University Honors Convocation

The annual University Honors Convocation brings together over 800 students, faculty, and staff to reaffirm the major purpose of a university--to foster intellectual curiosity and academic excellence--and to honor the academic achievements of University of Idaho students. The Honors Convocation is scheduled for the Friday afternoon preceding Moms' Weekend so that parents, spouses, relatives, and friends of honorees may also attend.

The convocation's keynote speaker is a distinguished scholar. The history of such speakers includes a wide variety of nationally recognized scholars from different fields. For example, the photo above shows Dr. Gary Geddes--an award-winning teacher, poet, editor, and critic. He spoke to a convocation audience about the importance of poetry in an individual's life, and poetry's larger cultural and political significance. Dr. Rosemarie Tong, Distinguished Professor of Health Care Ethics, UNC Charlotte, offered a public lecture in 2007 entitled "Striking a Moral Balance: Coming to Terms with Embryonic Stem-Cell Research." Dr. Herman J. Viola, curator emeritus Smithsonian National Museum, offered a public lecture in 2006 entitled "Little Bighorn Remembered: The Untold Story of Custer's Last Stand." Dr. James Der Derian, Professor of International Studies at Brown University, offered a public lecture in 2005 entitled "Beyond 9/11: A New Global Security Agenda." Dr. Setha Low, Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York, spoke in 2004 about "The Politics of Fear: Gated Communities and the Changing Nature of Place in America." The 2003 convocation speaker was Dr. John Harte, who holds a joint professorship in the Energy and Resources Group and in Ecosystem Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley.

The annual convocation recognizes the academic achievements of nearly 3,000 students, including students on the Deans' Lists, those who received an Alumni Award for Excellence, and also all freshmen and transfer students who became members of the University Honors Program during the preceding year.