The Carl and Winifred Lee Honors College

The Carl and Winifred Lee Honors College

Study in the StatesInformation and Application

Spring and Summer 2018

Application Deadline: November 10, 2017 at 5 p.m.

Notification of Selections: No later than December 8, 2017

Please note that the honors college pays for all travel expenses, but you will be required to pay tuition for the course.All courses are 3 credit hours. The University’s drop/add and withdrawal deadlines will apply to these courses. The last day to drop/add classes for a 100% refund for spring 2018 courses is January 12, 2018. The last day to drop/add classes for a 100% refund for summer I 2018is May 11, 2017.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

You must be a full-time(12 credits or more Fall 2017 and Spring 2018) WMU undergraduate and a member of the Lee Honors College.
You must be in good standing with the University and the Lee Honors College in all areas. This includes having an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher as well as being current with service and event attendance requirements.
All courses are open to honors students from any major.

SPRING 2018 STUDY IN THE STATES COURSE: (note—general education areas pending)

NEW! HNRS 2900: Canyons, Sites and Springs of the Desert Southwest

9 days

Trip occurs over spring break March 3-11, 2018

This course is an engaging clockwise lap of the desert southwest and an exploration of culture, archaeology, and ecology. Punctuated by therapeutic soaks in hot springs, we visit the major sites of the Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi), including Chaco Canyon, Canyon De Chelly, and Mesa Verde. We will study petroglyphs and pictographs, ride horses and hike to remote sites, and frequent remarkable desert mesas and vistas. We will learn through active engagement in an experiential, open road, instructional pedagogy. Dr. Jeffrey Jones, Professor of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies, would be happy to answer questions about the course: .

SUMMER I 2018Study in the States CourseS: (note—general education areas pending)

HNRS 2900: Therapeutic Gardens of the Pacific Northwest

8 days

April 29-May 6, 2018

Did you know that research finds that time spent in nature is good for your mind and body? This course will explore the majestic and breathtaking beauty of the Pacific Northwest, tour several award-winning healing gardens, learn about the value of access to well-designed therapeutic gardens and how they may positively influence human behavior, health, and well-being. We will also help install a healing garden in Seattle. Dr. Amy Wagenfeld, OTR/L, SCEM, FAOTA, would be happy to answer questions about the course: .

NEW! HNRS 2900:Hawaii’s Garden Island and the Future of Sustainability Everywhere
12 days

May 2018—specific dates TBA soon!
This 12-day field course on Hawaii’s “garden island,” Kauai, explores how culture, religion and history have shaped the island’s development over a millennium, made it sustainable in the past, and will challenge its futuresustainability.Important note: This course entails some physical challenges, including primitive

sleeping accommodations (e.g., shared bunk houses), foot travel on uneven, slippery slopes in a rain forest, and the preparation of all our own shared meals. Students willneed to travel light but have appropriate gear (such as a sleeping bag suitable fornights in damp, 40 degree conditions as well as sturdy shoes for hiking). Dr. Sarah Hill, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, and Dr. Cybelle Shattuck, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Comparative Religion, would be happy to answer questions about the course: or .

SUMMER II 2018 STUDY IN THE STATES COURSE: (NOTE—GENERAL EDUCATION AREAS PENDING)

HNRS 2900: Walt’s Pilgrimage: A Journey in the Life of Walt Disney
9 days
July 12-20, 2018

Travel with honors college and WMU alumnus Dr. Christopher Tremblay to explore the legacy of Walt Disney, beginning in Chicago at Disney’s birthplace and ending in California at his gravesite.

News Coverage of Previous Walt’s Pilgrimages:

latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-me-michigan-disney-20160722-story.html

wmuk.org/post/wmu-students-trace-disneys-path-fame

Contact Dr. Tremblay ith any questions The course is open to all majors.

STUDY IN THE STATES APPLICATION FORM—SPRING AND SUMMER 2018

NameClick or tap here to enter text.WIN Click or tap here to enter text.

WMU Email Click or tap here to enter text.Cell PhoneClick or tap here to enter text.

Major(s)Click or tap here to enter text.Minor(s)Click or tap here to enter text.

Expected graduation (term and year)Choose an item.Choose an item.

Current WMU GPAClick or tap here to enter text. (Must be a minimum of 3.5 to be considered.)

Please list the course(s) for which you wish to be considered in rank order:

1.Choose an item.

2.Choose an item.

3. Choose an item.

4.Choose an item.

Statement of Purpose:

Please include a short (1-2 page) discussion of why you are interested in completing this course. How does it fit into your curriculum, career plans or personal interests? If you wish to be considered for more than one course, please explain your rationale for your ranking.

NOTE: Applications should be submitted NO LATER THAN 5 P.M. ON NOVEMBER 10, 2017 as a single PDF to: . Incomplete and late applications WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED unless you have prior written approval from the dean or associate dean of the honors college.

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COURSE DESCRIPTIONS (in order by course number and title)

HNRS 2900: Canyons, Sites and Springs of the Desert Southwest

Through active engagement in this course, students will be able to: (1) Discuss cultural chronologies and past lifestyles of the Ancestral Pueblo. (2) Describe current attempts to understand material culture and cultural processes. (3) Identify root causes of past cultural migrations and connect with current conditions. (4) Note architectural differences across major subgroups of the Ancestral Pueblo. (5) Understand the ecology of the desert southwest and current efforts of preservation. (6) Consider the relationship between culture and environment in the desert southwest. 3 credit hours.

HNRS 2900:Hawaii’s Garden Island and the Future of Sustainability Everywhere

What can 70,000 people living amidst the world’s greatest biodiversity, 2500 miles from the U.S. mainland teach us about sustainability? Plenty. This course aims to “learn from an island” by revealing how Hawaii’s Kauai has sustained itself as an evolving, but relatively coherent ecosystem over 1000 years of human management. The course examines social organization in Hawaii’s human history (Polynesian explorers, Protestant missionaries, immigrant land barons, and 20th century tourism developers) in order to understand how Hawaii’s human colonizers and its ecology have co-created the island chain’s unique contemporary culture and environment, while also threatening each island’s fragile future.

In order to appreciate one of the key elements of Hawaiian historic sustainability, the course will emphasize collaboration and group cohesion through the challenges of rustic living for 12 days. We will sleep in historic bunk houses (both at high altitude and on a beach) and prepare our shared meals in modestly-appointed kitchens. We will thus live in Kauai in ways that reflect what Hawaiians prize: the importance of

sharing both what you have and what you don’t, and that you demonstrate the value of people over the value of things.

The trip begins with four days in a cloud forest setting at four thousand feet, where we will work with and alongside locals to combat invasive species. We then follow watercaptured by tree cover from trade winds, downhill to the north coast where we willvolunteer in a garden dedicated to propagating both endangered native species as wellas ancient Polynesian introductions. Along the way, we will inspect the relics of sugar

plantations built from massive water works, the giant, on-going test plots of Monsanto’s agricultural research station (for mainland temperate crops), and theburgeoning hotel and hostelry ecosystem. Instructional activities will includeHawaiian language lessons; native species identification; and lectures on Hawaiian

religious and development history.

Students will learn as well, from each other in presentations that each will make on our final day and evening together. In preparation for the trip, students will elect atopic relevant to either their major or minor at WMU, and begin research that will becontinued during the trip. For their final graded work, students will explain whattheir expertise has illuminated about aspects of Kauai’s sustainability. They will alsoexplore how what they “learned from the island” will shape their own futures.

Important note: This course entails some physical challenges, including primitivesleeping accommodations (e.g., shared bunk houses), foot travel on uneven, slipperyslopes in a rain forest, and the preparation of all our own shared meals. Students willneed to travel light but have appropriate gear (such as a sleeping bag suitable fornights in damp, 40 degree conditions as well as sturdy shoes for hiking). 3 credit hours.

HNRS 2900: Therapeutic Gardens of the Pacific Northwest

Evidence supports that therapeutic and healing gardens reduce stress; increase the effectiveness of medical treatments for illness, injury, and disability; promote resilience, and improve overall health and well-being. Several research studies have found blood pressure and heart rate are lowered when exercising, socializing, or simply being outdoors. Other research shows that exercising outdoors makes us feel better. For instance, those who run in green parks feel calmer and are more focused than those who run in urban settings. Immersive walks (or “bathing”) in a forest area, a Japanese term known as shinrin-yoku leads to lower cortisol levels, lower blood pressure, and increased sense of self-centering as compared to walks in an urban area. Doing heavy garden tasks like digging and hauling improves bone density. There are fewer reports of crime, fear, incivility, and reduced incidence of violence when people live in or near greener spaces. Compared to those living in/near barren spaces, people who live in greener areas are more social, know their neighbors, and experience a greater sense of belonging and less fear. People who live in or close to green spaces actually tend to live longer than those who do not. There are also powerful positive secondary effects that have been associated with access to nature. Studies have shown that people recovering from spinal surgery in rooms with brighter sunlight needed 22% less pain medication than those patients in darker recovery rooms and patients who were recovering from gall bladder surgery did so faster and with less pain medication if their view out the window was of trees and greenery as compared to those whose view was of a brick wall. 3 credit hours.

HNRS 2900:Walt’s Pilgrimage: A Journey in the Life of Walt Disney

This unique, biographical course will take you from the birth to the death of the famous Walt Disney. This experience is a historical journey about the 60-year life of an individual who left his mark on America in so many ways. The course will start with Walt’s birthplace in Chicago and will end at his gravesite in California, taking us cross-country to all of the significant places in Walt’s life. Existing museums and buildings bearing Walt’s name will be a part of this one-of-a-kind, nationwide tour. Over the course of 8 days, nearly 40 destinations with a connection to Walt will be visited, in chronological order. We will interact with many Disney historians along the way. This course offers an exclusive perspective on Disney, beyond what probably most of us know from our own personal, prior experiences related to him and his Kingdom. Get ready to step inside the wonderful world of Disney! 3 credit hours.