Alumna Kristina Ellis, who earned her M.Ed. in Organizational Leadership at Belmont, has published the book is Confessions of a Scholarship Winner. The books explores how Ellis discovered the secrets to effectively presenting herself as a unique and desirable scholarship candidate and shares her secrets for scholarship success so that other students can obtain money for college.
Alumna Publishes Scholarships Guide
Slay Publishes Article on Legal Clinic’s Impact
In 2009, Curb College Assistant Professor Cheryl Slay established a legal clinic to provide Belmont students with legal services in the entertainment context and to teach skills associated with the use of business advisers. Slay’s article, which describes the pedagogical and service objectives of the project, has been published in MEIEA Journal, the journal of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association.
The article, titled “Slaying the Starving Artist Paradigm and Teaching Professionalism in the Entertainment Business: The Entertainment Law & Professionalism Clinical Project,” describes the partnerships with the Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts, which is now co-located with the Belmont Law School and the Tennessee Bar Association that provided support for the clinic.
Slay also teaches a seminar to Belmont students on professionalism each year as part of the the project. The clinic, now in its third year, will be offered to Belmont students again during the Spring 2013 semester.
International Business Faculty Earn Distinctions
Belmont International Business Professors Jose Gonzalez, Jeff Overby and Marieta Velikova have been added to the Board of Directors of Sister Cities of Nashville. Founded in 1990, Sister Cities of Nashville (SCN) connects Nashvillians with friends around the world through exchanges, cultural programs and partnerships. Overby, director of Belmont’s Center for International Business, also recently earned Global Mindset Inventory (GMI) certification. GMI is the premier assessment tool to help determine a global leader’s ability to be better prepared for the opportunities, risks and challenges that come from working with the culture of a globalized business market.
Community Invited to Celebration of Unity Concert Feb. 15
Internationally acclaimed Mezzo-Soprano Denyce Graves, known for her portrayal of Carmen, will perform as a soloist and join various School of Music ensembles at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15 in the McAfee Concert Hall to present a concert celebrating the world’s diversity and bringing an awareness of tolerance, peace and unity.
The Celebration of Unity concert is free, open to the public and part of the inaugural season celebration of the McAfee Concert Hall. Tickets are required because seating is limited and can be reserved at www.bemont.edu/music.
As a young girl growing up in Washington, D.C., Graves performed in a family singing group called the Inspirational Children of God. Graves also belonged to her church “bus ministry,” visiting neighborhood families to encourage parents to enroll their children in Sunday school. Shortly after undergoing vocal cord surgery, she sang the Lord’s Prayer at the Cathedral service following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Student Invited to Present at National Conference on Undergraduate Research
Andrew Trask, a Belmont senior pursuing a B.B.A. in Finance and a B.S. in Applied Discrete Mathematics, will be presenting an oral presentation at NCUR 2013 at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in April 2013. Chosen from more than 3,500 submissions, his abstract demonstrates a unique contribution to his field of study. The title of his presentation is “Predicting Stock Change Using Twitter and Artificial Neural Networks.” The National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), established in 1987, is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity in all fields of study by sponsoring an annual conference for students. Attendance is anticipated to range from 3,000 to 3,500 individuals representing over 300 research universities, comprehensive universities, and private liberal arts colleges, from 35 to 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada and other countries.
Li Elected to Foreign Language Teaching Board
Qingjun Li, assistant professor of Asian Studies and Chinese Language, was elected to the Board of Directors of Tennessee Foreign Language Teaching Association (TFLTA) at its 2012 Annual Conference. Her term on the board is from 2013 to 2015. Li is committed to serving and promoting the learning of foreign languages in Tennessee, especially Chinese.
Robinson Leads Science Lab for Home-Schooled Students
Steve Robinson, associate professor or physics, led the first Home School Science Discoveries session of the semester. It was held on Jan. 24 and was titled “Gravity.” Home-schooled students in first through sixth grades investigated the properties of gravity with hands-on experiments. The class reached maximum capacity with 18 students in attendance and more on the waiting list. Additional Home School Science Discoveries sessions will be held throughout the semester.
Bright Shares Best Practices with International Enactus Teams
Two weeks ago, senior marketing major and Belmont Enactus (formerly SIFE) president Kelsey Bright attended the Gaidar Forum in Moscow, Russia. Representing Enactus USA, Kelsey went to the forum to participate in best practices sharing sessions with students from national-winning Enactus teams from about 15 other countries.
In addition to the time spent with the other Enactus students, Kelsey was able to listen to panels of Russian and international experts on topics such as economic development, social reform, monetary policy and entrepreneurship. An opportunity that came about after Belmont Enactus won the Enactus World Cup last October, Kelsey was able to share the best practices her team has developed over the past eight years in an international arena.
Pharmacy Students Donate Clothes, Food to Pantry
Pharmacy students in the Class of 2015 recently collected clothing and food items for donation to The Little Pantry That Could (TLPTC). On Jan. 26, students and their faculty adviser, Angela Hagan, volunteered at TLPTC by helping individuals shop for warm clothing and food items for the week. TLPTC is located in the basement of the West Nashville United Methodist Church on Charlotte Avenue. On Saturday mornings, the organization provides clothing, staples and fresh produce to approximately 80 families. These individuals are often without housing, retirees, as well as single moms with children. The goal of TLPTC is “to make a personal connection with every shopper and let them know that they are cared for.”
Alumnus Russell Terrell Honored with Curtain Call Award
The School of Music honored alumnus Russell Terrell (’87) with the Curtain Call Award on Monday evening. During the ceremony, Terrell performed a few selections and students viewed a Belmont-created documentary on his career.
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.
“We chose Terrell because he records an average of 1,200 songs a year, is first call session singer, has sung on countless albums. Has sung demos since graduation for a variety of song writers and has sung background vocals in countless concerts with some of these artists,” said Commercial Voice Assistant Professor Sandra Dudley, coordinator of the Curtain Call Award Concert.
A Texas native, Terrell began his music career as a studio session and demo singer and background vocalist in Nashville, Tenn. He has sung on albums with Keith Urban, Reba McIntire, Josh Turner, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Ricky Van Shelton and Lionel Richie, among other artists. He also has been recorded on movie soundtracks for “Act Of Valor”, Disney’s “Home On The Range,” “Flicka”, “Joshua” and “Broken Bridges” and as well as jingles for commercials for The Gap, Whirlpool/Habitat for Humanity, Prilosec and theme songs for NASCAR and CMT’s “Trick My Truck” and “Build It Forward” (Canada). Forty-six singles on which Terrell has performed have become No. 1’s.
Previous Curtain Call Award winners include Tad Wilson, Tim Lauer, Josh Turner, Ginny Owens, Chester Thompson, Jill Phillips, Will Denton, Fleming McWilliams, Melodie Crittenden, Jozef Nuyens, Gordon Mote, Tammy Rogers King, Bernie Herms and Chris Rodriguez.
