Bring Outstanding Programs to Your Campus - Register for Satellite Seminar Series

Phi Theta Kappa's Honors Satellite Seminar Series presents a unique opportunity to bring outstanding speakers to your campus, energize your college honors program, involve your campus faculty in interdisciplinary studies, and raise awareness of the Society in the community.

For the first time this year, subscribers may choose to receive online video downloads of the Satellite Seminars. Live telecasts offer participants the interactive options of addressing questions to the presenters by phone and email.

Subscribe to the series by registering online or downloading a Subscription Form.

Host colleges and their Phi Theta Kappa chapters have developed unique uses for the Satellite Seminars, including inviting high school honor students to the events, and making the presentations available to college faculty.

At Butte College in California, the Phi Theta Kappa chapter opens the Satellite Seminar presentations to all students, and also expands the experience by sponsoring a writing contest.

"It's one thing to host the seminars, even with a spirited post-discussion. But how can we encourage students to truly internalize what they've seen and heard, helping them move from passive to active learning?" said advisor Roger Ekins. "An idea that has proved successful is an essay or poetry contest - with valuable, donated prizes - associated with the Series. By giving Butte College's students a reason to engage in further research and reflection after viewing the Series we can better assure a true immersion into scholarship. Not only is the Series a boon to students, but increasingly our faculty have found it to be of tremendous personal value," Ekins said.

At St. Clair County Community College in Michigan, the Phi Theta Kappa chapter encouraged all campus faculty to bring their classes to the 2006 seminar series, and offer extra credit for participation. Invitations were sent to local high school students and community leaders. Advisor Tom Obee said that more than 80 persons attended the seminars, and an estimated 20 more watched the tapes, which were shown in a campus lobby area.

"The Satellite Seminar Series is a wonderful way to bring the entire college community together to discuss a topic that is frequently timely and timeless. Allowing a faculty expert to host a downloaded version of the Satellite Seminar can add a depth and dimension to the discussion that is unique to your college. The Satellite Seminar Series is a perfect way to engage some of the student populations, such as ESL and those in pre-collegiate students, that sometimes feel less than a part of the campus," said Paul Roscelli, advisor at Canada College in California, and a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Committee.

The Satellite Seminar Series is based on the 2006-08 Honors Study Topic, Gold, Gods and Glory: The Global Dynamics of Power. The series consists of four lectures, presented by renowned speakers broadcast via C-band and Ku-band satellite to college campuses across the nation.

All subscribers receive promotional posters and planning materials, including Phi Theta Kappa Honors Study Topic Guides.

The 2007 Honors Satellite Seminar Series begins October 2 and will air on alternate Tuesdays. Topics and speakers include:

Satellite Seminar #1 - How to Win A Cosmic War - Tuesday, October 2, 2007, 6:30 pm CDT. Presenter Reza Aslan is an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, a regular commentator for NPR's Marketplace and Middle East Analyst for CBS News. In 1998, he was elected president of Harvard's Chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace.

Satellite Seminar #2 - Dealing with the Dragon: America's Economic Relationship with China - Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 6:30 pm CDT. Presenter Zanny Minton Beddoes is The Economist's Washington economics editor. Before joining the The Economist in 1994, she spent two years as an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Minton Beddoes is a regular commentator on Marketplace and has also appeared on CNN, MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour, CNBC and Public Interest.

Satellite Seminar #3 - Afghanistan after the Taliban - Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 6:30 pm CDT. Presenter Tamim Ansary is an Afghan-American author who wrote West of Kabul, East of New York and co-authored The Other Side of the Sky with Afghan land mine victim Farah Ahmadi. Ansary directs the San Francisco Writers Workshop, writes a monthly column for Encarta.com, and teaches at San Francisco State University's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Satellite Seminar #4 - American Theocracy: Politics, Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century - Tuesday, November 13, 2007, 6:30 pm CDT. Presenter Kevin Phillips is an established political and economic author whose many books have influenced presidential campaigns. A regular commentator for NPR, Phillips' recent best-selling books, American Dynasty, Wealth and Democracy and American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century, have touched on the power of political and economic forces in the United States.