highlighted, please email me directly (eruckh@siue.edu) and tell me about it (subject line: JMHP student highlight) . I want to know you. Part of my work is to sing your praise.

 Here is hoping for some substantial and beautiful snow on Wednesday!

 Have great weeks!

Cheers!

Eric

This Week in Honors

SUPER IMPORTANT!  We need volunteers for Friday, February 21st.  Sign up for a partial shift or all day.  This counts as on-campus service hours, and you'll get a free t-shirt.  We can't make this event happen without you!

• VERY IMPORTANT! We're gathering information on students interested in pursuing health-related professional programs after graduation.  If this applies to you, please take a moment to complete the survey here: https://siue.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5hwUWXkRR8nnSBM
• Prof. Kamper has a book club!  Read Socrates Express  and discuss Feb. 19, Mar. 19, and Apr. 16 from 4:00pm to 5:30pm.  Sign up here!

Advising Updates

• If you are planning to graduate in Spring 2025 or Summer 2025, you will need to apply for graduation!  The deadline is March 1^st, but we always suggest that students complete the application before beginning their last semester.  By applying before the Spring semester begins, it gives time to fix any issues before you begin your last semester courses.  Waiting until the last minute to apply could cause unnecessary stress, especially if the course add/drop deadlines for the semester have passed. 

   After you apply, the graduation office will email you a written evaluation of what you need to complete in order to graduate based on your DegreeWorks evaluation.  Your Academic Advisor will also receive a copy of the evaluation.  It is wise to review your DegreeWorks evaluation before applying to ensure that you are declared the way you intend and that there are no outstanding issues that need to be addressed with your Advisor or with the academic department.  Please contact your Academic Advisor immediately with any issues.    

   If you are planning to graduate in Summer 2024, there is no Summer term commencement ceremony.  Students can choose to participate in the Spring commencement ceremony (with 9 credits or less to complete in Summer term) or the Fall commencement ceremony.  Summer term graduates should apply before the Spring semester begins to ensure eligibility to walk in the commencement ceremony.   

   You will apply for graduation on CougarNet.  After logging in, click on “Student” and “Student Records”.  You should then see the option to apply to graduate. 

   You can find more information here:https://www.siue.edu/registrar/services/graduation/applying-for-graduation.shtml

• Advising appointments are available on Starfish for Summer/Fall 2025.  Sign up now!
• Pre-work before advising is now available: https://www.siue.edu/provost/honors/advising/forms.shtml
• Drop-In Advising for quick questions and support with your advisor can be done in-person or virtually.
  • Ian In-Person Wednesdays 9:30-11:30
  • Carol & Meagan Digital Drop-In Wednesdays 1:30-4:30
  • Tisha In-Person Wednesdays 2:00-4:00
  • Everyone In-Person Fridays 2:30-4:30

Service Updates

SUPER IMPORTANT!  We need volunteers for Friday, February 21st.  Sign up for a partial shift or all day.  This counts as on-campus service hours, and you'll get a free t-shirt.  THIS IS YOUR TIME TO CONTRIBUTE

Honors Student Association

• Calling all investigators! The HSA Escape Room is coming up quickly, with this year's theme being Murder Mysteries. Will you be able solve the puzzles and answer the mysteries before time runs out? Registration is officially open. Not interested in putting your investigation skills to the test? Check out the opportunities for service hours! With any questions, please contact dhindri@siue.edu 
  • Volunteer Sign Up: Help run our escape rooms the nights of the event!
  • Trial Run: Get service hours helping test the escape room, but be quick! Only 16 spots are available.
• Have questions about upcoming events, HSA, or college life in general? Come talk with an HSA Representative at our Kimmel desk! This week's schedule includes Monday 3 - 4 (rep Annie), Tuesday 9 - 11 (rep Olivia), and Wednesday 11 - 12 (rep Rachel). Calendar here: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/2?cid=c2l1ZWhzYUBnbWFpbC5jb20 
• HSA is having a dine and donate event later this month with Peel Pizza! When you choose to eat locally, you will also support HSA.
• HSA is collaborating with JMHP to bring back our annual Shark Tank event. Have an idea for an honors class you wish was taught? Present your idea to a panel of faculty members with the opportunity to make your dream a reality!

Outside of Honors

• You could stay in Illinois this summer, or you could go to LONDON!  May 13 - June 23.  Earn 6.0 credit hours for IS 399 and THEA 490.  NEW - You can request HONORS credit as well through Ian at itoberm@siue.edu.  Contact Johanna Schmitz at johasch@siue.edu for the trip.  More info here.
• A letter regarding the survey:

  Hello everyone, my name is Liezel Lindo.

  I am a senior psychology major hoping to recruit Honors students for my senior thesis study. In this study, you will complete a few surveys and recall a past experience. This survey will take about 15 minutes of your time. If you wish to participate, I have the link to my study pasted below. I would greatly appreciate your participation. This research will not directly benefit you but may benefit others by furthering research on adverse mental health outcomes.

  Survey Link: https://siue.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5d40h5XeQlDCezA

  The Initial submission of protocol 2803 The Effects of Recalling Academic Failure on State Perfectionistic Concerns (PI: Lindo, Liezel R.) was approved Exempt on Thursday, January 23rd 2025 by IRB.

  Thank you for your time!

   Liezel Lindo

• Want to know more about careers in public health and advice from professionals in the field? 

   Our free, virtual Careers in Public Health Speaker Series begins Thursday, February 13th 2:00-3:15 on Zoom. Join Allie Boman, science writer and editor, to learn about careers health communication strategies and social media. Dr. Ellen Santos, Epidemiologist with the Pima County Health Department in Arizona will speak about careers as a "disease detective". 

   All students, staff, and faculty are welcome to join on Zoom https://siue.zoom.us/j/92570321566 this Thursday 2/13 at 2:00pm.

  Check out the flier for more info.  Sponsored by the Department of Public Health, Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology