Category: General News

Join Professor Creppell this Friday, 2/8 for Einstein Bagels breakfast sandwiches!

This breakfast will take place at 8:30AM in the West Hall second floor common room. Please RSVP here!

The UHP will be hosting a viewings of German films on the Foggy Bottom Campus over the course of the next month. Snacks will be provided!

(2/19): Trace of Stones, Ames B101, 6:30 PM

(3/26): The Lives of Others, Monroe Hall 352, 7 PM

(4/2): Barbara, Rome 350, 7 PM

(4/11): Goodbye, Lenin!, Monroe Hall 353, 7 PM

This study abroad opportunity offers the extraordinary opportunity to study ancient Greek philosophy in Athens and on the Greek islands of Santorini and Crete.

This exciting program will introduce you to ancient Greek philosophy and take you to some of the places where the history of philosophy began!

Term: Summer Session I

Location: Athens, Santorini, Crete

Overseas dates: May 20-31, 2019

Application deadline: May 8th, 2019

Professor Ralkowski will be hosting an information session on February 15th from 6-7PM in Rome 569.

Sign up now and bypass the housing lottery! You’ll be glad you did.

Living in Honors housing as a sophomore, junior, or senior is a great way to lock down your housing and roommates early, bask in the glow of other Honors students, secure a spot in a great residence hall, and avoid the potential hazards of living on a floor full of randos.

For the 2019-2020 academic year, we are pleased to offer the entire 9th floor in District House! Please note that different residence halls have different prices, you can find a list for housing rates here. Only sign up for housing with the UHP if you actually intend to live there.

The 9th floor of district has  Studio Doubles and Two Bedroom Quads. Studio doubles are efficiency-style with a kitchen and bathroom. Two bedroom quads are two doubles with a shared kitchen, common space, and bathroom. See the floor plans here.

Please note, the upperclass Honors housing community is an established Academic Residential Community (ARC). You do not need to apply for Affinity Housing to live in this community.

Applying for the Honors housing community requires 4 steps:

1. Fill out the upperclass Honors Housing application by Friday, February 22.
   Through this Google Doc, you can request desired roommates, either for the doubles or the quads. All roommates must be members of the Honors Program, and each roommate must fill this form out separately – no one can be signed up by proxy. UHPers can also sign up for housing individually and then be placed in a studio or quad with other students that applied individually.
2. Confirm roommate assignment via email.
   Applicants will be contacted by an Honors Program Manager by email to confirm roommate assignment.
3. Receive email from GW Housing.
   GW Housing will reach out to you with instructions to complete the housing lottery, the date you will be able to sign up, and your RMS number for the application.

Complete the general housing application.
Once you have received your email from GW Housing, access GW Housing e-Services to complete the self check-in process.

January 2019

Dear University Honors Program Students,

Happy new year & welcome back from the holidays! I hope you’ve had a restful break and return with replenished energy for the spring semester. I am delighted to become Interim Director of the University Honors Program. Over the past eight years, serving as Deputy Director and teaching many of you, I have seen the passion, curiosity, and work you all invest in being here – as students who push yourselves to expand your understanding and as contributors to the joy & challenge of living in our multifaceted world. It gives me great faith in the future to witness such positive energy and commitment to improving both the world and your selves.

We live in “interesting times” as the saying goes, and GW could not be a more central space to study and engage with these times. One of my favorite authors, Michel de Montaigne – writing during the horrific trauma of the French Wars of Religion in the 16^th century –  composed one of the first modern books about the self. It is a lengthy, meandering, fascinating study that examines his thoughts and feelings, in relation to himself as an individual and to the larger political context. About the “runaway horse” of his mind he wrote: “I cannot keep my subject still. It goes along befuddled and staggering, with a natural drunkenness.” But his wisdom identified something we try hard to cultivate in the University Honors Program: conversation. Montaigne brilliantly encouraged conversation as a mode of politics and self-understanding: “Human understanding is marvelously enlightened by daily conversation with people, for we are, otherwise, compressed and heaped up in ourselves, and have our sight limited to the length of our own noses.”

As we begin the new semester, I encourage you to balance your hard work and ambition with ways to stay healthy and connected. Some of the exciting upcoming activities include:

Kleptocracy at the Arena Stage (by Kenneth Lin, House of Cards series writer; we’ve reserved 12 tickets for Honors students)

A Night of Ideas at the Hirshhorn Museum

First Sunday of the Month Breakfasts at the Vern

Trivia Night in March

Honors Hike in April

Movie Nights

Watch for specific announcements and details about these events and many others in the weekly Newsflash! In other news, we are anticipating a great new program advisor to come on board with Honors in a few weeks. In the meantime, Ben, Eydie and Alex, as well as the faculty are here to support you – in moments of stress, confusion, joy, etc. I’d love to meet more of you one on one and in small groups. Please do not hesitate to make an appointment with me if you’d like to have a conversation. We’ll host a “meet the director” reception in the Honors Townhouse on Friday, January 25 at 1pm. I speak for the faculty and staff in welcoming you back for a great spring semester!

All the best,

Ingrid Creppell

The UHP is now accepting your entries for the 2017 Strasser Writing Prize!

The Strasser prize awards a grand prize of $100 and two runner-ups of $50 to the best papers written in any Honors course over the past year.  You can only enter one paper, so make sure it’s your best!

Submit your entry here after reading the full rules.  Please remember to remove your name from all pages of the paper. The file title must be “LastName_FirstName.” (.doc or .docx only.)

This year’s deadline for entries is Thursday, February 7th, 2019 by 5:00 PM.

The paper is already written!  All you have to do is submit it!

If you’re taking a contract course this semester, make sure to get your Honors Contract complete.
How do you know if you need to complete an Honors Contract? If your spring plans include pursuing any of these things FOR CREDIT through the Honors Program:

• Internship,
• Undergraduate Research,
• Research Assistantship,
• Senior Thesis (Not the same as Special Honors in your degree — that’s a different form found here)

Get the RTF-EZ here and the Contract Form here.  Don’t forget your proposal! It is also highly encouraged to make an appointment to discuss your plans.
You’ve got until Friday, February 8th at 4:30 PM.