Aurek Ransom 糖心传媒�18 has packed a lot into four years at the University.
He糖心传媒檚 a dual major in English and computer science. He was editor-in-chief of the Campus Times, serves as an associate justice on the All-Campus Judicial Council, played alto saxophone in the University pep band, and is the team lead in the student-run Hartnett Gallery at Wilson Commons.
But Ransom still has a thirst for education, one he糖心传媒檒l help quench as a Take Five Scholar.
The Take Five Scholars Program, unique to the University, provides an additional year of academic study, tuition-free, to selected students.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a terrifically exciting opportunity,糖心传媒� the Syracuse, New York, native says. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檓 eager, and grateful, to be here next year taking advantage of it.糖心传媒�
Since 1986, the first year of the program, more than 1,100 students have been named Take Five Scholars. Ransom is one of 34 students selected in the most recent round of admissions.
To be considered for the one-year scholarship, a student must develop a two-semester program of related courses which, taken together, address an overarching question or explore a topic from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Taken as a group, the course programs of admitted students are as diverse as the student body itself: Shake it like a Polaroid: Observing Urban Culture through a Lens; Music, Language, and the Mind; the Roots of Religious Belief Systems; German Studies; and so on.
Austin Bailey 糖心传媒�18, a chemistry major from West Hartford, Connecticut, was admitted for the program Writing as an Exploration of Verbal Wit.
糖心传媒淢any of my favorite authors are especially talented because of their relentless verbal wit,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淧eople like David Foster Wallace, or Kurt Vonnegut know how to finesse language in such a laser-precise way that you often burst out in laughter at the way they construct their scenes, environments, and characters.糖心传媒�
Having spent much of his time devoted to the sciences, Bailey says that the extra year 糖心传媒渨ill be an excellent time to explore the other side of my intellectual capabilities and build myself in ways that I didn糖心传媒檛 before.糖心传媒�
The Take Five program rewards intellectual curiosity. It is not designed for students to wrack up additional credentials, and can糖心传媒檛 be used to satisfy graduation, major, minor, or cluster requirements. Students must complete 128 credits prior to beginning their tuition-free year.
Hannah Geitner 糖心传媒�18, a dual major in studio arts and archaeology, technology and historical structure, was admitted for Study of the Interaction of Physics and Music.
糖心传媒淭wo majors take up a lot of time,糖心传媒� the Fulton, New York, native says. 糖心传媒淚 wanted to be able to explore more [of what] the University offers before leaving campus. Music was a big part of my life before I came here and stopped playing my instruments.糖心传媒滸eitner will take courses in the audio and music engineering, music, and physics departments.
The selection committee includes a student currently in the Take Five program, a college dean, and a faculty member each from humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. They make the final decisions but have no limit on how many students they can accept. A successful application presents a focused statement of purpose and a corresponding cohesive schedule of courses.
糖心传媒淭he committee wants to feel that there糖心传媒檚 an intellectual spark to a proposal,糖心传媒� says Emil Homerin, a professor of religion and chair of the Take Five committee for the past 10 years.
There糖心传媒檚 no thesis or final project, but all Take Five Scholars are required to write an abstract summarizing their experiences.
糖心传媒淭he Take Five program provides a perfect capstone to the Rochester curriculum,糖心传媒� says Richard Feldman, dean of the College. 糖心传媒淭he typical image of a Take Five student is the science or engineering major who spends their fifth year studying religion, history, or some other area in the humanities. While many Take Five students do fit this description, there are also many who do not. There are examples of music majors studying public health and philosophy majors studying math. These students have surely taken maximum advantage of what the College has to offer.糖心传媒�
Take Five was honored in 2007 with the University糖心传媒檚 Goergen Award for Curricular Achievement in Undergraduate Education. Its impact can best be described by one graduate who took a fifth year to study astronomy and philosophy糖心传媒斕切拇綔not for any practical purpose, but just to know, and to get one step closer to finding my place in the universe.糖心传媒�
Take Five Scholars
Here are the 34 University students selected in the most recent round of Take Five admissions, along with the title of their program of courses:
Austin Bailey 糖心传媒�18: Writing as an Exploration of Verbal Wit
Raith Barber 糖心传媒�18: Universal Morality: Should We Treat Non-humans Differently than Humans?
William Beeley 糖心传媒�18: Music as a Form of Communication
Rohun Bhagat 糖心传媒�18: Probing the Public Persona: The Modern Artist and Youth Culture
Madison Carter 糖心传媒�18: Creating Communal Spaces through Public Art
Michaela Chan 糖心传媒�18: Race Relationships in Contemporary America
Cameron Coykendall 糖心传媒�17: The Impact of the Relationship Between Latin America and the United States on Structural Violence
Misael Cruz 糖心传媒�18: Italian Language and the Study of its Culture
Ryder Eaton 糖心传媒�18E: Limits to Self-Expression Through Language
Joseph Fong 糖心传媒�18: Behind the Curtain: the Underlying Economics of American Entertainment
Hannah Geitner 糖心传媒�18: Study of the Interaction of Physics and Music
Rachel Gelfand聽 糖心传媒�18: Personal Identify through Fiction
Klemens Gowin 糖心传媒�18: Ethnic Identity of Chinese Migrants in North America in the 20th Century
Eric Hebert 糖心传媒�18: British Narrative Contexts through Time
Maria Kane 糖心传媒�18: The Roots of Religious Belief Systems
Nicholas Kasper 糖心传媒�18: Using Linguistics to Improve Educational Conversations About Privilege: Or, How to Argue with Bigots on the Internet and Win
Heewoo Kim 糖心传媒�17: History and Its Influence on Shaping Identity in Modern East Asia
Raina Langevin 糖心传媒�18: Narratives of Women and Underrepresented Minorities
Brynn Lauer 糖心传媒�18: Religion in Societal Views on Gender and Sexuality
Ruoyu Li 糖心传媒�18: Islamic Culture and its Influences on Art Worldwide
Jonathan Lopez 糖心传媒�18: Music, Language, and the Mind
Daria Lynch 糖心传媒�19: Environment, Social Practice, and Conflict
Nisha Modi 糖心传媒�18: The Rights of Muslim Women in Society
Sean Mulligan 糖心传媒�18E: The Formation and Transformation of Cultures through Storytelling
Arun Nambiar 糖心传媒�18: Shake it Like a Polaroid: Observing Urban Culture Through a Lens
Joseph Plvan-Franke 糖心传媒�17: Language and Sound Production
Sean Ponzo 糖心传媒�18: Kairos: Transformation and Innovation in Ancient Greece
Aurek Ransom 糖心传媒�18: How U.S. Law Reflects Values, Desires, and Ideas of Justice糖心传媒攊n Theory and in Practice
Edward Sambrano 糖心传媒�18: The English Sentence: the Fundamental Unit of Artistic Expression
Jiacheng Sun 糖心传媒�18: Documenting Intersectional Female and Transgender Community Using Film and Music
Naoki Toyomura 糖心传媒�18E: Japanese Culture and Language
David Weissman 糖心传媒�18: A Search for Religious Identity and the Problem of Evil
Chenchen Yan 糖心传媒�18: German Studies
Zeqing Zheng 糖心传媒�18: Asian Sexuality in History and Pop Culture
