Newsletter IX. Summer 2006
Boone Honors students selected for study in China
	Three students in the Boone Honors Program and a Ferrum faculty member will travel to The People's Republic of China for a Study Abroad program in July and August 2006. The program is entitled Science and Technology in China from Antiquity to Modernity: Economic, Religious, Political, and Cultural Influences. Ferrum students selected for the opportunity are Wilson Paine, a history major from Maryville, Tennessee; Christina Ritter, a health sciences major from Rocky Mount, Virginia, and Tesia Zajac, a criminal justice major from Centreville, Maryland. Dr. Jack Corvin, Jr., associate professor of philosophy, will serve as Ferrum faculty chaperone. The travel group will also include students and faculty from Carson-Newman College and Campbellsville University. Expenses for the Ferrum group will be paid by a grant from the Appalachian College Association and by Ferrum College. Read more about the China trip.
Boone Honors Program Enjoys Largest Graduating Class
At the college's 90th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 13, 2006, five students received Boone Honors Program medallions, signifying their fulfillment of program requirements. This is the largest graduating class in the honors program's history. The new graduates are Amanda Dawn Chitwood of Rocky Mount, Va., a business administration major; Jessica Lynn Hylton of Danville,Va., an English major; Thomas Glenn James of Lawrenceville, Ga., a psychology major; Leslie Paige Semones of Hardy, Va., a liberal arts major; and Carrie Grace Vest of Rocky Mount, a liberal arts major. Hylton now works as sports editor of the Bedford Bulletin. James works for Ferrum College in the Campus Ministries Office and plans to begin seminary studies in Fall 2006. Semones has been hired as a teacher with the Franklin County Public Schools.	Four members of the class of 2006 graduated with a perfect 4.0 g.p.a., including Thomas James (middle). James was one of five graduates who completed requirements of the Boone Honors Program. Medallions were presented by Dr. Lana Whited, interim honors program director for 2005-06.
New seminar on Media and Violence to be offered in Spring 2007 e-term During the Sprintg 2006 semester, the Ferrum faculty approved a new interdisciplinary honors seminar, Honors 213: Media and Violence. The course was designed and will be taught by Dr. Lana Whited, professor of English, and Dr. Sharon Stein, associate professor of psychology. It will be offered for the first time during the college's first e-term, in late spring 2007. The emphasis of the course will be on how violence is depicted in news and entertainment media, how media depictions of violence affect society, how social scientists study these effects, and how the problems associated with media and violence might be addressed.  The course will be offered as writing-intensive. Students who are not members of the Boone Honors Program and who have completed English 102 with a grade of "C" or higher may enroll with permission of the instructors.
Denham Addresses Boone Honors Banquet
The Honors Program celebrated the 2005-06 academic year with its traditional banquet in the Panther's Den of Franklin Hall on May 1. The guest speaker for the evening was Dr. Robert Denham, who spoke on the topic of his extensive research involving the Canadian literary critic Northrup Frye. Denham is a former member of the English faculty at Roanoke College and Emory & Henry College, and he has two close connections to Ferrum: his wife, Rachel, is retired from the college's art faculty, and, at Emory & Henry, he was the academic advisor of Dr. Lana Whited. Graduating seniors Amanda Chitwood, Jessica Hylton, Thomas James, Leslie Semones, and Carrie Vest were also honored at the banquet. The meal was provided by Ferrum College Food Services.	Dr. Robert Denham
(L-R) Dr. Gary Evans, Tember Long, Rebekah Staples, Autumn Spencer, Rachael Brown, Kim Mitchell, Meaghan Hill, Dr. Lana Whited, Leslie Semones, Dr. Michael Trochim, Carrie Vest, Thomas James, Amanda Chitwood, Dr. Tina Hanlon. Not pictured: Dr. John Bruton, Dr. Ed Cornbleet, Mrs. Linda Trochim, Dr. Jack Corvin, Mrs. Cindy Corvin.	Honors Program Students, Faculty, & Friends Attend The Marriage of Figaro On Friday, March 31, 2006, a group of 19 students, faculty, and friends of the honors program met for dinner at Nawab, at Indian restaurant on the Roanoke City Market, and then attended a performance of Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro staged by Opera Roanoke and held at Shaftman Auditorium in the Jefferson Center. 2006 marks the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth (on Jan. 27, 1756).
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