The excitement for a new academic year is building at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Honors College Dean Larry Carlin looks forward to starting the semester with a special convocation. Welcoming new Honors students to campus is a highlight he enjoys every year.
Learn more about how the Honors College promotes student success and then watch for the last update in our back-to-school series from the College of Business next week.
What’s new in your college for the upcoming 2022-23 academic year?
We are excited to begin our year with Honors Convocation. Because of the pandemic, we have not been able to have Honors Convocation for the past three years, so we are looking forward to it. Our keynote speaker will be Honors instructor Courtney Bauder, director of the Social Justice Program. We are also excited to welcome Laura Carnahan (geography) to Honors. She will teach a new first-year Honors seminar, Natural Hazards. Also, the Honors College will host a year-long senior capstone project led by Grace Lim that details UW Oshkosh’s historic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lim will have four students present the work at the end of academic year.
Larry Carlin
What are you personally looking forward to the most about the fall semester?
I am looking forward to the return of Honors Convocation this September after a three-year hiatus, and I am looking forward to teaching a first-year Honors seminar, Food, Drugs and Money. And I always look forward to meeting our new students and welcoming them to the Honors College. It is one of my favorite things to do every academic year!
What advice would you give to incoming first-year students about how to succeed at UWO?
Of course, it is important to budget your time properly to ensure good study habits. But making connections with people on campus also fosters success and makes the most of your time in college. I encourage our new students to get to know their professors and to do so as soon as possible. The Honors College places heavy emphasis on student-faculty interaction because we know it fosters success. I also encourage first-year students to get to know other students by getting involved in student organizations and attending Honors co-curricular events. UW Oshkosh presents many opportunities to make connections with faculty, staff and students, and such connections help students succeed.
Share something you learned over the summer break.
This summer I read Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson. Later in his career, Isaac Newton was Master of the Royal Mint in England, and the book is about Newton’s attempt to hunt down the leading counterfeiter of the 17th century, William Chaloner. The book shows a different side to Newton that we do not often hear about, and I love learning more about major thinkers from this time period.
More importantly, I had the privilege of leading 40 Honors students on study-abroad programs to England and Scotland. It was our first study abroad since the pandemic. I experienced and learned many things with my students there about history, philosophy and culture. But I reflected mostly on the power of study abroad itself. I learned (again) that study abroad changes lives in so many ways. It engages students in ways that cannot be done in Oshkosh, and it forges a love of lifelong learning. Experiencing my students study abroad this summer reminded me of just how important and powerful study abroad can be, and I look forward to many more trips in the near future.
Learn more:
- UWO’s Fond du Lac and Fox Cities campuses offer meal plans, inclusive spaces, competitive sports in 2022-23
- One new dean plus six new profs highlight start of 2022-23 for UWO’s College of Nursing
- UW College of Letters and Science dean offers back to school update
- New faculty, staff and, of course, renovations ahead for UWO College of Education and Human Services