Coming up in the Honors College

ANNOUNCEMENTS & OPPORTUNITIES    

Grand Challenges Forum
The New Grand Challenges Forum encourages students to think critically, discuss openly and learn unequivocally. The New Grand Challenges Forum offers students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the local community a time to hear a wide range of lectures dedicated to a compelling theme. Fridays from 1-2 p.m. in the Honors College Commons.

Friday, Nov. 8, 2024
Amanda Stronza, Ph.D. Environmental Anthropologist, Texas AeM University
"More than Conflict: Insights on Human-Wildlife Coexistence from Social Science and Indigenous Knowledge"

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Apply to be an Honors Mentor!
Apply to be an Honors College Mentor for 2025! Honors Mentors serve as a resource and guide to incoming Honors students through check-ins and fun activities, both on and off campus. Being an Honors Mentor means being an instrumental part of supporting a student's first-semester experience. Honors mentors also receive leadership, diversity, and resource training. Application opens November 1 and closes November 18, 2024. You can apply HERE 
Questions? Please email mgarc226@cougarnet.uh.edu

TRAVEL & SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Japan Exchange and Teaching Program
The 2025 JET Program is a competitive employment opportunity that allows young professionals to live and work in Japan. Most participants work as Assistant Language Teachers in schools throughout Japan, and some work as Coordinators for International Relations as translators. The length of program is 12 months with potential yearly reappointments for up to five years. Applicants must hold or obtain a bachelor's degree by June 27, 2025. Application Deadline: November 15, 2024

Critical Language Scholarship & CLS Spark
The Critical Language Scholarship is an intensive overseas language and cultural immersion program for American undergraduate and graduate students, where they spend eight to ten weeks over the summer studying one of a dozen critical languages. CLS Spark is an initiative to provide opportunities to undergraduate students to study critical languages virtually when they may not have access to language learning on their campuses or the ability to study abroad. CLS is a program of the U.S. Department of State aimed to increase the number of Americans studying foreign languages critical to national security and preparing students for national competitiveness. Application Deadline: November 19, 2024 at 8 p.m. (EST)

DAAD Research Internships in Science and Engineering
DAAD RISE aims to promote the exchange of students to Germany in the fields of natural science, engineering, and life sciences. Undergraduate participants will enhance their knowledge through hands-on research, gain international experience, and discover Germany's unique research landscape. DAAD RISE is open to international students and U.S. citizens alike who have at least sophomore status. Application Deadline: November 30, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (CST)

Boren Awards
The Boren Awards fund the intensive study of language and culture abroad in locations that are critical to U.S. national security. Undergraduate scholars and graduate fellows have the option to either apply for a Regional Flagship Language Initiative or self-identify their own study program.

Boren Scholars can receive up to $25,000 and fellows up to $30,000 in awards. Recipients are eligible for exclusive opportunities and preferential consideration for federal government jobs. All applicants must be U.S. citizens, 18 years or older at the time of the national application deadline, and remain matriculated in a degree program at a U.S. post-secondary institution for the duration of their Boren Awards-funded program. Boren Fellowships Application Deadline: January 22, 2025 / Boren Scholarships Application Deadline: January 29, 2025

Argentina: Lithium Tango
June 2025
Trip Leads: Ognjen Miljanic and Eduardo Aleman
On this trip, explore Argentina and its dynamic capital city of Buenos Aires - one of the world's most vibrant cities in terms of culture, cuisine, architecture, and diversity. The trip will focus on the role of lithium, material critical to the lithium-ion batteries and electric cars, plays in Argentina, and on the role which Argentina will play on the world's stage as one of the countries with the largest lithium reserves in the world. Visit government agencies that regulate lithium mining, communities that are affected by it, and companies that do the mining and processing of lithium into batteries. In addition, you will explore Buenos Aires, its fascinating immigrant neighborhoods, tango clubs, local markets, and soccer stadiums. The trip will be led by Profs. Eduardo Aleman (UH political science) and Ognjen Miljanic (UH chemistry). 

Dominican Republic: Political Ecology
Spring course and June 2025 travel
Trip Leads: Jonathan Williamson and Nicolas Jacobsen
This interdisciplinary course and trip consider how the study of politics and of the environment intersect. The lenses of political science and local ecology will be focused on questions of sustainability and community and economic development using the community of Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic, where we will travel, as our case study. Las Terrenas’ natural springs, Atlantic coastline, beautiful beaches, mangrove-lined wetlands, and teeming coral reefs provide the ecological laboratory for students’ community-engaged research and study. How does this biological regime interact with local, national, and global political forces? What are the difficult choices that communities face when prospects of long-term environmental degradation are put into tension with immediate community, economic, and political needs? In partnership with local communities, we will consider how to manage natural and community resources through tenets of sustainable development. Instructor permission is required to enroll, and enrollment in the course is required for the trip.

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RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Applying to Summer Research Experiences Webinar
Are you wanting to develop your research skills between semesters? Learn the importance of summer research experience along with tips on how you can prepare for and apply to opportunities on- and off-campus this summer with this webinar. This webinar will take place on Friday, November 22 at 2 p.m. REGISTER HERE