honorificabilitudinitatibusWesson Honors Program neWslettermarch 2008 Vol. 4 no. 5

1Colby-sawyer College4 Colby-sawyer College

features

Betwixt and Between Sophomore Megan Ruggiero speaks about her Pathway experience. pages 1, 2 Travel Log Junior Aubrey Thomas writes from Australia about her semester abroad. page 4 The Honors Contract Juniors Noah Richard and Elisabeth Ryan outline their Honors Contracts illustrating interdisciplinary study across science and the arts. pages 2,3

neWsletter

contributorsediting and layout Design

Writers

Elisabeth RyanMegan Ruggiero

Noah RichardAubrey ThomasKimberly WallestonProf. Ann Page Stecker

uPDates

We would like to welcome Megan

Ruggiero as assistant editor during

Aubrey Thomas’s absence. Megan

has contributed many articles over

the past year and brings her strong

literary skills to the team.

a Passion, a triCkster, anD tHe art of inVention

betwixt and betweenIt is now the second

semester of my

sophomore year at

Colby-Sawyer College. I can hardly believe

that time has passed so fast. I still don’t

know what I plan to do with my degree.

I’m still lost in an abyss of life-altering

decisions and plans for the future. Has

anything really changed? One Pathway

seminar out of the way and three stepping

stones later, I feel as if I have just leapt

over the threshold onto the Colby-Sawyer

campus. In reality, a year and a half has

flown by. I am still anxious. I am Atlas with

the entire weight of the cosmos upon my

shoulders. I have been bombarded with

opinions, beliefs, and various ways of

seeing the world. Yet, I am still waiting.

I am waiting to find my place, and most

importantly, I am waiting to find myself.

The first section of Betwixt and Between:

The Honors Pathway was a crucial step in

my assimilation process of becoming a

college student. I quickly learned that one is

expected to contribute to class discussion,

ten books is really a small number

when it comes to assigned reading, and

“liminality” is a word, though Microsoft

Office seems to disagree. Now, I find

myself in the second session of Betwixt

and Between, expecting to find what I

am looking for. The syllabus is atypical,

containing graphics, quotations, and

reading that is somewhat self-paced. It is

encouraging to see a reading list of literary

pieces that all seem relevant to the course

and our central focus. The Penelopiad by

Margaret Atwood, A Heartbreaking Work

of Staggering Genius by David Eggers, and

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, are just a

few of the texts that guarantee to excite

the imagination. But, one must ask, how

is Megan going to find herself when she

is spending what seems like forty hours a

week with her head bent over a book?

Not only is it refreshing to unite with the

same students who shared my enlightening

experience with me freshman year, I

(continued on page 2)

CoorDinator’s

nanosecond

In New England, the Romantic poet’s

passionate conviction that “if winter

comes can spring be far behind?” seems

ludicrous – especially this winter. We’ve

seen over 120” of snow! But I try to have

“a mind of winter,” the perspective poet

Wallace Stevens suggests in his poem

“The Snow Man.” Stevens would have us

behold the “nothing that is.” I’ve learned

to admire the architecture of trees that

summer foliage obscures, the undulating

shadows those trees and the moon cast

on the snow drifts, and the flocks of

bandit-eyed cedar waxwings, who come

to fumble the fermented cherries of last

summer’s blossoms. Besides, what if there

were no weather?

What would we talk about?

Professor Ann Page Stecker

australia: a journey to tHe lanD DoWn-unDer

travel logan insatiable love for Vegemite. When

I put together a peanut butter and jelly

sandwich, most seem to turn their faces

in disgust. The young men in my flat all

sit around and watch cricket every Sunday,

which can easily drag on for ten hours or

more. They also enjoy rugby and Aussie

Rules Football. Most of my Australian

friends are extremely laid back, and they

seem to never brag about anything.

They may say they “did all right” on an

assignment, and have a nearly perfect

score. These are just a few of the many

things that I have come to love about my

Australian friends.

What I have concluded is that although

Australians may be having a hard time at

the moment accurately defining who they

are as a separate nation from the rest of

the world, I can see that their seemingly

wonderful lifestyle will continue on

throughout the country. Even with the

similarities to the U.S., they are certainly

not the same as Americans, and seem to

have a better understanding of the world

around them and how to make the best

of life. Hopefully I will leave this country

with a more open perspective on different

values and worldviews. I think that we

as Americans could learn a lot from this

misinterpreted country.

Before I came to

Australia, I had a

vague idea of what

to expect on the other side of the world.

The American view of Down Under is a

land full of kangaroos, wide brimmed

hats, boomerangs, and men who tackle

crocodiles on a daily basis. What I have

learned in a little over a month is that this

view is extremely distorted by the media,

and that Australians themselves are finding

it hard to define who they are to this day.

The past month has

given a new challenge for

Australians as their Prime

Minister Kevin Rudd made

an apologetic speech toward

the Aboriginal people. One

issue is that some Australians

wonder if they should even call themselves

Australians when the Aboriginals have

resided here for an estimated 60,000 years,

and everyone else has only lived here since

the end of the eighteenth century.

Australia has changed a lot from its

first convict settlements. Today it has a

population of 20 million, and is highly

urbanized because most people live along

the coast in the big cities. Therefore,

Australians are mostly city people who

probably wouldn’t have a chance surviving

in the “bush.” Most of my Australian

friends are from smaller towns in Western

Australia, but they seem to like Perth (the

city) more than anywhere else in the state.

They don’t wear wide-brimmed hats,

and certainly don’t identify themselves as

“bush” people.

I have found certain characteristics that

in fact do separate me from my Australian

comrades. For one thing, there is definitely

“Hopefully i will leave this country with a more open perspective on different values and worldviews. i think that we as americans could learn a lot from this misinterpreted country.”

from tHe

editorsCall for suBmissions

The Honors Newsletter is a forum for all

honors students to discuss and read about

events in the Honors program. We encourage

students to submit articles for publication

in the newsletter. We are hoping to run a

column in every issue that will discuss Honors

Contracts. The “Travel Log” column is a new

idea we are experimenting with. Anyone

who has traveled abroad as part of their

academic experiance is welcome to sumbit

an article. Students who are going on the

Wesson Weekend are highly encouraged to

contribute to the next issue of the newsletter.

Photos, quotes, stories, anything at all about

your fascinating trip! The last issue this year

will be dedicated to the seniors. We are

looking for articles about capstones as well

as your experience at CSC and in the Honors

program. It’s your issue, so you determine

its content!

Megan RuggieroAssistant EditorClass of 2010

Aubrey Thomas editor in absentiaclass of 2009

Kangaroos on Australia’s east coast

3Colby-sawyer College2 Colby-sawyer College

have also found that I am thrilled to be

writing a thirty-page paper, which will be

collected in its final form at the end of the

semester. The project has been dubbed

“The Magnum Opus” and it is composed

of both a written and presentational

component. Though this seems like a

daunting task, it really is not that difficult

to write about oneself for thirty pages.

Professor Ann Page Stecker has invited us

to invent something that is truly unique

to each of us. Her only guidelines are to

use an autobiographical event or series

of events that have placed each of us in

a liminal, or transformative, state. We

must also choose a trickster, whose story

can be woven throughout the pages of

our own. Tying in the literature we have

been and will be covering in class is the

third and final stipulation. Beyond these

three simple rules, our minds are free to

wander, experiment, and discover pieces

of ourselves that we never knew existed.

I have high hopes for my second go

at Betwixt and Between, and I expect

every one of us to compose an Opus

that is thought-provoking, powerful, and

pleasing to the ears, full of voice and

magnitude. I look forward to finding

myself with the people that I met when

I first arrived on campus, the people that

will be so difficult to let go of in less than

two and a half years!

artWork neeDeDcall outArt majors, minors, causal class-takers, doodlers, everyone! We are looking for artwork to display in the honors suite. Do you have work you have always wanted to display? Send photos to Professor Stecker for review! We are hoping for a wide range of styles and mediums so send those pictures in!

(continued from page 1)

“the Honors Contract allows me to combine english and Biology...i have high hopes of completing a good quality book for children that somehow brings in science.”

the honors contractAs I looked for classes

for this semester, some

of my friends and I were asked to enroll

in ENG 218 Perspectives in Children’s

Literature. Since the class didn’t count

one way or the other towards my Biology

Major, I decided that this would be a good

chance to create an Honors Contract.

David Elliott teaches the class and

does a fantastic job of covering many

of the different aspects of children’s

literature. As a writer, taking a course on

a genre of books that are not my typical

As a Graphic Design

major, I find the

impersonal concepts

of science difficult to understand. In

order to put science into terms that

were familiar to me, I created an Honors

Contract that linked art history with

the concepts studied in CES 201 – Water

Resources. This survey of master artwork

focused on trends that have developed

around the relationship of human society

to water as a natural resource. Through

these trends, it is possible to trace a

dramatic shift in public consciousness as

well as the development of ecological

issues. Each time and each culture is

reflected in the art it produces. Artists

have a way of capturing their society

and culture in their work, which is then

passed on to subsequent generations. It is

therefore possible to use works of art to

determine trends throughout history.

For example, in the works of the

Hudson River School painters, development

and human expansion are key themes.

Thomas Cole addressed development and

expansion directly, while Albert Bierstadt’s

work reflected ideas of manifest destiny

through a spiritual representation of

the western territories. When American

settlers moved west, they brought with

them eastern lifestyles that have ultimately

proved incompatible with the landscape.

This is an important idea when addressing

the agricultural practices of the Great

Plains. In Cole’s Oxbow, we see typical

New England agricultural land, developed

along a river flood plain in a relatively humid

environment that supported the crops

and techniques used. Settlers to the dry,

arid lands of the Plains later applied these

same practices. When precipitation failed

to meet the crops’ water needs, farmers

drew on groundwater sources extensively.

Continuation of these practices, combined

with extreme drought and groundwater

depletion resulted in the Dust Bowl of

the 1930s. Dorothea Lange captured the

suffering and devastation of the Dust Bowl

in her photography. It is important to note

that Lange worked in a society that was

quickly becoming aware of its inherent

ecological impacts and issues, whereas

the society of the Hudson River painters

was not necessarily. Ideals of westward

expansion and Manifest Destiny also drew

prospectors for silver, gold, other ores,

and oil. The failed ambitions of these

individuals inspired Robert Smithson’s

work on entropy in his ‘Earthworks.’

Each relationship reflects developments

within and between the societies

represented. The forces that drive these

developments are part of the society

and are reflected in the theory of each

artist. Industrialization, urbanization,

mechanization and all the accompanying

shifts in economic and agricultural

patterns had profound effects on society

throughout the nineteenth and twentieth

centuries. Increased human population

placed unprecedented demands on

natural resources, particularly water. As

time progressed, humanity has developed

a greater ability to impact the environment

englisH, Biology, anD CHilDren’s literature

genre has been amazing. For my Honors

Contract, we agreed that I would write

a children’s easy reader book, somehow

based around science.

An easy reader is simply a book slight-

ly more advanced than a picture book.

A great example of an easy reader

would be many of Dr. Seuss’s

books, such as The Lorax. The Honors

Contract allows me to combine English

and Biology, which will be an interesting

combination as I sit down and devise a

topic for it.

Much of my contract

has not yet been

determined. I will

read a wide array

of easy readers in

order to learn about their vocabulary

and structure. Then I will be coming

up with a topic and beginning to

structure my own easy reader. I have

high hopes of completing a good quality

book for children that somehow brings in

science. It will be interesting to see what

the next few weeks will bring.

the honors contracttraCing soCial, eCologiCal, anD artistiC trenDs

on a very large scale. All of these issues

have led to a shift in public awareness,

social conscience, the development of

ecology as a science, and the development

of government legislation. The variation of

styles in this survey are the result of shifts

that have occurred as artists developed

increased independence from their patrons

(traditionally the government) and were

able to address the public at large.

By reviewing trends throughout art

history, it is possible to trace the evolution

of an idea, and how that idea reflects

upon society. When the evolution of

water as resource is traced,

a pattern develops: water as

an element within a spiritual

landscape, water as a mode

of transportation and for

economic means, a passive

element in the landscape to be studied,

a force of destruction and rebirth, a

force to be conquered, and a force that

conquers. These constant shifts and

fluctuations reflect upon the society that

created them.

“By reviewing trends throughout art history, it is possible to trace the eval-uation of an idea, and how that idea reflects upon society.”

Thomas Cole The Oxbow1836, Oil on Canvas.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

room to breathefeBruary oPen House in tHe Honors suite

The new Wesson

Honors space on

the 4th floor of Colgate officially opened

its doors to the college community at the

Open House on Friday, February 29. The

acquisition and preparation of the space

was the Wesson Honors Program’s latest

achievement. Throughout first semester,

students, faculty and staff volunteered

their time toward painting and decorating

the three study and lounge areas. At the

Open House, the fruits of our labor were

finally revealed. An impressive number

of students and faculty turned out to

show their support for the Program and

offer their congratulations on this great

achievement. President Galligan dropped

in to admire the transformation the space

had undergone. The space will now be

open 24 hours to Honor students, and

Thursday nights from 9-11 to all students.

It will function as a quiet study area, group-

meeting location, or relaxing spot to read

or enjoy a cup of complimentary coffee.

Faculty are also welcomed and encouraged

to take advantage of the space’s conference

areas to hold classes and meetings.

Noah Richardclass of 2009

Elisabeth Ryanlayout editorclass of 2009

Kimberly Wallestonclass of 2009