To welcome you officially into the Redwine Honors Program, we invite you to join us at our annual orientation, which will take place in two parts the week before fall classes begin:

  • Thursday, Aug. 22nd – Part 1: City as Text™ Excursion
    • Time:  9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (check-in begins at 8:30 a.m.)
    • Location:  Honors Program Student Lounge (Bridwell Hall, RM 112)
  • Saturday, Aug. 24th – Part 2:  Orientation
    • Time:  9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
    • Location:  Bridwell Hall Gym

During this orientation, we will have the opportunity to meet each other in-person and to review the program curriculum. We will also engage in an Honors experience that will begin your educational journey through our program. This experience, entitled City as Text™, is a keystone of Honors education.

The first part of our experience—the City as Text™ excursion—will begin on Thursday, Aug. 22nd, at 9:00 a.m. and will extend until 1:00 p.m. Upon your arrival, you will be split into groups based on your major and be given more detailed instructions for the excursion. Under the guidance of a junior or senior Honors student, your group will then be transported to downtown Wichita Falls, where you will explore the area, respond to a series of guiding questions, and have dinner together. Following this exploration, your group will develop a visual essay that documents your experience, which will be shared with the larger group during our Saturday orientation. 

As you prepare for this experience, please approach our City as Text™ excursion with an open mind. Although you may be from Wichita Falls or a similar community, and have visited similar cities numerous times, we ask that you consider what you see with a different perspective. A key aspect of higher education is to look deeper and broader at the subject you are studying in order to fully grasp its importance and meaning. Given this, I would like to invite you to engage with your local environment in a manner that you previously have taken for granted as a first step in your Honors education. This experience will provide the foundation for entering your Honors courses in the fall.

To begin this journey, you need to develop four skills that will serve you well in college and life: Mapping, Observing, Listening, and Reflecting.

Mapping:  During and after this experience, you will want to shape a mental construct of the key places you visited and the patterns you identified in order to convey this experience to others. This should include the key points of interest, center of activity, and transportation routes. You will want to look for patterns of economic, social, and cultural activity that would typically not be represented on a traditional map.

Observing:  You will want to look carefully for the unexpected as well as the expected, the familiar as well as the new. Learn to pay attention to small or subtle details of the architecture, landscaping, social gatherings, clothing, possessions, decoration, signage and advertising. Also pay attention to the behavior of those in your environment.

Listening:  During your exploration, you will want to develop keen listening skills. Pay attention to the full range of sounds. Which sounds dominate? Which recede? Do the birds singing or car tires squealing convey an additional meaning? Speak with people but listen carefully to their answers. Speak with them about how they see their environment. Pay attention to what is said as well as what is unsaid.

Reflect:  Throughout your exploration remember that everything you encounter is an important component of your environment. You want to discover the role each of these components occupies in their environment, and not only how, but why they do what they do. Do not assume you understand the answer or rely on an easy or superficial explanation. Instead, treat this experience as a research project. Research your environment, and always be cognizant of your own biases. Most importantly, think about how the environment influences you and what you ultimately learned from your experience.

In preparation for the City as Text™ excursion, we created a website with additional information:

https://msutexas.edu/academics/honors/catassignment.php.

Please visit the website and read over the assignment and the two short accompanying articles before Thursday, Aug. 22nd. Also review your group assignment. Please arrive at the Honors Lounge (112 Bridwell) by no later than 8:45 a.m. Be dressed in comfortable clothing and walking shoes. If you need a sun hat or sunscreen, please bring it, as well as a water bottle.

Once again, we encourage you to approach this exploration and the beginning of your time in the Redwine Honors Program with an open mind. We look forward to sharing this experience with you.