I M P R E S S I O N S

H O N O R SH U M A N I T I E S

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t a b l e o f c o n t e n t s

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Editors' Note pg. 2

Creativity Snapshots pg. 3

Annie Trang pg. 3

Sedef Berk pg. 6

Joey Marcellino pg. 9

Emily Hauge pg. 11

Extracurricular Feature pg. 12

HH Students in Romeo and Juliet pg. 12

Freshman Acts in Improv Group pg. 13

HH Graduate Assistant Spotlight pg. 14

Yvonne Slosarski Wins Service Award pg. 14 Meg Kuyatt Shares Publication Advice pg. 15

E D I T O R ' S N O T E

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It's been another fruitful semester for the students ofHonors Humanities, and our mid-year newsletter reflectssome of the inspiring work that they have done so far. Sophomores Annie Trang and Sedef Berk were kindenough to share poems that each of them had written with usto print. Sedef's poem is a component of her Keystoneproject, which she will present this spring at the HonorsHumanities Symposium in completion of the program. JoeyMarcellino, also a sophomore, was kind enough share aglimpse of his keystone for the purposes of Impressions, aswell. A trio of freshmen share with us their experiences actingin both the theater and for a university Improv group inseparate articles for the "Extracurricular Feature." The "Honors Humanities Graduate Assistant Spotlight"celebrates the work of two Humanities GAs, Yvonne Slosarskiand Meg Kuyatt, in two separate articles. We hope that you enjoy catching up with our studentsand staff.

Sincerely, Lauren Baker & Margaret Ebacher-Rini Sophomores

C R E A T I V I T Y S N A P S H O T A n n i e T r a n g : " T e o c h e w - S t i l l A l i v e "

I was /si – four / four years old at the time /ching-tiem - time/,Time composed of the words “real” and “point,” as if

The finite point which traversed from A to B was not illusionaryas I played with my Barbie doll.

I swear I was a typical kid, /ching-sic – really/. Really.Like this one day, I was playing with the doll house andI saw Mama in the hallway and I wanted to tell her that

I thought we live in a miniscule ball, only an iota, this world wasAs tiny as an insignificant spec of dusted in a galaxy made of

Deeper than navy blue dotted with nebulas ofPurples empty of yellow and sound, where there was some other girl,

Controlling another part of our connected dimensionby strings on her fingertips,

Just as I puppetted the plastic doll things.

Sigh. Really. /Ching-sic/. True.But I opened my mouth and….

“Mama – Hi” (was all I could say)and to this day, I still don’t know how to say hello

in Teochew. It is just as unfathomable as thepossibility of translating my well of foreign thoughts

into a drinkable starstuff that aligns with my mother’s tongue.

I am caught between the dimensions of identity,Aa language – a /uwei – language/ - fragmented in

knowing all of nothing in one /uwei – bowl/nested deep down in my gut,

stir and out comes /zhi gai uwei – this language/.

Oh, I can understand.Yo pienso que tengo una mente loca.

Me?No.

아니요 (aniyo)Maybe.

Sure. Sure.I am four years old.

Yes I am crazy.

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But these digested pieces travel back up my veinsand say: “cho tôi thở.” Let me breathe.

Open.Breathe.

Ribbons untangle themselves.Open.Close.

This is the kind of breathe that I want to /kung – carry/,to carry a backpack of a generation’s worry,

/kung – a pot/ because I want to grow as strongas the flowers in my mother’s makeshift garden made

from concrete.The ones that /keyeah – stand/,

The ones that /keyah – live/,Alive enough to /tian – hear/,

To hear the clash,chaos,

singeing screeches of a language/tiae – hurt/ hurt. The kind of breath a

nocturnal creature curled up in a fetal positionas if born alienated.

No, as you reside in my throat and stitch up myfilleted ribbons of my vocal cords to scream that the absence

of fluency is not equivalent to the absence of identitybecause

I was toldthat Teochew was an alien language and I hear silence

as I watch the “mouths of babes” form assimilated shapes –from muted English or Mandarin.

/Diem – quiet/shush//Diem – a point/ A point, the one you draw

punctually at the end of your last words.From point A to B, I traverse through the

Coordinate system of human sounds –And it’s /ahm – dark/ dark with blinking,

/kung – bright/ bright lights to guide the rare soulsof those younger than 25 who still dare beckon

our nocturnal creature to its home in theday and /yic – light/ light.

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But, /di tien – who/ who?But, who?

Who am I, the Quiet one?I am /agoung – my nickname/.

I admit my introversion but never mistake silenceas a substitute for the ancient words which we think

/shier – think/,words that we /shier – fire/ and fuel to keep us alive.

I was told by my father that/gai low na lu gai shuew/ -

“The way is in your mouth,”and I imagined roads spiraling from an open mouth

to let me out.

/Si – yes/ Yes. I am still four years old,and I imagine /nang- people/ people and

/nang – them/ people and/wa – I or me/ me

and/lu – you/ you.

/Ga Gi Nang. Ga Gi Nang/It’s a phrase that seemingly says hello through recognition

that you are my kind,dear Mother Teochew./Ga Gi – alone/ Alone./Ga Gi lu – only you//Ga Gi wa – only me/

As if we are intertwined and connected and never really“Ga gi.”

As I traverse from point A to B,there is a coexistence of /nang-people/ people.

To be alone and never alone.Silent and never.

To be Teochew and everything I am.

Ga Gi Teochew.Ga Gi Still Alive.

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S e d e f B e r k :

" J o a n n a "By the grace of God

I happened upon youA glance down an empty corridorAnd my eyes locked upon yours

A connection was forgedAs if frames and guards were not separating us

You were a sight so breathtakingIt is hardly a wonder

That your beauty could not have been limitedTo a single painting, artist, or museum

I can empathize with the need to paint every part of youOver and over again

Trying in vain to capture your very essenceThe conviction to complete the Sisyphean task

To depict your image for even a fraction of a moment in time

A woman so stunningThe only fitting name bestowed upon you was

La Belle Irlandaise, the beautiful Irish Girl

A young girl loved by two opposites;A bold American and a kind Frenchman

Who have each created in their mind and on their canvasesAn imitation, an interpretation of the woman before me now

They have put every part of you on trialPlaced you under the critical eye of a gossiping massCrowds of museum goers have seen your full form

And have somehow continued onward in the same breath

Is it any wonder you never painted the human faceOr even painted under your own name

These men stole your identity and your life from youA person you thought you would never get to be again

But in this moment,Our lives had become connected

Across the oceans and over the years

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Why have you chosen me to tell your story?How could you trust that I would not fail?

That I would not warp your name and imageTo meet my own needs just as everyone has done before

Am I your best or last hope?

Symphony in White No. 1You’ve painted a Woman in White

Yet she is a woman no longerHow can she be when there’s nothing human left of her?

She has no name or story to tell or shareA woman painted in white

Painted as invisible

Where is the light? The radiating sun?I can only see the eerie ghostly glows

Shadows of who she used to beOf what the two of you used to share

Were these flowers placed here only to taunt her?To mock the girl who has been trapped inside

A body frozen in placeFor hours, days, and months

So your imagination can run wildAs wild as the wolf below her feet

Was the wolf left there as a warningTo the fiery haired woman

The spitfire of a girlSmile prettily for me, you say, while you still can

Or was it meant instead for me?Daring me to comment on a man

Who has perfected the gentle art of making enemies?

For your merriment, she has become a jokeFrom London to Paris

The audiences will laugh and gossipAttempt to guess at her secrets

To presume to know what she feelsTo know what her touch feels like

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Is this how you wish to make your mark?The American Impressionist

Who hoped to leave his impression in historyWithout a care of the legacy he would leave behind

Artists and MusesIf only you had never loved an artist or two

You should have had a chance at loveThat did not inspire so much pain

You deserved a love that began on equal footingA love that was private and intimate

One you could call your own

The roles of Artist and his MuseHave granted him a chapter in every history bookWhile you have been delegated to the footnotes

When your name is remembered at all

You have fled famine and crisis in IrelandOnly to hunger for the attention and praise of a single man

A man who has no interest in Joanna, The beautiful IrishwomanNo; he only cares for what you can inspire within him

Was it strength or cowardice that kept you as his Muse?

If I could change history to prevent your heartbreakTo spare you the deceit, hypocrisy, and cruelty of this man

Would you ask me to?

Could you choose to live a life without art?A life where every moment was no longer a note in a symphony

A harmonious composition of soft whites and pinks

You are the conductor of a greatest performanceThis world has ever seen, yet here you stand:

Hidden in the shadows of the limelight

Sedef's Note: Joanna Hiffernan was the model and muse ofboth American Impressionist James McNeill Whistler andFrench Realist Gustave Courbet. Joanna was Whistler’smodel and mistress from 1860 to 1866 and Courbet’s from1866 to 1869. Joanna is most known for posing for Whistler’s“Symphony in White” series and Courbet’s “Portrait of Jo:The Beautiful Irishwoman”.

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J o e y M a r c e l l i n o : " K e y s t o n e E x c e r p t "

Joey writes: "My Keystone uses code to turn digital sheet musicinto collections of colors. The above represents Frédéric Chopin'sWaltz in C Sharp Minor, "translated" using three different schemes.Time is plotted on the x axis, and the y axis is evenly divided betweenhowever many notes are sounding at a given moment. In the firsttranslation, I simply plot pitch using MATLAB's default colorbar; inthe second, I use Russian composer and synesthete AlexanderScriabin's system for relating notes and colors; in the third, I use thesystem of inventor A. Wallace Rimington's "color-organ", where notecorresponds to hue, octave to brightness, and volume to saturation".

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E m i l y H a u g e : " A S T E M M a j o r i n a n A r t i s t ' s B o d y "

As a child, I never knew a life—a moment—withoutmusic. My home, my school, and my whole communitywas filled with the sounds of my family singing andplaying instruments; I was recognized not just by my namebut by my resemblance to the highly talented siblings whocame before me. I never dreamed that there might come aday when I would not be known to most for being musical.But then, I never thought I would become a math major. Somehow, my aptitude for math went relativelyunnoticed until I started high school, and even there it wasnever at the forefront of anyone’s mind. It wasn’t until Ibegan college and introduced myself to strangers that Irealized I was identifying myself in those moments, andforever onward, as a math major. Everywhere I go on thiscampus, that’s all I’m known as; when I reveal that I playpiano or have an obsession with jazz music, it comes as agreat shock to all. And as lifelong musician, this is a painfulreality. Lucky for me, I have Honors Humanities to nurtureboth of my passions. In this environment is a safe space forme to explore the many connections between math andmusic, and share those discoveries with my peers. Theawkward romance between the creative and analyticalhalves of my brain is celebrated, and because of that I havelearned that it is okay to be both a STEM major and anartist. Even more critically, it is okay to take this time tofocus on excelling in math; it will not make me any less ofa musician in my heart. I need both to be me, and Iwouldn’t want to be anyone else.

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E X T R A C U R R I C U L A R F E A T U R E H H S t u d e n t s i n R o m e o a n d J u l i e t

Honors Humanities students find ample opportunities outside of the program toexplore related interests. Several students act in theater productions at the University ofMaryland; most recently, a couple of freshmen were in Romeo and Juliet.The freshmen, Lilli Righter and Carli Fine, are from Maryland and Pennsylvania,respectively. Lilli is a linguistics major who says that she likes Honors Humanities because of its“small college feeling” and because all of her interests––she likes band, literature, languagelearning, and of course, theater––align with the humanities. For her keystone project, shewill select works of literature that were written or set in particular towns and take a road tripto those towns. Lilli followed in her mother’s and sister’s footsteps by going into theater;her mother is a costumer and her sister acted in high school. But she says she “quicklyfound that I love every part of the process, from analyzing the ins and outs of the story,picking up on nuances of character motivation, designing a set and motifs that representthe theme of the show, long rehearsals, and, of course, the thrill of performing.” She wasinvolved in nineteen productions at her high school, playing everything from the WhiteWitch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to Abigail Williams from The Crucible.Romeo and Juliet will be her first production at the University of Maryland. She plays LadyMontague, Romeo’s mother. Carli is a psychology major hoping to add a neuroscience minor. She hasn’t settled on akeystone yet, but she’s considering creating and running a series of workshops aboutvarious humanistic endeavors, such as dancing or writing, in order to “teach people moreabout their creative process.” Carli decided to Honors Humanities after she came for anovernight visit. Like Lilli, she loves the small college feel with all the benefits of a largeruniversity. She says she “could sense how close everyone in the program [is]… They wereextremely kind to me and encouraging.” Carli loves theater because she enjoys “acting andadopting different character roles.” This isn’t her first experience with Shakespeare; sheacted in an abridged and revised version of The Works of William Shakespeare in highschool. Carli is playing the parts of Nurse and Sampson in Romeo and Juliet. Both Carli and Lilli are clear about the importance of theater. Lilli notes that “theater isone of the most humanistic pursuits… [it] transmits the culture and history of an older timeto new generation; it allows a large audience to relate to universal topics.” Carli relatestheater to what she’s learned in Honors Humanities and to her major: the program director,“Dr. Staley, once told our class that watching live theater is like viewing human naturethrough a microscope. As a person who is fascinated with both the sciences and the arts,and especially as a psychology student, I definitely agree that there are many differentsense through which to observe and understand human nature.”

Article by: Margaret Ebacher-Rini

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I’ve always been a theater geek. I did theater allthrough high school and know the Hamilton soundtrack byheart. When I came to the University of Maryland I knew Iwanted to continue with theater but didn’t know where tostart. There seemed to be an endless list of possible groups tojoin, each with their own twist on productions. I collected somany flyers at the First Look Fair that my desk wasoverflowing with papers. It was almost on a whim that Idecided to audition for Sketchup.Sketchup is the sketch comedy group on campus. Think ofSaturday Night Live, Key & Peele, and Inside Amy Schumer:these are all sketch comedy shows. I knew I liked acting and Iknew I liked to write. I wasn’t sure if I was funny. Still, onSeptember 15, I showed up to auditions. Auditions wereintimidating but fun, and I was shocked when I received ane-mail that I was on the callback list just days after myaudition. The night after callbacks I couldn’t sleep. I knewfrom auditions that I wanted to be in this group and that thiswas the right place for me. I was even more shocked when Ifound out I got in. Since joining Sketchup, this semester has been a crazyjumble of writing, acting, and laughing. Our end of semestershow was a huge success and I was still grinning withexcitement days afterward. The other members of Sketchupare kind, open, funny people and I feel like I’ve found myplace at UMD. I joined Honors Humanities because of mylove for the arts, and now I am also able to express thatcreativity through Sketchup. I’ll always be thankful that Idecided to audition that fateful Thursday afternoon.

F r e s h m a n A c t s i n I m p r o v G r o u p : N i n a H o l t z

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Y v o n n e S l o s a r s k i W i n s O u t s t a n d i n g S e r v i c e A w a r d

H H G R A D U A T E A S S I S T A N T

S P O T L I G H T

Yvonne Slosarski, a University of Maryland doctoral candidate in Rhetoric and Political Culture,was awarded the Department of Communication Outstanding Service Award for 2016. Known as adedicated Graduate Assistant for Honors Humanities students, Slosarski is also involved in numerousother associations, committees, and efforts on campus. First presented in 2009, the Outstanding Service Award is given to Communication graduatestudents who demonstrate considerable involvement in the graduate program through their serviceactivities. Such service activities often go beyond assignments given by the department. Given on anomination basis, the Outstanding Service Award honors graduate students who are dedicated toimproving the department. Slosarski has continually demonstrated efforts to advance the Communication department. Inaddition to teaching Oral Communication (COMM107), Slosarski is active in the CommunicationGraduate Student Association. Having served as President of Communication Grads, Slosarski alsohelped win a grant to develop the department’s Recovering Democracy Archives. In addition to service,Slosarski is currently working on her dissertation, entitled “Freedom from the Market: RhetoricalDisruptions of Neoliberal Capitalism.” When prompted about her recent honor, Slosarski responded that she was delighted to have herservice recognized at the departmental level. “Service's rewards are intrinsic, so to get recognized for itby the department was very encouraging!” Slosarski continues to develop the Communication department at the University of Maryland and isintegral to the Honors Humanities Living and Learning Program.

Article by: Gillian Casey

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M e g K u y a t t : " M y P u b l i c a t i o n J o u r n e y "

When you write your first novel and send it out, no onetells you how long (and complicated) of a process it is. Ireasoned that you pretty much just write a book, send it to anagent, and then you magically get published. But it’s not quitelike that. I got my first agent in high school, and almost sold thatnovel to an editor when here at UMD as an undergrad. But theeditor couldn’t sell it to her house. Pretty much how it works isthat first, you have to convince an agent to represent yourwork. The agent has to convince an editor that your book isawesome, and then the editor has to convince the house thatthis is a good investment. Then of course, a press is trying toconvince readers that this book is worth their time and money.After years of doing this, I decided to take a different route. I dropped my agent (my students were like “Dump her! It’sbeen 6 years and nothing’s happened”— really, finding theright agent is like dating) and queried small press editors. Afterlots of rejection letters, Robert Peterson from CaliforniaColdblood accepted my novel “Post-High School RealityQuest,” which is coming out in June next year. Let me clarify that PHSRQ is my thirteenth novel. I had towrite twelve really mediocre novels to get one that worked.That’s not the case for everyone, but it’s unlikely the first thingyou finish will be “the one.” I don’t say this to be depressing—I’ve loved every step ofthe writing and publication journey, and I’m confident thatanyone who loves their novel enough can find a place for it inthe world. And there are so many resources locally to help getyour novel out there (like Maryland Writer’s Association andthe Books Alive! Conference). But you have to really believe inyour book and fight for it. There are lots of novels out there—what makes yours stand out? And why are you the onlyperson who can tell this story?

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S T A Y C O N N E C T E D !

F I N D H O N O R S H U M A N I T I E S

O N L I N E A T

H O N O R S H U M A N I T I E S . U M D . E D U !

F I N D U S O N F A C E B O O K !

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