We are teaming up with the good folks at Education Technology Services (ETS) to try out using blogs, or you might want to consider it your own personal content management space on the web, as a way of integrating, engaging, and other gerunds your SHC and Penn State experience. The idea is to provide a place where you can bring together your thoughts, images, and ideas that develop as you move through your time at Penn State and the SHC. This place (or “space” as folks now like to call it) is also a forum where others can see what you are thinking and respond to it, engage with it, and appreciate it.
For example, in addition to the courses that you take at Penn State there are all sorts of programs and activities that we expect you to take advantage of while you are a student. You may study abroad for one semester or do an internship with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You might attend one our special guest lectures, last year we had Peter Bergen, terrorism analyst from CNN, speak about terrorism and the US response. During and after any of these events you would post a reflection, pictures from your time abroad, or simply keep a diary of what you are doing. In doing so we would simply ask you to think about these experiences (loosely) within the framework of the mission of the SHC. How did this event challenge me to think about the world from another perspective? Was it a chance for me to learn leadership skills? Did the speaker bring up ethical concerns about journalism that had never occurred to me before? I think you get the idea.
So, here is the deal: We are looking for a few people to start this whole project. We want to see where you all take it, there are no parameters set up and our expectations are simply participation. Give it a try and give us your feedback. We will have a few dinner get togethers over the course of the year meeting with ETS staff and honors faculty to get your feedback, see how you think it is going, and to consider how this might grow and develop in the future. There may be one or two other perks along the way… This will be an open project, so all the blogs will be freely accessible to the public (this is where you begin your journey towards becoming a “public intellectual!”) and will be hosted through http://blogs.psu.edu/. More information on getting started can be found at the Blogs at Penn State page, but remember any Penn State student can have a blog! So if you do not apply or are not selected for this program it doesn’t mean that you can’t go ahead and start your own blog! By all means do so, PSU makes it easy for you so sign up today!
Final word: If you are interested please post a reply to this message on the blog and please do so by August 8th. Be sure to use your PSU email address when you leave your comment and once we select our group we will be in touch with everyone.
Hey Dean Brady! I hope your summer is going well, but I certainly can’t wait to get back to State College. This new blog project makes me even more eager to return, and I would absolutely love to be a part of it. I read countless blogs in my spare time, and I have to admit that I am a bit jealous of the students who already share their experiences in the SHC student blog. I love to write, I have been looking for a fresh outlet for my creative thoughts, and I think this is a wonderful opportunity. I’m a SHO TIME mentor, on the executive board for the Penn State Marketing Association, involved with No Refund Theatre and Springfield THON, and preparing to study abroad in Spain in the spring, so I’ll definitely have a lot to write about. More importantly, I truly believe in the SHC’s ABC mission, and I would love to share it with the entire PSU community.
Hello!
I think this is an awesome idea, and I would really like to take part in this. One of the things that continues to intrigue me about Penn State is how much the university can be tailored to the individual if one knows where to look, through mere luck, I’ve been stumbling in on some really unique experiences recently. This could help students realize the full potential of the university.
Although I will be a senior this year, I would like to be a part of this project before I leave. I think it’s a great idea, and I’m excited to see it put into action.
Thank you,
– Ryan
I want to point out to everyone (especially first-year students) that if you already have your Penn State email address you can sign up and start blogging NOW! I would love to see incoming first-year students start writing about their experience and expectations in their last few weeks before arriving in State College.
Just go to http://blogs.psu.edu/ and click on “Login to New Blog System.” If you do not already have your webspace allocated simply fill out the form and in a day or so you will be notified that the space is ready for you. Then go back to http://blogs.psu.edu/ and login, create your blog, and start writing!
I am a first year PSU student. I am excited about both the classes I am taking, as well as, the activities and organizations I hope to join. I am definately interested in this blogging project. I think this could be a tool to help prospective students understand the first year experience in the Schreyer Honors College, as well as, Penn State in general.
Hey,
I would love to incorporate the technology blog that I maintain throughout the school year into your framework. Here is my blog: http://www.personal.psu.edu/scd5029/blogs/was_ist_das/. Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Steven Dodge
[...] of this approach this fall, the coolest one being with the Schreyer Honors College … check out Dean Chris Brady’s post seeking volunteers. Some of the scholars’ comments are very [...]
I think doing a lifeblog like this would be a lot of fun. I’ve been maintaining a link blog for a little less than a year now, and started twittering; keeping a true web log would be a great third leg. I’d love to combine all these into one cohesive space.
Davis ’12
[...] just wanted to remind everyone of my previous post looking for a few (about a dozen) first-year students who would like to enter into an experiment of [...]
I think that this is a great idea and I’d like to participate. It would be really good if at least one student from each of the different colleges within PSU could give a perspective into being a member of both that college as well as the SHC.
Hey Dean Brady,
I’m a first-year student and would be interested in the blog. I think it’s a great idea and will give future students a taste of what Penn State can bring from many unique points of view. Just email me with more details when they are needed. Thanks
Dear Dr. Brady,
Hi! My name, as you can see, is Jen, and I am going to be a freshman this year at Penn State. I am so excited to be in Schreyer and I am so happy that I ran across this posting! I would love love love to be a part of this project. I want to be a novelist for a living, so writing is my passion of all passions, and this project is right up my alley. I am having so many feelings bouncing around with the start of the year coming up, so I would have plenty to write about. I must admit that I have never written a blog before, but I am willing to learn how and I think that writing a blog would be wonderful practice for me as a writer…especially writing for SHC. Please let me know more details when they are available.
I will hopefully see you up in Happy Valley on August 20th. Talk to you soon!
Jen
Dear Dean Brady,
We already spoke about the whole blogging experience, but this is the official declaration of my interest in it.
I’m a print journalism major and enjoy writing short stories and poems in my free time, so I think I’d have a lot of fun pointing out little moments in my life and sharing them with the Penn State community.
It’s definitely a good idea, and I hope to be writing alongside the other bloggers quite soon.
Thank you,
Ricky
Ricky and all, keep your eyes open for an email later this week!
[...] to see we are launching a pilot with first year Honor Scholars who self selected in based on a great post by Dean Brady that will see them posting their learning and life experiences over the course of the semester, [...]
I am a first year PSU student. I am excited about both the classes I am taking, as well as, the activities and organizations I hope to join. I am definately interested in this blogging project. I think this could be a tool to help prospective students understand the first year experience in the Schreyer Honors College, as well as, Penn State in general.
[...] Recent public urls tagged “museum” → Want to be a part of something new at the SHC? [...]
Hey Dean Brady!
By any chance, do you still need bloggers? I’m a first year as well.
Hi Dulce-Marie! We are out of the trial phase now so all of our first year Scholars should have their own blog up and running.
You should be receiving some follow up emails to help you set up (if you haven’t) and to remind you of how to go about blogging.
So please! Join the fun!
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[...] Davis‘ head since at least the summer before freshman year (check out Davis’ comment on this Dean Brady blog post, probably the earliest documentation of any sort of Onward State-ish idea). I was eager to help [...]