The Belmont University Department of Education and DynaVox Technologies, the Tennessee Association for Behavior Analysis, collaborated to offer a training on utilizing augmentative and alternative communication in the classroom for children with communication impairments. Seventy-six teachers, teacher assistants, parents, speech/language pathologists, and behavior analysts from the middle Tennessee region attended the six hour training. The training, AAC in the Classroom: Building Blocks for Success, was offered free of charge to participants.
Murphree Leads Class at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary
Biology Professor Steve Murphree recently taught a class at the Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary. The class was titled The World of Invertebrates: Pollinators, Predators, Pests and Parasitoids. The topics discussed in the class included: Characteristics and life cycles of insects, Identification of insects, Overview of other arthropods, including spiders, isopods and mites, Methods of collecting and observing insects and other arthropods, and Ecological roles of arthropods.
Murphree is an entomologist and has been a professor of biology at Belmont University since 1991. He is a specialist on biting midges and maintains the international research website for this family of flies. He is also is a frequent contributor of articles about arthropods to the Tennessee Conservationist magazine. He has taught summer insect day camps for children, “Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies,” since 1992 and has visited many elementary school classrooms and nature centers in middle Tennessee. In 2004, he was named the Tennessee Environmental Education Association’s environmental educator of the year.
Littlejohn Contracted to Write Book
Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Professor Ronnie Littlejohn has been contracted to write A History of Chinese Philosophy for the London publisher, I.B. Tauris. The work will be completed in late 2012 and will be the third book in Chinese philosophy he has written for Tauris, which distributes globally from offices in London, New York, New Delhi, Beijing and Melbourne.
He also is editing a book on Chinese Philosophers’ interpretations of Western thinkers to come out in early 2013 from State University of New York Press. All the essays in the collection are by ethnic Chinese philosophers and include pieces on the Chinese reception of Kant, Hegel, Darwin, Mill, Russell, Heidegger, Hume, Whitehead, Sartre, Nietzsche and James. Littlejohn is writing the introductory essay on the history of Chinese translation and commentary on Western philosophical works from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries.
In August, he taught a course in East Asian Religions and Philosophies at the USAF Special Operations School (AFSOC) for “top level” special operations operatives being deployed to the East Asian Theater.
Fair Puts Wellness, Health Information Within Reach of Belmont Community
Fourth-year pharmacy student Elizabeth Cain spent Wednesday morning using free hand sanitizer to lure passers-by to visit her peers at Belmont’s first Health Fair. The fair offered an unprecedented opportunity for Cain’s classmates to gain hands-on experience while on campus, she said.
“This is a great opportunity for students to test their skills, give flu shots and glucose tests. It is a great way for us to share our knowledge,” said Cain while volunteering at the fair. “It is a free service with informative information, and it showcases the graduate schools that are taking part.”
Health Services hosted the five-hour Health Fair to put wellness and preventive health resources within reach of employees and students with free health screenings, pamphlets and prizes. The event in the McWhorter Hall and the Gordon E. Inman Center lobbies marked the launch of a year of monthly seminars on health and wellness as well as current events in health care. It also showed people the unique resources we have right here on our campus, said Director of Health Services Katy Wilson.
“We wanted to make people aware of programs we have and wellness opportunities in the Belmont community,” said Christin Murphy, a graduate assistant in the Department of Fitness and Recreation. She took the body mass index of people who stopped at her booth and encouraged them to lower their numbers by signing up for personal training sessions and fitness classes in Beaman.
Keen Re-elected as IBMA Board of Directors Secretary
Dan Keen, assistant professor in the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, was recently re-elected as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).
Belmont Students Finalists in IT Student of the Year
Belmont students Rachelle Holloman and Jordan Bennett are the two finalists for Nashville Tech Council’s IT student of the Year Award and will be honored at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Hall on Oct. 27.
The annual awards gala honors Middle Tennessee’s technology companies, leaders and innovators. The 2001 Technology Awards Gala will feature a VIP reception, dinner and the presentation of 12 prestigious awards, including the IT Student of the Year.
For more information, click here.
Belmont Student Featured on Dr. Pepper Campaign
Belmont student Nikki Boon has been chosen to have her picture and story on Dr. Pepper cans across the country. Nikki was awarded a tuition giveaway prize from Dr. Pepper because of her dream to help others through music.
“Dr Pepper has made my dreams come true,” said Nikki. “Just one year ago, I was a hostess at a restaurant in my hometown. After winning, I was able to transfer to a school in Nashville and follow my dreams of singing country music.”
In partnership with FOX Sports, feature segments are also being done to tell the winners’ stories. Click here to read more about Nikki’s story and watch the video about her music career and how Dr Pepper has helped her achieve her dreams.
Massey Graduate Recognized Among Top 40 Under 40
Amber Sims, a Belmont alumna and 2011 Distinguished Graduate Award nominee has been selected as a 2011 Forty Under 40 Award Recipient by the Nashville Business Journal. The Forty under 40 Award recognizes outstanding business professionals under the age of 40 who are making a difference in their companies and community.
Sims serves as chief operating officer at Saint Thomas Physician Services in Nashville. She began her business career after graduating from Western Kentucky University in 2001 with a degree in healthcare administration. Sims earned her MBA from The Massey School in 2005.
Doyle Rogers Distinguished Chair of Law to Be Filled by Alberto Gonzales
Former U.S. Attorney General named to new, endowed position at Belmont University
Belmont University College of Law announced today the establishment of the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Chair of Law. The newly established, endowed position will be filled by former U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. Judge Gonzales will be the only former U.S. Attorney General teaching full time in legal education and will begin his position at Belmont on Jan. 2, 2012.
Belmont College of Law Founding Dean Jeff Kinsler said, “The insight and experience Alberto Gonzales acquired while serving as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, Counsel to the President, Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas and Texas Secretary of State will be immeasurable resources for our students and faculty. Since leaving public office, these qualities have helped Judge Gonzales develop into an outstanding professor. We are incredibly fortunate that he has decided to join our charter faculty, and we are extremely grateful for the support provided by Doyle and Barbara Rogers.”
After attending the United States Air Force Academy, Alberto Gonzales graduated from Rice University (B.A.) and Harvard University (J.D.). Gonzales was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate as the 80th Attorney General of the United States on February 3, 2005 and served in that capacity until September 2007. Previously, he served as a partner at a major Houston law firm (Vinson & Elkins) and held positions as Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas, Secretary of State (Texas) and Counsel to the President of the United States (2001-2005) in addition to his consulting and mediation practice. Gonzales currently serves as a Visiting Professor and minority/veteran recruitment consultant at Texas Tech University.
Judge Gonzales said, “I am honored to be named as the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Chair of Law, created in honor of an outstanding lawyer and extraordinary human being. I welcome the opportunity to be associated with the Belmont College of Law, and I look forward to working with an outstanding charter faculty to develop tomorrow’s leaders in the bar, the Nashville community and beyond.”
Among his many professional associations, Gonzales has served as a member of the American Law Institute, the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize and otherwise improve the law. For his many accomplishments and years of public service, Gonzales has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Rice University and received the Harvard Law School Association Award as well as the Central Intelligence Agency’s Director’s Award and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. His work in the Hispanic community and his achievements as a role model have also earned him recognition as Hispanic American of the Year by HISPANIC Magazine and one of The 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America by TIME Magazine.
Belmont Garden Shares Fresh Foods with Community
A few months ago, sophomore Bryan Yates had never before seen or tasted okra.
By the end of summer, he was an expert not only on okra but also in organic gardening, harvesting produce and using it to prepare meals.
Yates became the first Belmont Community Garden intern this year as part of an effort to strengthen ties between the University and the Dismas House, a nonprofit organization that provides transitional housing and support to former convicts. He worked in Belmont’s garden daily and took its organic tomatoes, onions, okra, kale, squash, zucchini and cucumbers to Dismas House in exchange for room and board there.
“This summer internship was about taking care of the Belmont Community Garden, a small garden at the Dismas House and creating and growing relationships with the guys there,” said Yates, who is studying audio engineering and technology. “It was kind of intimidating at first, but I lived on a farm in the past so I knew a little about it. It was a really great experience, and I still go back (to Dismas House) to visit and have dinner with them.”
Chemistry Professor Kimberlee Daus proposed a Belmont garden on a vacant lot with a letter to administrators in 2008. Once approved, her honors analytics class did chemistry tests on soil, researched what types of plants would grow there and developed plans for the garden. A first-year seminar class built raised beds and did initial planting in 2009.
“What we have built on is the idea of community sharing and partnership and for students to learn about food production, sustainability and in a creative learning environment that is interactive,” said Adjunct Professor Charmion Gustke. Students in Gustke’s first-year service learning class must spend at least five hours in the garden and students in her English 1010 class prepare meals at the Dismas House using harvest produce from Belmont’s garden.
