{"id":12759,"date":"2023-11-01T16:59:14","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T16:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/11\/01\/sparking-curiosity-students-help-faculty-build-clarks-new-honors-experience\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T14:11:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T19:11:59","slug":"sparking-curiosity-students-help-faculty-build-clarks-new-honors-experience","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/11\/01\/sparking-curiosity-students-help-faculty-build-clarks-new-honors-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Sparking curiosity: Students help faculty build Clark\u2019s new honors experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

$1 million gift from alumnus funds design year, with launch slated for fall 2024<\/p>\n\n\n

A cohort of sophomores helping faculty design Clark University\u2019s new honors experience is keeping an important question in mind: How can we create an above-and-beyond academic program that draws intellectually curious students while adhering to the Clarkie ethos of inclusivity?<\/p>\n

\"Bella
Bella Bishop \u201926 is one of 14 sophomores in a class focused on Co-creating an Honors Experience at Clark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI went to a private high school, but I was there on a generous scholarship. I wouldn\u2019t have been able to go if I didn\u2019t have that,\u201d says Bella Bishop \u201926, a first-generation college student participating in this fall\u2019s class, Co-creating an Honors Experience at Clark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want our honors experience at Clark to be diverse and inclusive and to have opportunities for as many students as there are who are eager to deepen their learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keenly aware that many prospective students are drawn to universities with honors opportunities, a faculty committee proposed the initiative<\/a> more than a year ago as part of Clark Inspired: A Strategic Framework for Our Future<\/a>. The committee suggested a \u201cdesign year\u201d \u2014 currently underway \u2014 with a proposal\u00a0 and faculty endorsement expected \u00a0at the end of January.<\/p>\n

The honors experience will launch next fall; it already is being promoted to prospective undergraduate students in the Class of 2028. An anonymous $1 million gift from a Clark alumnus is supporting the design and launch of the initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe design year start-up model is a particularly Clarkie approach that encourages students to be creative and take responsibility for their own learning,\u201d says Associate Provost Mary-Ellen Boyle, who became involved with the faculty-led process as interim dean of the college last year. \u201cIt allows students to participate in the curriculum and enrichment activities while also designing what honors might be for their future peers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upholding Clark\u2019s values
<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bishop and 14 other sophomores were recommended by their First-Year Intensive<\/a> advisors for the class taught by Juan Pablo Rivera<\/a>, associate professor of language, literature, and culture. This semester, it meets twice a week, and Rivera will continue teaching the course next spring.<\/p>\n

By mentoring students as they create the honors experience, Rivera is guided by the philosophy of \u201clet\u2019s make this happen in a way that makes sense for us as a community so it isn\u2019t some betrayal of our values, but rather upholds them.\u201d<\/p>\n

With guidance from Rivera and peer learning assistant Kacey Alcantara \u201925, the sophomores are researching other college honors programs, hoping to integrate best practices that align with Clark\u2019s values. They are considering questions like: How do you build an honors experience that does not rely on a GPA-centric approach for admission? How do you attract and select a distinct cohort of students who share a love of learning and curiosity? And how do you integrate this honors approach into the wider Clark community?<\/p>\n

More pointedly, Rivera asks them: \u201cHow do we keep it from being exclusionary and yet mean something?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe meaning of honors has changed for me since I\u2019ve been in this class. When I was applying to college, \u2018honors\u2019 seemed like this extra-academic label. But now I see honors as an all-encompassing term that focuses not just on academics, but also on community and interdisciplinary approaches and on the person as a whole. It\u2019s an enriching experience.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Kate Placido \u201926<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

To inform their work, students are drawing from assigned readings: Roosevelt Mont\u00e1s\u2019 \u201cRescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation\u201d; Lorgia Garc\u00eda Pe\u00f1a\u2019s \u201cCommunity as Rebellion: A Syllabus for Surviving Academia as a Woman of Color\u201d; and Paulo Freire\u2019s classic \u201cPedagogy of the Oppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivera emphasizes the idea of \u201can honors \u2018experience\u2019 rather than a \u2018program,\u2019 because it would be something that\u2019s more holistic in the way that students move through the University, rather than something that stands apart,\u201d he adds. \u201cI like the idea of \u2018experience\u2019 because experiential learning is something that\u2019s big at Clark. So the idea of \u2018experience\u2019 gels well with the ethos of the University.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would mean \u201cputting students in charge of their own learning and their own experience,\u201d Rivera says, \u201cwhile at the same time adding academic seriousness to ensure they are embarking on a valuable intellectual pursuit.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also suggests that \u201cthere could be certain elements of the honors experience that are required for honor students but open to everyone.\u201d These might include workshops and public lectures.<\/p>\n

Preserving and highlighting departmental honors<\/h3>\n

Clark has a long history of academic enrichment through honor societies and activities and departmental honors programs, where juniors and seniors pursue research opportunities, develop creative projects, and write theses. Currently, 14 percent of undergraduate students graduate with departmental honors, and even more receive Latin honors on their diploma.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this whole idea of having us students contribute ideas for the honors experience is excellent because we\u2019re the closest to it. It does make it a little tricky for us, though, because we\u2019re describing a program that doesn\u2019t really exist yet.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jonathan Tamen \u201926<\/strong><\/p>\n

These current honors opportunities will continue to operate alongside the new all-university honors experience, according to Steven Moon, director of special academic opportunities. Undergraduate students will be able to apply for departmental honors programs, the University honors experience, or both.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be \u2018on ramps\u2019 and \u2018off ramps\u2019 for the University honors experience. When we talked to prospective students and their families at the recent undergraduate admissions open house, we heard that this is very important to them,\u201d Moon explains. \u201cStudents will be able to apply for honors when they apply to Clark or once they get here, and if they no longer wish to participate, they can step out.\u201d<\/p>\n

To ensure that students are aware of all the University\u2019s honors opportunities, Rivera\u2019s class is conducting an audit that will help inform and populate a centralized, easy-to-navigate website.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about reinventing anything or meddling with departmental autonomy, but rather just doing a better job at advertising all of Clark\u2019s honors opportunities and cataloging what is already in place,\u201d Rivera says.<\/p>\n

Understanding \u2018knowledge production\u2019<\/h3>\n

To better understand different academic disciplines, he adds, the class is considering what \u201cknowledge production\u201d looks like across undergraduate majors, from those in the arts and humanities to the sciences and technology.<\/p>\n

\"Juan
\u201cClark is known as a place where students can come to do undergraduate research with professors. So we\u2019re looking at what research means in different fields,\u201d Professor Juan Pablo Rivera says.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cClark is known as a place where students can come to do undergraduate research with professors,\u201d Rivera notes. \u201cSo we\u2019re looking at what research means in different fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivera has invited guest speakers \u2014 faculty and administrators \u2014 into the classroom to suggest creative ways for students to pursue research and develop engaging academic opportunities, \u00a0and also explain the University\u2019s structure and how decisions get made within budgetary constraints.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been a professor for 20 years, and I am still learning how the University works,\u201d he says. \u201cWe can dream big, but we still have to work within a system that, like most universities, often moves slowly. Creating any change can take a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of Clark\u2019s governance structure, faculty committees must sign off on the all-University honors experience, so students involved in its design are remaining flexible about what the experience ultimately might look like.<\/p>\n

\u201cA GPA can only tell you so much. There are different ways to be intelligent, there are different ways to be curious, there are different ways that people interact with things. There should be room for flexibility, for collaboration, for different ways of expressing yourself, and for different ways of being seen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bianca Brezinsky \u201926<\/strong><\/p>\n

Building a community of learners<\/h3>\n

The honors experience aims to attract \u201cintellectually curious students who come together to form a learning community across majors and disciplines,\u201d Moon says. It will emphasize experiential learning beyond the curriculum and include cultural activities and field trips.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few weeks ago, we took the students to Boston to see a concert by Anoushka Shankar, a boundary-breaking sitar player,\u201d Moon recalls. \u201cThis allows the students to think about liberal education in the everyday world \u2014 about the flow of culture, about what<\/em> we teach, why<\/em> we teach it, and how students grow into global citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bishop looks forward to seeing the honors experience successfully launch. She has been deeply involved in its design not only through Rivera\u2019s class but also as the student representative on the University Academic Board<\/a>, which reviews proposed courses and academic policy changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn honors experience is not just you sitting in a classroom and wanting to do things by yourself outside of it,\u201d she emphasizes. \u201cIt\u2019s being part of a community of people who want to dive deeper into the possibilities of an education.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

$1 million gift from alumnus funds design year, with launch slated for fall 2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12760,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"#525250","story_headerImg":12760,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[223],"displayed_author":[242],"featured":[],"topic":[345,120,127,267,121],"class_list":["post-12759","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-community","displayed_author-meredith-woodward-king","topic-strategic-framework-planning","topic-student-projects","topic-undergraduate-research","topic-undergraduate-scholars","topic-undergraduate-students"],"yoast_head":"\nSparking curiosity: Students help faculty build Clark\u2019s new honors experience | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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