Mary Vaughn, professor of communication studies and associate dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, was quoted in an April 26 story by NPR, which is titled, “What We Have Here: A Failure to Communicate.” Vaughn, whose expertise includes interpersonal communication, researches and teaches how social media have altered interpersonal communication in an increasingly digital age. The full story is available at this link: http://www.npr.org/2012/04/26/151351550/what-we-have-here-a-failure-to-communicate?sc=emaf

Chemistry and Physics Assistant Professor Stephen Robinson has been accepted into TN-SCORE ROA’s summer program. Selected to work with Thrust 3 (Nanostructures for Enhancing Energy Efficiency) under the guidance of Sandra Rosenthal and Kirill Bolotin, Robinson will receive a stipend and start-up grant to be used at Belmont.

Working collaboratively with follow chemists, biologists, physicists and engineers, Robinson will have the opportunity to solve problems and advance scientific understanding using specialized equipment and resources.

Robinson said he is excited about the continued collaboration possibilities this opportunity will bring for Belmont and its students.

“I’m proud to have the chance to help out with the ‘big picture’ goals of the program: energy efficiency and independence. I think these are just two of the many problems the world faces that will be solved with science, math, and engineering,” he said.

Dr. Daniel Schafer will serve as moderator for a panel discussion on “Environmental Stewardship – An Ethical Approach to the Environment at 5:30 p.m. May 1 at the Gordon Jewish Community Center. Panelists include Rabbi Shana Mackler (Associate Rabbi, The Temple – Congregation Ohabai Shalom), Stewart Clifton (an attorney and lobbyist), and Dr. Saleh Sbenaty (Deptartment of Engineering Technology at Middle Tennessee State University).  The event is sponsored by the Society of Universal Dialogue.

Kevin Trowbridge, professor in the Department of Public Relations, wrote a chapter in the recently published book Faith and learning: A handbook for Christian higher education. This multi-authored volume, with dynamic contributions from entry-level faculty members to seasoned scholars, explores the question of the Christian faith’s place on the university campus, whether in administrative matters, the broader academic world or in student life.

Pam Parry, chair of the Communication Studies Department, was awarded the Arthur J. Kaul Fellowship by the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi at an April 25 banquet in Hattiesburg, Miss. The fellowship is named for a beloved media history professor at Southern Mississippi who died in 2008, and it is designed to help a doctoral candidate who is near the end of his or her program.

Parry is finishing her dissertation titled, “The PR President: How Eisenhower Transformed Political Communication,” and plans to graduate in May 2013. In 2009, the school named Parry its top mass communication/journalism graduate student and gave her the Gene Wiggins Fellowship for research.

Dr. Peter Kuryla from the Department of History presented a paper at the British Association for American Studies (BAAS) Annual Meeting, held at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom from April 12-15. Kuryla’s paper was in a session on post-World War II ideas of race in the United States and was entitled “Well Cut of My Legs and Call Me Shorty! Revisiting the Ralph Ellison–Irving Howe Debate.”

In addition, Kuryla published an essay in the most recent edition of Historically Speaking . That article was entitled “Esthetic Sensitivity: The Sublime Architectures of Paul Conkin’s Puritans and Pragmatists: Eight Eminent American Thinkers. Click here to read the article.