The Honors College would like to acknowledge all Honors students who participated and received awards in recent conferences: At the Alpha Chi Convention in Washington, D.C.: Hailey Hendricks Amanda Stephens Tina Johnson Angela Fogle Andrew Brown Julia Taylor Jeffrey Wooliscroft received a regional scholarship Kristen Brehm won Best Presentation   At the Phi Alpha Theta Convention in Orlando, FL: Savannah Weeks Abigail Fransen won Best Undergraduate Paper   At the Pacific Sociological Association in Oakland, CA: Tessa Cave                    Barrett Corey                  Wes Robbins Samone Smith             Courtney Tee At ACU’s Undergraduate Research Festival: The award for Outstanding Oral Presentation in the Social Sciences was given to: Courtney Tee                    Barrett Corey                 Wesley Robbins Brie Heinrich The award for Outstanding Oral Presentation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics was given to: David Marolf           Jeffrey Wooliscroft       Tina Johnson Kayla Holcomb The award for Outstanding Poster Presentation in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences was given to: Claire Tyrrell The award for Outstanding Oral Presentation in the Arts and Humanities was given to: James Churchill Other participants include: Annie Bailey                    Maggie Mcalister          Michelle Weidenaar Savannah Weeks            Kylie Wilson                   Soo Hun Yoon Kristen Brehm                Paul Carsten                   Hannah Hamilton Lauren Selensky             Andrew Brown               Samone...

Don’t Take Oxford For Granted One of the major draws to study abroad is the amount of travel you get to do. And it is by all means worth it. Just on my semester we had people go to Ireland, Greece, Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Austria, France, and the Czech Republic, not to mention our class trip to Spain. Each of these places are amazing and beautiful. They are filled with ancient architecture, a fascinating history, and a life-changing glimpse at a foreign culture. However, sometimes with the focus being on which far-away place to go next weekend, Oxford gets forgotten. Don’t take Oxford for granted. This is the home of Oxford University and its 38 distinct and unique colleges. The City of Dreaming Spires. A place where the likes of John Locke, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot, Stephen Hawking, Margaret Thatcher, Hugh Grant, and Emma Watson have all walked. Don’t overlook this beautiful treasure in the attempt to see the “bigger and better” of Europe. Don’t take Oxford for granted. Make sure you admire the buildings along the road you walk past every day. Stop for a cup of coffee in that cute, local cafe you keep meaning to, but always pass. Walk through parks as often as possible. Find a favorite restaurant with that one meal that you back to all the time. Go study out of the house on benches in parks, random cafes, or quiet spaces. Never go a day without leaving the house. Never opt to do something you can do at home or in Abilene over something unique to Oxford (studying and homework not included of course). Why watch a movie at home when you can explore some of the best museums in the world? Why spend your...

The JAM experience was unlike anything that I have ever experienced in my whole life. It was hard to truly call this experience completely integrated because we were only in each destination for two weeks, but it was the best attempt at integration in such a short amount of time. During these six weeks, we were introduced to three different cultures and religions. While exploring these contexts, I came in with an open mind and through this I was able to see the truth, goodness and beauty in each of these narratives.  The truth in the words of the children at Oasis and Dr. Azumah when he spoke on the five faces of Islam. Goodness in the hearts of the couple from House 244 and in the mind of Fred.  Beauty in the mountains by Poblet and the canopy walk we did in the rainforest. There were of course negatives aspects to each of these points of view that I did not line up with just like every point of view. This trip was the final experience that solidifies my beliefs and approaches to life. I am proud of the way that I currently view the world, and I look forward to continuing the adventure.  Justice was the number one theme that I saw in every place that we visited. In England, there was no shortage of NGO’s doing incredible things. From Oxfam to VIVA, there were all sorts of organizations trying to make an impact in the world. I especially appreciated the Oasis school who mostly works on preventing future problems for kids. I especially appreciated that they did not just work on the child, but also, they worked on the family system that the child lived in. I was glad to have seen programs...

            Truth, goodness, and beauty. Those are certainly worthwhile things to seek in this life. So much of what I learned from Justice along the Meridian (JAM) came from being exposed to incredible people who’s ways of life are chock full of truth, goodness, and beauty. There’s a quote attributed to St. Augustine that says “the world is a book, and those who do not travel have only read the first page.” I always liked that quote, but now I think now I really understand what he meant. To travel is to expand your mind further than you could have ever dreamed before. To travel with an open heart is to undergo the incredibly humble task of reckoning with the jarring idea that your culture might not have a monopoly on truth, goodness, and beauty. To get outside of my white, American, Christian bubble and to be thrown into a different context was an incredible gift for which I will be forever grateful. “Never forget the grit, the grind, the hard times, the dirt. Always remember the poor people even though it makes your heart hurt.” In this excerpt from Lemon Anderson’s slam poem “Poor People”, I’m reminded of the obligation that comes with the gift of travel. To have an experience like this obliges you to really wrestle with different realities than you’re used to. To encounter marginalized and vulnerablepeople. To wrestle with the ideas and worldviews you encountered along the way. It obliges you to go looking for hard questions, and to refuse to be satisfied with easy answers; answers that don’t challenge your preconceived notions about the way things are. JAM was an incredibly formative experience for me. It challenged me with the reality that the world is a beautiful and terrible...

I studied abroad in England and Germany for three weeks during Maymester. The study abroad trip was through the JMC department and the trip was led by Dr. Kenneth Pybus. The class was Communication Law. Our communication law class primarily focussed on the 1st Amendment and its application to mass media today. Additionally, the class attempted to relate Christian principles to media ethics and legal situations. The communication law class was undoubtedly enhanced by the study abroad experience. Europe, particularly Germany and England, has a rich history of mass media and communication law. While abroad, we visited the Oxford University Press, All Souls College, the British Library, the Gutenberg Press, Wittenberg, and other important historical landmarks in mass communication. These extra-curricular excursions enhanced the class by bringing our historical and legal texts to life with concrete details and experiences impossible in the classroom at ACU.   In addition to the scheduled class trips, we were able to take two weekend trips with classmates. The first weekend four of trekked to Edinburgh, Scotland for three days and explored the city. The second weekend I explored London and the Oxford-area on my own. In addition to the weekend trips, I regularly wandered around Oxford and the surrounding countryside. Although the class excursions were great experiences and educational, my best memories were from Edinburgh and solo wanderings through the streets of Oxford. Classrooms and museums are great, however when I am in a new place I prefer to wander the streets, alleys, and parks. And so, that is exactly what I did every morning and afternoon before our evening lecture. I walked through dimly lit alleys, under overpasses, across grassy fields, next to streams, and around busy squares. I walked so much that the only pair of...

            Before this trip I loved getting to know people from other countries and trying new things, but being in another country changed my perspective on America. This trip abroad provided the perfect capstone to my time in Dallas with the Justice and Urban Studies Team by exploring ways that others are dealing with poverty and making connections with people who are different than me. Being in England was the first shock—this completely different world from mine is normal to the English people! Leaving Texas with its Christian culture behind, I saw for the first time what it looks like for Christians to be the minority. We met a couple, Katherine and Chris, who exemplify the counter-cultural Jesus move. Similarly to my experience in Dallas last year, they have chosen to live intentionally in a community house in order to make meaningful change through relationships. The way of life in Spain was far more relaxed than Oxford, and I loved my interactions with people and getting to practice communicating in Spanish. Our time at the Poblet Monastery in Spain was a time of reflection. Incredibly, men have prayed and sung in those halls since the twelfth century. Attending mass and evening prayers felt like joining in with those who have gone before me. After conversing with Spanish speakers, I am even more motivated to absorb as much as I can from my current Spanish class at ACU.   Spending two weeks in Ghana was emotionally and physically taxing. I had never seen this kind of poverty on such a huge scale. The lack of power, water, and paved roads were a few of the discomforts of living in Ghana. People live their whole lives outside—there is no a.c. and windows stay open. I was...

JAM has provided me with the ability to speak about other worldviews in a more nuanced way. Before this trip, I had very little understanding of both Catholicismand Islam. I believed that this was a detriment to myself and to my understanding of other people groups and cultures. How is a person fully able to live an integrated life when he or she does not understand the religious beliefs of several billion of the world’s population? Through learning about Catholicism, and visiting a monastery, I was able to better appreciate the deep and rich history of Christianity. I learned that it is important to slow down, and to appreciate the world around us. Sometimes the best way to love others is to take care of ourselves. I also learned, through both humanism and Catholicism, the importance of role models. The Catholic Church looks at Saints, and holds them up as examples of how to live a good life. Likewise in humanism, much of how to live a good life is gleaned from people who have lived before us. It is easier to be a moral person if one studies history rather than just focusing on one’s own whimsical feelings. Community and knowledge are needed if one wants to seriously evaluate his or her life. This trip had taught me that there is beauty in every place and in every person. Different religions and cultures, no matter how dissimilar to my own, have something to offer. Each group of people that we came into contact with had different ways to exemplify love and justice. In England and Spain, the environment, public health and green space were of particular importance. In Africa, the people that we met were so friendly. That culture promotes family unity, and...

This summer, I spent all of June in Leipzig Germany. It was truly a life changing experience. I instantly fell in love with the city, the culture, the food, and the people. Since I have been back, so many people have asked me what my favorite part was. I could tell them about some of my experiences. I really enjoyed visiting Berlin and learning about the history of the city. I spent my birthday watching silent films in the park behind our apartments. A few friends and I went to the lake our last night there and watched the sun set over the water. Once it got dark we watched the stars while singing worship songs. I got the chance to swing dance with a German man in his restaurant to a Frank Sinatra song. All of these experiences have a very special place in my heart and are memories that I will never forget, but I cannot pick just one of them as my favorite. I finally started telling people that my favorite part about the trip was the city of Leipzig itself. It is a pretty big city, with a population of over 520,000 people, but I never felt like I was in that big of a city. Everyone rides the trams or their bikes, so there is never any traffic. The city is so clean and anywhere there is room to grow something, there will be something growing. People there are kind but not talkative unless they have to be. It was just the most unique place I had ever been to. I fell in love with it more and more every day. One thing that my friends and I talked about while we were there is how the city really...

  Justice Along the Meridian has been an incredible, eye-opening experience that has without a doubt changed everyone who was able to go on the trip. I know for myself that my conceptualization of religion, faith, and what it means to participate in the world has vastly shifted. Above all, this new understanding of the world and the phenomenal people in it is colored by a more loving, true depiction of God. I will illustrate this through a brief description of three places we visited in England specifically. While traveling, justice and the good fight against injustices has been expressed in just about every person or group I met. The trip to the area in Oxford called Barton was an awesome experience. I felt like I was being introduced to a British JUST of sorts. The people who integrated themselves in the community did it in a way that is relational and permanent, instead of a form of charity that focuses more on placing a Band-Aid on a problem rather than working from the inside out in reshaping what it means to live with one another and participate in life alongside each other. One of the group leaders, Robin Peake, spoke with knowledge that comes from experience in living one’s life out communally. He discussed his beliefs and the utility and beauty in joining together in a church setting where people can discuss what they believe and participate in church while feeling accepted for who they are, where they are. Our group was also fortunate enough to tour the Oxfam headquarters and learn more about what they do from the inside. Oxfam is a community-based organization that is internationally exhibited throughout seventeen organizations and worked in over ninety countries in order to find and create...

  I studied Social Psychology and The Psychology of Ideology abroad this summer in Leipzig, Germany for a month. Using the money from the Honors travel grant, I also visited Barcelona (Spain), Brussels (Belgium), and Amsterdam (The Netherlands) during the free travel week. The month went by incredibly quickly, and I was back home before I knew it. I expected it to feel much longer, and while I was excited to get back home and see my family, I was not quite ready to leave Leipzig. I did not expect to love the city so much, and I really miss being there with all of the people I got to know. However, I am planning on going back one day, maybe to live for a couple of years. Besides loving Leipzig, I loved being in the middle of the history that we were learning about in class. Being able to connect concepts from Social Psychology and the Psychology of Ideology to the different things from World War II and the Cold War era made it so much more real, and not just conceptual. It made for a kind of hands-on learning experience that was really enjoyable and at the same time very effective. And while I had learned about World War II and the Cold War in history classes before, being able to visit the sites and monuments dedicated to remembering those times made it so much more real. It was not just some far-off place that you saw only in history textbooks; it was real, and people really suffered and died or were forced to live under an oppressive government in these places. At times that realization was almost overwhelming, but I am so glad that I had the opportunity to experience it. Something that bothered me throughout the trip was that a lot of times, especially in...

Each semester, we offer a variety of 1- or 0-hour short-format Honors courses called colloquia. These classes, taught by professors in every discipline cover fun and engaging topics. Honors colloquia are typically very interactive, and are often discussion-based experiences. All Honors students are required to complete two of these colloquia during their time at ACU in order to graduate with Honors. Students are eligible to register for these courses once they complete 30 hours. See the link below for descriptions of all the exciting Honors Colloquium offerings for the Fall 2015 semester. Honors Colloquium Offerings Fall...