Dr. Kevin Robinson and Dr. Christi Williams, faculty in the School of Physical Therapy, presented a continuing education course for physical therapists throughout the state at the Tennessee Physical Therapy Association’s (TPTA) Spring Meeting. The TPTA meeting was held at the Millennium Maxwell House in Nashville this past weekend. The course taught by Robinson and Williams was entitled, “Are You Over or Underestimating Your Patient’s Strengths? New Technology for Today’s PT’s.”
Mathematics Students, Faculty Present At Mathematical Association of America Southeastern Meeting
Students and faculty members of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department presented at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Southeastern Section’s annual meeting at Lee University March 7-9.
Belmont’s Math Jeopardy Team was composed of mathematics and computer science students Caroline Conner, Christopher Guardo, Davis Deaton and Jordan Hoffman. The team won the first preliminary round and the wild card spot from the second preliminary round, winning second place overall in the Jeopardy tournament.
Hoffman presented “Predicting Lung Cancer Death Rates by Country through Demographic Variables,” a presentation based on work conducted in Dr. Danny Biles’ class.
Biles and psychology major and statistics minor Mira Grcevich presented a poster titled “Statistical Models for Predicting Single-Game Win-Expectation for NHL Teams.”
Deaton received the Patterson prize for undergraduate research presentation in his section for his presentation “Unstacking Tortoise Shells with Math: Factoring Multivariate Polynomials in the Tropical Semiring.” The presentation was based on research conducted with Jordan Sawdy, co-author and mathematics student and Dr. Brad Schleben.
Mathematics faculty members Drs. Danny Biles, Sarah Ann Fleming, Ryan Fox, Robin Lovgren, Mike Pinter and Catherine Starnes also attended the conference.
Fleming organized and presented in the “Graduate Student Career Development Workshop,” Fox presented “Pedagogical Pitfalls and Promises of a QLR Project,” Lovgren presented “Steps in Teaching Students to use Excel for Solving Quantitative Problems,” Pinter presented “Using Historical Timeline Exercises in a Mathematics Course” and Starnes presented “Activity Based Learning for Statistics.”
Student’s Short Film Wins at IMDb Independent Short Awards
Senior motion pictures major Madison Bishop is already experiencing success in the entertainment world. Having recently completed her senior capstone film, a requirement for all motion pictures (MOT) majors, Bishop decided to enter her film into festivals and contests to see how it could do. She recently found out her film won three awards at IMDb’s Independent Shorts Awards for March 2019.
Bishop’s senior capstone short film was based on her personal experiences going to a high school with strict dress codes. The film, titled “In God’s Image,” relates to those experiences and focuses on one girl’s experience at a strict academy. The main character struggles with the sexism she finds in dress codes and works with her peers to take a stand.
The road to creating the final product of “In God’s Image” began over a year ago. Throughout much of her motion pictures curriculum, Bishop worked on gaining the skills to make her film and then eventually focused on bringing it to life. Through the courses Production 1 and 2 and Senior Capstone, students write and produce their films, starting at 5-7 minutes and then eventually finishing at 10-15 minutes.
Thinking about creating the film and the work that went into it, Bishop reminded herself that before coming to Belmont she had no idea the amount of work that actually went in to creating a film. “Many people, including myself before college, don’t seem to understand the amount of time and work that goes into filming a story, no matter how short,” Bishop said. “Production 1 and 2 offered a great insight into the film making process so that by Capstone I had a much clearer idea of how to write a compelling story and manage a crew of peers on and off set.”
One of the best parts of creating her senior capstone film, for Bishop, was the people who helped make it happen. “In God’s Image” came together with a team of 19 Belmont motion pictures students working together. “We all worked outside of class to plan our shoot, find actors, track down locations and take four of our weekends to film the short,” Bishop said. “This film would still be a script without their help.”
Bishop’s short film won three separate awards at the IMDb Independent Short Awards. It won Gold in both the Best Student Short and Best Women Short categories and also won Bronze in Best Cinematography.
“I think Best Student Film is exciting, but I’m even more excited that my capstone beat out actual short films by seasoned professionals in multiple categories,” Bishop said about her excitement at her wins. “We’ve advanced onto their yearly competition, and we’re looking forward to seeing what happens!”
Teaching Center Celebrates 25 Years
Established in 1994, the Belmont University Teaching Center has been working hard to provide services faculty for 25 years. Aimed at supporting faculty in their learning about the art of teaching, the Center has resources and opportunities for continuing professional development.
The beginning of the Teaching Center starts with the late Dr. Mike Awalt, professor of philosophy, who led the discussions and planning surrounding its origin. After two years of conversations, Belmont received a grant for funds to officially start the Teaching Center, and Awalt was named its founding director. The goal at its founding was for the center to encourage and support faculty on Belmont’s campus in their efforts towards continuing work on the art and craft of teaching. This goal is something the Center has continued to work towards for the last 25 years.
Having gone through several location changes as the University grows, the Teaching Center has also gone through internal changes that have helped it adapt to the ever growing campus.
As Belmont has grown significantly in population in the last 25 years, the Center has also adapted to serve more faculty, and in new programs.
As new majors and schools were introduced, the Teaching Center has worked to adapt to serve all faculty at Belmont. The center now serves more than 400 full-time faculty members, in addition to serving adjunct professors and other academic support staff. An assistant director position was added, and the role of director was changed to have more of a permanent status.
Among the Teaching Center’s purposes is support of full-time faculty members during their first year at Belmont. The center assists with the development and implementation of an August orientation for them and continues support with seminars throughout their first year. In addition to support for first-year full-time faculty, the Teaching Center organizes workshops and further professional development opportunities for all faculty members, often including notable guest facilitators. Other resources provided for faculty include grants to participate in conferences related to teaching, lunch discussion groups, reading groups and individual teaching consultations.
Through its 25 years the Teaching Center has had six directors, most serving in the role for three years. Current director, Dr. Mike Pinter, professor of mathematics, has been involved with the center since its early days.
“I was immediately drawn to what was offered and the ongoing conversation about teaching and learning that the Teaching Center engendered,” said Pinter. “After serving as an associate dean, I realized that I enjoyed working directly with faculty members in addition to teaching my students. When the opportunity to serve as Teaching Center director came my way in 2003, the timing was good for me to work directly with faculty in that role.”
Returning as director in 2012, Pinter has been able to develop the Teaching Center and work towards carrying on current programs as well as look for more opportunities in the future to help faculty develop teaching and learning ideas. An important ongoing goal of the Center is “attending carefully and intentionally to inclusion and diversity” in their efforts for faculty and also the students they serve.
Looking back at his involvement with the Teaching Center, Pinter feels the center has impacted him as an educator and helped him focus on his own teaching.
“In my early career, the Teaching Center was instrumental in expanding my perspective on and understanding of teaching,” Pinter said. “Through Teaching Center activities, I gained a strong community of fellow teachers who were committed to constant improvement in their work with students.”
From its earlier days to its current ones 25 years later, the Teaching Center is committed to making Belmont a better place, for both faculty and the students they teach. Pinter is honored to be a part of the Teaching Center and how it has given him “the privilege to see the incredible commitment to innovative teaching demonstrated on a regular basis by faculty from across campus.”
Belmont Law Team Takes First Place in National Health Law Competition
On March 29, Belmont Law sent two teams to Chicago to compete in the L. Edward Bryant, Jr. National Health Law Transactional Moot Court Competition. Belmont Law’s team of Hailey Janeway, Matt Byron and Clay Brewer placed 1st in the nation, defeating Houston in the final demonstration round. The team of Brandon Huber, Abigail Kunz and Dominic Rota also did well and were ranked fourth overall in the national competition.
“I am so proud of our teams. It is such an honor to get to work with these students who have put in so much hard work and have shown such dedication to this competition. I have been amazed and impressed at their mastery of this very complex area of law,” said Professor & Director of Health Law Studies Deborah Farringer, who coached Belmont Law’s teams.
The national championship team ranked above 20 other teams in the tournament, including teams from the University of Tennessee College of Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law and the Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern.
Belmont Law offers a Health Law Certificate.
Phi Alpha Theta Tennessee Regional Conference Held at Belmont
On March 30, Belmont’s Xi-Alpha Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honor Society, hosted the annual Tennessee Regional Conference. Dr. Cynthia Bisson, faculty advisor to the Xi-Alpha Chapter and conference program coordinator, reported that the conference attracted more than 100 participants from 14 universities. The highlight of the conference was the luncheon keynote address “The Problem with American Freedom: Episodes in Federal Power and White Democracy” given by Dr. Jefferson Cowie, the James G. Stahlman Professor of History at Vanderbilt University.
Five Belmont Xi Alpha members–Caroline Snellman, Liam McDermott, Alyssa Pennington, Angelika Aldredge, and Sarah Bossung–presented papers at the day-long conference. Caroline Snellman won second place in the paper competition for American History. Belmont History Department faculty–Peter Kuryla, Douglas Bisson, Brenda Jackson-Abernathy, Debi Back, Dan Schafer, and Joseph Byrne–also served as panel chairs and commentators for the conference.
Tarr Presents Audio Software in London
Dr. Eric Tarr, associate professor of audio engineering technology, recently gave two invited presentations in London, England. First, he presented a two-day workshop on audio software development at the University of West London for their Audio Programmers Society on March 16-17. Second, he gave a presentation on acoustics and digital signal processing at Queen Mary University of London for the UK Audio Engineering Society on March 18t.
Smith Whitehouse Publishes ‘Afoot and Lighthearted’
Honors Program Director and Professor of English Dr. Bonnie Smith Whitehouse recently published a book, “Afoot and Lighthearted: A Journal for Mindful Walking,” which launched at a book release celebration held at Nashville’s Parnassus Books last month.
The book is an interactive journal that teaches readers how to harness the power of walking to cultivate and nourish attention, inspiration and determination, as well as combat distraction, anxiety and the dreaded creative block.
Smith Whitehouse, who has taught for 22 years, designed an English course seven years ago called “The Adventures of Writers Who Walk.” The course, a BELL Core Interdisciplinary Learning Community course paired with Dr. Holly Huddleston’s Health & Fitness Concepts, was the inspiration for writing the book, said Smith Whitehouse.
“As I taught millennials over the years and studied the links between writing, walking and wellness, I saw a true need for a book like ‘Afoot and Lighthearted’—a book that showed millennials and others how and why using their bodies in nature could spark creativity,” said Smith Whitehouse.
“Additionally, I saw a need to curate and gather voices and wisdom about the connections between walking and creativity in one place. So, in many ways, I have been working on this book on and off, since I began teaching that course seven years ago. “
Published by New York City-based Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, “Afoot and Lighthearted” is organized around thematic prompts designed to help makers take a break from digital life and tap into the transformational magic of creative journaling. The book also introduces innovative walkers throughout literature, art, philosophy, and history, and offers encouragement in the form of inspirational quotes.
More information can be found here: www.bonniesmithwhitehouse.com
Volman Awarded Gold Record for Advocating for Copyright Law
On April 2, the faculty and staff of Belmont’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business were present for a ceremony honoring one of its own, Mark Volman, assistant professor of entertainment studies. Volman was awarded a gold record by the Recording Industry Association of America highlighting his landmark lawsuit on behalf of his band The Turtles and other legendary recording artists against digital music companies.
Volman’s lawsuit helped spawn the CLASSICS Act or Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society Act, which was eventually incorporated into the Music Modernization Act. Volman argued in his lawsuit that digital royalty payments should be paid for pre-1972 recordings.
The Music Modernization Act, with the CLASSICS Act encoded as Title II within it, was signed into law last October, finally providing federal copyright protection for sound recordings made prior to 1972.
Belmont Announces Sustainability Celebration Schedule of Events
Belmont University will celebrate Earth Day with its second annual Sustainability Celebration April 11-25. Hosted by the University’s Sustainability Committee, this year’s events will provide an opportunity for the Belmont community to engage with the Conservation Covenant, the University’s commitment to honor God’s creation.
Launched in 2015, the Conservation Covenant is a charge for the University to honor the environment by preserving it for generations to come. This year’s Sustainability Week will include many events intentionally created to engage the campus community in dialogue surrounding creation.
This year’s events include:
- A engaging lecture by Dan Riskin, host of Animal Planet’s “Monsters Inside Me,” who will present “What the Maggot in my Scalp Taught Me about the Process of Science” on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Janet Ayers Academic Center Room 2094. Riskin’s talk is the keynote for the annual Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium (BURS).
- An Arbor Day Tree Planting Celebration and Campus Tree/Bird Walk on Wednesday, April 12 at 10 a.m. featuring Belmont VP of Finance & Operations Steve Lasley who will give a brief description of the chosen tree of showcase, the Ginko Tree (Ginkgo biloba)
- A Creek Clean-up on Saturday, April 13 hosted by Belmont’s student-run Eco Club
- A Plastic Bag Drive on Monday, April 15 sponsored by the Office of Residence Life
- The Belmont in Bloom presentation featuring Judy Fisher who will share Belmont’s dedication to Adelicia Acklen’s love for gardens, nature and conservancy on Monday, April 15 at 10 a.m. in the Massey Center Board Room 103
- A Sustainability Fair & Clothing Drive sponsored by SGA & the Biology Department featuring a variety of vendors and booths to learn more about community sustainability initiatives on Tuesday, April 16 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on the South Lawn
- “Engineering Modern Solutions for the Environment” — a convocation featuring the Belmont Architecture and Robotics Club (BEAR)’s unveiling of a motion-activated bird feeder to be placed on the Biology/Environmental Science green roof on Wednesday, April 17 at 10 a.m. in the Janet Ayers Academic Center Room 3081
- “Earth Day Chapel” – a celebration Chapel featuring Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher on Monday, April 22 at 10 a.m.
Additional events occurring both on campus and in the Nashville community can be found on Belmont’s Sustainability website.
