On behalf of the Faculty Fellows and the University Scholars staff, I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for a wonderful fall. In the letter that follows, you will find great news about our work together and the opportunities we are developing as we move into the spring term. Read all the way to the end for information on your Scholars Seasonal gifts.
Enjoy your winter break. Go Huskies!
- Dr. Iacono
This September, we welcomed 111 new University Scholars to campus. The group enters with an average SAT of 1505 and a GPA of 4.38 and boasts amongst its members 20 captains of team sports; 59 performers in dance, theater, or music; 10 students who have earned either the Eagle Scout or Gold Award designation; 71 students who completed university coursework prior to NU; 71 students who also performed community service; and 11 valedictorians. With the addition of these stellar students, Scholars now hail from 34 U.S. states and 37 countries and contribute a vast range of interests and experiences to our community. We can confidently claim to be the most diverse scholarship cohort in the country, in addition to our claims to the "Most Fun" and "Nicest" titles.
Building on the foundation laid by the Leadership Retreat that concludes the Scholars’ first year, SAGE Series events allowed returning Scholars to continue developing as leaders and thinkers. A selection of more than 20 events included skills assessments, a creativity "comics jam" with noted novelist and illustrator Lynda Barry, a "Co-op Connection" lunch, workshops on critical leadership and communication skills, a break dancing meditation session, and opportunities to interact with university leaders.
We want to improve the SAGE Series -- so if you attended one of our workshops, please provide us feedback via this quick survey.
The Scholars Program houses the university's Office of Fellowships and is charged with developing talent throughout the university. Last year, more students than ever from Northeastern applied for and won prestigious scholarships, such as the Fulbright, Goldwater, Rangel, and Scoville Peace Fellowships. This year, we are track for another impressive year. We forwarded a record number of applications to the national Fulbright Committee and nominated five excellent candidates for the Rhodes, Marshall, and Mitchell Scholarships.
We are pleased to announce that Julia Ebert COS’15 has been awarded a Marshall Scholarship. Funded by the British government to commemorate the Marshall Plan and the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, the Marshall Scholarship allows 40 “intellectually distinguished young Americans, their country’s future leaders, to study in the UK” each year. Fewer than 3% of the over 900 applicants endorsed by their universities earn this prestigious and highly competitive award. Ebert, a native of Wausau, WI, and a behavioral neuroscience major, has conducted extensive research on motor learning and control both at Northeastern and at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany. With the Marshall Scholarship, she plans to study biomedical engineering at Imperial College London.
Last spring, the University Scholars Program introduced a first-of-its-kind for Northeastern summer fellowship of up to $4,000 to enable University Scholars to pursue original, student-initiated independent research, creative performance, and project-making in close collaboration with a faculty mentor. Nearly 40 University Scholars participated. Our Faculty Fellows hosted a series of workshops to guide students through the process of conceptualizing a project and putting forth a feasible and reasonable proposal, while the projects themselves were shepherded by faculty from across the university. Participants presented their results to the community at the Scholars Research Symposium in September, with a keynote by Senior Vice Provost Susan Ambrose. Scholars Independent Research Fellowships will return for Summer 2015, with a process incorporating feedback from last year’s mentors, and with available funding increased to $5,000 per project.
Over the summer, working in collaboration with the Office of the Provost technical team, faculty member Professor Phyllis Strauss, and members of the Honors Program, we also spearheaded the development of a new Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor website. The site features resources we have been developing through the Scholars Program – namely, resources about developing relationships with faculty mentors, developing your research question, writing your project proposal, carrying out your research, finding funding, and presenting your results. We encourage all of you to use these resources and take advantage of any and all opportunities to bring new ideas to life through research and creative endeavor. Our SIRF process will take place this spring!
Throughout the fall, Dr. Karas and I have been working with a committee of your peers – Lindsey Bressler, Caroline Cervera, Mason Gersh, Amina Ly, and Daniel Russotto -- to put together (what we believe is) Northeastern's first student-driven "Open Classroom"-style course: our Spring Scholars Seminar on Leadership, Research, and Innovation. The Scholars Seminar on Leadership, Research, and Innovation connects University Scholars to change-makers from both inside and outside the university whose work is significantly advancing global conversations on issues of vital interest. All Scholars, especially those who have or will take advantage of program funding for our Dialogues, Alternative Spring Breaks, and SIRFs, are strongly encouraged to register for and participate in the seminars.
Scholars who register and attend the course will be able to share dinner with one of our guest speakers and will receive a University Scholars Embroidered jacket/fleece (please let us know your size when you "redeem" your Scholars Holiday Gift). Scholars on co-op do not need to register for the class but are encouraged to join us.
The Seminar will be held on Thursday evenings from 6 -7 PM in West Village F 020. The course is for zero credit. The course is CRN 35611. Register today!
This year, the University Scholars welcomed a new Associate Director and two new Faculty Fellows: Paula Caligiuri, Distinguished Professor of International Business and Strategy; and Hilary Poriss, Associate Professor of Music.
Professor Caligiuri researches and teaches in the area cultural agility and global leadership development. Named as one of the most prolific authors in international business, Caligiuri has authored or co-authored several articles and books – including Cultural Agility: Building a Pipeline of Successful Global Professionals. As a consultant, she works extensively with leading organizations in the United States, Asia, Australia, and Europe on topics related to the selection and development of culturally agile professionals. She is a frequent expert guest on CNN, where she had a bi-weekly segment called "Reclaim Your Career."
Professor Poriss is a music historian whose fields of specialization are 19th-century French and Italian opera and prima donna culture. She is the author of Changing the Score: Arias, Prima Donnas, and the Authority of Performance (Oxford 2009) and co-editor of The Arts of the Prima Donna in the Long Nineteenth Century (Oxford 2012). She is currently writing a book about the 19th-century diva Pauline Viardot (1821-1910) as well as a book about Gioachino Rossini’s most famous opera, The Barber of Seville.
Dr. Andrew Karas now serves as Associate Director of the University Scholars Program. He brings a range of classroom and administrative experience to the role, having most recently worked in the University of Pennsylvania’s Career Services office. Dr. Karas has also taught introductory writing at Harvard (his undergraduate alma mater) and Yale, where he received his Ph.D. in English Language and Literature. His ongoing research examines the prominence of revision and multiple versions in modern poetry.
Building Faculty Connections
- “Take a Professor to Lunch” allows students to share a meal with a professor at a dining hall or the Faculty Club
- The Scholars Research Support and Travel Fund offers small grants to cover costs associated with conducting research or presenting results at conferences; and
- Scholars Research Assistantships provide up to $2400 for Scholars to work alongside faculty.
Scholars Seasonal GiftsPsychologists report that the way to maximize happiness is to have experiences, not buy objects. With this in mind, we have put together a number of Scholars Seasonal Gifts designed to help enrich your experiences. They are listed below.
| Book | Any Book from This Year's New York Times Top 100 List |
| Membership | Brattle Theater |
| Membership | Institute of Contemporary Art |
| Membership | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum |
| Membership | John F. Kennedy Library and Museum |
| Membership | Museum of Science (and Omni Theater) |
| Membership | Franklin Park Zoo |
| Membership | New England Aquarium |
| Subscription | Foreign Affairs |
| Subscription | The New Yorker |
| Subscription | The Economist |
In order to "redeem" your gift, we ask that you complete one of the critical writing exercises below and submit your response via our online portal by January 5th. You can submit a PDF of a handwritten document or simple text. Take at least an hour and write it out.
- Each of you is working with a CEP community partner. Based on your experience, what is/are the nature of the challenge/s the organization and/or its constituents face?
- Martin Luther King Jr. said that "We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education." Do you think that character can be taught? What evidence do you have to support your answer?
- What is the best course you have taken at Northeastern and why?
- What would happen if all went according to your plan?