Dr. Terry Klefstad, associate professor in the School of Music, recently published a book chapter titled “A Soviet Opera in America” in the new publication Contemplating Shostakovich: Life, Music and Film (Goldsmiths and Kirkman).
Dunlap Presents at Global Health Forum
Dr. Ruby Dunlap, associate professor of nursing, was a co-presenter at the 2012 Tennessee Global Health Forum sponsored by the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH). Dunlap was joined by Carol Etherington and Patsy Meier, both registered nurses, to provide an overview of how healthcare is delivered in various community settings by diverse caregivers with limited resources. The 2012 forum was focused on measuring impact and maximizing success in global programs. It featured accomplished global health leaders who shared experiences and expertise on innovative approaches and practical tools to sustain such programs. VIGH supports numerous community health initiatives locally and throughout the world, including current efforts in Mozambique and Nigeria.
Dr. Dunlap has taught community health nursing at Belmont since 1996. Her involvement and interest in international healthcare has been lifelong. She spent 10 years of her childhood in Somalia. For 15 years she has guided nursing students in the assessment and health education of refugee families resettled to the Nashville area from all over the world. In the 2009-2010 academic year, she was a Fulbright visiting lecturer for the graduate nursing program at Uganda Christian University, Mukono, Uganda. She returned to teach a four-week module in the same program in September 2011. In addition to advising nine nursing masters theses for Ugandan graduate nurses, she guided a group of the same nursing students in a revision of the Uganda Nurse and Midwives Practice Act in October 2011.
Chemistry Students Present at American Chemical Society Meeting
Dr. Rachel Rigsby and Dr. Alison Moore from the Department of Chemistry and Physics, along with nine Belmont University students, attended the American Chemical Society’s national meeting in San Francisco recently. Four seniors–Grant Anderson, Katherine Whitfield, Jenny Westbrook and Ben Heacock–presented undergraduate research posters. The other Belmont students–Amy Henderson, Roxy Musharrafeia, Rebecca Newton, Logan Books and Johnny Truong–presented a poster on the Belmont SMACS (Student Members of the American Chemical Society) Chapter activities. The Belmont University SMACS chapter also received a Commendable Chapter award based on their outreach and other activities throughout the 2010-2011 academic year.
Hatch Publishes Book Chapter, Elected Chair for Local ACS Chapter
Dr. Duane Hatch (Chemistry) recently published a book chapter titled “Molecular Recognition Elements for Toxin and Pathogen Detection” in the text Chemosensors: Principles, Strategies, and Applications (Wiley Series in Drug Discovery and Development). In addition, Hatch is also the new public relations chair for the local section of the American Chemical Society. Hatch attended a three-day training session at the ACS national headquarters in Washington, D.C., on April 27-29.
Shores Presents at Safe Patient Handling Conference
Dr. Lynne Shores, professor of nursing, was recently one of four presenters at the Safe Patient Handling Conference in Oklahoma City. Designed for nurses, nurse educators and other clinical leaders who are responsible for implementing and sustaining safe clinical work environments, the conference included evidence-based practices in patient handling and movement. Dr. Shores has become nationally recognized for teaching nursing students how to move patients safely by following set protocols, including the use of appropriate equipment. She has played a key role in introducing safe patient handling in the School of Nursing at Belmont. She has worked with peers at the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to implement core curriculum for teaching students about on-the-job safety. Dr. Shores has served on the National Advisory Committee for the ANA Handle With Care recognition program.
Storyline Conference Encourages Registrants to Live a Meaningful Narrative
Donald Miller, New York Times best-selling author of Blue Like Jazz, brought his Storyline Conference to Belmont University’s campus this week. Based on another best-selling book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Storyline is a two-day event that walks registrants through the steps of writing a life-plan using the elements of story.
More than 500 people attended the conference, including more than a dozen Belmont students and staff members. Miller guided participants through five sessions and accompanying modules to help them map their life story.
Belmont senior Daniel Warner said, “The Storyline conference caused me to see the evident connectedness between my daily actions and the progression of my life’s overarching narrative… The content of the conference laid an important framework for future reflection. The notebook exercises were well-designed in a way that made it easy to categorize life events and see the path my life has been taking.”
Suzanne Clement, assistant to the dean in the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, added, “Life as story is an empowering metaphor. Storyline challenged me to create a compelling life story by investing in something bigger than myself, something that ‘saves many lives.’ It was a call to believe in my own agency, to not be afraid, to commit to making a difference.”
Miller noted in the opening session, “A story consists of a character who wants something and must overcome conflict to get it.” Using that definition as a guide, Miller advocated for conference participants to analyze their own life stories for the elements of character, roles, desire, conflict and perseverance, among others. “Conflict transforms character and teaches us to value our ambitions.”
In addition to the sessions, registrants were treated to appearances from a number of special guests, including Grammy-winning, multi-platinum selling artist Amy Grant, who gave the audience a well-received 30-minute acoustic concert.
Other guests who were featured for their own inspirational stories included new author of Love Does, Bob Goff, the founder/CEO of nonprofit Restore International, which addresses injustices committed against children, and Jamie Tworkowski, founder of To Write Love on Her Arms, a nonprofit dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. Local counselor/author Al Andrews was also featured in an interview segment with Miller. Andrews is the founder and director of two nonprofit organizations: Porter’s Call (a ministry of counseling and support for recording artists) and Improbable Philanthropy (a movement to promote radical generosity).
Belmont senior Jordan Yeager noted how each of the special guests exemplified the conference’s theme. “Storyline gave me permission to knock down doors, dream big and take action in my story… The speakers were incredible examples of the fun, inspiring, interesting lives we can live if we are intentional. They each challenged me in a unique way to climb out of the formulaic understanding I had of life.”
Rose Park Students Return to Belmont for ‘Edgehill’s Best’
For the third consecutive year, seventh and eighth grade students from Rose Park Magnet Middle School sought advice from Belmont students, received instruction from a Belmont instructor and used the University’s journalism lab to produce its newspaper Edgehill’s Best.
The students, hand selected by their teachers, received weekly tutorials from Belmont Vision newspaper adviser and journalism instructor Linda Quigley throughout the spring semester, learning how to develop story ideas, interview sources and write leads.
“The idea is that they provide information that is valuable to the community,” Quigley said. “Having been in journalism for 30 years, it is exciting to see students appreciate [newspapers] as [they] are getting a bad wrap.”
On May 2, the middle school students worked in Belmont’s journalism lab to write their articles with the help of several Belmont students and Vision reporters, including managing editor Autumn Allision.
“It is a neat experience to help them focus their stories and work as a copy editor for these younger students,” said Allison, a junior from Watertown, Tenn.
The free newspaper with 5,000 circulation is intended for residents of the Edgehill community. In addition, it is distributed to Metro Council members, on Belmont’s campus, in local churches, restaurants and community centers throughout the summer. Stories cover topics such as school sports, students’ community service projects and nonprofit service providers in the Edgehill area.
Seventh grader Aaron Oates focused his article on how Hattie Cotton Elementary has evolved since it was bombed in 1957 as the school integrated and interviewed former Tennessean publisher John Seigenthaler.
“This is a good opportunity to work on writing skills and learn how to interview and make connections with the community,” Oates said.
Eighth grade language arts teacher Alison Forte said, “Belmont has worked aggressively on outreach to work with our students and offered our students full scholarships. This newspaper is another expression of Belmont’s desire to be involved in this side of town and the lives of its citizens.”
Click here to view photos of the Rose Park students working on Edgehill’s Best.
Cornwall Quoted by USA Today
Dr. Jeff Cornwall, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, was quoted this week in a USA Today article titled “Gen Y grads more likely to launch start-ups.” Click here to read the story.
Silverman, School of Music Faculty to Perform at Carnegie Hall
Electric violinist Tracy Silverman, an adjunct professor in Belmont’s School of Music, was recently the cover story subject for the Nashville Scene. Click here to read the full article.
Last week Silverman world premiered composer Terry Riley’s Palmian Chord Ryddle for Electric Violin and Orchestra with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Next week, the violinist and the NSO will take the concerto, which was written specifically for Silverman, to New York City, performing at Carnegie Hall on May 12. Nashville Symphony will perform on the closing night of the Spring for Music Festival, a celebration of innovative American orchestras. Nashville is one of only six symphonies to be selected for this year’s festival.
Other Belmont School of Music faculty memebrs participating in the NSO’s Carnegie Hall performance include Dawn Hartley (bassoon), Keith Nicholas (cello), Dan Lochrie (clarinet), Chris Norton (one of five conductors on the Ives’ “Universe Symphony”), Radu Rusu (horn), Elena Bennett and Bob Marler (keyboards), Alan Fey and Todd London (percussion), Pat Kunkee (trumpet), and Alison Gooding (violin).
Ham Manuscript Accepted for Publication
Dr. Amy Ham, assistant professor of pharmacy, was recently informed that her manuscript, “Label-Free Quantitation of Protein Modifications by Pseudo-Selected Reaction Monitoring with Internal Reference Peptides,” was accepted for publication in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Proteome Research. Dr. Ham and her team describe a method using an ion trap mass spectrometer for label-free quantitation of protein modifications using a targeted MS/MS approach with extraction of transition ions for pseudo-selective reaction monitoring (pSRM) and the use of non-modified peptides within the same protein of interest for normalization. The utility of the method was demonstrated by comparing this approach to the more traditional use of stable-isotope dilution (SID) using the well-studied phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as an example that could also be verified by commonly used western blot analysis using site-specific antibodies.
