Features

Danielle ('20/SEBS), a pre-veterinary student and a member of the Honors College, traveled to Belize over Winter Break as part of a student team providing services there. She shared her amazing experience with us:

The recent push for greater focus on the humanities in schools has resulted in the evolution of STEM into STEAM: Science Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. But what about art for art’s sake? Can we also appreciate artwork simply for its value in creative expression? Here at the Honors College, we wanted to support another side of our students beyond academics, a side that gives form to their unique passions.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) proposal to pass legislation that requires colleges and universities to play an active role in student civic engagement is reminiscent of efforts taken by Rutgers students to improve voter involvement earlier this year.

Last week Booker, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) announced the Help Students Vote Act — new legislation that ensures higher education institutions are supporting student-voter registration, according to Young Invinsibles.org. 

The Honors College hosted global humanitarian Dr. Paul Farmer as part of Rutgers' 250th anniversary celebration on November 10, 2015. 

Dr. Farmer had lunch with students and spoke about delivering healthcare to the world's poorest people in new and creative ways. His message, which students first learned about through their summer reading book by Dr. Farmer, To Repair the World, inspired them to leave their own ideas on our vision board for how they can help repair the world. 

Since I was young, I have always had a fascination with flight. For a time, I even wanted to be an astronaut (ok, I still do). In high school I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work in the aircraft maintenance shop of a local airport and take flight lessons—I was able to say I flew a plane before I could drive a car! Flying is an experience like no other. From my first time in a small plane seeing the trees drop away as the plane climbed during takeoff, I became hooked. On a clear day, I could often see the ocean, New York, and Philadelphia at the same time.

How Research and Critical Thinking Skills in the Humanities Can Lead to Unexpected Opportunities

Nicholas Page was just 14 when he started working in the lab of a Rutgers–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School professor.

He landed that gig by simply asking for it. Page was participating in the Brain Bee, a competition for high school students hosted by the Medical School.

“I was mingling with faculty and asking about research opportunities for high school students,” he says.

Renowned scholar and public intellectual Dr. Steven Pinker recently delivered a bold and positive message to Rutgers University–New Brunswick students, faculty, and staff. In his talk, he surveyed progress through time and across many data points—from the increase in people with access to education to more people living in democracies, and from the decline in wars to the growth in numbers of people living above the poverty line. Through a thoughtful and exhaustive overview of the current state of the modern world, Dr.

The Honors College Forum challenges first-year students to tackle real-world issues through social innovation, synthesizing interdisciplinary solutions to problems faced by populations in need. Simultaneously, students are developing their abilities to move their ideas forward through critical thinking, teamwork, and communication—essential skills for a life with purpose.

Unlike the cloudy skies that welcomed me into the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women that first February morning, my experiences tutoring incarcerated women have been crystal clear. I was an eager freshman at the start, inspired by the opportunity to learn from those facing different challenges than my own. My first time tutoring at New Jersey’s only female prison took me by surprise. I passed by a woodworking class, a library, and even a gymnasium - reminding me much of my own high school in Paramus, New Jersey. I was led into a classroom, where I would meet my students.