Dr. Steve Murphree, professor of biology and entomologist, has been out in the community recently talking about insects. On Oct. 4 Murphree gave table presentations about “Insects and Disease in the Civil War” at the Civil War Surgeon display of Tom and Nancy Wood in Pioneer Village as part of the Granville, Tennessee Fall Festival event. In late September, he offered an “Insects and Disease in the Civil War” table presentation for elementary school children at The Historic Sam Davis Home and Plantation’s Heritage Days event. On Sept. 13, he led a Tennessee Naturalist Program workshop at Owl’s Hill Nature Center. The session was titled “World of Invertebrates: Pollinators, Predators, Pests and Parasitoids,” and the participants learned about the characteristics and life cycles of insects, the identification of insects using keys, methods of collecting and observing insects and other arthropods, identifying other arthropods (spiders, isopods, mites, etc.), and the ecological roles of arthropods.
Dr. Steve Murphree Talks Insects
Math Club Participates in Hands on Nashville Day
A group of students and faculty representing the Belmont University Student Chapter of the Mathematical Association of America and Association for Computing Machinery (MAA/ACM) participated in the Hands on Nashville work day event on Sept. 20. The group of volunteers worked at Glen Leven Farms in Nashville for a morning of weeding the pumpkin patch. Glen Leven Farm is a working 65-acre farm just four miles from downtown Nashville. The Land Trust for Tennessee now owns this farm and they host workshops, group tours and school field trips. The farm is a perfect outdoor classroom that includes a honeybee sanctuary, an educational garden and a seasonal pumpkin patch. The MAA/ACM Club participants included Savannah Halliday, Marlee Stevenson, Haley Daniels, Geoff Gross, Dr. Maria Neophytou, Jackson Streeter, Michael Kranzlein and Ben Stringer. This is the sixth consecutive year that MAA/ACM has participated in HON Day.
Gwaltney Presents at College Stores’ Conference
Jordan Gwaltney, customer service and website specialist for the Campus Store, presented a session at the annual Tennessee Association of College Stores conference in Knoxville on Sept. 30. Gwaltney shared successful techniques to increase traffic, interaction and excitement for college stores through the use of Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest social media posts. The Tennessee Association of College Stores is a group of institutionally owned college/K-12 stores and vendors that serve the state of Tennessee.
Student Performs On Stage with Lady Antebellum
Kayla Woodson, a junior entertainment industry studies major and student worker in Athletics, recently won an all inclusive trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republican for a “Lady Antebellum Getaway.” On the first night of the trip, Woodson sang at the welcome party and made some new fans, who mentioned to Lady Antebellum members that they believed Woodson was going to be the next country star. At the concert that night, the country trio called Woodson up on stage to join them in singing their hit “American Honey.” The performance, which can be viewed here, led Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley to remark that he looked forward “to hearing her on the radio sometime soon.” Woodson also was voted by radio listeners as the better singer in an online contest and was featured on the “The Bobby Bones Show” and “The Chris Burkmenn Experience.”
Students Speak About Personal ‘Operation Christmas Child’ Experiences
Chapel marks launch of Belmont’s Shoebox Drive
Belmont students Alina-Sarai and David Gal-Chis spoke to faculty, staff and students about Operation Christmas Child and their experience with the program during a convocation event held on Wednesday in the Chapel. The Gal-Chis siblings received Operation Christmas Child boxes in Romania as young children.
The world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, Operation Christmas Child uses gift-filled shoeboxes to share God’s love in a tangible way with needy children around the world. Since 1993, nondenominational nonprofit Samaritan’s Purse has collected and delivered more than 113 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in over 150 countries through Operation Christmas Child. More than 500,000 volunteers worldwide, with more than 100,000 of those in the United States, are involved in collecting, shipping and distributing shoebox gifts.
“Their mission is not just to bring joy to children. It goes beyond that. It has to do with the love of Jesus Christ and being able to show that through the gift of giving,” said David.
Alumnae Named as Finalists in ‘Martha Stewart American Made’ Awards
Several Belmont alumnae have been named finalists in the “2014 Martha Stewart American Made Awards.” Martha Stewart’s American Made is a nationally recognized awards program that celebrates new rising stars of the growing nationwide maker community who have turned their passions for handcrafted, well-designed goods into a small business and proudly make their products in America.
Belmont alumna and former Creative Services Director staff member April (Lyons) Maglothin (a 2003 Fine Arts/Design Communication graduate), founded and created Pop-In Greetings two years ago. The mix & match card sets boast interchangeable letterpress greetings. Maglothin added fellow alum Taylor Colson Horton, a Belmont graduate with a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship, earlier this year as the company’s brand manager. The business was recently named by American Made judges as a finalist in the Crafts category. Maglothin said, “I was frustrated by the one-size-fits-all approach that the typical boxed greeting cards had to offer, so I wanted to create a collection for people who love good design and want to be prepared for any special occasion.”
Also, in the American Made Style category, another Belmont alumna made her mark with Freshie & Zero, a company founder Beth Hardcastle (2000, Art) notes came about because she had “a mission to bring versatile handmade jewelry into the world, at a price anyone could afford.”
Online voting for both businesses is open through Oct. 13 on their American Made category page links above.
Phillips Publishes Article in Nashville Bar Journal
Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship Dr. Mark Phillips published one of the main features in the September 2014 issue of the Nashville Bar Journal. His article, “Can Entrepreneurial Education Restore Faith in Legal Education?,” can be found on page 6 of this pdf. Phillips holds a JD/MBA from New York University as well as a PhD in Entrepreneurship/Law Firm Management from George Washington University Business School.
Muccini Published in ‘Via: Voices in Italian American’
Francesca Muccini, associate professor of Italian, has published “Dalle Marche al Mississippi Delta” in Via: Voices in Italian American (Volume 25, Number 1 2014), a leading journal in the field of Italian-American Studies. Going against the common research that focuses especially on the emigration from the South of Italy, Muccini looks at the case of the Marche region (central Italy), from where several families were recruited to work in the Sunnyside Cotton’s plantation near Greenville, Arkansas.
Media Studies Faculty Interviewed, Judge Awards
Media Studies Department Chair Thom Storey was interviewed on WZTV FOX 17 News recently for a story about the re-launch of the Nashville Banner newspaper by a former staffer. Storey worked part time as a copy editor and writing coach at the Banner and later held part-time positions at the Tennessean over a nine-year period. Click here to view the story.
Storey and fellow media studies faculty member Dorren Robinson also served as judges recently for the Radio and Television News Directors/Press North Carolina TV News Awards competition. Awards will be presented in October.
First-Year Writing Class Explores ‘Freedom’ at Thistle Farms
Students from Charmion Gustke’s First-Year Writing class, “Why Freedom Matters,” spent a recent morning at Thistle Farms, a social enterprise that is run by the women of Magdalene House. Magdalene is a residential program for women who have survived lives of prostitution, trafficking, addiction and life on the streets. After meeting with the women for their Wednesday morning devotional, where stories are shared and blessings are celebrated, students toured the facility and experienced, first-hand, the community of Magdalene and the freedom that is found in cooperation. The morning ended with students relaxing next door at the Thistle Stop Café where they were asked to blog and reflect on their experience. This photo was used in the Thistle Farms newsletter of the week.
