As a business administration major at University of Wisconsin-Stout, Dylan Pass is looking forward to a career either in sales or management.

The junior from Shakopee has more confidence about what lies ahead in part because of an empowering experience he had recently in one of his classes — a class that had nothing to do with business.

事实上, it was an 英语 class in which he studied Greek mythology, 特别是独眼巨人, 独眼巨人.

“I learned a lot of life lessons,” Pass said.

The experience included working on a team of five students, 做研究, 创作电影, collaborating with students in Indiana and doing a presentation at a conference in Boston.

类, taught by Associate Professor Joan 纳瓦拉, is part of the 荣誉 College curriculum at UW-Stout. More than 550 students are in the 荣誉 College, one of only two in the UW System.

作为课程的一部分, 纳瓦拉 assigned teams of students to research figures in Greek mythology and create short films. 的电影, modern adaptations of classic Greek plays, were presented last spring during Family Weekend.

在这个过程中, the teams had their scripts critiqued by an 荣誉 College 英语 class at Indiana State University studying Greek mythology.

The project went to another level in November. 纳瓦拉, Pass和另一个类成员, 玛迪凯塞, presented their Cyclops project with ISU at the National College 荣誉 Council annual conference in Boston.

纳瓦拉 and her faculty counterpart at ISU explained their collaboration. Pass and Kayser, along with students from the ISU class, then presented on the student involvement. The presentations took about an hour and 15 minutes, followed by a Q&一次会议，帕斯说.

“I learned how to present in a professional manner and work with new people,帕斯在新闻发布会上说, including working with students from other majors and working on his public speaking.

Because the UW-Stout and ISU students hadn’t met previously, they prepared their presentation in Boston.

“We couldn’t do it over the phone. We had an outline but had to work out the kinks in Boston,” Pass said.

The presentation was titled “Crossing Campus Boundaries: Using Classical Mythology and Digital Storytelling to Connect 荣誉 Colleges.”

“It’s an honor and a privilege to see students like Dylan and Maddie showcasing their academic skills at the national level,纳瓦拉在新闻稿中说. “They brought enthusiasm to our cross-institutional partnership with Indiana State University and served as excellent ambassadors for UW-Stout.

“Dylan and Maddie worked hard on this collaboration, and their hard work paid dividends at the conference,”她说。.

Only about 50 percent of research presentations submitted for the national honors conference are accepted, 纳瓦拉补充道.

明尼苏达州克洛凯的凯瑟说., is a sophomore majoring in art education.

“It was super cool to talk with many different students from across the nation and about their research and college experiences. 我喜欢整个经历. It will forever impact me,” said Pass. “It was an honor and a privilege to represent UW-Stout, to collaborate with top students all across the nation and to explore a city rich in culture, 历史与机遇.”

Pass is glad that he applied for the 荣誉 College and was accepted. 当他高中毕业时, he had 20 college credits through classes he’d taken at the University of Minnesota. He expects to graduate in three years.

“The 荣誉 College classes are a lot more hands-on, 案例研究, with a lot more discussion and real-based topics you can connect to. They leave a lot of opportunities open. There’s a lot of neat things I’ve experienced that I wouldn’t have without the honors program,他说.

参加会议, Pass and Kayser received the Student Research Dissemination Grant while 纳瓦拉 received the Professional Development for Campus Employees Grant, both from UW-Stout’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

Associate Professor Chris Ferguson is the director of UW-Stout’s Honor College and vice president of the Upper Midwest Regional 荣誉 Council. 他和Xanthi Gerasimo, honors adviser and research coordinator, also presented in Boston on the topic of 荣誉 College student contracts.

UW-Stout will host the Upper Midwest Regional 荣誉 Conference April 4-6.

UW-Stout is Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, with a focus on applied learning, collaboration with business and industry, 以及职业成果.