What's Happening in Honors?
What's Happening Spring 2025
Watch Monday 4-1-1 Newsletters to reserve van seats for Honors group service activities
- Tuesday, January 28 Major and Minors Group Service, Student Center, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
- Monday, February 3 World Languages and Cultures Day Group Service, Student Center, 8:30 – 9:30 AM
- Wednesday, February 5 Make an Impact at Gum Drops Group Service, 6:00 – 8:00 PM *
- Monday, February 10 Honors Assembly Palentines – Celebrating Friendships, 6:00 PM, Honors Lounge
- Saturday, February 15 Food Works Kids Club Group Service at Winter Farmers Market, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM *
- Saturday, February 15 Carbondale Food Autonomy Seed Swap Group Service, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM *
- Monday, February 17 Admissions Open House Group Service, Student Center, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
- Tuesday, February 18 Make an Impact at Gum Drops Group Service, 6:00 – 8:00 PM *
- Thursday, February 20 Buckminster Fuller at Southern Illinois University, Guyon Auditorium, 5:00 PM
- Friday – Saturday, February 21 – 22 Illinois Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, Student Center, Morris Library
- Monday, March 17 Honors Assembly St. Patrick’s Day Trivia, Honors Lounge, 6:00 PM
- Wednesday, March 5 Make an Impact at Gum Drops Group Service, 6:00 – 8:00 PM *
- Friday – Saturday, March 21 – 22 Friends of Morris Library Book Sale Group Service, Fri. 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM, Sat. 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
- Friday, March 21 Touch of Nature Group Service, 3:00 – 6:00 PM *
- Monday, March 24 Fall 2025 Honors Seminars Faculty Roundtable, 4:00 – 5:30 PM
- Tuesday – Friday, March 25 – 28 Fall 2025 Honors Seminar Reservations via Signup Genius, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
- Tuesday, March 25 Make an Impact at Gum Drops Group Service, 6:00 – 8:00 PM *
- Friday, March 28 Touch of Nature Group Service, 3:00 – 6:00 PM *
- Saturday, March 29 All Seasons Farm Group Service, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM *
- Monday, March 31 Fall 2025 Early Registration via Saluki Net, 8:15 AM – 5:30 PM
- Friday, April 4 Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Group Service, 3:00 – 6:00 PM *
- Saturday, April 5 All Seasons Farm Group Service, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM *
- Tuesday, April 8 Make an Impact at Gum Drops Group Service, 6:00 – 8:00 PM *
- Friday, April 11 Touch of Nature Group Service, 3:00 – 6:00 PM *
- Monday, April 14 Honors Assembly Paint and Sip, Honors Lounge, 6:00 PM
- Friday, April 18 Admissions Open House Group Service, Student Center, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
- Friday, April 18 Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Group Service, 3:00 – 6:00 PM *
- Wednesday, April 23 Make an Impact at Gum Drops Group Service, 6:00 – 8:00 PM *
- Friday, April 25 Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Group Service, 3:00 – 6:00 PM *
- Saturday, April 26 All Seasons Farm Group Service, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM *
- Wednesday, April 30 Honors Assembly Study Jam, Honors Lounge, 5:00 PM
About Our Honors Lecture Series
Past Events Archive
2024
Spring 2024
What's Happening in Honors -Spring 2024
HCIR Student Symposium:
We are proud to host the 2024 Annual Student Symposium of the Honors Council of the Illinois Region: February 23-24, 2024. Honors students and faculty from across Illinois attended the event.
The annual HCIR Student Symposium organized under the auspices of the Honors Council of the Illinois Region was an opportunity for Honors students and faculty to meet and share the excitement and unique nature of the Honors experience. It was also an an opportunity to showcase the range of work that Honors students do -- the out-of-the-box thinking and creativity, the spirit of collaborative and community engagement -- that animates the Honors curriculum.
College of Dupage Honors Program student Angel Hernandez made a video documenting her experience going to the HCIR conference at SIUC in February 2024. This was her second consecutive HCIR Student Symposium, and she wants to make a video to encourage others to go to the conference.
The Glassman Distinguished Speaker Spring 2024:
In celebration of Black History Month and University Honor's theme for this year, Cosmos and Culture, Fr. Joseph Brown will deliver the Glassman Distinguished lecture on the imagination of the cosmos and relationship with ancestors in the Black spiritual tradition. Read More
Sankofa: Let the Songs of the Ancestors Teach Us To Fly
Talk and reception:
Tuesday, February 13, 5:00-7:30 PM
Christian A. Moe Theater, Communications building, SIUC.
Interspersed with dances presented by Darryl Clark (Associate Professor, Theater and Dance) and Dominique Atwood (Visiting Artist). See a recording
Fall 2024
The University Honors Program presents in collaboration with the School of Education - Nancy & Michael Glassman Distinguished Speaker Samina Mishra, filmmaker and author.
Professor Alan Schoen in the center with students and his work on the table. In the News
2023
Spring 2023
What's Happening, Spring 2023
Check here for events, civic engagement, and social opportunities to meet Honors students and mentors.
SIU honors students will participate in USDA-funded initiative on food and sustainability aimed at developing innovative teaching and holistic approaches relating to food, climate justice and sustainable agriculture. Read more
Honors Themed Cluster showcase:
Each year the University Honors Program explores a theme, clustering a few seminars around it. The theme for the 22-23 year is Migrations and Borders. We invite you to this interdisciplinary gathering where faculty teaching in that cluster and students whose research addresses it will share their work.
When: April 19, 2023, 3:00-5:00 PM
Where: Honors Lounge
The Charles D. Tenney Distinguished Speakers Spring 2023:
We are proud to welcome Elisabetta Matsumoto as our distinguished speaker for the Charles D. Tenney Distinguished Speaker Spring 2023 in collaboration with the Yellow Moon Gyroid Installation.
Friday, March 3, 2023
Gallery talk: 10 AM - 12 PM, Quigley Hall, Gallery 119
Presentation: 3 PM - 4:30 PM, Guyon Auditorium, Morris Library
Elisabetta Matsumoto is an associate professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her physics research centers around the relationship between geometry and material properties in soft systems, including liquid crystals, 3D printing and textiles. Her lab studies knitted textiles from the point of view of knot theory and as an additive manufacturing technique. She is also interested in using sewing, 3D printing and virtual reality in mathematical art and education. Read more
Recording of her talk and related events
We are proud to welcome Sujan Shrestha as the Charles D. Tenney Distinguished Speaker Spring 2023.
Sujan Shrestha is an associate professor at the University of Baltimore in the Division of Science, Information Arts and Technologies. His research focuses on teaching and learning through games and digital interactive technology. With a background in experimental art and new media he creates solutions for the restoration and preservation of history by means of storytelling, games and emerging technology. He established University of Maryland’s GameLab, and is an active board member for the Bridges Organization, which focuses on mathematical connections in art, music, architecture, education, and culture. Read More
Honors Faculty Showcase: Each year, the University Honors Program takes up a theme that we explore explore through our seminars and related events. Our theme for Fall 22-Spring 23 was Migrations and Borders.
Please join us to hear about the work done in our cluster of seminars.
- Wednesday, April 19, 3 - 5 PM.
- University Honors Program Lounge, Morris Library 180.
Fall 2023
What's Happening, Fall 2023 - check here for events, civic engagement, and social opportunities to meet Honors students and mentors.
The Glassman Distinguished Speaker Fall 2023:
We are proud to welcome Winifred Haun & Dancers as our distinguished speaker for
the Glassman Distinguished Speaker Fall 2023, in collaboration with the College of Arts and Media.
Friday, November 17, 7:00 PM
Shryock Auditorium, Carbondale, IL
Meet the Artist:
Thursday, November 16th, 11-12:30 PM
Honors Lounge, Morris Library, Room 180
Winifred Haun is an SIU alumna and award-winning artist, the recipient of a 3Arts and a MacArthur Foundation International Connections award. During her residency, she will hold workshops locally and present some of that work in the showcase on Friday, November 17th.
The event is free and open to the public. View the Program
It is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts
The Daily Egyptian wrote an article about Haun's return to campus
The Charles D. Tenney Distinguished Speaker Fall 2023:
We are proud to welcome Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen as our distinguished speaker for the Charles D. Tenney Distinguished Speaker Fall 2023, in collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
Chat over Coffee and Donuts: 10 AM - 11 PM, The COLA Dean's Atrium
Presentation and Reception: 5 PM - 7:30 PM, Guyon Auditorium, Morris Library
Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen, a SIU alum, and expert on xenolinguistics, will give a talk titled, "Interstellar Challenge: Would blind aliens build telescopes?"
The lecture will also be live on zoom.
The event is free and open to the public. Read more about Dr. Wells-Jensen
2022
Spring 2022
What's Happening, Spring 2022
Check here for events, civic engagement, and social opportunities to meet Honors students and mentors.
The Honors Assembly will host the Honors Research Symposium on Thursday, April 14th, 1-3 PM, Cambria, Morris Library.
Honors Faculty showcase
Each year, the University Honors Program takes up a theme that we explore explore through our seminars and related events. Our theme for Fall 21-Spring 22 was The State of Climate Emergency - The Earth and Us.
Please join us to hear about the work done in our cluster of seminars.
- Wednesday, April 13, 3 - 5 PM.
- University Honors Program Lounge, Morris Library 180.
Fall 2022
What's Happening, Fall 2022
Check here for events, civic engagement, and social opportunities to meet Honors students and mentors.
We are proud to welcome Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba as our distinguished speaker for the Fall 22 Glassman Lecture. The lecture will also be live on zoom. To register: rb.gy/5yw9qa Read more
View a recording of the lecture
Spring 23 Honors Faculty Roundtable: Faculty teaching Honors Seminars in Spring 23 share their plans for and ideas animating their choice of topic. Monday October 24, 4:00-5:30 PM.
2021
Spring 2021
Why Academics Need to be Part of the Farmers’ Protests in India?: University Honors is proud to co-host a webinar on the historic farmers' agitation currently underway in India. Other participating institutions are: University of Amsterdam, School of Cultural Analysis; University College London; British Association of South Asian Studies; and The Scholars at Risk Network.
Saturday, February 27, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
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Honors Faculty Research Series: Dr. Jean-Pierre Reed (Associate Professor, Sociology) discusses his new book, Sandinista Narratives: Religion, Sandinismo, and Emotions in the Making of the Nicaraguan Insurrection and Revolution with John Foran (Professor, Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara). The work examines the cultural, ideological, eventful, and emotional factors behind the Nicaraguan insurrection and revolution.
Tuesday, March 2, 5:00 to 7 PM.
Fall 2021
What's Happening, Fall 2021
Check here for events, civic engagement, and social opportunities to meet Honors students and mentors.
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The Honors Assembly welcomes Fall 21 with two events:
- Yoga on the lawn: Saturday, October 16th, 10-11 AM, Morris Library Lawns
- Moonlight on the lake: Friday, October 29th, 5-7 PM, Becker Pavilion and Bucky Haven
The Tenney Distinguished lecture will be delivered by award-winning children's book author, Kate Klise. She will also be workshopping writing for children in Professor Jane Dougherty's UHON seminar, Exploring Children's Literature this Fall. Read more
Reading and Reception: Thursday, October 21, 4:30-6:30 PM, Guyon Auditorium
2020
Spring 2020
Discovering Dunham: A Lecture Exploration with Laurie Goux In celebration of Black History Month, Laurie Goux will give a lecture exploration, in which she will speak about Katherine Dunham’s work as a choreographer and political activist and explore the movements of the Yanavalou, an Afro-Haitian ritual dance that Dunham drew upon in her choreography.
Thursday, February 6th, 4-6 PM, Furr Auditorium
The Tenney Distinguished lecture, Climate Change: Understanding the Role of Humans will be delivered by Dr. Justin Schoof, Professor Geography, Director, School of Earth Systems and Sustainability. Read more
Thursday, February 20th, 6-8 PM, Guyon Auditorium
Tenney Lecture 2020 Climate Change from Saluki World on Vimeo.
February 20, 2020: Interim Chancellor John Dunn signs the Second Nature Climate Commitment. This would not have happened today without the engaged leadership of students on campus and the Sustainability Office. Four Honors students are standing behind the Chancellor in this picture! Thank you, Gage Mofield, Cecilia Albert-Black, Carly Kasicki, Kirsten Gard. And, not pictured -- Jacob Bolton and Grant Depoy.
Survival Cluster Faculty Showcase: Dr. Kenneth Stikkers (Professor, Philosophy); Dr. David Lightfoot (Professor, Plant Soil and Agricultural Systems); Dr. Logan Park (Associate Professor, Forestry Recreation and Park Management); Dr. Alfred Frankowski, (Assistant Professor, Philosophy); and Dr. Jean-Pierre Reed (Associate Professor, Sociology) will present on their research-teaching about the year’s theme, Survival. Read more
Tuesday, March 3rd, 4-6 PM, Guyon Auditorium
Fall 2020
HearTomorrow: A free online lecture by Benji Kanters promotes awareness of the increasing problem of noise and music-induced hearing loss. Kanters has 45 years of experience in the music and audio industries and will present new strategies for promoting hearing conservation. Read more
Email honors@siu.edu for the ZOOM link and write “Sound Workshop” in the email subject line.
Friday, Aug. 28th, 1 -P.M.
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Book Launch: Celebrating a new anthology by Honors Faculty, Dr. Jeffrey Punske (Linguistics), coedited with Nathan Sanders and Amy Fountain, Language Invention and Linguistics Pedagogy. (Oxford University Press). Read more
Thursday, October 15, 5:00-6:00 PM with discussion to follow. To join in, request a zoom link from honors@siu.edu.
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The Fall 2020 Glassman Lecture will feature the artist, Ben Lowder. Titled, Temples of Little Egypt, the art exhibition and installation at Bucky's Haven on the SIU Carbondale campus draws together sacred geometry, ancient wisdom traditions, and the legacy of Buckminster Fuller into a holistic narrative to guide our collective trajectory toward an abundant and integrated future. Read more
Professor Jay Needham's, Nature of Sound Honors Seminar builds on Ben Loweder's installation. Listen to the seminar
Wednesday, October 28, 5:00 PM: Meet the artist virtual talk and showcase.
Several limited capacities “Meet the Artist” events will take place at Bucky’s Haven: October 27th, 28th & 29th (RSVP only). Contact Elizabeth Donoghue at elizabeth.donoghue@siu.edu for more information
2019
Fall 2019
Survival Cluster Student Showcase: Survival and the Arts (Professor Laurel Fredrickson) is having a showing of Ai Weiwei’s film Human Flow on December 5th at 6 PM In Morris 724. Innovations in Sustainability (student-generated by Carly Kasicki & Jacob Coddington); Forests and Humans (Professor Cade Bursell); and Survival Stories (Professor Pinckney Benedict) will showcase work and make presentations, on December 6th from 5:30-7:CPM in the Morris Library Guyon and Rotunda.
December 5th and 6th, 2019
Race, Rape and the Ultimate Scapegoat: In anticipation of the Department of Theater's production of To Kill a Mocking Bird. Written by Harper Lee and Directed by Segun Ojewuyi, the Honors Program hosted a discussion featuring Dr. Jyotsna Kapur (Professor, Cinema, and Photography), McCall Logan (MFA Student in Playwriting, Instructor, Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies), Caleb R. McKinley-Portee (Ph.D. Student in Communication Studies, Representative for Africana Studies), and Victoria Estes (Theater Undergraduate studying Dramaturgy and Playwriting). The title of the panel was taken from Tracey Owens Patton and Julie Snyder-Yuly, Any Four Black Men Will Do: Rape, Race, and the Ultimate Scapegoat, Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 37, No. 6 (Jul. 2007), pp. 859-895
November 12th, 4-6 PM, Morris 112
The Charles D. Tenney Lecture, Fall 2019 features a film screening and discussion with the filmmaker. Anand Patwardhan will screen Vivek/Reason a documentary epic that traces the rise of authoritarianism in India and resistance to it. A rare opportunity to meet one of the world's leading documentary filmmakers and experience the power of cinema as the maker and keeper of history on the side of struggles for democracy and justice. In the press
October 21st, 2019: Screening and discussion 4:00-6:00 PM, to be followed by a reception; Guyon Auditorium, Morris Library.
A Review of Reason by Jyotsna Kapur in Jump Cut, No. 59, Fall 2019
The Nancy and Michael Glassman lecture will be delivered by Kurt Przybilla, a celebrated inventor, and educator, known for his media-based interactive projects that teach children complex math principles. He is particularly known for his invention of “Tetra Tops,” the world’s first spinning top with more than one axis of spin, featured in the New York Times and the Smithsonian Institute.
Przybilla will speak on Fuller’s “World Game,” a concept that Fuller proposed in the 1960s here at SIUC as “…a tool that would facilitate a comprehensive, anticipatory, design science approach to the problems of the world.”
October 9th, 2019: Guyon Auditorium in Morris Library on Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., followed by a reception.
October 8th, 2019: "Build a Geodesic Dome" Join Kurt Przybilla, in constructing a geodesic dome from locally sourced bamboo in the Morris Library quad from 2:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.
October 7th, 2019: Meet the Inventor Workshop. Przybilla will conduct a workshop with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders on geometric construction, 4-5:15, Student Center Ohio Room.
In the press
Recording of Kurt Przybilla's Glassman's lecture
From Fall 2019, some University Honors Seminars have been organized around a themed cluster. Our Fall 2019-Spring 2020 theme is Survival. The Inaugural Faculty Showcase and Student Awards ceremony highlights students on their accomplishments, as well as provides faculty with the platform to share what their students are studying throughout the semester; including our first student-generated course.
October 1st, 2019: Inaugural Faculty Showcase and Student Awards, 3:00 pm until 5:00 pm, Guyon Auditorium in Morris Library
The University Honors Program collaborates with campus colleagues to celebrate a month around Labor and Art. From August 29-September 27, there will be a poetry reading, presentations, screenings, and an art exhibit. Check it out
Spring 2019
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Buckminster Fuller's Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth legacy:February 5-9, 2019:
The Honors Program collaborated with MCMA, Morris Library, Sustainability Studies, School of Architecture, and two RSOs—Sense and the Honors Assembly to organize the First Tenney Lecture of 2019 on Buckminster Fuller, especially honoring the 50th anniversary of the publication of his Spaceship Earth; a work he wrote on our campus. In fact, the Foreword to the book was written by Professor Charles Tenney.
Our main guest for the Buckminster-focused Tenney Lecture is David McConville, a media artist, researcher, and educator who serves as the Chairperson of the Buckminster Fuller Institute and is co-founder of Spherical, an integrative design and research studio based in Oakland, CA. Recording of David McConville's Lecture, An Invisible Revolution
Kurt Przybilla, from the Buckminster Fuller Institute conducted a workshop, “The Geometry of Thinking."
Patricia Ravasio, who wrote The Girl from Spaceship Earth joined us as well, introducing Fuller's ideas to students on campus.
A Month of Julius Caesar: April -May 4, 2019:
In conjunction with SIUC's Theater Department's production of Julius Caesar, Professor Avrahm Oz will deliver the keynote address. But, we have a month-long set of activities planned in collaboration with the Departments of English, Cinema and Photography, Languages, Culture and International Trade, and the Classics Club.
April 9th – May 5th, In collaboration with the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Mass Communication and Media Arts; Morris Library; Departments of English, Classics, Cinema and Photography; and three RSOs—the Africana Theater Lab, Classics Club, and the Honors Assembly.
Julius Caesar has captured the popular imagination again today. Segun Ojewuyi (Professor, Department of Theater) interprets Julius Caesar, with the working tagline "the audacity of hate" and Avrahm Oz (Professor Emeritus, Theater, University of Haifa and the Tenney Distinguished Speaker) takes his cue from Brutus, to deliver the lecture, Fashion it thus: The battle of narratives and political assassination. Both bring home the contemporary relevance of Julius Caesar and challenge us to think about the compelling power of hate, fear, friendship, and betrayal in politics and our complicity in it.
Film screening (Julius Caesar, 1953), opera singing, and discussion led by Professors Walter Metz (Cinema and Photography), Anne Fletcher (Theater), Mont Allen (Classics), and Patrick McGrath (English). A surprise addition was Briana G. Sitton, who is pursuing an MFA in the School of Music, singing from Giulio Cesare (1724), the opera by George Frideric Handel. Hosted by the Classics Club. April 9, 6:00-9 PM, Faner Auditorium Read More
Caesar and Classics Trivia and Role Play Night: UHP Conference Room (Morris 112), Monday, April 22nd from 5-7 PM. Light refreshments are provided by the UHP.
The Charles D. Tenney Distinguished Lecture: Fashion it Thus: The Battle of Narratives and Political
Assassination by Dr. Avraham Oz, Professor Emeritus of Theater at the University of Haifa, Israel. May 1st, 2019 at 4:00 PM. McLeod Theatre, Free and open to the public, Reception to follow. Read more
Caesar Salad & Julius Caesar： A Final Dialogue: Friday, May 3rd from 12:30-1:30 PM, Honors Conference Room (Morris 112). Come enjoy a bowl of Caesar Salad and talk-back with Professor Oz.
Show-times for Julius Caesar (Directed by Segun Ojewuyi):
Honors Student and Highschooler Matinee Special: May 2nd, 2019 at 10:00 AM. Free for UHP Students.
Other show dates: May 2nd, 2019 – May 4th, 2019 at 7:30 PM. Sunday Matinee, May 5th, 2019 at 2:00 PM.
Translating Shakespeare, Pre-show lecture by Avrahm Oz: Sunday, May 5, 1:00 PM. The Christian H. Moe Laboratory Theater, Communications Bldg.
Our students do us proud at the Honors Council of Regional Illinois Conference, February 2019.
Presentation titles:
- Grant Depoy and Jacob Bolton, The Saluki Spaceship Initiative: Evergreen Model
- Jessica Jurak, Improving Early Detection of Cancer Using Laser Ablation-Resonance Enhanced Photoionization Mass Spectrometry (LA-REPMS)
- Adam White, Recent Advances and Discoveries in RNAi Technology
- Abby Sellek, Insights for Developing Millennial Leaders: How to Cultivate Character and Inspiration
- Emily Buice, From Foreign to Familiar: Mac & Cheese’s Journey to America’s Comfort Food
- Rachel Stuckel, Spanish/English Bilingualism in the United States: How Cultural Awareness and Education Could Help Latinos Form a New Identity
Having the opportunity to travel with a group of intelligent and kind Honors Program affiliates was inspiring, fun, and helpful! I had fun interacting with students with diverse interests that all coalesce into aiding humanity and Earth. Happy to be here!" - Jacob A. Bolton