Honors Program

A new five-act play, “The Poet and the Assassin,” written by Reza Jalali of the University of Southern Maine’s Honors Program offers historic and contemporary insight into the situation of women in Iran, a society shrouded in mystery.

Reza Jalali, a USM Honors lecturer and author, spoke at a Farmington ceremony honoring Martin Luther King Jr. "Build bridges rather than walls," said Jalali in the address covered by the Livermore Falls Advertiser and the Sun Journal.

USM will host the 2nd Annual W. E. B. Du Bois lecture on Race and Democracy examining "The Strange Careers of the Jim Crow North: Race and Participatory Democracy North of the Mason Dixon Line" with speaker Brian Purnell.

Students from the University of Southern Maine’s Honors program “Cinema in Iran” course, along with their instructor, professor Reza Jalali, will present the 2017 Iranian Film Festival—a first of its kind in Maine—in Portland beginning on October 20.

USM will host a lecture featuring the descendants of Henrietta Lacks as they explore ethics, race, and the commercialization of human tissue on Oct. 13.

In the first episode of "The USM Update" of the academic year, USM President Glenn Cummings sits down with guests to talk about corporate partnerships; the upcoming Convocation theme, "Race and Participatory Democracy;" and the USM Honors Abroad program.

All are rising sophomores who have completed 30 credits, earned good enough grades to be honors students in good standing and will pay nothing for their nearly two-week-long adventure. Students will visit museums and art exhibits, tour the Nordic country by land and sea, taste their foods, see Reykjavik University and get a chance to visit Iceland's parliament.

Topics ranged from life in refugee camps and the opioid epidemic to cryptography, hydroelectricity and the use of emoji and other nonverbal forms of communication.

Honors Abroad receives gift to support student travel.

On the season finale of "The USM Update," learn why "Thinking Matters" at USM, hear about journalism across the generations with alumnus Neil Genzlinger '77 of "The New York Times" and Krysteana Scribner, editor-in-chief of the USM Free Press, and get an update on the master plan process for all three campuses.