There are 105 days of summer vacation before the fall semester starts on August 22. That’s 2,520 hours that are up to students to fill with anything from summer classes to an internship, from travel to time with friends. While all of these can be important parts to a fun and worthwhile summer, these next three months are also the perfect opportunity to step outside your comfort zone and expand your horizons by trying out different activities, picking up a hobby and meeting new people. One of the first places you can start is by taking lessons. Even if you…
Author: Kalli Damschen
Four Baylor Interdisciplinary Core students won $1,000 for World Hunger Relief through the BIC Social World Philanthropy Project Wednesday. Phoebe Suy, Mitchell Allen, Caleb Huff and Dennis Knowles wrote a mock grant request on behalf of World Hunger Relief as part of the BIC Social World Philanthropy Project. This project was an extra credit opportunity in sophomore-level course Social World II for BIC students within the Honors College. Social World II explores the idea of contemporary social justice in areas such as economic inequality, social forces and public values. “They learn social theory, like how a society runs and what…
A $1 million donation from David and Amy Hunt is providing students in the Honors College with new opportunities to go on Christian mission trips abroad. “The generous gift immediately provides the opportunity to offer financial support to students who are participating in Honors College mission trips,” said Dr. Thomas Hibbs, Honors College Dean. “In the long run, it will provide with the support we need to design a highly complex model of mission work for our students. A model that will embed mission activity within academic coursework and encourage extended reflection before, during and after the trips on the…
Students were awarded cash prizes for their entries in poetry and fiction yesterday at the Annual Student Literary Awards, which kicked off the 22nd annual Beall Poetry Festival. The Festival is a free, three-day celebration of contemporary poetry consisting of poetry readings, panel discussion, a lecture and the Annual Student Literary Awards. “It’s one of the top poetry events in the United States,” said professor of the department of English Dr. Richard Russell, who has organized the Beall Poetry Festival for the last six years. The Student Literary Awards honor the winners of the annual Student Literary Contest. The awards…
World-famous author C.S. Lewis structured his “Chronicles of Narnia” books using the imagery of the seven heavens of medieval imagination, Dr. Michael Ward told Baylor students and faculty in a lecture Monday afternoon in Armstrong-Browning Library. Ward is a research fellow at Oxford University and a professor of apologetics at Houston Baptist University. He is the editor of “The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis,” which features a chapter on “The Chronicles of Narnia” by former Baylor University professor Dr. Stephen Prickett. Ward is the author of “Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis,” in which Ward…
Nothing is worse than the mid-semester slump, when projects are piling up and motivation is lower than ever. It may be tempting to put off your homework, neglect your personal projects and develop a debilitating caffeine addiction, but you don’t have to succumb to the apathy of April. There are a number of strategies you can use to rediscover your motivation. Though it takes time to develop new habits, you can use these tips and tricks to get you on the path to meeting all your goals. Start by breaking down your ultimate goal into a series of smaller, more…
Baylor’s professional writing program will get a facelift this fall, with changes to the program’s name and course requirements. “There are a lot of strengths about the professional writing program,” said Dr. Lisa Shaver, associate professor of professional writing. “It’s a very versatile major. Students can use it in a lot of different ways, even if you don’t go into a field that’s primarily writing.” The professional writing major is one of three majors within the English department. The other two majors are English language and literature, and linguistics. Shaver said the professional writing major was established in the mid-1980s…
There were only two required materials listed on the syllabus for English professor Arna Hemenway’s class on creative writing for younger adults: a copy of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and a stick each student would fashion into a wand. Hemenway’s class is this semester’s special topics in writing class, and though the syllabus is one of a kind, this creative writing class is not the only unusual course at Baylor University this semester. Among special topics classes in many different departments, some of the other standouts include Political Gaming, a special political science class taught by Dr.…
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, and the Texas Hunger Initiative is working to ensure that every child has access to breakfast with the third edition of its Texas School Breakfast Report Card. The Texas Hunger Initiative is a statewide anti-hunger organization that is part of Baylor University, with its central office located in the School of Social Work. The initiative has 12 regional offices across the state and strives to reduce food insecurity in Texas. Kasey Ashenfelter, director of communications at the Texas Hunger Initiative, described food insecurity as an economic measure based on a…
Those who have a secure attachment to God are more likely to be committed to and satisfied with their work, according to a Baylor University study. “Attachment to God, Vocational Calling and Worker Contentment” was published online in the Review of Religious Research in February. It was written by doctoral candidate in sociology Blake Kent, along with co-authors Dr. Matt Bradshaw and Dr. Kevin Dougherty, who are both professors of sociology. The study used data from the Baylor Religion Survey, a national survey of 860 working adults who believe in God or a higher power. The survey included questions about…
Professor speaks about role of women in Uganda’s political, military history
My whole life, I dreamed of meeting a best friend who knew me the way no one else ever had. A kindred spirit. A platonic soul mate. A bosom friend. I never dreamed that once I found that person, I would have to learn how to navigate a long-distance friendship after she moved 1,000 miles away. I finally met this best friend after I went potluck for a roommate freshman year. I didn’t know anyone else at Baylor, and I was nervous that my unknown roommate and I wouldn’t get along. The one thing I never thought to worry about…
Stories have the power to make people feel and to change how they see the world, award-winning author Tim O’Brien told students and faculty Friday afternoon. Most famous for his acclaimed novel “The Things They Carried,” a semi-autobiographical collection of stories inspired by his experiences in the Vietnam War, O’Brien is the author of eight novels and numerous short stories and essays. In addition to writing, O’Brien teaches at Texas State University in San Marcos. “Stories encourage, and they embolden us,” O’Brien told the hundreds of students and faculty who filled Bennett Auditorium to hear him speak. “Stories help us…
As millennials enter the workforce in record numbers, employers are having to adapt new internal communication strategies to accommodate to the generational shift, according to a study by Baylor researcher Dr. Marlene Neill. “Millennials have different communication preferences,” said Neill, an assistant professor in the department of journalism, public relations and new media. “They tend to prefer shorter messages sent to the device of their choosing, which definitely represents a shift the internal communicators [use to] share their messages with employees, so there’s definitely a need to make adjustments to meet the expectations of the new millennials entering the workforce.”…
Misfortune in one’s childhood can have enduring, life-long effects, according to new research by Baylor sociology assistant professor Dr. Lindsay Wilkinson. Wilkinson’s research with Purdue University professor Dr. Kenneth Ferraro and University of Toronto professor Dr. Markus Schafer was published in the February 2016 edition of the American Sociological Review. “We discover that exposure to adversity early in life, such as frequent abuse by parents, affects health decades later,” Wilkinson said. “Interestingly, we found that childhood disadvantage not only predicted health problems observed at the initial interview, but new health problems that developed over the next decade.” The study found…
Elizabeth Barrett was 40 years old when she married Robert Browning, who was 34, and though their love story got a late start in life, it was one to go down in the history books. To celebrate that love story, and the love of couples all over the world, Armstrong Browning Library will hold its eighth annual Valentine’s Day Extravaganza at 2 p.m. this Saturday. “It is a way for us to promote the Brownings and to promote the fact that they had a fantastic love story,” said Rita Patteson, director of Armstrong Browning Library. “It gives us a way…