CONWAY, Ark. (November 18, 2024) — The Hendrix
College Committee on Engaged Learning is pleased to announce $24,321.07 in
Odyssey Program funding awarded to 12 projects. These projects involve a range
of academic, professional, and personal explorations through experiences from a
mindfulness retreat, grappling instruction, and running half-marathons to gardening
projects on campus and gardening with residents in local senior communities, and
much more.
Since 2005, the Committee on Engaged
Learning has awarded more than $5 million — $5,294,557.36 to be exact
— in competitive Odyssey grants to support 1,602 projects by Hendrix students,
faculty, and staff.
Odyssey
Category: Artistic Creativity
Harry
Lance ’26
A
Disposable Camera Photo Essay on Andean Textiles and Peruvian Folk Art
Supervisor: Prof. Maxine Payne
Harry’s
experiential learning project is designed to highlight Peruvian folk art and
Andean textiles through series of photographs, captured on disposable camera.
Odyssey
Category: Global Awareness
Aiyla
East ’25
Embracing
the Sangha: A Mindfulness Retreat
Supervisor: Dr. Chris Campolo
Aiyla
will spend one week at a mindfulness retreat at Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine
Bush, New York. They will engage in the monastic life as they immerse themself
into the community, otherwise known as a Sangha, by practicing mindfulness as
led by the monks and nuns of the monastery.
Odyssey
Category: Professional and Leadership Development
Laysha
Cervantes ’25
Dental
Assisting Certification for Pre-Dentistry
Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Schurko
Laysha
will attend the Central Arkansas School of Dental Assisting for 10 weeks to
become a certified and registered Dental Assistant. This will allow her to gain
more clinical experience working in the dental field in preparation for
attending dental school after graduation from Hendrix.
Odyssey Category: Service to
the World
Dr.
Anne Goldberg and Dr. Jennifer Peszka
Growing
Happiness Through Gardening with Low-Income Older Adults
Hendrix
students will partner with low-income, elderly Arkansans to plant elevated
garden beds at the facilities where they live. This project combats social
isolation and allows elderly Arkansans to connect to the natural world in an
accessible way. This Odyssey funding provides for gardening supplies for the
spring.
Odyssey
Category: Special Projects
Michelle
Johnston ’26
Fun
With Fungi
Supervisor: Dr. Candice Thomas
Over
the span of a year, Michelle will learn to grow Lion's Mane, Shiitake, and
Oyster mushrooms indoors using sustainable methods that will ensure the growth
and maintenance of the mushrooms and spawns for a long time. When the
mushrooms have been cultivated, they will be supplied to the Hendrix
cafeteria to promote the consumption of local and sustainable food sources for
students with dietary restrictions and the greater Hendrix community.
Dr.
Ann Wright
2025
Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics
Dr.
Wright will take a group of students to the 2025 Conference for Undergraduate
Women and Gender Minorities in Physics, which will be held on January 24-26 at
the University of Memphis. The conference will include research talks, a poster
session, and panels on topics such as graduate schools, career options, gender
issues, and work-life balance.
Sydney
Greene ’25
Running
the Race: Exploring the Intersection of Physical Endurance and Intellectual
Pursuit
Supervisor: Dr. J.D. Gantz
During
the Spring semester, Sydney will prepare for the mental and physical challenges
of medical school by exploring how physical endurance and education are
interconnected and, often, influence one another. She will train for and
complete three half marathons while maintaining a full academic course load,
and then reflect upon and synthesize her experiences in an article that will be
shared via a science education and outreach website.
Rev.
Ellen Alston ’82
A
Civil Rights Journey Together
Over
the 2025 Fall Break, Rev. Alston and a group of Hendrix students will be joined
by a similar delegation from DePauw University to visit sites in Marion, Selma,
Montgomery, and Birmingham, Alabama, and in Memphis, Tennessee, to gain
background in and reflect on the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. (Odyssey
funding will support the Hendrix portion of the trip only.)
Demah
Yousef ’26
American
Chemical Society Spring Conference: Discovering the Latest Insights in
Chemistry Research
Supervisor: Dr. David Hales
Over
spring break, Demah will attend the American Chemical Society Conference in San
Diego to present her research, “Cold storage-mediated p38MAPK Activation: a
Potential Contributor to Kidney Damage After Transplantation.” She will attend
lectures, network with professionals, and hopes to expand her exposure to chemistry
based research.
Lathan
Smalley ’26
Edlow
International Company Shadowing
Supervisor: Dr. Carol Ann Downes
Lathan
will travel to Washington, D.C. for a week to shadow officials in Edlow
International, a company that focuses on Nuclear Energy Transportation in order
to learn more about what their operations look like and more about his own
career ambitions.
Caton
Nelson ’25
Hendrix
Food Forest - Sustainability Garden
Supervisor: Dr. Candice Thomas
Caton will work with the Hendrix Food Forest to bring
information about sustainability to the Hendrix community. She will do this
through social media, informational flyers and posters, and the creation of a
cookbook highlighting recipes from Hendrix community members about produce
grown in the garden this year.
Isaiah
Jellenik ’25
Hendrix
Mat Warriors
Supervisor: Dr. Sarah Root
Isaiah’s project will support a
group of Hendrix students interested in learning and practicing grappling-based
martial arts for private instruction at a local gym. The group will also study
the mental health benefits of grapple sports through monthly surveys related to
intrinsic motivation and general mental health.
About Hendrix College
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College
is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way
You Think About Colleges and celebrated among the country’s leading liberal
arts colleges for academic quality, engaged learning opportunities and career
preparation, vibrant campus life, and value. The Hendrix College Warriors
compete in 21 NCAA Division III sports. Hendrix has been affiliated with the
United Methodist Church since 1884. Learn more at www.hendrix.edu.
“… Through engagement that
links the classroom with the world, and a commitment to diversity, inclusion,
justice, and sustainable living, the Hendrix community inspires students to
lead lives of accomplishment, integrity, service, and joy.” —Hendrix
College Statement of Purpose