Dr. Robbie Pinter, professor of English, was the guest speaker at the Nashville Women’s Book Association in November. She spoke on “The Balancing Act: Writing, Teaching and Community.”
Murray Receives Grant for The Way We Ate
Dr. Douglas Murray, professor of English, received a grant from the Belmont Center for Social Entrepreneuriship and Service-Learning to cover the cost of publishing The Way We Ate, a compilation of food reminiscences of residents of two local residences for senior citizens: the I.W. Gernert Homes and Morningside at Belmont. These food oral histories were compiled by students in two sections of Belmont’s First-Year Seminar.
Alexander Presents at Writing and Literary Arts Conference
Dr. Danielle Alexander, assistant professor of English, recently presented a fiction reading at &Now: A Conference of Innovative Writing and Literary Arts in Buffalo, New York. Her prose poem “Magic Carpet” was included in the limited-edition letterpress chapbook Transport (2009). She has also been named a contributing editor for the literary journal Marginalia, in which her short story “The Thorn-Apple” appears (vol. 4, 2009).
Senior Business Students Achieve Top Ranking on National Exam
Belmont’s College of Business Administration announced today that many of its graduating seniors scored at or above the top 10 percent level on the Major Field Test in Business, an exam produced by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) of Princeton, N.J. The ETS exam has been administered to almost 85,000 students at 564 undergraduate business programs and almost 16,000 MBA students at 199 graduate business schools across the U.S.
“Many of our students are now demonstrating that they can score very well when compared to their peers at other U.S. business schools” said Susan Taylor, associate dean of the School of Business Administration. “Their performance is a direct reflection of our focus on delivering a high-quality program and the individual attention our students receive from our highly-qualified faculty.”
Undergraduate students from the Fall 2009 cohort who scored in the Top 10 percent or higher nationally include: Sheridan Hare (Smithfield, VA); Christopher Heltzel (Cleveland, OH); James Jacques (Nashville, TN); Kevin Lane (Spartanburg, SC); Phillip Lester (St. Joseph, MI); Scott O’Brien (Brookings, SD); James Pierce (Spring Hill, TN); Bryn Rocke (Durban, South Africa); Andrew Roebuck (Franklin, TN); Ryan Schultz (San Antonio, TX); William Shipp (Brentwood, TN); Chris Small (Atlanta, GA); and Elizabeth Thames (Dalton, GA).
Elliott Has Songs Cut by NewSong
Assistant Professor of Music Business James Isaac Elliott has two songs, “God Hears” and “Beauty of Our God,” on the recently released NewSong album Give Yourself Away, which was produced by Charlie Peacock (distributed by EMI). Elliott also co-wrote “The Song Of Christmas” on the Newsong album The Christmas Hope.
Songwriting Faculty Receive Grammy Nominations
Songwriting faculty member Tom Douglas recently received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Song for “I Run to You,” which was co-written with the group Lady Antebellum. The song was recently awarded the Country Music Association “Single of the Year.”
In addition, faculty member Drew Ramsey had a hand in multiple projects nominated for Grammys: Best Gospel Performance “I Believe” Jonny Lang With Fisk Jubilee Singers (Ramsey produced the song); Best Traditional Gospel Album “Oh Happy Day” Various Artists (includes the “I Believe” performance); Best R&B Album Testimony Vol. 2, Love & Politics by India.Arie (Ramsey wrote and produced two songs on the album).
Company Performs at Convention
Belmont University’s Company performed at the Opryland Hotel along with the Vanderbilt Color Guard for the opening of the national convention for the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Conference Dec.1. The groups performed “The Star Spangled Banner” with colors. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was the keynote speaker for the 6,000 participants registered to attend.
Vaughn Co-Produces, Directs Documentary
Cliff Vaughn, adjunct Instructor in media studies, co-produced and directed a documentary that will air on ABC in January (the local affiliate will air it on Jan. 10). “Different Books, Common Word: Baptists and Muslims,” produced by EthicsDaily.com, is an hour-long documentary that follows five stories of interfaith dialogue and action among Baptists and Muslims, two faith traditions often popularly characterized by their extremists. Click here for more information on the documentary.
Sisson, Gatrell Present Paper at National Conference
Dr. Annette Sisson and Linked Cohort course partner, theatre chair Paul Gatrell, recently presented a paper titled: “More Than Two Links: Creating a Purposeful Whole for Students through Experiential Learning” at the Association of General and Liberal Studies National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The topic for this year’s conference was “Building Bridges: Tools for Pedagogy, Assessment, and Leadership.”
Faculty Members Present at Lilly Conference
Belmont was well-represented at the 29th International Lilly Conference on College Teaching held Nov. 19-22 on the campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. A group of eight Belmont faculty members traveled to the conference, which is considered the premier U.S. conference on college teaching and learning.
Drs. Jeff Coker (assistant provost), Bonnie Smith (English) and Kristine LaLonde (honors) presented a session titled “The Art of Arguing With Ourselves: Reflecting on Institutions, Teaching and Leadership After Hosting a Presidential Debate.” The presentation reflected the somewhat unexpected ways hosting the 2008 presidential debate impacted curricula, personal values and actions, and even an understanding of evidence-based teaching and learning.
Drs. Pete Giordano (psychology) and Mike Pinter (mathematics) offered a session on “Ethics in Teaching: From Case Examples to Classroom Practice,” which included a variety of case scenarios dealing with pedagogical situations where ethical dilemmas are at play. Some of these cases addressed “nuts and bolts” components of teaching while others included complex teaching situations encountered in courses such as a first-year seminar class, when faculty may be expected to teach in ways that are outside their disciplinary or pedagogical areas of expertise.
Drs. Alison Moore (chemistry) and Darlene Panvini (biology) shared their experience with capstone courses in their presentation “Implementing College-Level General Education Senior Capstones Across the University.” Three basic course models were presented as case studies to exemplify a “one size does not fit all” approach to implementing a general education requirement for Senior Capstones. Goals of the capstone, rationale for having capstones designed and implemented at the college-level, general elements required in all courses and the process of development and approval for individual courses were considered.
Dr. Merrie King (Teaching Center Director) participated in a half-day pre-conference workshop on “Peak Performance Practices of Highly Effective and Happy Faculty.” This practical, interactive workshop was based on studies of faculty productivity, peak performance, work-life balance and work satisfaction. It distilled the work habits and practices of the most successful and engaged academics.
