The National Collegiate Honors Council Conference was held Nov. 8 – 12 in Chicago, bringing together Honors administrators, faculty, staff and students from both two-year and four-year institutions. The theme of the conference, “Revolutionary Honors,” implored attendees to consider how higher education can improve tomorrow’s world by actions today, encouraging us to work to make a better world for future generations. Through various workshops and themed sessions, everyone had the opportunity to engage and learn about the principles and dynamics of the honors community.
The conference welcomed the new NCHC President-Elect, Dr. Eddie Weller, from San Jacinto College in Houston, TX. Dr. Weller brings extensive experience working with two-year and four-year institutions and seeks to strengthen the impact of an honors education for a diverse body of students. Having worked at a public community college for the over 30 years as a professor and honors director, Dr. Weller has a keen understanding of the value of supporting and promoting the undergraduate honors education.
Of the many memorable events at the conference, two that truly stood out were the Student Poster Session and the Plenary Speaker Session with Dr. Henrik Syse. I had the pleasure of serving as a judge for the poster session and was amazed by the exceptional research done by students focused in the natural sciences. This included a unique array of research projects, including the synthesis and comparison of ZnS – Europium doped and CdSe – Europium doped nanoparticle systems with the focus on biomedical imaging, the analysis of the swimming kinematics and hydrodynamics of prayiids, and the study of the effects of menthol aerosols on induced ventricular arrhythmias (which won second place).
The students truly made a significant impact through their research, which can also be said about the work done by plenary speaker, Dr. Syse. As a philosopher and researcher, he serves as a professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Oslo Nye University College and a research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. He was a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and shared his unique experience of selecting winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Syse encouraged and challenged us to use the Nobel as a teaching tool for all to become “partners in peace.” With all that is happening in our world today, no challenge could be more significant. May we all be worthy of the revolution for peace in the world.
