Knox College

In what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind experience among Knox College students, Nicole D'Alterio '20 spent the 2019 fall term completing her senior student teaching capstone experience at an elementary school in Germany. "This experience has helped to develop my German language skills, my teaching skills, and my knowledge of what I want my classroom to look like in the future," said D'Alterio, an elementary education major with a minor in German. She also has a self-designed minor in writing studies.

Winter term theatre is picking up at Knox College, and with it come the first productions of the term, presented by Knox's student-run studio theatre company on January 24 & 25. Directed by Olive Colangelo, "Smokefall" (Act II) by Noah Haidle starred Amanda Espinosa and Hannah Hamlin. The play follows two fetuses who have a heart-to-heart about family, their future, and original sin. The Knox Theatre Department offers many openings for students--whether studying theatre or another subject area--to be involved in the production of shows, events, and specialty workshops all four years on campus. The involvement of students in theatre at Knox is profound, as all of the studio theatre shows and even the mainstage auditions are completely student-run. The Theatre Advisory Board is a student organization that oversees details of Knox theatre.

High-achieving students were named to the Knox College Dean's List for the 2019 Fall Term.

Several Knox College students were featured when Knox Theatre presented "A Doll's House, Part 2", at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 6, through Saturday, November 9, in Harbach Theatre, Ford Center for the Arts. The play, written by Lucas Hnath, reopens the narrative of Henrik Ibsen's infamous 1879 play "A Doll's House," imagining a story in which character Nora Helmer visits her husband 15 years after she famously slammed the door on him in "A Doll's House." With humor and truth, Hnath's play examines the complexities of family and love by following Nora as she struggles to enter a life that she left behind.

The Knox College Choir had its first concert of the academic year on November 3, 2019. The Knox College Choir is the premier choral ensemble of the College. The choir, under the direction of professor of music and director of choral activities Laura Lane, performed a unique selection of music in various styles, from Renaissance to Romantic.

Five Knox students received a competitive Benjamin Gilman International Scholarship during the 2017-18 academic year. The Gilman scholarship, sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, helps offset the costs of international education. According to the Gilman Foundation, scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate strong academic ability, financial need, and a passion for their chosen program.

Touring galleries and museums, working intensively at New York Studio School, and networking with Knox alumni were just some of the things eight art students did during winter break through the Knox in New York program. The short-term immersive experience, taught by Associate Professor of Art Tony Gant and Professor of Art Lynette Lombard, combines an art history course and studio work with a two-week travel component to New York City. After the trip, students come back to Knox to create artwork inspired by their experiences. During fall term, students split their time between learning art history and working on their own paintings in the studio. In New York, students were exposed to art as a way of life by visiting museums, galleries, and studios, and attending drawing classes and lectures by well-known art historians and artists. Lombard says that they were also able to have a look at the inner workings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, among other art institutions.

Two Knox Students attended the Diversity Abroad Global Student Leadership Summit in Miami, Florida, where they had the opportunity to network with professionals, share their study abroad experiences, and attend professional development workshops. The purpose of the summit is to give students, particularly students of underrepresented groups, a chance to speak freely about their study abroad experiences and to learn how to best use these experiences to make an impact on their campuses and in their career. This is the second year in a row Knox students have attended the Diversity Abroad Student Leadership Summit.

College students and the community played a major role in the original Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Knox College in 1858, cheering the politicians in the historic national argument over slavery. And students and the community were engaged again this year, in the creation of a film that condenses the years-long struggle and a months-long campaign into the words and actions that occurred in the crucial moments just before Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas stepped onto the platform outside Knox's Old Main, the only original site that remains from the series of seven debates throughout Illinois. Leading the project, which is now in a year-long post-production phase, is 2019 Knox graduate Eric Newnham, the writer, director, and executive producer. Newnham first came to Knox in the 1980s as a theatre major, but his college career was interrupted by three decades in business, including work as an actor and producer in the entertainment business. He most recently appeared as Sylvester Stallone's nemesis in "Escape Plan 2." He's also worked in a touring theatre company and as a theatrical producer, managing dinner theatre productions for a hotel chain.

Soko Cheng has been awarded a competitive Gilman Scholarship, which she is using to study Southeast Asian culture and society in Thailand and reconnect with her family's roots. Cheng's parents are Cambodian refugees. "I realized that I didn't know much about their personal experiences," said Cheng. "I knew that no amount of learning about different cultures could compare to actually experiencing it." Cheng's spring semester in Thailand is supported by a $5,000 Gilman Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, the highest award amount that the program grants. She is one of many Knox students to have received the prestigious scholarship over the years, which gives students with financial need the means to study or intern abroad. In Thailand, Cheng will take classes on Thai culture, human rights, and social issues at Chiang Mai University. For a short period of time, she will stay with a family in a rural village and work with the community on a service project.

Emilie Barrett '20 came to college with a vague idea of some activities she enjoyed. With the guidance of professors and staff, she has transformed that idea first into a passion, then a career goal, and now a plan complete with achievable steps, mentors, and resources. Her latest step on that path is an internship with the archives in the Knox Seymour Library, where Barrett is cataloging a massive collection of documents with signatures from famous people throughout history. "Sharon basically built the internship for me," Barrett said, referring to Sharon Clayton, associate librarian at Seymour Library. "I've always loved history and organization," said Barrett, who is a history major and classics minor. "Back home, my friends and I would go to museums, just to look at cool old stuff for fun. When I first came to Knox, I thought that I wanted to go into museum studies, because I thought it involved me sitting in an archive going through pieces of paper and objects and describing them. That's not a fun image for a lot of people, but it is for me."

Three Knox College students attended the Diversity Abroad Global Student Leadership Summit in Boston, where they had the opportunity to network with professionals, engage in critical dialogue about their study abroad experiences, and participate in hands-on training sessions. The leadership summit is a platform that allows underrepresented students to speak about their study abroad experiences. By engaging in the forum, students also learn to leverage their international experience for the benefit of their own communities, and think about next steps in global careers.

Sarah Henderson '20 received an award from the German Academic Exchange Service, known by its German acronym DAAD, to spend the 2018-19 academic year in Berlin. During her time abroad she will continue her education in political science, complete an internship, and sharpen her language skills.

Max Jones '20 conducted an original research project as a McNair Scholar, under the tutelage of Dr. Esther Penick. He put marketing claims to the test by studying the effects of popular health supplements on rats' memory.

Students in Knox College's most recent StartUp Term set out to solve all sorts of problems, such as connecting pet owners with reputable caretakers and helping prospective and current college students more easily share experiences about college life. As the students created solutions to those problems, they also learned practical lessons about entrepreneurship, teamwork, and overcoming obstacles.

Jonathan helped children with developmental disabilities at a neurobehavioral clinic internship.

Over 300 new students joined the Knox College community by enrolling for the 2019 fall term.

In addition to taking several medical classes, Jocelyn Perez '19 shadowed physicians and gained experience at hospital work in Argentina.

Neha Motwani '20 completed an internship and classes at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Thirty Knox students were selected for the Business Intensive Seminar, which took place May 29-June 1 on the Knox campus. Most participants had just completed their first or second year of college. The Business Intensive Seminar was facilitated by Jim Foley '78, director of the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship at Bradley University. He has led the seminar each year since 2017. Some of his colleagues from Bradley also pitched in for various parts of the four-day event, which included sessions on business fundamentals, ethical business decisions, emotional intelligence and communication, entrepreneurship, innovation, and marketing. Students agreed the Business Intensive Seminar was a memorable educational opportunity that will benefit them now and in the future.

Samuel interned at the Weill Cornell Medical College, where he gained real-world experience in computational genetics.

Ravi Ibrado '20 took classes, shadowed doctors, and participated in health clinics during his internship at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Recent graduates and current students from Knox College helped youngsters learn cool dance moves, develop computer games, create ceramics, conduct scientific experiments, and participate in other activities at the Knox College for Kids summer enrichment program.

As a McNair Scholar, Katana Smith '20 studied the literary voices of underrepresented groups. She presented her work at the McNair Conference in New York, and her paper on the subject will be published in the 2019 Knox College McNair Journal.

Thirty-eight Knox College students were welcomed into the nation's oldest and most prestigious honor society, Phi Beta Kappa.

Two Knox students were selected for the Faculty Scholarship Prize, which is the highest honor that Knox faculty members give to a student. It is awarded to seniors who have exhibited exceptional academic ability while participating significantly in extracurricular activities.

Alyssa Stetkevych received the Elbridge Pierce Prize, which is awarded to the senior who has made the greatest scholastic improvement since the end of the first year at Knox.

Each year, another round of Knox McNair Scholars spends a summer conducting original research projects. They work together and with the program coordinators to hone their research, presentation, and writing skills so that by July they can present their research at the National McNair Conference in Buffalo, NY. In Spring 2019, each student will have a paper published in the Knox McNair Journal.

Three recent Knox College graduates have been chosen as recipients of prestigious Fulbright awards for international research and teaching. Lindsay Smith '19, Eunice Shek '18, and Sofia Gillespie '18 are studying and teaching abroad through the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program. The program places recipients in primary and secondary schools or universities overseas to foster mutual understanding between the United States and partner nations, share knowledge across communities, and improve lives around the world.

Eleven Knox students in the Class of 2019 received College Honors credit for their Honors theses.