The University of Wisconsin-Platteville recently hosted New York Times bestselling memoirist Ashley C. Ford as the 2023 Helios Program for Integrated Liberal Arts first-year speaker. More than 500 students attended the event to listen to Ford’s personal story of overcoming challenges growing up and attending college.
Ford’s memoir, “Somebody’s Daughter,” was published by Flatiron Books in June 2021. Ford is the current host of “Into the Mix,” a Ben & Jerry’s + Vox Creative podcast, and former host of “The Chronicles of Now podcast” and The HBO companion podcast “Lovecraft Country Radio.”
“We believe this event was a transformative event for many of our students,” said Dr. Amanda Tucker, professor of English and co-director of the Helios Program at UW-Platteville, along with Dr. Katie Kalish, professor of English. “Our goal with this event was to offer students – particularly first-year students – an engaging event that would help them to increase their feelings of belonging and connection to the university and offer a mindset intervention by showcasing someone who is very successful but also had struggles in college.”
Launched in fall 2022, the Helios Program enhances opportunities for students to explore humanities concepts and some of the most pressing issues affecting global society. Through the program, students can earn a Certificate of Integrated Liberal Arts by completing coursework focused on one of two thematic clusters: environment and sustainability or law and conflict resolution. Cohorts of students in the program engage in learning opportunities both in and outside the classroom, including attending cultural programs, social activities, project-based learning, independent research and this annual First-Year Speaker Series.
“We had a few criteria in mind for a first-year speaker,” said Tucker. “We wanted someone who had a successful career in a humanities/arts field, who would be inspiring and engaging for our students and who our students could connect with and relate to. In particular, we wanted someone who could talk about their own struggles growing up and during college, and how they overcame those challenges. That's a tall order. Both Katie and I devoured Ford's memoir and after listening to some of her interviews and talks, we knew that Ashley Ford would be a wonderful speaker for our first-year students.”
The Helios Program is funded in part through grant awards from the Teagle Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities. UW-Platteville is the only university in the tri-state area to receive this award. Tucker says, students in the program will develop skills in communication, collaboration, qualitative analysis and reasoning, and complex problem-solving – all areas that are beneficial regardless of their career and in-demand by employers.
“Employer surveys show that these skills are among the most highly valued for employers but that they often find college graduates lacking in these areas,” said Tucker. “Additionally, we designed the Helios Certificate to be completed as students fulfill their general education requirements so that it doesn't add time to degree – which can be a deterrent for many students. Essentially, it's a free credential that also provides students with stronger proficiency in the skills employers value while also giving them a more meaningful experience in general education.”
For more information on the Helios Program at UW-Platteville, visit www.uwplatt.edu/program/integrated-liberal-arts-certificate.