Meet Honors Program director Dr. Antonina Bambina
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Photo by Elizabeth Courtney Randolph/USI |
Dr. Antonina Bambina, the new director of the Honors Program.
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There are 277 students in the Honors Program this semester, including 68 new freshmen – 30 of whom live in the Honors Living Learning Community. Participation doubled for this year’s Honors Program welcome reception, held in the lower level of the Education Center outside the new Honors Program suite.
Students at the reception had the opportunity to mingle, check out the lounge and study area exclusively for Honors students, and meet Dr. Antonina Bambina, the new director of the Honors Program.
Bambina earned her doctorate and master’s degrees from Columbia University in New York City and her bachelor’s degree from Queens College, City University of New York. Her academic research interests include social network analysis, Internet studies, and medical sociology, which she is teaching at USI this semester.
Her husband Dr. Andrew Buck, assistant professor of sociology, joined USI last fall. For five years before moving to Evansville, the couple lived in England, where Buck was a lecturer in sociology at the University of Reading, and Bambina completed her dissertation. Entitled Online Social Support: The Interplay of Social Networks and Computer-Mediated Communication, it was published by Cambria Press in July 2007.
Bambina has two major academic goals for the Honors Program: to create a unique curriculum for Honors students (and eventually establish a curriculum in each degree), and to help faculty come up with challenging projects for students who contract courses for Honors credit.
“We want to stimulate students and faculty by thinking of something a bit more interesting than an extra 10-page paper,” she said. “If you think more creatively, you can create intellectual discourse between you and the student that can be more satisfying for both of you.”
For example, Dr. Kevin Valadares, director of Health Services Administration, had an Honors student write case studies for a textbook. “That’s a great opportunity for a student,” Bambina said. “Have these students work on projects and research, like graduate students.”
Dr. Michael Strezewski, assistant professor of anthropology, had a student clean and catalogue Harmonist artifacts, a project that had been shelved for decades. Dr. David Hitchcock, assistant professor of Spanish, assigned a student to collect data on local resources for Spanish-speaking people as part of a service learning project.
“These projects are stimulating, fulfilling, and challenging,” Bambina said. “That’s what students are looking for. Faculty may not be aware that they can challenge students to this extent. Students are not only up to it, they are eager.”
By offering Honors students their own space, Bambina and Academic Affairs officials hope to create a sense of community. Bambina also plans monthly social events and outreach programs to foster group identity.
Dr. Brian Posler, assistant provost for undergraduate studies, said, “We are delighted to be able to provide our Honors students with a half-time director for the first time, as well as the nice Honors suite. This is the next logical step toward excellence for our Honors program.
“Dr. Bambina is a strong addition to USI, and we anticipate great things as she works to improve the Honors curriculum, recruitment, and retention. Our hope is that Dr. Bambina will be able to foster a greater sense of community among Honors students, creating experiences that will enrich their academic and co-curricular learning.”
The Honors Program suite is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and also is staffed by Lisa Wilson, administrative assistant for the Honors Program. For more information, contact Bambina at adbambina@usi.edu or call 812/464-1833.
Wendy Knipe Bredhold
News and Information Services
wkbredhold@usi.edu
812/461-5259
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