Hall Center Scholars

Each year, the Friends of the Hall Center sponsor a small number of Hall Center Scholars.  The program provides opportunities for KU undergraduates who have strong academic credentials and have demonstrated significant activity within KU, to interact with the well-known authors, scholars, and public intellectuals who speak in our Humanities Lecture Series. The program started in the Fall of 2007.

Becky Mandelbaum is a senior majoring in English with an emphasis in creative writing. She is a National Merit Scholar and member of the Honors Program. She has received an Undergraduate Research Award, as well as several awards for her writing, including the 2012 Brosseau Creativity Award through the Spencer Art Museum. She is currently an editorial assistant for the local literary magazine, Parcel, and is working with her peers to establish KU’s first national journal of undergraduate writing, Siren. She writes passages for the Kansas State Assessment Program and opinion columns for the University Daily Kansan. She is also a member of the KU Rock Climbing Club.

Carolisa Watson is a junior originally from Sapulpa, OK. Carolisa is a double-major studying Global and International Studies and East Asian Languages and Cultures. She is also pursuing a minor in Anthropology. Carolisa is a McNair Scholar and is presently conducting ethnographic research with former military members. She is a volunteer for the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center and involved in Students for a Free Tibet and the Nontraditional Students Foundation.

Sida Niu is a senior from Overland Park, KS studying Chemical Engineering with a Pre-medical concentration. Sida is a University Scholar, a member of the SELF Engineering Fellowship program in the School of Engineering and a Summerfield Scholar. Sida became a published author in a scientific journal in 2009 after making significant research and written contributions to the project’s manuscript. He serves as a co-coordinator for Into the Streets Week, an annual service initiative sponsored by the Center for Community Outreach, as well as for Hawks for Health, the premier health organization at the university. Sida is heavily involved with his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, having assumed the roles of the community service chair and the vice-president. Currently, Sida is interning at the Kansas Health Institute, an independent, nonprofit health policy and research organization.

Ursula Rothrock is a senior from Lawrence, KS, studying Spanish and Journalism with an emphasis in strategic communication. Ursula is a Watkins-Berger Scholar and a member of the KU Honors Program and Mortar Board Honor Society. She is the co-coordinator for Daily Bread, a food redistribution program through the Center for Community Outreach. In 2011, Ursula helped plan the Lawrence Hunger Project, a hunger-focused volunteer event for the KU, Lawrence and global communities. She was named the 2011 Peer Advisor of the Year for the Undergraduate Advising Center. She has also participated in Alternative Breaks, study abroad and Douthart Scholarship Hall.

Bernadette Myers is a senior from Prairie Village, KS studying English, Italian and European Studies. Bernadette is a University Scholar, a Watkins-Berger Scholar and a member of the KU Honors Program. She has completed two short-term study abroad programs in the UK and Costa Rica as well as a year long immersion program in Italy as part of the Bologna Consortial Studies Program. After receiving an Undergraduate Research Award in 2010, Bernadette presented on Shakespeare and the ineffability topos as a key note speaker at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. In 2011, Bernadette became an Honors Ambassador, president of her residence hall government and an Italian tutor. While studying in Italy in this past year, Bernadette taught English lessons at a local middle school and worked on translations for the Museo Archeologico.

Adam Nicholson is a senior from Lawrence, KS studying Sociology and Peace and Conflict. Adam is a McNair Scholar and a member of AKD, the International Sociology Honor Society. He is the recipient of the J. Michael Young Opportunity Award as well as an Undergraduate Research Award. In 2011, Adam founded the University of Kansas chapter of Nourish International and in the first year sent a team to Ghana on an international development project. In 2011 Adam served on the President's Council advising the Student Body President and in 2012-13 he is serving as the Non-traditional Student Senator. Adam has been involved in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program, Habitat for Humanity and CASA. He is also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

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Past Hall Center Scholars

2011-2012
Kellen Bolt, English and American Studies
Luke Brinker, History
Kelly Cosby, Political Science and English
Stephanie Jian, Cognitive Psychology
Greg Loving, Chemical Engineering and Economics
Kelsey Murrell, English

2010-2011
Chelsea Brown, English and Sociology
Loren Cressler, English Literature, Creative Writing, and Classical Languages
Sarah Shier, Political Science and History
Ryan Thornton, English and Classics
Hannah Vick, English and Social Welfare
Emylisa Warrick, English
Megan Watson, English and Chemistry

2009-2010
Julia Barnard, History
Earl Brooks, Music and American Studies
Bethany Christiansen, English and Illustration
Melissa Melling, Art History
David Wilcox, Chemistry and English

2008-2009
Zach Abramovitz, English
Joel Burnett, Philosophy and Spanish
Katherine Oberthaler, Creative Writing and Psychology
Dan Thompson, Economics and Political Science, International Studies (co-major), English (minor)

2007-2008
Brenna Daldorph, Journalism