The UMW Honors Program is excited to introduce our Honors Scholars to UMW and the Greater Fredericksburg Area through a First-year Honors Orientation on August 16-19, 2020. Throughout the orientation, you will have the opportunity to get to know your classmates, upperclassman, faculty/staff, and allied community members while exploring the Fredericksburg area, engaging in a meaningful academic exercise. We will work with all fall season athletes and coaches so that they can participate.
City as Text™
City as Text™ walkabouts encourage participants to explore and critically reflect on a location, looking at the place as one interprets or reflects on text. In the Honors
experience, you will be trained by campus experts on basic field work techniques and the ethics of observation and interaction in a new environment. Then small groups of scholars, accompanied by upperclass students, will visit an assigned part of the Fredericksburg area for 4-5 hours.
During the visit, you will consider and record their observations about the buildings, the layout of the location, people walking around the area, and historical context of the place. You will also have opportunities to dine in a local
establishment. The experience should enable you to have a better understanding of your new environment or to gain a new perspective on the familiar. Scholars will be encouraged to document their experience with sketched maps and photographs.
After the exploration period, scholars will prepare for a presentation to be delivered later that night at a dinner program with stakeholders from the UMW campus and Fredericksburg area. These debriefings will enable the stakeholders to experience the Fredericksburg area from a newcomer’s viewpoint and will enable Honors Scholars to extend their orientation to their new home by meeting Fredericksburg community members, UMW faculty, and university administrators.
Registration
Registration for the 2020 Honors Orientation opens MARCH 9, 2020 and will be available at the bottom of the Orientation registration page.
Schedule
Sunday, August 16 – Move-in, Honors Lounge Open House for families. Dinner and City as Text™ introductions.
Monday, August 17 – Training and preparation for Tuesday’s walkabout.
Tuesday, August 18 – Time to explore! Scholars will walk through their assigned city spaces, including having lunch at a local restaurant. There will be time to prepare the City as Text™ Presentation, which will be given at a formal dinner with community and UMW guests.
Wednesday, August 19 – Optional advising or programming will be offered in the morning; in the afternoon scholars will join general New Student Arrival programming.
What to Bring
The City as Text™ event will occur rain or shine. It will be postponed or relocated in the case of severe weather. Scholars will be outside for numerous hours during the City as Text™ excursions and they should come prepared for the environment (i.e. comfortable clothing, walking shoes, umbrella, bag or knapsack, sunscreen, etc.) Scholars will be provided with water bottles, notebooks, and pens.
Meet the 2020 CaT Student Coordinators and Leaders
Who’s running this show? Learn more about the Honors scholars who will be guiding our City as Text™ experience this year! COMING SOON!
Questions
If you have any questions about the First-Year Honors Orientation – City as Text™ program, please contact honorsprogram@umw.edu.
*City as Text is an honors pedagogy trademarked by the National Collegiate Honors Council.