Community meetings happen at the first Wednesday of every month in the BE Rec Room. One of my favorite things about them is that I get to see all my friends, especially those I haven’t seen in a while.
Other cool things that happen here are:
Columbus is such a wonderful city to be in, with lots to do and see. One of my favorites being all the cultural festivals that take place downtown. For example, a group of Humanities Scholars often go to the Greek, Italian, and Caribbean Festivals.
From Day 1 this program had my back, if not sooner. Over the summer I received an email from 3 upperclassmen introducing themselves as my mentors. They sent me helpful tips before move in day such as what to pack, what to expect during move in, and Welcome Week events to attend. I had 2 other freshman in my mentor group and we all met in person after the First Year Retreat. Every Humanities freshman gets a mentor group, which is there to answer questions, become friends, and give reminders. Some groups are move involved than others, but either way I know I appreciated my mentors, and eventually became a mentor myself (one of the many leadership opportunities available within scholars).
A signature Humanities program is our spring Banned Book Club. We choose a book that has been banned somewhere in the world and after reading it discuss why it was controversial. There is a fall and winter book club as well. Past examples of books read being: Eat, Pray, Love (Gilbert), The Kite Runner (Hosseini), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Chbosky).
“Share your passion for literature with your fellow scholars… We read a wide variety of books and short stories, and follow up with a lovely discussion. For the 2018-2019 academic year, we read R.L. Stein, Edgar Allan Poe, feminist short stories for National Women’s History Month, and The Hate You Give.” -Natalie
Another thing I love about our scholars program is that you can get points for attending professional development events such as:
(What a great motivation to improve yourself)
This project asks sophomore Humanities Scholars to independently explore the Humanities as they’re challenged to create a project aligning with their personal, academic, or career goals. Ultimately, the project should create a resume worthy learning experience that illustrates the transferable skills and experiences that come from membership in our program. In other words, “What did you gain from being a Humanities Scholar?” Some students use their STEP experiences (left) while others get creative with personal things like scrapbooks (right).
STEP stands for “second year transformational experience” and is designed for sophomore’s at Ohio State. I joined for the promise of up to $2,000 in grant money, funded by the university. Many people use this as a chance to study abroad, work an internship, get a certification, or do Buck-I-Serve. However, I found that STEP is worth much more than the money as I met great people in my cohort. Cohorts are led by a faculty member, which is a nice reminder that teachers are people too. In this casual setting we did fun events like going out to eat, hiking, and gallery hop. Humanities Scholars have their own cohort too if you’d like to stay with people within our program.
Another signature Humanities event is the film festival! Each year first year students gather in teams to make a short video revolving around a common theme. This year’s theme was community. This is the final project for our freshman seminar course and we have a great time coming together to watch all the films on the big screen with soda and popcorn. The two films here were awarded best in show and most heart warming. Great job everyone!
Check out the Humanities Scholars YouTube channel for past years’ videos.
Guys, we have the best grad assistant and her name is Alex! Alex came to us from William & Mary University in Virginia and is now studying Higher Education because she wants to promote diversity in the admissions office. We share Alex with the Arts Scholars, but otherwise we are the only Scholars at OSU with a grad assistant. We love having her as she is so nice and always available to talk. Say hi, stop by her office, or catch her & Ben at “lunch with Ben & Alex.”