Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Belmont alumni Ryan and Kassidy Brown live by Mead’s words. Ryan graduated in 2003 with a double major in broadcast journalism and Spanish, while Kassidy graduated in 2007 as a broadcast journalism major and Spanish minor.
The Brown siblings have started their Journey of Action tour, which is dedicated to highlighting the culture of social activism in the millennial generation. As part of the tour, Ryan and Kassidy are traveling from Alaska to Argentina, highlighting young social activists. Journey of Action revolves entirely around the millennial generation and trying to move online action offline. The Browns believe Generation Y is socially conscious, but they lack daily tools for action. Ryan and Kassidy aim to inspire their generation by proving that significant change is possible.
“We basically highlight amazing members of our generation… people changing the traditional systems,” said Kassidy, who was recently named one of the “Greatest Women of the Day” by the Huffington Post.. “We have some groups who are very much social activists, and the other half is apathetic. I sign a petition almost every day on Change.org, but what am I doing offline that’s actually going to change these things?”
The Browns thought of the tour after going on a Netflix documentary binge and discovering that few documentaries featured millennials or their efforts to enact change. “No one’s highlighting the culture of social activism. We saw this void of entertainment,” said Kassidy.
Alumni Siblings Take Global ‘Journey of Action’
Massey TV Ad Wins Telly Award
A television ad, “Break Through – Whip,” created to support the Massey Graduate School of Business programs recently received a second place Bronze Telly Award. The Telly Awards receive over 13,000 entries annually from around the world, and it is the premier award honoring outstanding commercials and programs as well as video, film productions and work created for the Web. The TV spot was produced by DNA Creative in conjunction with the Massey School and Belmont’s Office of University Marketing and Special Initiatives. Click here to view the 30-second ad.
Alumnus Named ASCAP Christian Songwriter of the Year
School of Music Alumnus Dan Muckala (’93) was named the 2011 top ASCAP Christian songwriter this week. ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) saluted the songwriters and publishers of Christian music’s most performed songs at its 33rd annual Christian Music Awards held March 28 in Nashville. In addition to being named ASCAP Christian Songwriter of the Year, Muckala was also honored as a co-writer on the ASCAP Christian Song of the Year, “All of Creation,” which was recorded by MercyMe, and spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Christian radio charts. In addition, Muckala was noted for writing two of the other most performed songs of the past year: “Beautiful” (MercyMe) and “Light Up the Sky” (The Afters).
Belmont University Celebrates Earth Hour
On Sat., March 26, Belmont University will participate for the third year in a row in “Belmont Goes Dark: An Earth Hour Celebration” as part of a global project to raise awareness of climate change. Belmont’s celebration of Earth Hour is part of a world-wide event supporting environmental awareness and sustainability.
An initiative of the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour was started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. This year the Belmont community will join with hundreds of millions of people in 133 countries around the globe in observing Earth Hour.
Belmont’s O.N.E. Club (Our Natural Environment), a student organization, in partnership with Residence Life, will participate in the 8-9 p.m. campus celebration of Earth Hour Saturday. All non-emergency lighting in residence halls and on campus grounds will be turned off, and all students are being encouraged to refrain from using energy-consuming devices during that time. Earth Hour, however, will not interfere with other regularly scheduled campus events. For more information on Earth Hour 2011, visit www.earthhour.org.
Sheth Advocates Business with China and India
Dr. Jagdish Sheth, the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, delivered the keynote address for Belmont University’s Second Annual International Business Symposium on March 17. Dr. Sheth, a world renowned expert in marketing and geopolitical analysis, spoke on his book, Chindia Rising: How China and India Will Benefit Your Business.
Dr. J. Patrick Raines, dean of the College of Business Administration, welcomed the audience of about 75 people. The Symposium was co-sponsored by the International Business Council of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Society of International Business Fellows, Sister Cities of Nashville, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Tennessee Department of Economic Development and the Tennessee World Affairs Council.
Dr. Sheth opened his talk by arguing that while the 20th Century was driven by government policy of advanced nations, the 21st Century will be driven by competitive markets of emerging nations. Describing the 21st Century as the “Asian Century,” Sheth projected that the old triad of the U.S., Europe and Japan would be supplanted by the new triad of the U.S., China and India, noting that the three can work cooperatively or become rivals. He added that economic interdependence created by investing in each other will create peace, since hurting the other will also hurt one’s investment in the other. He also encouraged companies to follow the examples of Ford, Kodak and Avon by creating and marketing affordable products to the common person rather than targeting products to the wealthy.
Daus, Panvini Present at Gulf-South Summit
Kim Daus (Chemistry) and Darlene Panvini (Biology) presented a talk at the Gulf-South Summit on Service Learning and Civic Engagement Through Higher Education conference. Their talk was titled “The Power of Collaboration: How Science Faculty Can Work Together to Build Sustained Community Partnerships.” The conference was held in Roanoke, Virginia March 2-4. The mission of the Gulf-South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement through Higher Education is to promote networking among practitioners, research, ethical practices, reciprocal campus-community partnerships, sustainable programs and a culture of engagement and public awareness through service-learning and other forms of civic engagement.
Al-Shamma Publishes Second Book on Ruhl
Dr. James Al-Shamma, Department of Theatre and Dance, has published his second book on playwright Sarah Ruhl, titled Sarah Ruhl: A Critical Study of the Plays. For more information, please see http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-5887-5.
Biology Students Serve as Science Fair Judges
![Science_Fair_3-11[1].jpg](http://forum.belmont.edu/achievers/archives/Science_Fair_3-11%5B1%5D.jpg)
Several students from the School of Sciences recently participated as judges at the Bellevue Enrichment School science fair. This school is a home school co-op. The following Belmont students, all majors or minors in biology, served as judges: Kelly Casarez, Grant Anderson, Sylvia Chac, Vishan Ramcharan and Roxy Musharrafeia.
Belmont Partners with HealthStream, Laerdal to Develop Content for New Platform in Medical Simulation
Faculty members at Belmont University’s Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing are playing a vital role in the development of content that will be made available for use in an innovative new platform to deliver healthcare education through medical simulation.
SimCenter™, announced publicly in January, is a joint product of Nashville’s HealthStream (NASDAQ: HSTM), a leading provider of learning and research solutions for the healthcare industry and Laerdal Medical, a global leader in the provision of educational solutions for healthcare providers and educators. SimCenter is an innovative simulation management platform designed specifically for healthcare institutions to manage their simulation initiatives. It is comprised of a fully integrated system of software designed to work with advanced patient simulators used in medical education and made available through the Internet via software as a service (SaaS).
Belmont educators have been part of the initial content development team of leading medical simulation centers that have been creating scenarios for use within SimCenter. “This is a groundbreaking solution that will revolutionize the way simulation is performed in healthcare training,” said Beth Hallmark, Ph.D. RN, director of simulation at Belmont University.
“The Simulation Center faculty members from Belmont’s College of Health Sciences are representative of a growing group of thought leaders that are pioneering medical simulation,” said Robert A. Frist, Jr., president and chief executive officer, HealthStream. “We are delighted to have Belmont join our global network of leading educators offering best-in-class simulation content to the industry.”
Massey Graduate School of Business Recognized by U.S. News
School Named to List of 2012 Top Part-Time M.B.A. Programs
Belmont University’s Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business offers one of the top part-time M.B.A. programs in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report in its 2012 edition of “Best Graduate Schools.” U.S. News Media Group recently released the news in its latest list of nationally-ranked programs.
Belmont University’s Massey Graduate School of Business was recognized in the list of top part-time MBA programs in a broad-based tie for No. 138 in a ranked grouping that included schools such as Duquesne University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, St. John’s University and the University of Tulsa. This marks the first time that Belmont’s part-time MBA program has been ranked in this publication.
“This latest accolade offers even more evidence that we have joined the ranks of elite graduate business programs in the U.S.,” said Dean J. Patrick Raines.
The 2012 Best Graduate Schools includes essential detailed statistical information on all 437 MBA programs accredited by AACSB International. In addition to featuring new rankings for business programs, the publication also ranked over 1,200 graduate schools nationwide including law, education, engineering and medicine.
