Meet the University Honors Program: Left to right, Assistant Director Lindsay Daigle; Director Amelia Zurcher; Administrator Maria Cooper; and Advisor Karalee Surface. 

Honors Staff

Amelia Zurcher, Director

Amelia Zurcher, PhD
Professor, English
Sensenbrenner Hall 002

What I do: I oversee all aspects of the Honors Program, including admissions, curriculum, Honors research, and all our connections with the rest of the University and our alumni. I also do some advising and teach at least one Honors class per year.

What I'm interested in:  I love reading (especially novels, all kinds), cooking, biking, and dogs.

Lindsay Daigle, Assistant Director

Lindsay Daigle, PhD 
Sensenbrenner 002C

What I do: As the Assistant Director of the Honors Program, I oversee the Honors Peer Mentor Program, the Honors Media Internship, and Honors advising practices. I plan Honors-affiliated events and extra-/co-curricular opportunities as a way to build community. I also teach HOPR 1955H, our first-year foundational rhetoric course.

What I'm interested in: I love collaborating with students to help them explore their worlds and learn how to best contribute to them. I’m interested in learning as a lifelong, engaged, recursive process. And generally, I like poetry and literature, TV and movies, sports and athletics, social justice, and forward progress. Outside of ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳, I teach group fitness and creative writing classes around Milwaukee.

Karalee Surface, Experiential Learning and Prestigious Fellowships Coordinator

Karalee Surface, PhD
Sensenbrenner Hall 005A

What I do: I serve as a point person for students interested in pursuing prestigious fellowships and as the primary advisor for the Fulbright U.S. Student program. I enjoy connecting students with research or extracurricular opportunities, finding internships, and navigating various personal and academic crises as they arise.

What I'm interested in: I like storytelling, history, gender equity, and disability. I am an avid reader, and aside from my work at ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳, I freelance as a copyeditor and developmental editor. Unsurprisingly, I love hearing students’ stories and helping them to develop their stories through transformative experiences here at ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳.

Maria Cooper, Honors Coordinator 

Maria Cooper 
Sensenbrenner Hall 00C

Who I am: I've been employed at ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳ for nearly 20 years.  I worked in the Honors Program from 2006-2020 and returned in 2024. I split my responsibilities between the Honors Program, the Office of Academic Integrity, and the ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳ Core Curriculum. 

What I do: I manage the honors curriculum, student records, the budget, facilitating honors funds for research and study abroad, and organizing honors events. I'm a problem solver and love troubleshooting to figure out systems and processes.  

What I'm interested in: I love the outdoors, walking, yoga, cooking, and time with family.

Jeremiah Noonan, Career Diversity Fellow

Jeremiah Noonan
Sensenbrenner Hall 002

What I do: I'm a current PhD student in the Philosophy department and have taught PHIL 1001 Foundations in Philosophy, PHIL 4330 Business Ethics, and CORE 4929 Service of Faith and Promotion of Justice. I'm also a recent recipient of a Smith Fellowship. 

What I'm interested in: I'm interested in the History of Philosophy and Science, and in Classics and Ancient Greek Philosophy. I received a B.A. in Philosophy and History from Seattle University and a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Duquesne University. 

Honors Faculty

Joong Won Kim, Teaching Assistant Professor

Joong Won Kim (he/him/his) Ph.D. is a Teaching Assistant Professor of Criminology and Legal Studies at the Department of Cultural and Social Sciences at ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳. Dr. Kim earned his Ph.D. in Sociology at Virginia Tech and his M.A. in Sociology at DePaul University. His first education and realization of the possibilities of Sociology as a scholar-activist practice began during his training as a B.A. in Sociology at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. His research is at the intersection of Race and Ethnicity, Assimilation, Public Policy, Human-Technology Interactions, and Racialized Spaces. By drawing on how cultural practices become racialized, Dr. Kim's research centralizes the role of race in shaping spatial inequality at a global, transnational scale. Dr. Kim’s work can be found in academic peer-reviewed journals such as Ethnic and Racial Studies, American Behavioral Scientist, Sociological Inquiry, Social Currents, and Sustainability. Dr. Kim is an award-winning lecturer who actively utilizes technology at the intersection of culture to deliver student-centered learning experiences. 

Kris McLain, Teaching Assistant Professor

Kris McLain, PhD
Sensenbrenner Hall 005K

I earned my PhD from Pennsylvania State University in Philosophy and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. I love to think about the ancient Graeco-Roman world and how it can inform and speak to us today. In my free time, I read, play board games and video games, and explore Milwaukee. 

 

And Percy, the Honors dog