Belmont’s Art Education Program Coordinator Justin Makemson recently presented at the Digitorium Digital Humanities Conference at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Makemson’s presentation, “Tagging, Caching, and Augmented Realities on a 19th Century Campus,” recounted the development of a student-designed, student-implemented geographic information systems and augmented reality technologies tour of Belmont’s campus.

For the development of the self-guided art and architecture tour, students “tagged” multiple campus landmarks, linking the contemporary site to a video-based discussion of historical photography taken on location. Makemson has presented at a number of national and state art education conferences including a presentation on his research on artistic self-definitions and the “artistic other” at the iJADE/NSEAD Conference in Liverpool, UK earlier this year.

Bunch Library is one of 10 college and university libraries participating in Project Information Literacy, a large-scale, national study about early adults and their research habits. Facilitated by Jenny Mills, coordinator of research services, and Claire Wiley, research and instruction librarian, and in partnership with Debbie Coppinger, senior director of alumni relations, and John Hostler, director of advancement services, Belmont graduates were surveyed last fall on their lifelong learning needs after college and what information sources and systems they use for continued learning. An infographicand detailed report have recently been released and reveal some interesting findings. Recent graduates strongly agreed that the information skills learned in college were applicable in their later lives, especially extracting information needed, evaluating the credibility of content and presenting information effectively. In addition, 87 percent reported that they still relied on books for staying informed. Sixty follow-up interviews will be conducted this spring, and recent graduates will be asked about best practices and obstacles to lifelong learning. Visit the library’s guide for more information about theInformation Literacy Program.

Belmont’s Director of International Student Services Kathy Skinner will travel to Cuba with the first Fulbright Insight Tour to Cuba, April 12-20. The trip will provide the opportunity to gain insight into Cuban culture and will include meeting with Cuban architects, economists, and musicians to discuss Cuba’s culture and economy.

The Fulbright Insight Trip is sponsored by the Fulbright Association, an organization that promotes educational opportunities through travel, networking and service. For more information on the Insight Tours, click here.