Honors Classes

Foundation: Inquiry into Citizenship: CTZN 110 – Bodies and Citizens

The sample above was my final project for the class. My professor had us choose a way that women or minorities are depicted in a negative light, make a “course” surrounding this topic and a syllabus, and then create a three-minute presentation for the class. My project was to look at the way women are depicted in “Grim’s Fairy Tales.” In the course Bodies and Citizens, we looked at the many different ways the bodies of people determine their “citizenship.” The women written about in these stories are reduced to stereotypes, and their best attributes always seem to be centered around their looks. For each of the stories I looked at, I analyzed the ways the authors of these stories tore women apart, wrote crudely about them, and the stereotypes about women they favored. The main point I learned from this point is that when people want to be citizens, their bodies often play a role in the amount of power they have, and the rights they actually gain access to.

Foundation: United States  History – 1877 Modern Times HIST 222

The sample above was my final project for the class. Throughout the course, we looked at disadvantaged groups throughout history and for our final project, we made a BuzzFeed article and wrote about some of these disadvantaged groups. My article was centered around seven minorities that have been at a disadvantage since coming to the United States of America. This course taught me about the many different hardships people of minorities have been and are currently forced to endure when trying to make it in America, and how virtually every group faced some form of discrimination before being accepted into society.

Foundation: Behavior and Social Institutions EDUC 245

The sample above was my final project for the class. This course taught me a great deal about the behavior of children and the different ways they can grow up and develop. For this project, we interviewed three children in different stages of development. Then we wrote a paper detailing our findings. The goal of writing this paper was to notice the different physical and mental stages the children were in and to note similarities and differences. This class was especially relevant to me because I want to be an elementary teacher. This class has prepared me for what to expect cognitively, physically, and mentally.  The professor told us about the different theories of child development and the different environmental and genetic factors that can impact a child’s development from infancy to adulthood.

Foundation: Survey of Exceptional Children SPED 389

The sample above was my final project for the class. This class was really amazing in so many different ways. The purpose of the class was to educate liberal studies majors about different physical, mental, emotional, an intellectual disabilities that our students may have when we enter the classroom. For this honors project, my partner and I researched a method of communication, PECS, and its use as a communication device for students who have autism. We then researched the success of giving PECS to students with intellectual disabilities. Being able to work on projects such as this one, and being able to open my own mind and develop into a more caring, understanding person was a really great thing that this class helped me accomplish. Most importantly, I took away a lot from this class in terms of how important it is to be a kind, inclusive teacher. I learned how to spot signs of intellectual, physical, mental, and emotional disabilities or delays, and how to create different classroom management and educational plans to help those children succeed.

Foundation: Health and PE for Elementary Education  Classroom Teachers KINS 389

The sample above was my final project for the class. This course opened my eyes to the importance of physical education, and how beneficial it can be to incorporate physical activities into your lesson plans. My professor for this class was amazing, and really worked hard to practice what he taught. that meant most days, we had physical activities incorporated into our lessons, and had “movement breaks.” This class went over physical and emotional health, our roles as teachers, and other critical health lessons. For this honors project, we were able to write short papers that are being peer reviewed, and submitted to be a part of a peer reviewed article. For this project, we all selected different disabilities, and explained why recess would still be beneficial to these students, and how recess could be modified to be something more easily accessible for students with disabilities.

Foundation: Queer Virginia CTZN 410

This video above is a part of my final project for my CTZN 410 class. In this class, we analyzed the LGBTQ+ community in America, and focused in on Virginia. We analyzed and discussed queer erasure throughout history, and what is being done now to preserve the queer history today. This project looked at the residential experience for a queer student attending Longwood University. More specifically, it detailed the accommodations they receive, how their concerns are addressed, and the way programming is being used to educate others on the history of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the way programming can make sure that queer students know what resources are readily available to them. This class analyzed many different aspects of LGBTQ+ history and current societal strengths and weaknesses, and how we as a community of future citizen leaders can work to make sure a fair and accurate history of America is being taught, where everyone’s history is valued and shared.

Foundation: Introduction to Residential Learning EDUC 376

The sample above was my final project for the class. This course was a mandatory class all new Longwood Residential Assistants must take, and they created an honors split section for the class. For the class to qualify for the honors split section, each of the honors students in the class chose a topic that had not been discussed in class, and did a research project detailing the significance of the topic, and how we as Residential Assistants can convey this information to our residents. I loved this class, and the topics and discussions held in the class were amazing. Our class was educated on topics ranging from eating disorders to abusive relationships to sexual assaults and the post-trauma that ensues, and all of the ways we as RAs can ensure our residents get the help and support they need. I took away a great deal from this class in terms of the way I conduct myself as an individual, and as an RA. Being prepared for different scenarios and events is an extremely useful skill I was able to take away from this class, and overall this class gave me great exposure to “real world” scenarios and the best way to respond to different events in a way that is productive and helpful.