Dr. Todd Lake, vice president for spiritual development, will be serving as an institute chaplain for Oxbridge 2008, a two-week interdisciplinary conference that serves as a focal point of the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s efforts to advance a renaissance of Christian scholarship and artistic expression among faculty. Dr. Joy Jordan-Lake, a part-time instructor at Belmont, will also be leading several writing sessions at the conference.
Pharmacy Faculty, Library Staff to Present at July Convention
Six faculty in the Belmont University School of Pharmacy in collaboration with Bunch Library staff and faculty at South University School of Pharmacy have just received notification of acceptance of peer reviewed (3) and school representative (2) abstracts for poster presentations at the 2008 annual American Association of Schools of Pharmacy meeting this July. Additionally, Steven Stodghill (Pharmaceutical Sciences) will be presenting at the meeting. He has been invited to speak at the special session sponsored by the Curriculum Special Interest Group, and his topic will be “Paper to Pixel – Migrating Curricular Mapping to an On-Line Portfolio.”
Two posters will carry the Belmont banner in the school poster presentations. The first, by Stodghill and Julie Rafferty (Pharmacy Practice) is titled “Strong Foundation + 4 Pillars = Belmont University’s Pharmacy Plus™ Curriculum” and provides an outline of the Belmont School of Pharmacy’s innovative curriculum. The second school poster, by Cathy Turner (Pharmaceutical Sciences) and Marketa Marvanova (Pharmaceutical Sciences), is titled “Missions and Public Health Intersect as a School of Pharmacy Reflects Its University” and explores how the School of Pharmacy honors the Belmont commitment to servant leadership.
In the peer reviewed category, Turner and Jenny Rushing (Bunch Library) have authored “Aligning a Pharmacy School Curriculum with University Learning Goals: Information Literacy for Life-Long Learning.” Rafferty and Salvatore Giorgianni (Pharmacy Practice) have a peer reviewed abstract titled “Development and Validation of an Experiential Education Site Evaluation Model” that covers the process of developing and validation of a quality assurance evaluative rubric for off campus experiential sites.
Finally, in a collaboration with South University School of Pharmacy, Turner has worked with Andrea L. McKeever (South University) to produce “Strategies for Library Collection Development for Schools of Pharmacy.”
Belmont Launches Town Hall Presidential Debate Web Site
Belmont University officially launched the online home for the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate at at www.belmontdebate08.com. The debate will be held in the Curb Event Center on the Belmont campus on Tues., Oct. 7.
The site features news, programming information and campus updates for the Belmont community, neighbors and up-to-3,000 members of media who are expected on campus for the debate. The site will be updated regularly leading up to the debate and throughout the 2008-09 academic year as Belmont has planned special academic programming centered around the university’s role as the debate host site.
The site was created by local Nashville company, centre{source}, a full-service Interactive Strategy firm, delivering results in strategy, planning and execution of Internet-related initiatives. With clients worldwide and centrally located in Nashville, centre{source} provides a wealth of expertise and web design solutions to strategically harness the power of today’s online opportunities. The company’s point person for creating the site for Belmont is Director of Technology Chip Hayner, a 2004 Belmont graduate. More about the firm can be found on its Web site: www.centresource.com
Alumna to Perform in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at TPAC
Belmont alumna Tiffini Dodson (’04) will play Mary Magdalene in an upcoming production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC). Dodson, who was born and raised in Smyrna, Tennessee, joined the cast of this production in 2006. Other credits include regional productions of Oklahoma!, Crazy for You, Pippin and Anything Goes. A groundbreaking theatrical masterpiece by legendary writing team Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar is coming to the TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall May 30-31 for three performances.
Hancock Wins ‘Get Rich Talent Search’
Marsha Hancock, a graduating senior from North Carolina, was selected Tuesday night as the winner in the latest round of country artist John Rich’s “Get Rich Talent Search,” which featured nine acts performing in front of eight industry judges including leading publishing, A&R, management and media personnel. Acts selected to perform are chosen from more than 800 monthly e-mail submissions. Rich is a multiple Grammy Award nominee, three-time ASCAP artist/songwriter of the year and producer extraordinaire as well as one-half of multi-platinum duo Big & Rich. Click here to read more on this story from Music Row magazine. For more information on Hancock and to hear her music, visit her MySpace site at www.myspace.com/hancockmarsha.
Alumna/Adjunct to Appear on Grand Ole Opry
Tammy Rogers-King, a 1987 alumna and adjunct instructor in the School of Music, plays fiddle in The SteelDrivers, a an up-and-coming bluegrass group. The SteelDrivers will be featured Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry, which can be viewed live on the Great American Country (GAC) network (Comcast channel Channel 31) during the 7-8 p.m. hour. The group is expected to perform around 7:45 p.m.
Belmont Honors Scholar-Athletes at Reception
Aptly dubbed by Belmont University Faculty Athletics Representative Rich Tiner “one of the most enjoyable gatherings of the academic year,” the Bruin Athletic Department recently acknowledged its most distinguished student-athletes in its annual Scholar-Athlete Reception.
Organized by Academic Compliance Officer Colette Keyser, Academic Coordinator Renee Rice, and emceed by Tiner, the reception honored BU student-athletes for outstanding academic achievement and recognized members of the campus community for their support and positive example.
Among the highlights of the morning was faculty member Dr. John Gonas and Curb Event Center General Manager Ron Jackson each receiving the SAAC Academic Inspiration Award.
Men’s basketball’s Justin Hare, men’s cross country and track’s Ben McGlothlin and Will Peters, women’s cross country and track’s Elizabeth Smothers and women’s tennis’ Kenny Pence were multiple award winners.
Hare (pictured with Dr. Fisher above right) and women’s cross country and track standout Lauren Weaver (above left) also received the President’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award from Dr. Robert C. Fisher. Click here for a complete list of honorees.
Biology Department to Offer ‘Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies’ 2008 Summer Camp
This summer Dr. Steve Murphree, professor of biology at Belmont University, will again offer school-age children the opportunity to explore the insect world by attending one of the 2008 “Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies” summer camp sessions on Belmont’s campus.
An introduction to the biology of insects and other arthropods, camp courses will explore how they live, where they can be found and the potential benefit or harm they represent. Short field trips on the Belmont campus will be taken daily. Children are encouraged to bring in insects for discussion, and materials such as field guides and collecting equipment will be provided. The cost for students will be $75 per child for grades 1-3 and $100 for grades 4-6 (Children and grandchildren of Belmont faculty, staff and students can attend for $25 per student).
CAMP DATES:
June 9-13 & June 16-20: Children entering grades 1-3 in Fall 2008
Monday thru Friday from 1:30-3:30 p.m.
July 14-18 & July 21-25: Children entering grades 4-6 in Fall 2008
Monday thru Friday from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Class sizes will range from 10-20 students. All classes will meet on the Belmont University campus in the Hitch Science Building, room 309, and refreshments will be provided. Parents may register their child/children by obtaining a registration form from the web site at: www.belmont.edu/biology/bbb/ or by requesting one from the Biology department, 615/460-6431. Places in classes will be reserved in the order in which the forms are received.
Steinway & Sons Receive Applause Award at President’s Concert
On Sat., April 26, Belmont University President Bob Fisher presented the 2008 Applause Award to Steinway & Sons, an occasion which also served as the official announcement of Belmont’s intent to become an “All-Steinway School” with the purchase of approximately 70 additional pianos from Steinway. The new pianos will be used in Belmont performance venues, practice rooms and faculty studios. The funds to replace older instruments and to purchase the new Steinway additions represent a gift of more than $2 million from the Merrydale Woods estate, a bequest which will also provide new endowed scholarships for future piano students.
Belmont is one of only 88 colleges, universities, conservatories or schools world-wide to have the distinction of being an All-Steinway School. Other All-Steinway representatives include Julliard and the Yale School of Music. All-Steinway Schools must demonstrate a commitment to excellence by providing their students and faculties with the best equipment possible for the study of music. With the purchase of new pianos, Belmont’s highly acclaimed School of Music will boast only Steinway-designed pianos throughout campus.
Dr. Cynthia Curtis, Dean of Belmont’s School of Music, said, “The School of Music is proud to join the distinguished list of institutions that are All-Steinway. With this decision we provide our students with the finest pianos for both practice and performance. The generous and greatly appreciated gift of Merrydale Woods will live on in the education of Belmont music students.”
Click here to read more on this story. Click here for additional information on the Steinway site as well as a photo of the Applause Award presentation.
Nashville Educators Invited to East Asia Seminar
Belmont University, in cooperation with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, will host a statewide East Asia history and culture seminar for librarians, administrators, elementary, high school and middle school teachers of World History, World Geography, World Literature or Art to be held June 9-20. The purpose of the seminar is to increase educators’ knowledge of the histories and cultures of these countries. Stipends for qualified educators are available, as well as hundreds of dollars worth of free curriculum materials.
Dr. Ronnie Littlejohn, Chair of the Philosophy Department and Director of Asian Studies at Belmont University, will be the seminar leader. Littlejohn has published several books and articles on comparative and Chinese philosophy and won numerous teaching awards and professional honors. Lucien Ellington, Co-Director of the Asia Program at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), will serve as guest lecturer.
Nashville has been selected as one of two Tennessee sites for this seminar on China, Japan and Korea. A concurrent seminar is being held in Chattanooga on alternate days. This is the 10th consecutive year that funding for these seminars has been provided by the Freeman Foundation, the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) and the East Asian Curriculum Project of Columbia University.
