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Fall 2005 Honors Freshman Colloquium

Valdosta State’s Honors Orientation is designed to introduce new students to the Honors faculty, their fellow Honors Program freshmen, and peer leaders from the Honors Student Association. Starting with shared summer reading of the same book, it ends with small group discussions in an informal setting and a cookout sponsored by the Honors Student Association.

Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life book cover

Summer Reading Program

This year, the Honors Faculty has selected Stephen J. Gould’s Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life as the book we’ll discuss. Inexpensive copies are available at most on-line bookstores (like Amazon.com or Powells.com). The University Bookstore will also have copies that you may purchase when you come to campus for New Student Orientation and Registration.

After reading Gould’s short, readable book, you will write a one to two-page response to one of the discussion questions listed below (see Questions for the Written Response below). Then, no later than August 1, 2005, you will submit an electronic copy of their response to honors@valdosta.edu. (If you wish, you may send a paper copy to University Honors Program, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA 31698.) This response will serve as your RSVP for the Honors Orientation as well as provide a beginning point for discussion in the Honors Colloquium.

Honors Colloquium

At 1:30 on Sunday afternoon, August 14, Honors freshmen and faculty mentors will meet in Valdosta State’s University Center for a period of friendly conversation in an informal setting. We’ll gather in small groups, organized by the questions you choose to answer and co-led by Honors faculty members and mentors, to share your thoughts and to begin building a sense of academic community. The purpose is not to discover the right answer but to appreciate the diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds that other members bring to the university. Dress is casual.

Welcome to the Honors House

About 3:00 that afternoon, we’ll take a short walk through Drexel Park to the Honors House for a cookout sponsored by the Honors Student Association. You’ll learn more about upcoming events as well as meet the officers and some other members of the Honors Student Association. Through various activities, casual conversation, and just time to hang out, you’ll get become better acquainted with your fellow Honors freshmen before classes begin.

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