Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Honors@Georgia Southern Honors College Spring 2012 Honors @ Georgia Southern University Honors Program Students and Staff, Georgia Southern University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honorsgsu Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation University Honors Program Students and Staff, Georgia Southern University, "Honors @ Georgia Southern" (2012). Honors@Georgia Southern. 1. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honorsgsu/1 This magazine is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors@Georgia Southern by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HonorsGeorgia Southern @ Spring 2012, Volume 4 Honors in Albania HONORS @ Georgia Southern From The Director STAFF International experience and global perspective are critical Kelsey Keane components of a college education today. Recently, the Uni- English, 2014 versity Honors Program sent seven students and two profes- Co-Editor sors to Albania and several other locations in the Balkans. This site was chosen because it provides an excellent opportunity Writer to examine the ways in which people address healing in post- Photographer conflict and post-communist societies. Like any post-conflict society, Albania grapples with how to approach its past. Our students explored that past with Albanian university students, Paola Robelo NGOs and with people who experienced these troubled times. Graphic Design, 2014 There is a proud tradition of honors education at Georgia Southern University. For the past thirty years, hundreds of Co-Editor honors students have been challenged by their professors and Design and Layout by their talented peers as well. I am proud of this tradition of Photographer excellence. In recognition of this milestone, we will host the “Thirty Years of Honors” reunion event October 20 and 21, 2012. Details about the event are included in this issue and more details about how to register are on the honors website. Contributors I hope to see many of our students, ourV alumni,ER your families as well as our current and NretiredI professors at this Sevent.I It Natalie Demarko Dr. Steven Engel promises to be a greatU occasion to renew old friendships andT Journalism, 2013 to start new ones. Y Director, University Honors Program As always, NI hope you enjoy this issue of Honors @ Georgia H Southern. R O Molly Laughlin E Political Science, 2011 Sincerely yours, N PAGE 4 H Spring 2012 Issue Steve Engel OJordan Logue T Biology, 2013 R CONTENTS U ColleenS McNally Journalism, 2014 MissionO Statement P S The University Honors Program provides a small college atmosphere in the context of a large compre- R hensive university. The program is designed to foster the development of a critical sense of inquiry, a spirit E. Feagin Oliver FEATURES A of creativity, a global perspective and an ethic of civic responsibility. A hallmark of the program is the em- O English, 2015 phasis on bringing ideas to life through undergraduateI research, experiential learning and service-learning Albania opportunities. The University Honors Program at Georgia Southern University rests on a foundation of the G onors 4 H G f following ideals that are inspired by the institution’s emphasis on engaged learning. Taylor Tyson s o ar e R Y R Writing and Linguistics, 2015 y t r i Two Generations A h y T t O i s 9 M r E e Critical Sense of Inquiry Spirit of Creativity v i n Honors students will explore a variety of approaches Honors students G will embrace the idea that creativity U n PAGE 26 to research designed to foster the pursuit of knowl- is a virtue that should be experienced by all students, Dr. Steven Engel 0er 30th Anniversary th edge. Students will develop the ability to question regardless of discipline. This spirit involves a respect Ge Sou 26 3orgia Director with a healthy skepticism toward accepted opinion. for different ways of knowing and an openness to in- The culmination of the undergraduate experience is tellectual discussion and challenge. University Honors Program an independent research or creative project designed to exemplify a critical approach to inquiry. Global Perspective 29Honors Annual Report Honors students will develop a perspective which Dr. Francis Desiderio Civic Responsibility allows them to approach their chosen discipline Honors students will demonstrate an ethic of civic from an international point of view. This outlook Associate Director responsibility and exemplify the motto of the pro- involves the critical exploration of global concerns University Honors Program gram, “Humility before Honor.” Students will be andgeneration of proposed solutions to internation- challenged to use their abilities and talents for the al problems. Honors education provides this world- DEPARTMENT advancement of humanity and the pursuit of a great- wide perspective through academic courses, study er good. The primary vehicle for the expression of abroad opportunities and co-curricular experiences. civic responsibility is through service both to the Honors in Action university and the community. 16 Cover Photo: Elijah Anderson emerges from a communist-era bunker in Albania. PAGE 9 PAGE 16 2 • Honors @ Georgia Southern • Spring 2012 www.georgiasouthern.edu/honors • Spring 2012 • Honors @ Georgia Southern • 3 and isolationist past. I was absolutely terrified when we went underground into a tunnel, and it definitely pro- vided me with a memory I will keep with me the rest of my life!” sophomore Elijah Anderson said. Dr. Amy’s class on narrative memory explored many of the challenges regarding how people grapple with the trauma of the communist era. In fact, it can be argued that the communist pow- ers did not just tell people what to believe; rather, they altered their thought process used to interpret the world. The students realized the current effects and implica- tions of this worldview as they discussed the past with Albanians during their visit. While much of the trip was spent in official class related activities, the group also had a few opportunities to re- At the ruins of Apollonia lax, including spending a luxurious two days on the Greek island of Corfu. This ing the ethnic genocide of the late 1990s. the NATO intervention in the 1990s, and time was spent debriefing from the lec- The lasting impact of that era was the deployment of NATO peacekeeping ture topics and swimming in the icy wa- especially evident in the city of Mitrovica forces in Kosovo, the country achieved a ters of the Adriatic. The trip to Corfu also when the students, accompanied by local degree of independence, but is still only facilitated interesting class lectures by Dr. Kosovar journalists, witnessed the illegal recognized by half of the world’s countries. Wiegand concerning the nature of inter- blockade of major roadways. Dr. Wiegand’s The ethnic Albanians in Kosovo Honors Study Abroad Experience national borders and national identity. class directly addressed relevant issues of were the most compelling part of the ex- Several days after the stop in nationalism and territorial boundaries as perience as senior Ashley Boyer recounted. Corfu, the group had traveled all the way these blockades are used to separate eth- “The people of Kosovo are the most to the Northern border of Albania and nic Albanian populations from the Ser- resilient and kind people I have ever crossed into neighboring Kosovo. Having bian ones that still reside in Kosovo. The met,” she said. “Every single person Kelsey Keane outside one of the bunkers only gained independence in 2008, Koso- case of Kosovo provides a perfect case ALBANIA study on nationalism and territory as it in Kosovo was affected by the Milo- Multiple study abroad programs ranges juxtaposed against miles of scenic those living in communist Albania from vo is one of the youngest countries in the sevic regime, yet no one remains a take thousands of American college stu- beaches and the blue water of the Adriatic 1976 to 1991 during the time of Dictator world and in some areas still exhibits the endured ethnic conflict over questions of dents to Europe every summer, and rarely Sea was breathtaking as they visited the Enver Hoxha. Rarely seen by even Alba- tensions that played out so violently dur- sovereignty and self-determination. After victim of their past. Their strength can a trip to Europe be described as going cities of Butrint, Saranda, and Shkodra. nians themselves, the tunnels are an eerie and commitment to facilitating fu- off the beaten path. However, in a Euro- Throughout the trip, the group reminder of a traumatic history much of ture change are evident in all areas of pean country less traveled is exactly where met other students as well as public offi- Albania struggles to forget. In addition to their lives. The stories of the people seven University Honors Program students cials, artists, architects, and people from the tunnel networks, the entire country is journeyed on a three-week trip based out local nongovernmental organizations. They peppered with several hundred thousand from Kosovo will remain with me of Albania. It is believed to be the first pro- spent some days exploring the ancient ru- communist-era bunkers which were built and forever have a place in my heart.” gram of its kind in the region. Students Eli- ins of castles, prisons, and fortresses, eating to provide protection in case of an invasion. Not only were the places the group jah Anderson, Ashley Boyer, Cady Ennis, traditional foods and regional specialties, “Built in a paranoid fervor these visited extraordinary, the people who shared Kelsey Keane, Molly Laughlin, Chelsea Me- and holding seminars on topics such as bunkers and tunnels serve as a living their time and knowledge of the region also narrative, memory, and self-determination.