Honors Life at Whitworth

Recent:

Green World Coffee Farm

Every day, an average of 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed across the world, and while Hawaiian grown coffee beans account for less than 1 percent of annual United States coffee consumption, the state still takes great pride in their coffee production.

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Fall 25 Wrap Up

This Fall semester went by fast! With many speakers on campus, a new Democracy Lab, Honors Lunches galore, a new Co-Director Joy York, Banned Books week, many literary journals, and mentorship opportunities it’s no surprise we lost track of time!

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Collecting Dust

Elizabeth Atwood is published in WSU’s The Palouse Review, an Honors Literary Journal, for her art piece “Collecting Dust.”

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Upcoming Opprotunities:

Little Women

Come see Whitworth’s production of Little Women March 7th/8th, 14th/15th at 7:30pm, doors at 7:00pm, or March 16th at 2:30pm, doors at 2:00pm

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Serving Spokane

SIRC is a conference sponsored by Whitworth and Gonzaga University for undergraduate students across Spokane to present their research and creative works.

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Spring Honors Lunch

The first Honors Lunch Network of the Spring semester focused on how to get internships and faculty research assistantships.

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Internships:

On-Campus Spotlights:

Little Women

Come see Whitworth’s production of Little Women March 7th/8th, 14th/15th at 7:30pm, doors at 7:00pm, or March 16th at 2:30pm, doors at 2:00pm

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Fall 2024 Wrap Up

This semester, the Honors Program and its students were hard at work promoting our message of thriving in the world as it is and developing it as it should be.

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Study Abroad:

A Summer at Oxford

Over the summer of 2023, Kate Vaccaro undertook an intensive 4-week program at Oxford University, one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

Going to Oxford had always been one of Kate’s dreams. “As a person who loves academics, the richness of learning there has always been appealing,” she said.

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The Museum of the Innocents: Jan Term in Italy

On our last day in Florence, Italy, the Honors group visited the Musuem of the Innocents, also known as the Hospital of the Innocents. A deeply emotional experience, the museum offered incredible insight as to what life might have been like for children whose families were unable to take care of them while the hospital was still in operation. Well-kept records and well-preserved artifacts were on display for all to see, telling tales of sorrowful loneliness and joyful reunions.

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Research:

William Henke

Modern language has become violent in a way that abstracts our words from their actual meanings. Phrases like “slay” “break a leg” “you’re killing it” and many others reveal how violence has settled into quotidian linguistics. This reorientation towards violence desensitizes people to its larger social implications and promotes inadequate communication. Language that was once, and by dictionary definition still is, seen as violent or harmful is now utilized in neutral or even uplifting ways. Desensitization towards larger problems in society like gun violence, racism, global warming, etc. engenders an escalation of language in order to gain an appropriate reaction to said issues.

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Salwa Mehreen

My project, MisMatch, started from a real-life frustration — how much time and energy it takes just to pick an outfit. Research shows that people spend around 102 hours a year deciding what to wear (Marks & Spencer), and about 50% of Americans say it’s the most stressful part of getting ready for an event (Trunk Club). At the same time, the fast fashion industry produces around 92 million tons of textile waste each year (UNEP), most of which ends up in landfills. I wanted to create something that helped people in their everyday lives while also promoting more sustainable habits.

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Melinda Mullet

Aging Americans and their caregivers should have easy access to dignifying end-of-life care. The rapid increase in the 65+ population requires policy innovation in current Medicare regulation concerning hospice. Coordinated, intentional efforts between government and private sector providers, insurance navigators, community organizations, and houses of worship are also needed to change public attitudes towards hospice care, encourage referrals, increase uptake, and offer emotional, psychological, and spiritual support.

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Jude Ruetschle

Broadly speaking, our world tends to see religion as a sort of ‘meaning-making’ device. In faith, one is able to carve divine order into the chaos and fragmentation of the human experience. This makes faith a vehicle for hope—for settling the existential realization that nothing in our lives makes sense. The premise of this project, however, challenges that assumption: What if grasping after order and unity is not a source, but an obstruction to our ability to embrace life?

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