PRISM at Meredith College
Jennifer Cash,
Staff Writer
The fall 2010 semester
marked the beginning of a new
program at Meredith called PRISM,
Purposeful Reasoning Inquiry and
Scholarship at Meredith. The pro
gram is directed by Dr. Tim Hendrix,
who says the goals of PRISM are to
“identify and improve critical think
ing of students, faculty and staff.”
PRISM isn’t just about improving
critical thinldng in the classroom but
also within the daily lives of students
outside of class. The initiative is cur
rently working with College Programs
to incorporate critical thinking within
various organizations on campus such
as Student Activities.
prism’s three main prin
ciples are thinking about, thinking
within, and thinking beyond. As
freshmen, Meredith students can take
different PRISM seminars that get
students thinking about specific topics
and issues. These seminars are geared
to challenge students to excel in the
classroom, to improve on their criti
cal thinking skills, and to apply what
the/ve learned to the rest of their lives.
Of course, with every new initiative
comes expenses, but PRISM hopes to
add additional programs over the next
five years. This fall, first-year students
were able to chose from three PRISM
seminars: The Future of Technology,
taught by Dr. Barry Koster; Educa
tion Under Fire!, taught by Dr. Monica
McKinney and Dr. Julie Schrock; and
Reflections of Body Image in the Media,
taught by Curt Tomczyk. For interested
first year students, two more PRISM
seminars will be taught in the spring
semester. Students can choose from
Theater-940: Reflections of Body Image
in the Media, taught by Curt Tomczyk
or Political Science-949: Thinking about
the News, taught by Dr. Clyde Frazier.
As students advance through
college, PRISM hopes to encourage
thinking within each major. Dr. Hen
drix says that PRISM hopes “faculty
will infose courses with critical thinking
skills over the next two [to] three years.”
When students graduate from Meredith,
PRISM wants them to take skills learned
from their PRISM experience
with them so that they will think
beyond the classroom and apply
what they have learned to different
areas of their lives. As outlined on
the PRISM website, the program’s
goals are that:
“As a result of the PRISM experi- ■
ence students at Meredith will be
able to: apply skills of reason, cri
tique and creative thought through
reading, writing and speaking,
integrate and evaluate knowledge
from a variety of sources and dis
ciplines, raise important questions
and formulate solutions to com
plex problems, develop intellectual
curiosity by thinking independent
ly and being active in the learning
process, practice meta-cognition
by analyzing, assessing and recon
structing their ways of thinking
and exercise open-mindedness to
new ideas and ways of thinking.”
To learn more about
PRISM, visit www.meredith.edu/
prism.
“The Lovely Sansepolcro:” A View
from Our Italy Campus
Meredith Hyatt,
Contributing Writer
Sansepolcro really is a won
derful place to study abroad. The lon
ger I am here, the more I like the town
I live in. We have been learning a lot
about Sansepolcro and the history of
the area in our Italy Today course. The
town really does have a rich history.
The founding of Sansepolcro
is mostly legend. No one knows if it is
really true, but it could be. As the story
goes, Sansepolcro was founded by two
pilgrims, Egidio and Aranco, who were
on their way back from the Holy Land.
They had a dream and built an oratory
and the town began there. Sansepolcro
was originally Santo Sepolcro, which
means Holy Sepulchure. Egidio and
Aranco are carved on to the doors of
Sansepolcro’s cathedral.
As a student in Sansepolcro,
I have a regular day to day life and I
occupy a lot of my time the same way
I would back home. In a typical day,
we start classes at 9:00 am. We get our
own breakfast from the student kitchen,
which is stocked with cereal, bread, jam,
Nutella, yoghurt, and other common
cold breakfast foods. The first class of
the day is Italian. I am taking six hours
of Italian. We have been doing intensive
Italian since we arrived in Sansepolcro
and are going to have it every day for an
hour and a half until mid October. Then
we will switch to regular Italian. After
Italian, we will have our other class
es, some on Tuesday and Thursday
and others on Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday.
To read more about Meredith
Hyatt’s experiences in Sansepol
cro, please visit her blog at: http://
www.meredithinitaly.blogspot.
com/. And to read about other
Meredith students’adventures in
Tuscany, visit the Meredith College
study abroad travel blogs: http://
www.meredith.edu/abroad/italy/
journals/default.htm.
Campus Announcements
Hiding: North Korean Refugees
A film and discussion presented
by Liberty in North Korea (LiNK)
Nov. 10, 7 pm
Ledford loi
“Hiding” is a film about a
group of North Korean refugees hid
ing in China today, and exposes their
struggles to survive. The film will be
followed by a discussion with “no
mads” from the group Liberty in North
Korea (LiNK), who travel the countty
raising awareness about the humani
tarian crisis centered in North Korea.
While the world focuses on
North Korea’s security issue, hundreds
of thousands of North Koreans con
tinue to be enslaved in prison camps
today. Up to 300,000 have also escaped
to China seeMng food, medicine, work,
or freedom from political and religious
oppression. Among the 300,000, 70 to
90 percent of North Korean women are
trafficked and sold into the sex trade,
and more and more refugees are fleeing
to Southeast Asia to escape imprison-
ment^pon repatriation by China.
Contact Hilary Smith for further
details (smithhil@meredith.edu)
Announcement from SGA Senate:
Senate is the branch of the Student
Government Association that oversees
on campus organizations. As part of
their responsibilities. Senate reviews
organizations to see if they are active
on campus. The following organiza
tions are at risk for being declared
inactive, and therefore no longer be
official organizations, by SGA Senate
Wild at Heart: Wild at Heart
Animal Interest Club is open to every
student with an interest in animals.
This club will combine the biological
aspect of animals along with the psy
chological aspect of animal behavior.
Members are exposed to the many
opportunities Raleigh offers for
working with animals accomplished
through guest speakers, volunteer
ing in the community, taking trips
to local zoos, wildlife rehabilitation
hospitals, research facilities, and
the vet school, and raising money to
Upcoming
Events
gathered by Kristen Gallagher ?
October 27-7 pm. Volleyball Game: Mer
edith V Peace, Weatherspoon Gym =
October 28 - 4:15-6, Trick or Trot
October 29 - 7:30pm - 9:00pm, Guest
Recital: Joseph Pecoraro, guitarist
-Carswell Concert Hall
October 29 - 8pm -11 pm, Meredith and
a Movie: Despicable Me
October 30 - 9:00am - 5:00pm, Guitar
Masterclass: Joseph Pecoraro, 106
Wainwright
October 31- Hallbween
October 31 -3:00pm - 4:30pm, Meredith
Choral Concert, Jones Chapel
November 1- loam-noon, Drop in Re
sume Clinic, ACP
November 1 - Meredith Study Abroad Ap
plication Deadline
CORNHUSKIN(EVEJ^S
November 1 - lopm, Big Sis/ Lil’jSis Bon
fire & MRA Scavenger Hunt
November 2 - 10pm, President’s Raic]
November 3 - 4pm, Can Art
November 5 - Cornhuskin’, 3:30pm
Parade, 4:30pm Picnic, 6pm Corn!,
11pm Afterparty
sponsor an endangered animal chosen by
the club.
IMPACT: IMPACT Serves as a co
ordinating body for Meredith service proj
ects and serves all student organizations.
Provides a forum for student organiza
tions to collaborate on projects and for
students to come together to plan service
projects and activities for the campus.
If you are interested in reviving one of
these organizations, please contact Jenni
fer Prince, SGA Vice President and Senate
Chair, at senate@email.meredith.edu
Want your department’s event
featured in The Herald?
Email the details to
herald@email.meredith.edu