Sport Science Assistant Professor Nick Bacon recently published an article titled, “Effect of two recovery methods on repeated closed-handed and open-handed weight-assistanted pull-ups” in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
Zoro Interviewed on ‘Liberty Treehouse’
Zoro, an adjunct instructor of percussion in the School of Music, was recently interviewed on Glenn Beck’s “Liberty Treehouse” program about his book, The Big Gig: Big Picture Thinking for Success. Zoro’s touring and recording credits range from Lenny Kravitz to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons to New Edition, along with countless other global acts. The Big Gig is an intriguing and comprehensive insider’s guide for independent musicians who want to break into the highly competitive music industry, but the book also provides a template for success – for everyone, regardless of career – by covering the vocational, personal and spiritual aspects of achievement. Click here to view the interview about the book.
Lovvorn Receives Outstanding Research Award from Peabody College
Jason Lovvorn (English) received the Otto C. Bassler Award for Outstanding Research from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. The award is presented annually for the outstanding dissertation by a doctoral student in the Department of Teaching and Learning. In February, in a talk titled “What’s in a Name? The Writing Center, The Writing Studio, and Authorship of Place,” Lovvorn presented work from his dissertation at the National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for Research in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In April, he presented more of his dissertation work at the American Educational Research Association meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His paper there was titled “Locating the Writing Center: Texts, Actor Networks, and Spatial Analysis.”
Center for Executive Education Hosts Business Author Dan Heath
The Center for Executive Education, in partnership with the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, hosted Dan Heath this morning as the keynote speaker for the Spring Leadership Breakfast in the Curb Event Center arena. Heath is a noted speaker/author/business columnist and co-author of Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard and Made to Stick. He also serves as a senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE Center for Social Entrepreneurs.
Heath began his talk noting the difficulty of change but also pointing to times and occasions when change is welcomed because it brings joy–weddings, technology and fashion being among the examples he cited. He then offered “a three-part framework for thinking about beahvior change” based on an image of a man sitting atop an elephant. The man represents conscious, rational thought while the elephant is indicative of the emotional, unconscious self that is more impulsive in decision making.
As the first part of the three-point framework, Heath said, “You have to ‘Direct the Rider.’ You have to give crystal clear direction on where you are going and how to get there.”
In addition, he said, “You have to find the bright spots–find what is working and figure out how we can do more of it… Analyzing problems comes naturally but analyzing successes doesn’t. We should obsess about success with the same tenacity we obsess about failure.”
Individuals or organizations seeking change must also “Motivate the elephant” and “Shape the Path, cultivating a culture that’s supportive of change.”
The Spring Leadership Breakfast included breakfast, the program, a talk back session with local executives and a complimentary copy of Heath’s book Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, which was the basis for the morning’s lecture.
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 the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce is Middle Tennessee’s largest business federation, representing more than 2,000 member companies. “Business Is Good” embodies the Chamber’s focus on facilitating community leadership to create economic prosperity for Middle Tennessee. The work of the Nashville Area Chamber is supported by membership and sponsors; the Chamber’s Pivotal Partners (a partnership at the highest level for all Chamber programs and events) are BlueCross/BlueShield of Tennessee, Community Health Systems and Delek US Holdings. Together with its affiliates, the Nashville Chamber works to strengthen the region’s business climate and enhance Nashville’s position as a desirable place to live, work and visit. For more information, visit www.nashvillechamber.com.
Students Study Abroad on Holy Land Pilgrimage
Twenty Belmont University students and two professors left Nashville May 8 for a 19-day journey to Israel, Turkey and Greece, traveling to numerous sites along the way including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Athens. Students on this study abroad trip are taking either a Third Year Writing course or a general education religion class with the goal to see the lands in which Christianity was born.
As School of Religion Dean Darrell Gwaltney writes, the trip is part pilgrimage as well. “It is moving to travel to Jerusalem and other places many of us have been reading about and learning about all our lives. One of the great benefits from such a trip like this is that we are forever changed. The people we meet and the people with whom we travel change us.”
Student Carter Abel recounted an experience from the first day of the trip: “I was about to fall asleep when we drove over the top of a moutain and before me lay the most magnificent sight I have ever seen–the Sea of Galilee. Spanning out before me, the incredible blue waters stood out like gemstone surrounded by bare mountains. I sat in absolute awe and wonder as I laid my eyes upon the place where Jesus walked on water, calmed the storm, fed thousands of people with a single basket of food and performed miracles. No matter how much cities and nations have changed over two thousand years, the Sea of Galilee remains a living altar of the power, compassion and love of God who walked its shores.”
Click here to read more from the Holy Land trip blog.
Pharmacy Fraternity Presents Check to St. Jude Children’s Hospital
Phi Delta Chi is a pharmacy fraternity that focuses on scholastic achievement, leadership and service. The organization is committed to raising funds and awareness for worthy causes, both locally and nationally. One of the most notable causes the fraternity is involved with is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital located in Memphis, Tennessee. Belmont’s chapter, Gamma Xi, has raised funds for St. Jude through various projects. One such project was a letter writing campaign called the Prescription for Hope. Through this campaign student members were able to raise $1,520 within the past year, totaling $4, 204 within the past two years. The group presented the hospital with a check during a visit last week.
Gonas Selected for DAR Community Service Award
On Saturday, May 12, Associate Professor of Finance Dr. John Gonas was presented a Community Service Award by the General Francis Nash Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. This award recognizes worthy residents, from a variety of walks of life, for voluntary achievements in cultural, educational, humanitarian, patriotic, historical and citizenship endeavors, or in environmental conservation.
Dr. Gonas was recognized in part due to his service to Belmont University’s SIFE team and its recent contributions to the creation and maintenance of nonprofit mattress recycling venture Spring Back Recycling.
Pictured is General Francis Nash DAR Chapter Regent Kathleen Pohlid presenting the DAR Community Service Award to Dr. Gonas.
Klefstad Publishes Chapter in Book
Dr. Terry Klefstad, associate professor in the School of Music, recently published a book chapter titled “A Soviet Opera in America” in the new publication Contemplating Shostakovich: Life, Music and Film (Goldsmiths and Kirkman).
Dunlap Presents at Global Health Forum
Dr. Ruby Dunlap, associate professor of nursing, was a co-presenter at the 2012 Tennessee Global Health Forum sponsored by the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH). Dunlap was joined by Carol Etherington and Patsy Meier, both registered nurses, to provide an overview of how healthcare is delivered in various community settings by diverse caregivers with limited resources. The 2012 forum was focused on measuring impact and maximizing success in global programs. It featured accomplished global health leaders who shared experiences and expertise on innovative approaches and practical tools to sustain such programs. VIGH supports numerous community health initiatives locally and throughout the world, including current efforts in Mozambique and Nigeria.
Dr. Dunlap has taught community health nursing at Belmont since 1996. Her involvement and interest in international healthcare has been lifelong. She spent 10 years of her childhood in Somalia. For 15 years she has guided nursing students in the assessment and health education of refugee families resettled to the Nashville area from all over the world. In the 2009-2010 academic year, she was a Fulbright visiting lecturer for the graduate nursing program at Uganda Christian University, Mukono, Uganda. She returned to teach a four-week module in the same program in September 2011. In addition to advising nine nursing masters theses for Ugandan graduate nurses, she guided a group of the same nursing students in a revision of the Uganda Nurse and Midwives Practice Act in October 2011.
Chemistry Students Present at American Chemical Society Meeting
Dr. Rachel Rigsby and Dr. Alison Moore from the Department of Chemistry and Physics, along with nine Belmont University students, attended the American Chemical Society’s national meeting in San Francisco recently. Four seniors–Grant Anderson, Katherine Whitfield, Jenny Westbrook and Ben Heacock–presented undergraduate research posters. The other Belmont students–Amy Henderson, Roxy Musharrafeia, Rebecca Newton, Logan Books and Johnny Truong–presented a poster on the Belmont SMACS (Student Members of the American Chemical Society) Chapter activities. The Belmont University SMACS chapter also received a Commendable Chapter award based on their outreach and other activities throughout the 2010-2011 academic year.
