Honors Life at Whitworth

Recent:

The Pursuit of a More Perfect Union

On October 14th, Jon Meacham visited Whitworth at President McQuilken’s 2026 Presidential Leadership Forum, this year hosted at the Fox Theatre. I attended his evening talk at the Fox called, “American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union,” a nod to the title of his most recent book published earlier this year.

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Summers Capturing Lilacs

Some people go to the lake, some people pick up extra shifts, and some spend hours tanning in the sun. Me? I spend my summer Saturdays attending regional festivals and parades with the Spokane Lilac Festival.

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Micro-Internship: KSPS PBS LearningMedia

The KSPS PBS micro-internship is focused on their online educational content. PBS has a learning platform called PBS LearningMedia where any station from across the country can upload lessons, videos, and teaching tools for free use by teachers and students. KSPS is one of the stations that contributes material, but they’ve become increasingly aware that the material currently up isn’t as robust as it could be.

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Upcoming Opprotunities:

Honors Lunch Forum: Fall 2026

Fall semester is here, and so are the semester’s Honors Lunches! We’ve got some interesting new topics, new faculty discussion leaders, and a new location. This year, our Lunches will take place in the Fireside Room in the Library (#102) from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. I look forward to our discussions this semester!

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SIRC 2026

The Spokane Intercollegiate Research Conference (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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One Pine Day

For the last five years, Whitworth Honors has used old COVID plexiglass screens as research poster presentation boards. This One Pine Day, consider donating to ensure our Honors students have sturdier, more professional, and multi-use presentation boards in the coming years.

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Internships:

Summers Capturing Lilacs

Some people go to the lake, some people pick up extra shifts, and some spend hours tanning in the sun. Me? I spend my summer Saturdays attending regional festivals and parades with the Spokane Lilac Festival.

Read More »

Micro-Internship: KSPS PBS LearningMedia

The KSPS PBS micro-internship is focused on their online educational content. PBS has a learning platform called PBS LearningMedia where any station from across the country can upload lessons, videos, and teaching tools for free use by teachers and students. KSPS is one of the stations that contributes material, but they’ve become increasingly aware that the material currently up isn’t as robust as it could be.

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Whitworth Launch

We are proud to announce that micro-internships, mentors, and upcoming professionalization events now have a home on the Whitworth Launch website. This site hosts the applications and internship postings, connecting you directly with the people who want to give you a job.

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On-Campus Spotlights:

Summers Capturing Lilacs

Some people go to the lake, some people pick up extra shifts, and some spend hours tanning in the sun. Me? I spend my summer Saturdays attending regional festivals and parades with the Spokane Lilac Festival.

Read More »

Micro-Internship: KSPS PBS LearningMedia

The KSPS PBS micro-internship is focused on their online educational content. PBS has a learning platform called PBS LearningMedia where any station from across the country can upload lessons, videos, and teaching tools for free use by teachers and students. KSPS is one of the stations that contributes material, but they’ve become increasingly aware that the material currently up isn’t as robust as it could be.

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Books to Prisoners

The Whitworth Sigma Tau Delta Chapter wins a grant to support the Spokane Books to Prisoners branch, and organization fostering love of reading and education to those who are incarcerated.

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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:

Sigma Xi: Five new Honors students inducted

Sigma Xi Five new Honors students inducted This semester, five honors students were inducted into the Sigma Xi branch at Whitworth. Sigma Xi is a well-respected National Research Honors Society that supports quantitative research aimed at positively advancing society, according to Dr. Aaron Putzke.  The five students added this semester include Eleanor Jeffers, Casey Moddrell, Kendall Sandhop, Corrine Vasiloff, and Ethan Worth. While this organization has traditionally focused on STEM fields, Whitworth has made a goal to include other disciplines with quantitative research. This allows Whitworth’s chapter to be more inclusive with students that are both in

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Water Rights Research Project: Celia Hagey

As an English Writing major, I am constantly asked the question, “what are you going to do with your degree?” The answer, as I have discovered during my time in Whitworth’s honors program, is that the possibilities are far more wide-reaching than even I would have guessed as I declared my major in 2019. Eighteen-year-old literature-loving me would not have anticipated using my writing skills to interpret and communicate water law— but that’s exactly what I did throughout the fall of 2021. HN300, or the community-based research honors seminar, is a class that divides honors students into

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Ryan B. and Lisa H. Present their Research at Genetics Society of America Conference in Washington DC

            During the summer 2019 and continuing into the school year, we worked in the developmental biology lab of Dr. Aaron Putzke here at Whitworth University. We worked on a project that was presented at an international conference by Dr. Putzke and that we presented at the regional Murdock College Science Research Conference in November of 2019. Our project has now been accepted to be presented by us at The Allied Genetics Conference in Washington DC in April. Our project has also led to a paper that we contributed to and is being submitted to the G3

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