Christi Williams, associate professor in the School of Physical Therapy, and Amanda Stephens, physical therapist and 2020 alumna of the Belmont Doctorate of Physical Therapy program, created a special event for physical therapy students filled with puppy cuddles and kisses.
Four future service dogs and their volunteer handlers met with the physical therapy students to provide some much-needed pet therapy while also providing the puppies with the necessary exposure to people, new places and adaptive equipment.
The volunteers participate in a puppy raising program through Retrieving Independence, a local organization dedicated to training and placing service dogs with people to assist them. The puppies start training at a young age with their volunteer handlers as well as through a local prison training program before being placed with someone who has a disability who can benefit from the assistance of a canine companion.
To learn more about Retrieving Independence, and how to support this organization, visit their website: https://riservicedogs.org/
This semester is off to a great start for three sophomores in the O’More College of Design. Architecture students Honor Thomas and Ryan Plowman recently placed first in the Planning and Visual Education (PAVE) Design Competition, and architecture major Vira Williams was awarded the Kevin Roche Recognition Scholarship, one of the newest scholarships offered by PAVE.
The PAVE Design Challenge asked the students to come up with a solution to resume tourism to Nashville in the wake of the pandemic that would create a long-lasting experience for visitors. The students had only six to eight hours to come up with the perfect design. Thomas and Plowman worked with a team of 10-12 industry professionals who assisted them in creating the perfect experience.
“After about 5 hours of thinking and designing with the team, we created an experiential tour bus where tourists could walk in hooked up to a brain stimulation device that projects your feelings/memories on screens in the bus,” said Thomas. “We drew sketches of both the site and the kiosks’ designs.”
And their hard work paid off. Thomas and Plowman’s team placed first in the challenge resulting in $1,000 prize.
“The principles of design and the design process we’ve learned in our studio courses were the primary keys to our success,” said Plowman. “After a similar time crunch assignment the week before, the understanding of the need to work quickly was fresh on our minds and helped us feel prepared to jump into a condensed version of the whole process.”
Thomas and Plowman weren’t the only ones who won big. Sophomore architecture major Vira Williams won the Kevin Roche Recognition Scholarship. The Kevin Roche Recognition Scholarship, awarded on December 8, awards a $2,000 cash prize as well as one-on-one mentorship with founder of Roche Design Strategy Kevin Roche. To receive the scholarship, Williams answered several questions regarding her passion for design and submitted letters of recommendation.
“I was drawn in by the humanity, passion and intellect of Vira’s submission. I began to read her response to the three questions and could not look away,” said Roche. “Her willingness to tell her personal story so openly and seamlessly woven into her passion as a student of architecture and design shows real conviction and strength. Storytelling is a big part of what we do, both visually and verbally, and when it’s honest and full of original thought, it is believable and captivating!”
Former Belmont Songwriting Consultant Tom Douglas recently announced the release of a Paramount+ film “Love, Tom” along with the accompanying album “Inspired By the motion Picture Love, Tom.” The film goes through Douglas’s creative process and hardships experienced during his career as a songwriter.
“I received a letter from a desperate young songwriter asking for advice. I did what any good songwriter does: I wrote him back… ‘Dear friend, you ask me why am I here? We all got here the same way, I suppose —we followed the song… We have a gift and with it comes an immense responsibility. Mine is really a story of failure. I wanted to give up, but I can’t give up on something that I love. You can’t either,” Douglass told Vanity Fair.
Both the film and the album will premiere on February 24. Read more about Douglass’ recent project on MusicRow.com and Vanity Fair.
Class of 1998 alumnus Mark T. Williams’s company Ah2 recently began a new partnership with BMG Production Music. Ah2 provides custom music scoring services for film, television and other media. The company also licenses music to productions from the Filtered Music Catalog, which they build with a creative team.
“We were seeking a partner to provide global administration and exploitation services for our publishing company, as well as a home that could offer our custom music services globally,” said Williams. “BMG provided us with all of these services in one place and they fully support our vision for the future!”
Williams began Ah2 in 2003 with business partner and Nashville friend, Jeff Lippencott. The duo got their start by using old connections from Williams’ previous Los Angeles based employer Machine Head, an advertising focused music and sound design company. “Through my relationship with Machine Head, an opportunity arose to compose the main title theme music for a summer surfing series on The WB network,” said Williams. “Soon thereafter, we found ourselves busy creating the music scores for many other hit television series.”
Since starting the company, Williams and Lippencott worked with many directors and producers to help their visions come to life. Most notably, the duo worked with Steven Spielberg to help come up with a theme song for Spielberg’s show “On the Lot.”
“Steven Spielberg requested that we meet him at his Amblin office on the Universal lot. Jeff had come up with a great opening theme fanfare that felt like an old Hollywood golden age cinematic theme, eventually leading us to score the entire series” said Williams. “That theme ended up with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Main Title Theme for a Primetime Series.”
The road to success proved to be no easy feat for Ah2. Williams implores all future entrepreneurs to handle their failures with grace. “Do not lose heart when things don’t go as planned,” he said. “Stay calm, stay focused and remember to enjoy the journey, which is something I have to be reminded of myself.”
“I am very grateful and humbled by the opportunities I have been given and so thankful for the people I met at Belmont and throughout my life. The Belmont and Nashville community helped me better understand where to focus my God-given abilities,” said Williams.
To find out more about Ah2 and the partnership with BMG, visit the Ah2 Filtered Music website here.
School of Music faculty members Carolyn Totaro and Mark Volker have been selected to perform at the National Flute Association’s 50th Anniversary Convention in Chicago this summer. Totaro will perform Volker’s composition Deep Winter for flute and interactive electronics. They were selected by the prestigious board of professional flutists from more than 1,000 proposals submitted for the conference.
The Jack C. Massey College of Business recently began a partnership with the Nashville Public Library (NPL) to help with their new business initiative “NPL Means Business.” NPL Means Business aims to assist local aspiring entrepreneurs become successful as well as connect with teens in the Business Academy at Hillsboro High School. Belmont faculty will help achieve this goal by leading and co-leading five different events with the NPL staff.
Belmont Entrepreneurship Instructor Matthew Wilson commented, “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with NPL on this innovative project. Nashville is home to so many creative people with great business ideas, and the Massey College of Business is honored to be of service to our community members. We look forward to working with Nashville’s aspiring entrepreneurs to bring their dreams to life.”
On February 3 at 4 p.m., NPL Means Business will host a virtual lecture titled “An Introduction to the Entrepreneurial Mindset” led by Matthew Wilson. Beginning February 10 at 4 p.m., a 4-week workshop series entitled “The Entrepreneurial Mindset Workshop Series” begins, which will cover the online course “The Ice House Entrepreneurship Program,” available through thelibrary website. The series will take place every Thursday at 4 p.m. from February 10 through March 3.
All events will be listed on the library’s event calendar and interested participants can sign up by calling the Green Hills Branch at 615-862-5863 or registering online throughhttps://bit.ly/NPLMindset.
The Go-Go’s got it. Beyonce brought it in. And BOLD has it for its student leaders. Every semester, the Belmont Office of Leadership Development offers several programs and training to develop Belmont student leaders. One of the programs offered is the Belmont Ethics and Accountability Training (The BEAT), an online, self-paced leadership development training in which students study current ethical issues and identify their morals and values.
The BEAT includes nine 2-minute videos and case studies around the topics of ethics and accountability. Students post and respond to challenging questions in a discussion format with their peers. Upon completion of this training, students are given credit in the Believing-Emergent Leader level of BOLD, bringing them one step closer to earning their co-curricular certificate in leadership.
One student stated, “I think my most important takeaway from this experience is recognizing how important it is that we live by our convictions. I feel like it says so much about a person if they are able to stick to their core values and beliefs, even if no one else around them is doing so. It makes that person that much more respected and trustworthy and therefore makes them a significantly better leader.”
“My most important takeaway from BEAT was to keep following my beliefs and ethical values because if I use those thoughts and values to guide me, I know I can be the best leader I can be,” another student added.
In 2021, BOLD had a record 201 student leaders participating in the BEAT. With 98.9 percent of students agreeing that the BEAT was beneficial for them, BOLD hopes to increase engagement in The BEAT in 2022.
Spring registration for The BEAT is now open here. Please email bold@belmont.edu with any questions about registering or completing the training.
The Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University is now hiring clinical adjunct faculty and is seeking those passionate about medical student teaching, role-modeling and whole-person care. The College seeks to develop physicians of character, purpose and wisdom with a transformational mindset.
Clinical adjunct faculty should be eager to collaborate, professional in communication and team-based interactions, a champion for students and willing to learn and employ newer teaching modalities.
Along with basic science foundation and clinical experiences, curriculum will feature innovation, collaboration with other health professionals, community engagement, consideration of faith and ethics in medicine and examination of social determinants of health. The College’s whole-person approach to healthcare informs all aspects including education, clinical experience and College leadership.
In addition to hiring adjunct faculty, the Frist College of Medicine has launched its website, www.belmont.edu/medicine. The new site shares information about the College’s history, accreditation process, current faculty and staff, curriculum and open positions.
Belmont is establishing the Frist College of Medicine in alliance with HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services with 187 hospitals across the country and in the United Kingdom. This partnership is built on a strong history between Belmont and HCA, whose Nashville-based TriStar Health will provide residencies and clinical rotations for students in the College of Medicine.
Belmont in 2021 broke ground on the 160,000 square foot facility that will later house the new Frist College of Medicine. The site sits one block from the Gordon E. Inman Center and McWhorter Hall and will add to the campus’ health care corridor. The facility is designed to create a fully interdisciplinary educational experience, allowing students in Belmont’s existing health science programs to interact with aspiring MDs and work together, just as they would within the healthcare delivery system.
Professor of Entrepreneurship Jeff Cornwall was recently featured in a Q&A style article for MoneyGeek.com. The article entitled “Funding Your Startup” focused on different crowdfunding sources and everything else needed for small businesses owners. Cornwall served as an expert commenter and answered several questions regarding how entrepreneurs can fund their startup and differentiate themselves.
The Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business started the spring semester off strong with three conversational events with industry professionals. All of the events focused on exposing students to different career opportunities in the music industry and highlighting alumni success.
Nick Weir – Tour and Production, Andria Goodrow – VIP Coordinator, and Zito – Production Manager speak to students
The first event, “A Conversation with Belmont Alumna Kayla Becker,” featured former mass communications major and class of 2013 alumna Kayla Becker. During her time as a Bruin, she created her own, original online content to highlight Belmont teachers, staff and athletes before expanding to highlight Nashville talent and small businesses. Once Becker graduated, WESH 2 News, a local TV station in Orlando, hired her to launch and host a local entertainment show, “Orlando My Way.” During her run on the show, Becker highlighted local restaurants and tourism hot-spots, hidden gems and Central Florida night-life.
From there, Becker accepted a position at WWE. Initially she was hired as a ring announcer and backstage interviewer for the developmental brand “NXT,” but in recent years has been elevated to a backstage correspondent for Friday Night Smackdown on FOX, the host for Pay-Per-View kickoff shows and the company’s morning show, “WWE’s The Bump.”
The second event, “Life on the Road,” featured Zito, Andria Goodrow and Nick Weir. All of the guests hold touring positions with acts such as: Ariana Grande, Sia, Green Day, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Motley Crue, Lauren Daigle and many more. The guests discussed life on the road and what it takes to work in touring.
Alumnus Cameron Bedell (left) with Coordinator of Student Enrichment Alex Quattlebaum
The final event, “In The Q with Belmont Alum Cameron Bedell,” was a Q&A style event with Country/Soul and R&B singer/songwriter and producer, Belmont alumnus Cameron Bedell. Bedell has written and produced for numerous acts such as Hunter Hayes, Tiera, Dylan Scott, Seaforth, Lauren Alaina, Jimmie Allen and many more. Bedell currently writes for Liz Rose and Warner Chappell. At the event, Bedell discussed his career thus far and gave advice to future music industry professionals.
The Curb College already started the spring semester off on a great note and has much more in store. To see all upcoming Curb events, visit their Bruin Link page.
