This issue of the Clarion Honors Chronicle features information about research prospects, in addition to usual features, including the Student and Course Spotlights.

1. Researchers set their sights on Seattle
By Marissa Dechant
While Clarion
University students are
focused on surviving until
summertime, the Honors
Program has set its sights
ahead to October.
This year, the National
Collegiate Honors Council
(NCHC) will hold its annual
conference in Seattle on Oct.
12-16. The 2016 theme is
"Know Yourself," and honors
programs nationwide will
submit proposals based on
three perspectives: the
personal level, in relation to
honors education and the
NCHC and in relation to
Seattle.
Eight honors students
including Megan Blashford,
Natalie Bond, Andrew
Skubisz and Eric Zavinski are
submitting five papers.
Program Director Rod
Raehsler is submitting two
proposals surveying the
minority achievement gap and
its enrollment impact.
This is the third
NCHC conference for which
Raehsler and honors students
have submitted proposals.
Raehsler started submitting
to the conference his first
year as program director. He
said the research benefits
students because it prepares
them for senior
presentations.
"[The honors
research proposals] were
kind of out of my interest, so
I wanted to do a lot of
research, and I had all these
talented students to work on
all this," Raehsler said.
Student proposals for
the conference include
research on the public
perception of the honors
program both online and off,
and how various programs
are developing inside the
university.
Graduate student
Natalie Bond began
attending conferences early
on in her college career. The
speech pathology major has
The Clarion Honors Chronicle
Courtesy of the Clarion University
Honors Program
3/30/2016 Edition III, Volume II
Editor’s Word
  
Thank you for
reading the spring 2016
edition of The Clarion
Honors Chronicle this
semester!
Every semester in the
foreseeable future, there will
be three volumes of the
newsletter released where
we cover top stories,
students and courses within
the Honors Program.
Stay tuned for all the
updates you will need
regarding the Honors
Program-affiliated club:
Student Honors Association
and the mentorship program
as well.
If you have any
recommendations for the
newsletter or would like to
write with our current staff,
send me an email at
E.A.Zavinski@eagle.clarion.
edu.
-Eric Zavinski

2. presented papers on the
national curriculum analysis
of honors programs, high
impact practices and the
educational impact of Clarion
University's Summer
Academy.
Bond said the research
is a large draw for prospective
Clarion students, and it helped
in preparing for her senior
presentation.
"It's fun to get
involved with the research. I
know the underclassmen, they
really like the opportunity to
get involved, and we've
obviously been talking about it
at the recruitment events now
that we get to do [research].
We have two or three
freshman this year that are
getting involved in the
research groups since
[Raehsler’s] expanded how
many students are in it, and
they're really excited. We had
two of the students at the last
recruitment event...and they
were like, 'Wait, you can do
research with the director your
freshman year?'" Bond said.
Honors students'
ability to work directly with
Raehsler allows Clarion
University to get more
involved at honors
conferences. Raehsler said
Clarion's Honors Program
presents more research at the
NCHC than other larger
Pennsylvania state schools.
"I have not seen any
other school that has the
coverage that we
have....There's a lot of other
bigger schools involved, so
the major schools--Pitt, Penn
State, Ohio State--just because
of the money they have and
the size they are, they'll have a
lot of students involved, but
for our size, I don't know
anybody else that really does
as well as we do," Raehsler
said.
The Honors Program
will find out in mid-April
which proposals got accepted.
Raehsler said at the least, three
papers should be accepted,
and he and all eight honors
students will travel to Seattle
in October.
Honors students
interested in getting involved
with future conferences can
contact Raehsler at
raeshler@clarion.edu or stop
in at the honors office in 315
Becht Hall.

3. Ashley Deen - Student Spotlight
By Kaitlyn Mulligan
Ashley Deen, a
sophomore at Clarion
University, says that her
favorite part of the school is
the people. “I’ve made some
really great friends here,” she
said.
When the secondary
education social studies major
first visited Clarion, she fell in
love. “Everyone says they’ve
been to several college
campuses,” Deen said. “I
came to Clarion, and I was
like, ‘Nope! This is my
school.’”
In addition to the
people, she loves the smaller,
comfortable classes, the
opportunities Clarion offers
and the campus in general.
Deen also likes the fact that
the university is close enough
to home that she can get there
easily if she needs to, but it is
far away enough that she
doesn’t have to commute.It’s
the perfect balance of distance
and accessibility for her.
Deen spends her free
time reading, watching TV
and hanging out with her
roommates and friends. She
especially enjoys and
participates in the University
Activities Board events.
“There’s lots of things to do,”
she said. “We go to UAB
events all the time.”
She also spends her
time outside of class as a
member of the Clarion
University Council for the
Social Studies. This
organization is for social
studies education majors who
want to further their careers
by doing projects that may
help them in the future.
Examples of these projects
include the trunk project and
the geography bee.
The organization
works with local historical
societies to create trunks of
artifacts for local schools to
rent and use. The trunks also
include historical documents
as well as lesson plans written
by the Clarion University
Council for the Social Studies
members.
There are also
internship opportunities for
juniors within the council.
Students have the ability to
work in the classroom before
they have to student teach.
The selected students have the
chance to learn from a teacher
with big ideas about literacy
rates at his school.
After Deen graduates,
she hopes to get right into a
classroom. She would prefer
to teach eleventh grade even
though she knows that her
ideal topics of study are
sometimes not taught that
year. Her favorite part of
social studies includes the
ancient histories and the
middle ages.
She hopes to work
somewhere in Pennsylvania,
but she is not sure if her
hometown school district is
exactly for her. Deen also
prefers to be in a smaller town
as opposed to a larger city.
In the future, Deen
hopes to do more than
teaching. She would love to
travel everywhere, but
especially to places that are

4. not as well known. A desire to
go to places like Angkor Wat
and a statue in Russia were
inspired by a book series
Deen read.
“I still want to go to
the Great Wall of China, but I
also want to go to different
places that I didn’t even know
existed,” she said.
“Go out and do
events” is Deen’s advice for
future Clarion students. Not
only does she have a lot of fun
at campus events, but she also
has made many friends by
participating. She said, “You
meet a lot of new people that
way.”
It is not far-fetched to
conclude that Deen will make
even more friends in her time
here at Clarion and in her
career in social studies.
Kristina Kiritchenko
– Student Spotlight
By Lauren Corvino
Kristina Kiritchenko is
a junior history major and
German minor at Clarion. She
started out as a speech
pathology major before
switching. Kristina is a
member of the Honors
Program, and she said that it
“has helped me to make some
of my first and closest friends
in college.”
Currently Kristina is
studying abroad in Bamberg,
Germany and credits Dr. Frau
Susan Frakes for the
opportunity. Kristina said
that, “prior to departure, I
studied German for about 7½
years and being in Germany
has helped me tremendously
so far” in perfecting her
language skills.
Kristina arrived in
Bamberg, Germany on March
1 and started her intensive
German prep course on
March 10. The semester there
will begin on April 11 while
her main focus will be on
German Studies. She will also
take a few German history
and cultural classes.
“Literally every part of
your life is so different
beyond the language. It was
hard to adjust and in a lot of
ways, I’m still adjusting to
German college life, but it’s
possible and enjoyable,” said
Kiritchenko. So far she says
that she has only toured
Bamberg and Nuremburg but
will be touring Munich soon.
Kristina plans to spend
April 23 in London
“celebrating the life and
legacy of William Shakespeare
as well as finally visiting
Berlin.” Kristina enjoyed the
great experience she has had
meeting other international
students from countries such
as Finland, South Korea,
Ukraine, Greece, China,
Turkey, and others.
Kristina is part of three
organizations at Clarion
including History Club,
English Club and Reading for
a Cure. She has been a
member of History Club since
freshman year, became
secretary her sophomore year
and vice president last fall.
She continues to be the vice
president from Germany.
Her favorite
experience with History Club,
aside from the annual Ghost
Event created by Dr. Todd
Pfannestiel, was the day trip
History Club members took to
Pittsburgh last fall to the
Renaissance Faire.
“We left with full
bellies, wonderful souvenirs,
and great memories!”
The Ghost Event,
which Kristina participates in
every year, is held around
Halloween and gathers
donations for local causes
such as Operation Warm and
Clarion Pups to name a few.

5. Kristina stated,
“Reading for a Cure used to
be an English Club event but
has since grown into its own
RSO.” It is now an annual
event in October at Clarion
“that is for survivors, fighters,
those who are no longer with
us, and the family/friends of
these courageous people.”
“The basic set up is an
open mic night where we
have food, raffle off donated
baskets, have door prizes and
more. All proceeds go to the
Susan G. Komen Race for a
Cure in Pittsburgh.”
Kristina has
participated in two research
projects during her time at
Clarion. One project was
sponsored by the Clarion
Public Library, the Clarion
Historical Society and was led
by Dr. James Maccaferri.
The project
“chronicled the events of
World War I and what news
was being reported in
Clarion.”
“This project is
continuing every week”,
Kristina went on, “and will
continue after my graduation
leading up to the 100th
anniversary of the end of
WWI.”
The other project
Kristina has participated in
was a Co-op with Dr.
Kathleen McIntyre and Dr.
Pfannestiel along with two
other students.
“The goal of the
project is to create an oral
history of Clarion University
for the upcoming 150th
anniversary of the school in
2017. My individual project
chronicled the changes in
living on campus in the 1950s,
1980s and 2010s.
She has also “spent
about three days a week
during spring 2015
volunteering at the Clarion
Historical Society.” She went
on to say that, “I even helped
for a couple of events, tours in
the Ditz-Sutton Museum” in
Clarion.
When she returns from
Germany, Kiritchenko plans
to volunteer regularly again.
“Mary Lee Lucas is
absolutely amazing, and I
could spend hours in the Ditz-
Sutton just learning more
about Clarion’s past.”
Kristina says that after
she graduates from Clarion
University, she would like to
work in a museum and one
day become a curator and an
archivist.
“My dream job would
be a spot at the Holocaust
Memorial Museum in
Washington, D.C. were they
just started another project to
do more research of WWII in
Soviet Ukraine.”
“Eventually I hope to
pursue my master’s degree
and maybe even pursue a
Ph.D.” She continued,saying
that “hopefully, I can play
some small part in inspiring
others to tell the story of
mankind – or at least to ask
more questions.”

6. HON 130 – Course
Spotlight
By Jacob Beckey
As part of the honors
course requirements, students
have to take an arts and
humanities class. Recently,
Clarion’s Honors Program has
expanded to include a new
course: Contemporary Art.
This course was created to
accommodate the large
number of students enrolling
in HON130, which was
initially just a course entitled
Discovering Language.
So, when numbers
were up, students were
notified that there would be a
second option for HON130:
Contemporary Art. Students
had a choice: they could take
an established course
pertaining to linguistics, or
they could try a fresh new art
course. Many students, like
myself, chose to take
Contemporary Art once a
week with Jeremy Boyle.
Thus far, I have been very
happy with my decision.
Mr. Boyle describes
the goals of the course as
follows: the idea of the course
is founded in presenting a
perspective of art and
constructing a working
definition where its relation
(in context and action) to
history, politics, social issues,
culture and critical discourse
are central and essential to our
understanding. He has kept
this conception of the course
with him at all times and
makes sure to stick closely to
his goals in each class.
Class meets once a
week from 6 to 8:30 p.m. It
usually begins with a brief
introduction by Mr. Boyle in
which he discusses his
objectives for the current class
and in which he remarks on
the previous week’s
assignment.
A typical class then
includes a presentation of
some sort followed by class
discussion and small group
work. Mr. Boyle utilizes the
long class period by showing
documentaries of various
kinds. Afterwards, we are
expected to respond to, reflect
upon and discuss various
aspects of the films. Typically,
an essay of some sort is
assigned as homework to be
turned in on D2L before the
start of next class. With this
structure, we utilize our time
effectively in class and think
critically while writing outside
of classroom.
As far as new courses
go, Contemporary Art is off to
a great start. Students will gain
an appreciation for and
understanding of what art is,
and how the notions
associated with art have
evolved into a contemporary
context.
Personally, I believe
that class would benefit
greatly from a field trip to a
contemporary art museum. I
firmly believe that seeing art
in person, in the museum
setting, is an important part of
understanding the art, or at
least enjoying it.
A lot is lost in the
reproduction of artwork, so it
seems logical that the
students’ experience would be
enhanced by going to a real
museum and seeing the pure
art. This, of course, would
require extra funds, but should
that obstacle be overcome, I
think the course would be
nicely improved. Otherwise,
Mr. Boyle has developed a
new course that is both
engaging and enriching and
will benefit honors students
for years to come.
Mr. Jeremy Boyle teaches the
newest contemporary art class
within the Honors Program:
HON 130.

7. SHA Update
By Eric Zavinski
Clubs all over campus
are gearing up for Clarion
University’s Relay for Life.
The American Cancer Society
event will be a 24-hour
marathon of celebrating the
fight to kill cancer.
The Relay takes place
on Friday and Saturday, April
15 and 16. SHA will also be
participating with the 33 other
teams and 400 plus
participants who have already
raised over $18,000.
If you’re interested in
having fun through
community service and
helping SHA’s team initiative,
email President Brandon
Nielsen at
B.M.Nielsen@eagle.clarion.edu
for more information.
SHA is also looking to
recruit more members in
general, so let your honors
and non-honors friends know
of a new extracurricular
opportunity awaiting them!
Under Eagles’ Wings
By Eric Zavinski
I am still collecting
any feedback I can get from
the Honors Program
student body, mentors and
mentees alike.
Whoever is the next
student director of the
Honors Program will
benefit greatly from any
ideas that you might have
regarding input or changes
to the program.
Email me at
E.A.Zavinski@eagle.clarion.
edu, and we will be sure to
take your advice into
consideration.
Important Information
From your Editor-in-Chief: Eric Zavinski
If you would like to write for The Clarion Honors Chronicle, please
contact me at (814)688-2468 or E.A.Zavinski@eagle.clarion.edu.
Reminder: Seniors, make sure to check your Eagle Mail for more
information about your upcoming senior presentations.
You can contact the Honors Office at (814) 393-2585or at
honorsprog@clarion.edu. We are located at 315 BechtHall, and our
student lounge is in the basementof Ralston Hall in Room B83. A
student worker will be in the main office to greet you at all times
between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. Email Natalie
Bond at N.A.Bond@eagle.clarion.edu for the hours of the lounge’s
operation if you need it. Printing is available in the lounge.
Join
SHA
today!