Brian Howell, a senior majoring in computer science, presented “Application of Music Analysis Algorithms to Interactive Music Synthesis” with David Halpern of Columbia University and Dr. Robert Keller of Harvey Mudd College at The Improvising Brain Symposium at Georgia State University (GSU) in Atlanta on April 7 through 9. The Improvising Brain is a symposium and concert event that will bring together researchers and musicians to explore music, improvisation, and related brain processes. It is sponsored by the GSU School of Music, the GSU Neuroscience Institute and the Center for Collaborative and International Arts. The paper resulted from work done at a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Brian attended last summer on Intelligent Music Software at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif.
Computer Science Student Presents at Improvising Brain Symposium
Smith Presents Papers
Clancy Smith, instructor of philosophy, recently presented a paper entitled “Terrifying Vistas of Reality: Lovecraft’s Influence on Deleuze and Postmodernism” at the American Cultural Association’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. in March. The purpose of the conference was to draw from a wide range of philosophers and socio-political thinkers and demonstrate their ongoing influence in contemporary media and popular culture.
In addition, Smith presented “A Way Forward: A Re-examination of the Work of C.S. Peirce in a Culture of Paralysis” at the 2013 U.S. Literatures and Cultures Consortium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The purpose of the conference was to draw upon an interdisciplinary range of writers, novelists and philosophers to offer creative solutions to Congressional stagnation and propose a way forward.
Bisson, Committee Chairman for Cherry Blossom Festival
Dr. Cynthia Bisson, instructor of history, served as the Ginza Marketplace Committee Chairman for the Cherry Blossom Festival of Nashville, an annual festival which celebrates the wonderful relationship between the US and Japan. Bisson has acted as the Ginza Marketplace Committee Chair and a member of the Working Committee for the festival since 2010. The Ginza Marketplace is an area dedicated to vendors who sell Japan themed and Japanese products ranging from Kimono to origami jewelry. (image – cindy_bisson.jpg)
U.S. Army Mobile Operating Room Displayed at Belmont on April 18
On April 18, Belmont University School of Nursing will host the U.S. Army Second Medical Recruiting Battalion to display a mobile operating room used by Forward Surgical Teams (FST) in combat, complete within a Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter (DRASH). The day-long event will feature tours, continuing education opportunities and the chance to talk with Army nurses about their field experiences. Featured speakers include Brigadier General Margaret Wilmoth, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Belmont alumna and Army Capt. Melanie Bowman.
The DRASH will be set-up in the lobby of the Gordon E. Inman Center and tours will be provided at various times between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. In addition, a one-hour continuing education class on Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Staging will be offered at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. for students who wish to gain continuing education credit through Womack Army Medical Center. Individuals must pre-register for the class by emailing lisa.c.simunaci.civ@mail.mil or calling (256) 450-9624.
Forward Surgical Teams (FST) were designed to provide surgical capability far forward on the battlefield to stabilize and resuscitate soldiers with life and limb threatening injuries. A team typically includes about 20 staff members: four surgeons, three RNs, two certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), one administrative officer, one detachment sergeant, three licensed practical nurses (LPN)’s, three surgical techs and three medics. The FST can sustain surgery for 24 total operating table hours and has the ability to separate into two teams that function independently. A functional operating room can be established within one hour of being on scene and break down to move to a new location within two hours of ceasing operations. FSTs were deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
McEntire Work Hits the Press
Religion Professor Mark McEntire’s new book, Portraits of a Mature God: Choices in Old Testament Theology, was released this month. On April 3, the School of Religion sponsored a book launch convocation event with the title “The Story of a Book: My Life at Belmont and the Writing of Portraits of a Mature God.” On April 9, McEntire gave the Spring Lecture at Chapman Seminary in Oakland City, Ind. His lecture, “The God at the End of the Story: Oberserving the Development of the Divine Character in the Old Testament,” was a synthesis of the first and last chapters of the book.
Adjunct Instructor’s Film Wins Wilbur Award
Blue Like Jazz, a movie co-written and directed by Belmont Adjunct Instructor Steve Taylor, won a Wilbur Award for Feature Film at the 2013 Wilbur Award ceremonies April 6. Blue Like Jazz, released in 2012 by Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate Entertainment, joins last year’s winner The Help and previous Wilbur Award winners such as Schindler’s List, Dead Man Walking, Amazing Grace and The Green Mile.
Presented by the Religion Communicators Council (RCC), the Wilbur Awards honor excellence by individuals in media—print and online journalism, book publishing, broadcasting and motion pictures—in communicating religious issues, values and themes during 2012. Other winners at Saturday night’s ceremony included CBS-TV, CNN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp, The Christian Science Monitor, The Huffington Post and Simon & Schuster Inc.
Based on the New York Times Best Seller by Donald Miller and adapted for the screen by Miller, Taylor and Ben Pearson, Blue Like Jazz had its World Premiere in March, 2012 at the South-By-Southwest Film Festival and was released in theaters nationwide the following month. It’s since been released internationally and continues to garner worldwide acclaim, including being named one of Paste magazine’s Top Movies of 2012. It will premiere this summer on HBO Europe.
Taylor is currently teaching the class “Producing Film for the Entertainment Industry” in the entertainment industry studies program.
Social Entrepreneurship Student Recognized for Nonprofit Work
Senior social entrepreneurship major Andrew Bishop was recently recognized as the inaugural Entrepreneurship Student of the Year by Sigma Nu Tau, the national entrepreneurship academic honor society. Bishop won first in both the overall and social categories. Since the creation of the Sigma Nu Tau in 2012, over 10 universities nationwide have started chapters, and many more are in the process of chartering. Bishop won for his nonprofit, Philanthroteach, which he founded in his sophomore year at Belmont. The organization seeks to provide 21st century employability and lifestyle skills to unemployed and economically disadvantaged people and make them self-sustaining through the giving and support of the community.
Bishop was also recognized this month as a finalist in the Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards, which are presented annually by Hands on Nashville. The Mary Catherine Strobel award recognizes outstanding volunteer service in the middle Tennessee area. Bishop was nominated in the volunteer innovator category, again for his work with Philanthroteach. The Office of Service Learning and the Social Entrepreneurship Program nominated him for the award. He was the youngest finalist in the group by nearly 30 years.
Coaches Discuss How ‘Win At All Costs’ Mentality Can Compromise Integrity
Men’s basketball coaches from Division I private universities Belmont, Vanderbilt and Butler, along with ESPN college basketball analyst Jimmy Dykes, shared their perspectives on being truthful in athletics as the Edward C. Kennedy Center for Business Ethics and Belmont University Athletics hosted their first Integrity in Sports panel discussion Wednesday in the Maddox Grand Atrium.
NewsChannel 5 sports anchor Steve Layman moderated the discussion among the men he dubbed “caretakers of the game.” The panel debated the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics and maintaining integrity and honor amidst growing pressures to win. Participants also discussed how integrity spans recruiting, practice, scheduling, road travel, balance with academics, NCAA compliance, coaches’ personal conduct and student behavioral issues.
“Things aren’t going to change until the coaching heroes talk about doing things honestly and decently,” said Belmont University men’s basketball head coach Rick Byrd. “College athletics is supposed to be a part of the college educational experience, and coaches should be held just as accountable as the mathematics professor.”
Byrd added a university’s athletic integrity starts with its hiring of coaches.
Butler University men’s basketball head coach Brad Stevens said instead of simply sitting in the rows behind athletic teams in arenas, university presidents and athletic directors should not “waver in accountability in day to day” and be the “tone setters” to trickle down the way they want student athletes to be treated and to behave.
The coaches also discussed a “win at all costs mentality” that pushes some coaches into compromising to keep their positions and how social media and bloggers amplify wins and losses taking them beyond the court.
Diversity in Higher Ed Expert to Offer BURS Keynote on ‘Creating a Culture of Discovery’
Named by TIME magazine in 2012 as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, comes to Belmont next week as the keynote speaker for the 23rd annual Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium (BURS) April 17-19. Each year BURS provides undergraduates an opportunity to conduct independent research and present it to a community of peers.
During BURS more than 200 student presenters from 27 different fields across campus will offer glimpses of their research in sessions scheduled to be held Wednesday and Thursday. Click here for a listing of all sessions by department. BURS will conclude on Friday with a 10 a.m. convocation address in MPAC by Hrabowski on “Creating a Culture of Discovery: The Excitement & Benefits of Undergraduate Research.”
Belmont Math Professor Dr. Glenn Acree chairs this year’s BURS. He said, “Belmont has a rich tradition of engaging students in research as a vital and energizing element of the undergraduate experience. BURS provides our campus an opportunity to celebrate the efforts and abilities of these students, impassioned by disciplines that provide them with tools and the expertise to explore our humanity and the world around us. I am delighted to have Dr. Freeman Hrabowski as this year’s keynote speaker as he challenges our community to ‘… explore the benefits and excitement of undergraduate research.’ I hope that our entire university will take this opportunity to experience the wealth of research talent our students will share during BURS 2013!”
Hrabowski’s research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He spoke in February at TED2013 offering his thoughts on setting high expectations for all students. Hrabowski chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the recent report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads, and he was recently named by President Obama to chair the newly created President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. He serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies, and universities and school systems nationally.
With philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff, he co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program in 1988. The program is open to all high-achieving students committed to pursuing advanced degrees and research careers in science and engineering, and advancing underrepresented minorities in these fields. The program is recognized as a national model, and based on program outcomes, Hrabowski has authored numerous articles and co-authored two books, Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds (Oxford University Press), focusing on parenting and high-achieving African American males and females in science. He and UMBC were recently featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes, attracting national attention for the campus’s achievements involving innovation and inclusive excellence.
A child-leader in the Civil Rights Movement, Hrabowski was prominently featured in Spike Lee’s 1997 documentary, Four Little Girls, on the racially motivated bombing in 1963 of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, Hrabowski graduated at 19 from Hampton Institute with highest honors in mathematics. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he received his M.A. (mathematics) and four years later his Ph.D. (higher education administration/statistics) at age 24.
Center for Executive Education Hosts Best-Selling Author Liz Wiseman
The Center for Executive Education at Belmont University will host Liz Wiseman as the keynote speaker during its Spring Leadership Breakfast on Wednesday, May 1 in the Curb Event Center arena. Presented in partnership with the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, the event will explore how executives can become leaders who inspire employees to stretch themselves to deliver results that surpass expectations.
Liz Wiseman is president of the Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm headquartered in the Silicon Valley, and some of her recent clients include Apple, Dubai Bank, Genentech, Nike, PayPal, Salesforce.com and Twitter. She is the author of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, a Wall Street Journal bestseller, and The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools. She has conducted significant research in the field of leadership and collective intelligence and writes for Harvard Business Review and a variety of other business and leadership journals.
Ralph Schulz, president and chief executive officer of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, said, “The Chamber is excited to continue our partnership with Belmont’s Center for Executive Education to present the Spring Leadership Breakfast. The semi-annual Leadership Breakfast events have created an opportunity for us to bring national level speakers and authors here to Nashville. It is partnerships like this that allows us to create more value for our members.”
