Dr. Andrea Stover and Dr. John Paine, both professors of English, presented and discussed Kamo no Chomei’s Hokoji (A Ten-Foot-Square Hut), an early medieval Japanese text, at a plenary session of the Japan Studies Association in Honolulu, Hawaii in January. Stover is board member for the Japan Studies Association, and Paine edits the Japan Studies Association Journal, an interdisciplinary scholarly journal devoted to Japan Studies.
Mathematics major and Honors student Annie Brunelle (‘15) passed the Actuarial Exam P/1 on Jan. 10. This is the first of a series of nine exams which are required for full status as an actuary. Exam P/1 has only a 30 to 40 percent pass rate. Actuaries work in the insurance and financial sectors and specialize in analyzing the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Annie serves as vice president of the Belmont Actuarial Students Society.
On Jan. 4, Dr. Ronnie Littlejohn, professor of philosophy, director of Asian Studies and the 2013-14 Virginia M. Chaney Professor, gave one of two keynote addresses at the International Conference on Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in Honolulu, Hawaii. His talk was entitled “How Confucian Ethics Differs from Western Morality and Why it is Important.” There were over 350 presenters at the conference at the four day conference from colleges and universities from Europe to Asia and the United States.
Littlejohn is author of four books, including Confucianism: An Introduction (2011) and Daoism: An Introduction (2010) in the I.B. Tauris Academic Studies Series. He is co-editor of two books including Riding the Wind with Liezi: New Essays on a Daoist Classic (SUNY Press, 2011) and Polishing the Chinese Mirror (Association of Chinese Philosophers of America, 2008), as well as over 60 articles.
He recently edited a new work entitled Chinese Receptions of Western Philosophy, a collection of nine essays written by Chinese scholars on the introduction of Western philosophy in China and the great Chinese thinkers who adapted it. He has a contract to write a new Introduction to Chinese Philosophy and a Reader on Chinese Philosophy containing new and revised translations of some of the most important texts in Chinese intellectual history for London based, I.B. Tauris.
University Photographer Andrea Hallgren’s photography is now displayed as a permanent art exhibit in the Barbara and Doyle Rogers Lobby located off the 15th Avenue entrance of the Randall and Sadie Baskin Center. Hallgren traveled to courthouse locations across the state to capture the black and white images of the structures.
“It was an honor and a pleasure to capture some of the state’s most famed legal buildings, and I hope the photo installation will help people further appreciate the state’s unique history,” Hallgren said.
The goal was to combine a gallery that features both art and education for Belmont law students and visitors to the building. The images reflect Tennessee courthouses whose location or hosted trials played a significant role in law education including the Shelby County Courthouse where James Earl Ray appeared before Judge W. Preston Battle of the Criminal Court of Shelby County and pleaded guilty to the first degree murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Belmont University’s Executive Learning Network, in joint partnership with Parnassus Books, will host bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell as the keynote speaker during its Leadership Breakfast on Feb. 21 in the Curb Event Center Arena. The Nashville Chamber of Commerce is a supporting sponsor of Gladwell’s appearance.
Gladwell is the author of five New York Times bestsellers including his latest, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants and a staff writer for The New Yorker. He has been named one of the 100 most influential people by TIME magazine and one of the Foreign Policy’s Top Global Thinkers. He explored how ideas spread in the Tipping Point, decision making in Blink, and the roots of success in Outliers. With his latest book, David and Goliath, he examines our understanding of the advantages of disadvantages, arguing that we have underestimated the value of adversity and over-estimated the value of privilege.
“As the Center for Executive Education’s Leadership Breakfast series continues to offer valuable professional development opportunities, we are glad to have such a renowned journalist and author share his insight on social sciences and translate his findings into applicable principles for Nashville business leaders,” said Center of Executive Education Director of Executive Learning and Marketing Jill Robinson.
The Spring Leadership Breakfast is open to the general public for $45 per ticket, which covers breakfast, entrance to the program and a complimentary copy of Gladwell’s book David and Goliath. Attendees may register online here. Parnassus Books will also have copies of Gladwell’s other titles available for purchase at the event.
Event Schedule
6:30 a.m. Registration & Networking
7:30 a.m. Keynote Address: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
9 a.m. Book signing
About the Center for Executive Education
The Center for Executive Education at Belmont University has been a premier provider of leadership education for more than 25 years, existing to provide world-class learning to meet the needs of the Nashville community and beyond. The Center provides a full range of executive learning opportunities including its Executive Learning Networks, Executive Leadership Experience, certificate programs and customized solutions. ELN membership consists of senior leaders from over 50 Middle Tennessee companies who seek to learn from one another and national leaders through ongoing networking, speakers’ series and small group discussions.
About Parnassus Books
Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore for independent people, is located in Nashville, Tenn. Co-owned by bestselling author Ann Patchett and publishing veteran Karen Hayes, Parnassus stocks the best selections of literature, non-fiction, children’s, local interests, and the arts. With over 250 author events a year, Parnassus continues to help grow Nashville’s literary community.
Belmont senior Nicole Brandt continues her work with Poverty & the Arts by hosting showcasing art work created by homeless men and women in the Leu Foyer Gallery from Jan. 11 through 24. She founded the nonprofit organization while working a campus job in the Center of Service Learning to aid Nashville’s homeless through performing and fine arts. The organization organizes music, visual art and creative writing events with Nashville college students and homeless and plans to host a larger showcase after the organization’s Spring Community Art Day.
Belmont entrepreneurship major Gabrielle Gottfried was named Fundraiser and Supporter of the Year 2013 by Arquetopia, a nonprofit foundation promoting development, social transformation and productivity through artistic, cultural and educational programs.
Last summer Gottfried organized “Music for Murals,” a live music event with cultural activities that raised money for art project initiatives in underprivileged neighborhoods in Mexico. The event raised over a $1,000 for Arquetopia. The organization awarded Gottfried a Short-Term Research Residency in southern Mexico for 2014.
“The reason I chose Belmont was because of its focus on service and volunteering,” Gottfried said.
Gottfried recently started a volunteer position with the Nashville Book’Em group, a reading buddies program for students in Nashville elementary schools as an effort to raise the literacy rate.
The School of Music honored alumnus Danny Wells (’83) with the Curtain Call Award on Thursday evening. During the ceremony, Wells performed a few selections from his significant songwriting catalog. The Curtain Call Award is presented annually to a School of Music alumnus in honor of achievement in the field of commercial and popular music.
“Wells was chosen because of his outstanding achievement in songwriting. Some of his number one hits include George Strait’s ‘Check Yes or No,’ Rascal Flatts’ ‘These Days’ and Craig Morgan’s ‘Little Bit of Life.’ He is a member of BMI’s ultra-exclusive Million-Air Club and has written songs for a long list of artists,” Belmont School of Music Assistant Professor Sandra Dudley said.
Belmont nursing student Patrick Haltom was recently honored as Student Nurse of the Year at the fourth annual March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Awards held Dec. 10 at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs. This event recognized nurses who embody leadership, compassion and excellence in patient care across several nursing specialties.
“These nurses are very deserving of this honor, and we are pleased to play a role in saluting these patient champions for the care they provide daily,” said Susan Peach, chief executive officer of Highpoint Health System and chairwoman of the Nurse of the Year Event.
Haltom was one of 16 Middle Tennessee nurses to receive top honors at the March of Dimes event. More than 5,000 nurses were nominated nationwide including 160 in the Middle Tennessee area, including Belmont senior Kelsey Maguire. Winners were determined by a selection committee that included health care professionals.
“I am honored to be selected for this award. The March of Dimes is an organization that I greatly value because of my own personal experiences as a premature infant. I feel blessed to have so much support from the Belmont community, the Nashville community and from my friends and family at home, all of whom have taught me the traits and abilities I need in order to provide the best care for my patients,” Haltom said.
This year’s event was presented by Sumner Regional Medical Center. Dr. Cathy Taylor, dean of Belmont’s College of Health Sciences and Nursing, served as the honorary chairwoman. Other sponsors included Curb Records, Healthcare REIT, Amerigroup and Belmont University College of Health Sciences and Nursing.
Belmont University student-athletes earned a record high fall departmental grade point average (GPA) since the start of the program’s NCAA Division I era. The 2013 fall semester GPA, 3.376, marks the 32nd consecutive semester that Belmont student-athletes have earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher since the spring of 1998.
“It is so impressive to see our student-athletes continue to succeed on a high level in the classroom,” said Director of Athletics Mike Strickland. “That success is credited to our student-athletes, coaches and academic support areas who continue to maintain their commitment to academic excellence.”
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