The Honors College put on its annual Challenge Week, Oct. 8 to Oct. 14. Challenge week is typically a time that induces thought for the UCA students, and this challenge week was no different.  The theme of the week was “COVID-19: Recovering and Reimagining.”  The theme was chosen because of its relatability to the current climate. Challenge week events took place each day of the week with the exception of Tuesday, Oct. 12.

 UCA Assistant Philosophy and Religion Professor Sharon Mason said, “I think it is very important [to reflect on COVID-19], COVID has been with us for a long time, but it is not gone yet.  But as we start to think about what’s next, I think that is a question on everybody’s mind.  Do we go back to business as usual, what changes, I think those are all important questions.”

 The week was initially kicked off with an event preview on Friday, October 8 in Ida Waldron auditorium.  Speakers at the preview event were University of Arkansas department of history professor Trish Starks and UCA Honors College Professor Adam Frank. Frank spoke on the negative stigma attached to the Asian community in regards to the origin of COVID-19.

 Monday, Oct. 11, the second challenge week event took place in the Ida Waldron auditorium as well. The daily topic was “Responding and Reacting to COVID-19: Public Health.” The discussion of this event revolved around the response displayed by our government and education systems.  Portia King, program manager of COVID-19 Surveillance and Investigation Division at the Oklahoma State Department of Health, spoke at the event and discussed what she learned from the pandemic.  This included how we can be more prepared for the next possible pandemic.

 Challenge week took a break Tuesday and resumed again Wednesday, Oct. 12. The topic of the day was “Living with COVID-19.”  This event was also held inside Ida Waldron auditorium. Wednesday’s speaker was Zachary Crow, ordained minister and executive director of decARcerate.  The daily topic touched on the unfair disadvantages race and class brought with the COVID-19 impact.  Crow’s knowledge of the Arkansas prison system, where COVID-19 was rampant, played a large role in why UCA brought him in to talk about controversial topics such as these.

Challenge week resumed via Zoom on Thursday, Oct. 13.  The topic of the day was “Global Lessons’.” The speaker of the evening was Allana Shaikh, who joined the live zoom meeting from Sri Lanka.  Shaikh, who also is the keynote speaker of the week, is co-founder of Tomorrow Global, a policy research and strategy firm. Shaikh holds a master’s degree in public health from Boston University and has worked for the United States Department of State, International Medical Corps and the United States Agency for International Development.  Shaiki brought international perspective and flavor to the discussions and reflections on COVID-19. 

 Mason spoke at the concluding event of challenge week on Friday, Oct. 14 in Ida Waldron Auditorium.  The challenge week is typically thought to be a time for student thought and learning, however, Mason argued that the speakers and the professors involved with the event can also learn their fair share of valuable knowledge.

“I’m a philosopher, I am always interested in ideas and learning for myself.  There is no learning like teaching because that is when you really have to know it, you have to prepare information. For me the process of teaching and learning are the same,” Mason said.

 The topic of the final day of challenge week was “Reimagining.” Mason spoke at the beginning of the final session about what was learned during Challenge Week 2021. After Mason spoke, the students went into breakout sessions for the remainder of the time to close out the challenge week.