Month: October 2019

Idolatry and Violence: Food for Thought with Prof. Trullinger

General News
A photo of Professor Joseph Trullinger overlaid on a photo of French Anthropologist Rene Girard
Professor Trullinger, left, and Rene Girard, right

Our second Food for Thought of the semester will be next Friday, October 25th from 12-1pm. Professor Trullinger, one of our dear honors faculty, will be discussing his research and the French anthropologist Rene Girard. Reserve a spot for yourself here, and read more about the talk below:

The French anthropologist Rene Girard argued that civilizations are founded on collective murder of a scapegoat, who then became deified into an idol. Thus wherever there is systemic violence, there is an idol, and wherever there is idolatry, there is systemic violence. In the course of reviewing this argument, the following question arises: can there be a way of life for all that is not predicated on death for others? What would it mean to hold that way of life as the highest value? Part of the answer will entail examining how we worship things not normally seen as idols: national security, money, white supremacy, patriarchy, to list a few. This in turn complicates the usual way we conceptualize debates in the philosophy of religion, especially regarding the difference between “false” and “true” deities.

Hope to see you all there!

First-Year Small Groups II: Spring Registration Edition

General News
Zach Galifianakis is confused as a horde of math equations float before him
Zach Galifianakis, expressing the fundamental confusion of every student during course registration.

As the semester marches on, Spring registration pokes its head around the corner and the second round of first-year small group meetings has come upon us!

These meetings are mandatory for all first-year Honors students, so make sure you sign up to attend one now! You can sign up to attend one here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805084ea9ac2fa5fa7-uhpsmall1

Hope to see you all there!

Social Media Spotlight: The UHP Instagram!

General News

The following is the first of our Social Media Spotlight series. We’re doing a bunch of new things with social media this semester, and we’re really excited to share it all with you! Stay tuned for info on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook!

Instagram: an endless field of photos, the land of strange filters and stranger captions, Selfie Sundays and Throwback Thursdays, and for the last year and a half, the GW UHP. But we’ve got some new things going there – hence this blog post!

Those of you who follow us may have noticed that we’ve started posting more Instagram Stories. You’ll be seeing more of those! Our Peer Advisors and Honors RAs will be doing regular stories to give you a glimpse into their glamorous, magical lives and answer your questions.

We also want to start featuring more of the UHP community out and about on our Instagram! So when you’re hanging out with other UHPers and take a picture, send it over to us! Peer Advisor Brittney is going to be managing a lot of the Instagram, so send your pictures to her at brittneyho@gwu.edu.

Check out some of our recent Insta Content below!

That’s all for now folks – follow us on Instagram if you haven’t already!

Summer Paid Internship Opportunities – Education Non-Profit

Job/Internship Opportunity

The Yleana Leadership Academy is seeking Teacher/Counselors, an Operations Intern, and Teacher/Mental Wellness Counselors for its residential summer academy. We take pride in serving rising high school seniors, the majority of whom are low-income first generation students of color from underserved urban areas. Our mission is to close the achievement gap through a three-week summer experience focused on SAT training on a college campus.
Yleana’s staff are people who are constantly generating new and better ways to do things, drawing on what they have seen, read, and experienced, who replace “I can’t do that” with “Let’s make it happen.” We prefer instructors who can improvise, who are creative, who approach problems in unexpected ways, and who generally understand how to communicate the test to diverse groups of students.
Since the test was redesigned in 2016, our average score improvement in a 3-week period was 150 points on the SAT, and we want your help to make that number even higher. To get a feel for the Yleana experience, check out this video: https://youtu.be/_yi3UCFoUuE.
Check out the application form and job descriptions here: http://bit.ly/YleanaBasicInfo2020

Somehow, I Manage: Figuring Out Life at GW with the Help of Michael Scott

General News, Student Peer Advisors

Peer Advisor Michelle offers words of wisdom on managing life and college with a little help from our favorite regional manager of a Pennsylvania, mid-size paper provider, Michael Scott.

With midterm season underway, this high-stress period may induce mini-existential crises. It is around this time when students reflect on how their semester is going. Some may be satisfied and ecstatic with the progress they have made, while others might be thinking “where has the time gone and what in the world have I even done?” To help guide this reflection in a more productive direction, I recruited Michael Scott for his expertise on life. Thankfully, he has a plethora of knowledge to impart on you all. So, here are some quotes from our favorite Dunder Mifflin Regional Manager applied to the context of GW life:

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky” – Michael Scott

            This one is pretty self-explanatory. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and try new things! If you always remain in your comfort zone, you might miss out. Note, you might think that I am referring to internships, but I am also referring to experiences in general. The Foggy Bottom bubble is very real. So, I encourage you to gather a group of friends (or go by yourself because solo adventures are also super fun) and visit the other neighborhoods of DC. District Connections or Facebook events are a great way to start your search for the many things happening around DC. Also, asking upperclassmen or professors works too!

Sometimes I’ll start a sentence and I don’t even know where it’s going. I just hope I find it along the way.

            This quote is most emblematic of Honors Origins. Many of you may be intimidated by your Origins professor because they are just so intelligent, and it truly seems like every word out of their mouth is the most profound idea you’ve ever heard. It’s borderline Plato vibes. However, I promise that you will get more out of these discussion-based classes if you, wait for it, participate and discuss. All the professors are understanding and legitimately want to know what your perspective is on the topics. They won’t shoot down your ideas or call you stupid. Instead, they’ll follow up with questions to help you get a better grasp on the concepts and learn how to defend your ideas. It’s a great place to practice your speaking and analytical skills.

I am running away from my responsibilities. And it feels good.

            So, I would suggest not following Michael’s lead and hopping onto a train to escape from everything. I know I went into college thinking I could do it all and flawlessly balance classes, social life, student orgs, an internship, etc. However, being busy in high school is not the same as being busy in college. I too have an issue with overcommitment and am known to run around campus from classes to meetings to events. But it is important to recognize your limitations and learn that it is okay to say no. Be intentional in your activities because putting in just enough effort isn’t fair to that commitment or yourself. You should be fully engaged in the work you do because your time is valuable and should be put towards what you care about.

I-declare-bankruptcy!

            Please budget your GWorld. I know it might seem like you have a lot of money and can afford that $8 Chipotle bowl or $5 Chick-fil-a sandwich, but it will add up. At the end of the first semester my first year, I had a friend who was running low on fund and ate instant oatmeal packets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for an entire week
 To avoid running out at the end of the semester, plan and budget right now by incorporating cooking into your routine or sacrificing that Peet’s/Starbucks coffee. For example, try to utilize resources like the free coffee in the Honors Townhouse (BYOM: bring your own mug).

I understand nothing.

            Ask questions! Don’t be afraid to go to a professor’s office hours when you don’t know what’s going on (but you can still go if you do know what’s happening). They might seem intimidating but they’re here to help you. You’re paying for these classes, so why not get the most bang for your buck and take advantage of that resource? Additionally, you might not even realize you’re confused until you unexpectedly get back an unfavorable grade. Sure, you might think “oh, in high school I only studied minimally,” but study habits from high school aren’t always transferrable to college work. You may have to adjust the way you study and that’s totally normal and acceptable.

And I knew exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do.

Three words: four-year plans. You’ve been tasked with mapping out your next four years here at GW and deciding what potential classes to take. It’s a lofty assignment. You might think that you need to have everything figured out, but you don’t! Sometimes we have no idea what we are doing next and that’s okay. Remember, you’ve only been here for 6 weeks and still have so much time to explore your interests. Stay open minded and take each step, one at a time.

I am dead inside.

            Imagine how tired we are. Midterms are here and you’re getting minimal sleep, your body is essentially pumping coffee, and the dark bags under your eyes make you look like a panda (most likely minus the cuteness factor). Work is stacking up and fall break can’t come sooner. But, even if you think you can hang on until fall break, don’t push off self-care. Please remember to take a break because there is a limit to how much your brain and body can take. Overworking yourself will make you less productive, disorganized, and even more stressed. Plus, it’s flu season and sustained stress without healthy habits increases your likelihood of getting sick. Take time away from your work to do a face mask, go to Helwell, spend time with friends, or whatever you need to de-stress.

Café Disco: Everybody dance now!

It’s never a bad time for a dance party. When you are stressed out and can’t handle reading another word of black text on white paper, pull out your speakers, play some upbeat tunes, and just dance. Get your body moving to recharge, build up that energy, then refocus with a more positive headspace.

Only thing that could make this day better is ice cream.

            Ice cream is the solution to everything. Period. (p.s. everyone should try Jeni’s ice cream)

Buddhism and Biology: an unlikely marriage

Events

The following is a research story from one of our 2019 grads who went above and beyond with her Honors Thesis and presented it at a conference in North Carolina. Interested in sharing your research with the Honors community? Send an email to uhp@gwu.edu or submit a blog post here.

Greenville, North Carolina isn’t a typical Spring Break destination. Without knowing more about it, I would assume it was like any other small town: surrounded by farmland, stretches of unlit country road, and “watch for deer” signs around every corner. Indeed, this was my first impression of the place. But Greenville now holds a special place in my heart, because it is where I had the privilege of presenting my Honors senior thesis research at the 2019 Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion (SECSOR) on the campus of East Carolina University.

My research is titled A Buddhist Perspective on Organisms. It is a marriage of two seemingly unrelated fields: Buddhist philosophy and biology. Biology has a largely unanswered question: what is an organism? It may be odd to consider that this question is unanswered, as the answer seems like common sense. To quote Nicholson and DuprĂ© (2010), “to the average mushroom collector a single mushroom is an organism.” However, it is known that a mushroom is just the fruiting body of a much larger organism. While scientists don’t debate this fact, they fall into the same trap of essentialist thinking as the mushroom collector. Most organism definitions rely on ideas of an essential, independent self. While neuroscience is starting to reject ideas of intrinsic selfhood, organism definitions haven’t quite caught up. And this is where Buddhist philosophy comes in. Buddhists have preached the doctrines of no-self (anātman) and interdependence (dependent origination or pratÄ«tyasamutpāda) for millennia. These ideas can help us create a non-essentialist organism definition that better matches the realities being uncovered by neuroscience, but might not seem common-sense to us. Overall, Buddhism and neuroscience reach the same conclusion about organisms: any organism is simply a concentration of processes connected by some causal power, that cannot be separated from its environment.

Buddhism can also help us find where our scientific methods are flawed. Outside of attaining enlightenment or pathological experiences, it is almost impossible to think outside of a first-person view. Humans like to think of themselves as autonomous. And because we view ourselves as autonomous, we tend to impart that autonomy onto other beings, namely organisms. However, this sense of self is just that: a sense. Buddhism shows that if a person looks inward using meditation, no self is found. So, altogether, Buddhist philosophy can show us how erroneous methods can lead to false conclusions, and can help us draw better conclusions from our methods.

At the conference, my paper struck a chord. I learned that the intersection of Buddhism and biology is a growing field, and many people were genuinely interested to hear what I had to say. I am so grateful for this experience. As a biology major, I wasn’t expecting my senior thesis to be through the religions department. Much less did I expect to be discussing the technicalities of Buddhist philosophy with peers and professors over a beer at a small dive in downtown Greenville. Such is the beauty of the Honors Program.

Professor on the Town – David Sedaris at the Kennedy Center

Events, General News
A photo of David Sedaris. His smile is warm, and his glasses are cool.

Midterm season is here, and it weighs on all of our souls. So take some time for yourself! On Tuesday, October 15th, Professor Aviv is taking students to see David Sedaris at the Kennedy Center! Sedaris is a humorist, an award-winning author, and one of America’s finest storytellers- and you can see him live for just $15 (a *huge* discount)! 

See more of the details about the event here: https://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/XUCCD. (To be clear: that’s not the sign-up link, that’s just for info).

We only have 8 tickets left (in the orchestra section!), which will cost $15 per person. The tickets will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you are interested, email uhp@gwu.edu expressing your interest by 4pm 10/15. Payment must be brought *IN CASH* to the Honors Townhouse (714 21st St NW) for a valid sign-up.

UPDATE: We now only have *3 tickets left* – get your tickets today!

Join us for an evening of fun!

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