“There is no more

dangerous or disgusting hab-

it,” G. K. Chesterton writes,

“than that of celebrating

Christmas before it comes.”

When you are buried in paper

and busied with deadlines of

every sort, it can be hard to

see just what Chesterton is

bemoaning. It is quite possi-

ble that, at some point, with

just a few days to go before

Christmas, you‟ll have a

chance to look above your

pile of work and realize that

the advent calendar your aunt

sent you has weeks of uno-

pened doors.

The particular kind of

busyness that comes at the

end of a semester can make

the work we do at our college

feel like a chore, a series of

obstacles that one merely

wants to get through without

too many bruises. When this

comes about (and it certainly

comes to all of us—students

and faculty alike), I find it

helpful to remember what it is

that propels and pulls forward

the work we do here. We like

to think that Honors is a com-

munity of learners; and not

only learners, but lovers of

learning. Of course, this

means lots of things and we

all have our own ways of lov-

ing.

As the light and peace of

Christmas Break comes our

way, I invite you to think

about what the love of learn-

ing looks like to you. In the

meantime, let me offer some

thoughts from my own per-

spective. I think the love of

learning has something to do

with the trust that through a

relationship with the past,

with ideas, and great writers

and thinkers we can find

some of the best ways of

growing into our humanity.

It believes that knowledge

can also be wisdom. It is

the idea that through an

ongoing conversation we

come to form our psyches

and create a rich and imagi-

native inner landscape. To

be a lover of learning is to

live in a bigger world, more

capable of rich solitude.

But this is no lonely pursuit

because we do these things

in communities. The love

of learning means also that

in this love of books and

ideas we spill out and are

taken into the world as

selves more capable of par-

ticipating with others and

our environments as com-

plex and caring individuals.

The Gift of Learning

Volume 8, Issue 2

Honorable News

“It is the idea that

through an ongoing

conversation we

come to form our

psyches and create

a rich and

imaginative inner

landscape.”

We Say, They Say

2

Dr. Palmer’s Response

2

The Good

News: Connie’s Response

3

You See, I am a Lover of Learning

3

Inside this issue:

Regis University

14 Dec 2012

— Dr. Howe, Associate Director of the Honors Program

one of us can do the work Dudley

does as an angel, and Professor

Wutheridge‟s book really will be writ-

ten. I tell myself to sing “loud for all

to hear.” And so it goes. I could nev-

er choose one story for the whole sea-

son—any more than Annie Dillard

could choose one dot. We don‟t tell

We Say, They Say:

What’s the most important modern story that we

should be telling ourselves this time of year?

Page 2 Honorable News

For our second Honors Discussion Board question, Dr. Palmer called us to reflect upon the year, our celebration of the

holidays, and the stories that we tell ourselves. The question he posed to us stated, “A wise elf once said, „We tell ourselves

stories about the holidays in order to survive the holidays.‟ What‟s the most important modern (after Dickens) story that we

should be telling this time of year? We received several fantastic stories from all sorts of genres, each one speaking to

the holiday season in their own way. Now we‟ve asked Dr. Palmer and Connie Gates to give us their answers.

ourselves stories in order to survive.

We tell ourselves stories in order to

live abundantly, in each and every sea-

son. So for today, for the time being, I

choose White Christmas.

— Dr. Palmer

I asked the question because I

love telling myself many of the

same Christmas stories every year.

I tell myself the story of Christmas

Eve, and I hear Linus saying the

words. I tell myself the story of

George Bailey and his marvelous

epiphany. I tell myself that every

Ideas for what our next conversation question should be? Let us know! Email Connie at cgates@regis.edu, or James Persichetti at

jpersichetti@regis.edu. And don‟t forget to still come by and add your thoughts to the board.

suffer with the knowledge

than live blindly without it.

To live in this world I must

know it, and the process of

learning helps me understand

a little bit more about our

planet, every day.

—Brian Nakayama

———————————-

I go to thrift stores and

spend most of my time look-

ing through second-hand

bookshelves for that book

just begging me to read it.

I go to the movies and

You see, I am a lover of

learning. When reading about

the war in Vietnam, when

searching for information

about human rights in Ugan-

da, when implementing the

techniques for predicting

branches in computer archi-

tectures I have a love not of

the information in particular

but of the process. When

reading about the immanent

passing of the “Kill the

Gays” bill in Uganda, I often

learn things I don‟t want to

know, but I would rather

analyze for the implicit mean-

ing the director is trying to

get across and the symbolism

of the props.

I listen to music and

watch trending videos online,

much like other students my

age, but I also listen to poetry

readings on YouTube.

I spend more time than

my work study position de-

mands in the hallway in Car-

roll, conversing with English

professors, Connie Gates,

and other students who share

We Say, They Say: The Good News

You See, I Am a Lover of Learning

“I would rather

suffer with the

knowledge than live

blindly without it.”

Page 3 Volume 8, Issue 2

my passion for learning.

I often wish my Honors

Seminar class was longer than

seventy-five minutes.

You see, I am a lover of

Learning.

—Gina Nordini

Joseph go to Bethlehem,

there is no room at the

inn, and the baby Jesus is

born in a lowly stable and

laid in a manger. Certain-

ly not the best place to be

born, but not the worst

either. (Insert imagination

and think about some of

the births you‟ve read

about in stories!) At this

point in our story the

newly born human is no

It seems to me that all

Christmas stories have

one thing in common;

someone gives up their

own desires to make an-

other‟s world a better

place. It should be obvi-

ous that all those stories,

over the past 2000 years,

should be based on the

original Christmas story,

the birth of Jesus. We all

know that story, Mary and

— Connie Gates, Honors Program Mom more important than any

other human being born

into this world since the

beginning of time. What

makes Jesus important is

His death; a death Chris-

tians believe redeemed

humankind.

From my perspective,

the most important

“modern” Christmas story

is the Good News:

“Christ has died, Christ

has risen, Christ will come

again.” We remember the

nativity story today be-

cause we Christians wait

in joyful expectation

EVERY DAY for Jesus

to come again. Whatever

we may believe about who

Jesus is, His selfless life

and death remind us that

through our actions we

each individually have the

opportunity to let our

neighbor know “God

blesses us every one.”

— Brian Nakayama, class of 2013, and Gina Nordini, Class of 2016

We’re on Facebook!!

“Honors Program

Students”

Attention Honors Students! Things to know for this spring semester

Honors Luncheon on January 25th, from

11 to 1:30. Come for a baked potato bar!

Honors Luncheon on February 15th,

from 11 to 1:30. Food TBA

Stay tuned for upcoming SHAC events in

the spring.

Newsletter requests,

ideas, submissions?

Contact James

Persichetti at

jpersichetti@regis.edu

for further information.

The Honors Program at Regis is an alternative way of

fulfilling the liberal arts core requirements which are an essential

part of the Regis College degree. Students in the Honors Program

enjoy courses designed especially for them by faculty from all divi-

sions of the college. The program stresses interdisciplinary study,

small group interaction, and individual student initiative. Alt-

hough it overlaps the standard core in several respects (number of

credit hours required to complete the honors core is essentially the

same as the standard core), the Honors Program is an excitingly

different way to experience the

broader education of a liberal

arts college.”

Reaching New Heights... Regis University

Honors Program

Address: Carroll Hall 121

3333 Regis Blvd H-16

Denver Colorado 80221

PHONE: 303-458-4360

E-MAIL: honors@regis.edu

WEBSITE: www.regis.edu/honors