Graduate and Professional Studies classes have been canceled for both Friday, January 8 and Saturday, January 9, 2010.
All Tusculum College’s campuses and sites, including the Greeneville campus, the Knoxville Regional Center and the sites in Morristown and Gray will be closed on Friday, January 8, 2010.
Congratulations to Tusculum College student Beth Anne Collins, the first place winner in the Tusculum College Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Logo Design contest. Collins, a freshman from Afton, received a $50 cash prize and will see her logo used in promotional materials for the College’s QEP, which is focused on Problem Solving with Reflective Judgment.
Collins received her prize and recognition at the Spirit Week Ice Cream Social held on Friday and was presented her award by Dr. Bill Garris, assistant professor of psychology and the QEP Director for the College.
Congratulations also goes to the three finalists who were recognized as well, Nathan Carver, sophomore arts and design major from Clarksville; Tylan Adams, junior arts and design major from Greeneville, and Brooke Wedding, senior arts and design major from Chuckey. Garris told the gathered crowd that the judges had a very difficult decision among the four very talented finalists.
The QEP is intended to be an ongoing plan to improve an aspect of higher education as part of the re-affirmation of accreditation process for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC). After much brainstorming and research, culminating in an institution-wide vote, Problem Solving with Reflective Judgment was selected as Tusculum College’s QEP topic and is consistent with the College’s mission and purpose statements.
To begin the improvement process and help students with problem solving and reflective judgment, faculty development will be provided to equip professors in targeted courses to teach using problem-based learning, case-study method and reasoning through moral and ethical dilemmas. Next, having practiced with problem solving and reflective judgment in the classroom, students will address “problem-solving in the world.” In this phase, Tusculum’s current service learning programs, independently conducted research projects and internships will be retooled to more intentionally integrate, advance and measure reflective judgment.
For more information on the QEP or Problem Solving with Reflective Judgment, contact Dr. Garris at Ext. 5298.
The writing of award-winning author Sharyn McCrumb and the music of Jack Hinshelwood will combine for an entertaining evening Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Tusculum College.
“Words and Music: A Soundtrack to the Ballad Novels” will be presented at 7 p.m. on Sept. 29 in the Behan Arena Theatre in the lower level of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building. The program is part of Tusculum College Arts Outreach’s Acts, Arts, Academia 2009-10 performance and lecture series.
The internationally acclaimed program brings together the ballads that are woven throughout McCrumb’s novels with Hinshelwood performing the songs while the author reads and discusses her novel. The program features the novels, “If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O, “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter,” “She Walks These Hills,” “The Rosewood Casket,” “The Ballad of Frankie Silver,” “The Songcatcher,” “Ghost Riders” and “St. Dale.”
Hinshelwood and McCrumb have toured the United States with the program, and their collaboration has resulted in a recording by Hinshelwood of the ballads from “I Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O.” Hinshelwood, who began playing traditional music in the 1970s, is a member of the Celtibillies.
Early in his career, Hinshelwood found success in numerous guitar contests, winning the Knoxville World’s Fair Guitar Championship, the Galax Fiddler’s Convention Guitar Contest and the Wayne Henderson Guitar Championship. He has also contributed to the rich heritage of traditional music through his instrumental and vocal compositions, many of which are included in his recordings. The National Park Service Blue Ridge Music Center featured him in their Blue Ridge Masters showcase concert series.
McCrumb is best known for Appalachian ballad novels, set in the North Carolina/Tennessee mountains. The New York Times Best Sellers “She Walks These Hills” and “The Rosewood Casket,” deal with the issue of the vanishing wilderness. “The Ballad of Frankie Silver,” is the story of the first woman hanged for murder in the state of North Carolina. “The Songcatcher” is a genealogy in music, tracing the author‘s family from 18th century Scotland to the present by following a Scots Ballad through the generations. “Ghost Riders,” an account of the Civil War in the mountains of western North Carolina, won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature given by the East Tennessee Historical Society.
In 2008, McCrumb was named a “Virginia Woman of History” for achievement in literature, and she was a guest author in the 2006 National Festival of the Book in Washington, D.C. She has also received the Appalachian Writers Association Outstanding Contribution to Appalachian Literature Award, the Chaffin Award for Southern Literature and the Plattner Award for Short Story. A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, with an M.A. in English from Virginia Tech, McCrumb was the first writer-in-residence at King College in Tennessee. In 2005 she honored as the Writer of the Year at Emory & Henry College. A film of her novel “The Rosewood Casket” is currently in production, directed by British Academy Award nominee Roberto Schaefer.
McCrumb’s great-grandfathers were circuit preachers in North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains a hundred years ago, riding horseback over the ridges to preach in a different community each week. It is from them, she says, that she gets her regard for books, her gift of storytelling and public speaking, and her love of the Appalachian Mountains.
“My books are like Appalachian quilts,” McCrumb says. “I take brightly colored scraps of legends, ballads, fragments of rural life, and local tragedy, and I piece them together into a complex whole that tells not only a story, but also a deeper truth about the culture of the mountain South.”
For her latest two novels, NASCAR provides the setting. “St. Dale” is a “Canterbury Tales” type story of a group of ordinary people who go on a pilgrimage in honor of racing legend Dale Earnhardt. “Once Around the Track” examines the need for larger-than-life heroes while chronicling the adventures of an all-female race team that hires a “pretty” male driver.
Admission is $6 per person. For more information about the performance, contact Tusculum College Arts Outreach at 423-798-1620, e-mail jhollowell@tusculum.edu or visit http://arts.tusculum.edu.
The Acts, Arts, Academia performance and lecture series is supported by Dr. Sam Miller in memory of Mary Agnes Ault Miller, Tusculum College Arts Outreach, Society of Cicero, Hearts for the Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Abraham Lincoln’s rise to the nation’s most popular president and a representation of America worldwide was explored Thursday during a symposium at Tusculum College.
“Lincoln’s meaning has evolved and grown from generation to generation,” said Thomas Mackie, one of the presenters. “Each generation draws on a different portion. He is recognized as the quintessential American figure.”
Three presenters shared their expertise about the Lincoln legacy and the 16th president’s connections with William Seward and Carl Sandburg during the symposium, hosted by the Museums of Tusculum College. About 75 people attended the event including a group of eighth grade students in the Greene County School System’s gifted program.
Mackie, director of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum at Lincoln Memorial University, said that although the 16th president’s legacy is prevalent in American culture, the man himself remains a “great enigma” one of the reasons he remains so popular.
He described the growth of the Lincoln myth, but cautioned the audience to not interpret his use of the word myth as an untruth but as something that is true and big in the culture.
After Lincoln’s death, memorials were held around the country, and those giving the eulogies were charged with giving meaning to his death and the tragedy of the Civil War, Mackie said. The Victorian cultural norms of the time also dictated that even Lincoln’s enemies had a duty to show respect to his passing.
The corporate memorial services for Lincoln saw the combination of religious and patriotic sentiments to create a civic religion that has been integral to the increasing of the Lincoln myth, Mackie continued.
At first, most of the commemorations of Lincoln focused on his role as the emancipator of the slaves. Scores of books were written about Lincoln in the decades after his death, and by the 1880s, sites associated with Lincoln became pilgrimage destinations. The meaning of some of these sites changed. For example, he said, Lincoln’s frontier beginnings were initially seen as a challenge he overcome but over time was considered the place that made him a great man.
Items Lincoln may have owned or even touched grew in value, and the number of collectors has resulted in no site or museum having a definitive collection, Mackie said.
Peter Wisbey, director of the William Seward House in New York, discussed the legacy of Seward and Lincoln. Seward was a well-known and popular politician, having served as governor of New York and as a U.S. Senator. In 1860, he was a favorite to win the Republican nomination for president, but was out-strategized by the up-and-coming senator from Illinois, Wisbey explained.
Despite his disappointment of losing the nomination, Seward campaigned for Lincoln. After his election, Lincoln appointed Seward as secretary of state. Writings by Seward’s son at the beginning of the presidency reveal that there was not a great deal of faith in the new president among the Sewards, Wisbey said.
However, in time, the president and secretary of state developed a strong friendship and relationship of trust, he continued. When Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the only other people in the room were Seward and his son, who was serving as his assistant.
Lincoln was known to almost daily visit the Seward home, which was near the White House, Wisbey said. The two men shared a love of reading and the theater.
The assassination of Lincoln has obscured an attempt on Seward’s life on the same night Lincoln was shot, he noted. After recovering from his serious stab wounds, Seward continued to serve as secretary of state in Andrew Johnson’s administration out of respect for Lincoln and to work to see his ideas for Reconstruction implemented.
Charles Byrd, a volunteer at the Carl Sandburg home in North Carolina, addressed the commonalities between Lincoln and Sandburg, who won a Pultizer Prize for his biography, “Abraham Lincoln: The War Years.”
Byrd, a retired school administrator who taught about Sandburg as an English instructor, said that both men shared humble beginnings, a great degree of self-education and were champions of the common man. Lincoln and Sandburg also shared a love of stories and humor.
Sandburg, who also won a Pultizer Prize for his poetry, was a lover of words and phrases, Byrd continued, and considered Lincoln’s writing and oratory as poetry although it was written as prose.
After the individual presentations, a lively panel discussion between the presenters and audience was moderated by Chris Small of the Lincoln Project, a locally well known first person impersonator of Lincoln.
A matter of debate was the reasons for Lincoln being consistently ranked in polls of historians as the president that has had the most impact on the nation and ranked in recent polls of the populace as the favorite president. Some of the responses included sympathy based on the trials of his presidency, admiration for his character, his leadership skills, his role in the emancipation of the slaves and his embodiment of the American ideal of “lifting yourself up by your boot straps to accomplish great success.”
Also discussed was the relevance of Lincoln in today’s society with answers ranging from his example of leadership in building consensus with those who disagreed with his ideas, his character and integrity and his rise to prominence from obscurity.
The Museums of Tusculum College administer the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library and the Doak House Museum on campus. The Doak House Museum hosts thousands of school children from the region for a variety of educational programs related to the 19th century and CHARACTER COUNTS! The President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library houses a special collection of items relating to the 17th president, the college’s archives and volumes from the institution’s original library. The museums are also two of the 10 structures on the Tusculum campus on the National Register of Historic Places.
An article about the underpaid, resource deprived Afghan Police by Anup Kaphle ‘07 , a digital media fellow with The Atlantic, was published online last week.
“Without a doubt, eventual success in Afghanistan will rest on a foundation of robust security, safeguarded by the police. But the vast majority of the police force today complains about paltry salaries and a complete lack of benefits. The lucky ones get a uniform, a grey shirt and a pair of cotton or polyester slacks, along with slightly advanced machine guns. Others carry rusty old AK-47s across their chests and wait for the Taliban in their Pathani salwaars. Even during patrols, it is not rare to find a policeman running in his sandals,” Kaphle wrote.
Kaphle, who has earned a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism, was editor of the student newspaper while at Tusculum among his many activities. Kaphle’s trip to Afghanistan was supported by a grant from the South Asian Journalists Association. Read Kaphle’s article.
Flags that have flown over the State Capitol in Nashville are now part of the Tusculum College campus thanks to State Representative David Hawk, who represents Unicoi and a portion of Greene County. Hawk, a 1989 alumnus of Tusculum College, secured the flags for the College after they had been flown over the State Capitol building. One set of flags has been placed in the Pioneer Arena located in the Niswonger Commons. A second set is now flying over Pioneer Field at the heart of the Niswonger Sports Complex. With the state flag in the Arena are, from left, Tusculum President Dr. Nancy B. Moody; Hawk; Deborah Davis, associate athletic director and compliance officer; and Frankie DeBusk, athletic director and head football coach.
The first three graduates from the Tusculum College Student Alumni Association were recognized recently when the group met to discuss plans for the organization in 2009-2010 school year.
Cody Greene ’08, Megan Hart ’09 and Rachel Barnard ’09 were each given token of appreciation for the work they have done in growing the organization since its inception in 2006.
Greene is still shepherding the program in his role as coordinator of development for the Office of Institutional Advancement, while Hart and Barnard are still involved in providing guidance to the group as it continues to grow.
“It has been very fulfilling to watch as the Student Alumni Association at Tusculum College grows, and the involvement of our initial group of students was a key factor in the success of the new organization,” said Susan Vance, interim vice president for institutional advancement.
“Our first graduates of the program are now out in the world and continuing to serve, not only their Alma Mater, but also the community in which they live and work.”
The purpose of the Student Alumni Association is to build a body of servant leaders who upon graduation will advance the interests and connectivity of alumni and Tusculum College; establish, foster and promote the development of beneficial relationships among and between the college’s students, alumni, staff, faculty and the college community; and furthering the quality of Tusculum College as an institution of higher education.
The group has been active in a variety of service projects, including the recent “clean-up” of the Tusculum Arch, a landmark on the National Historic Register. Last year’s Student Alumni Association members also implemented the “Mentors for Kids” program which works on two levels, allowing the college students the opportunity to work with young people, while helping the elementary students develop their ideas of what college is about and what it can mean for their futures.
“The goal of the ‘Mentors for Kids’ program is to motivate youth to achieve their potential by fostering inspiration to transform lives, education to change attitudes and connections to increase opportunities by pairing elementary students with Tusculum College students for weekly activities that expose the youth to the opportunities of higher education,” said Greene.
The Tusculum College Student Alumni Association is coordinated by the Department of Alumni and Parent Relations in the Office of Intuitional Advancement. Students are selected to participate in the program based on their academic work, involvement in campus activities and desire to give back to the College and the community.
Leah Walker, site and events manager at the Doak House Museum on the Tusculum College campus, has been awarded a scholarship to attend a leading regional museum conference.
Walker was selected to receive the 2009 LaPaglia/Historic House Museum Group Scholarship Award to attend the annual meeting of the Southeastern Museum Conference to be held in October. Only one scholarship is awarded in the 12 states that form the Southeast region.
“It is an honor for Leah to be selected to represent the Historic House Museums,” said George Collins, director of the Tusculum College Museum Program and Studies. “This will be a tremendous opportunity for her to network with other museum professionals and learn about the latest developments in the museum profession.”
The scholarship recognizes young museum professionals who have recently undertaken expanded responsibilities and have been identified as a future leader in the profession. The scholarship is named for the late Pete LaPaglia, who was a renowned leader of the museum community.
Walker has also been selected to be the secretary of the organization. She will serve in the position for a two-year term.
A graduate of the Museum Studies program at Tusculum College, Walker earned a master’s degree in storytelling from East Tennessee State University. After completing her graduate degree, she worked for the National Park Service in Death Valley, Calif. She rejoined the Tusculum College community last year as a museum educator at the Doak House Museum. On July 1, she assumed a new and expanded role as site and events manager at the museum.
A second recent graduate from Tusculum’s Museum Studies program also received a scholarship to attend another of the Southeastern Museum Conference’s professional development programs. Julia Jones received a scholarship to attend the Jekyll Island Management Institute in January.
Theatre-at-Tusculum will hold auditions for its fall production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” during the last week of August.
Auditions will be held for both children and adults the week of Aug. 24 for the musical based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice.
All auditions will be held in the auditorium of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building on the Tusculum College campus.
The script includes rolls for adults of all ages. Male roles include; the Beast/Prince, Gaston, a swaggering macho male, LeFou, his sidekick, and Belle’s gentle father, Maurice. Besides the main character Bell, female roles include: Mrs. Potts, Madame La Grande Bouche, and “Three silly Girls” who are enamored of Gaston. Mrs. Pott’s son, Chip, is of course a junior role.
Although the script calls for an adult cast, Director Marilyn duBrisk plans to cast approximately forty children for the main castle scenes as enchanted castle cutlery, napery, china and other characters. Costume Director Barbara Holt has already received inventive costume prototypes from some of her creative and talented volunteers. Village children will also be needed.
Adults (ages 14 and up) will audition on Monday, Aug. 24, and Tuesday, Aug. 25. Registration on both days will be held at 5:30 p.m. with auditions starting at 6 p.m. Those auditioning need to plan to attend both days, but if they are not able to do so, they should contact Tusculum College Arts Outreach in advance.
Auditions for children will be Wednesday, Aug. 26, and Thursday, Aug. 27. Registration for grades 6-8 will be at 2:45 p.m. with auditions beginning at 3:15 p.m. on both days. Registration for grades 1-5 will be at 3:30 p.m. with auditions for this group starting at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. Those auditioning need to plan to attend both days, but if they are not able to do so, they should contact Tusculum College Arts Outreach in advance.
Possible call-backs for all groups will be at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28.
All audition materials will be provided. Those auditioning are asked to please not wear flip-flops.
For more information about the auditions, please contact Tusculum College Arts Outreach at 423-798-1620 or e-mail jhollowell@tusculum.edu.
An evening of laughter awaits audiences of Theatre-at-Tusculum’s latest production, Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Twelfth Night.”
The hilarious production opens at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, in the Behan Arena Theatre, located on the lower level of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building on the Tusculum College campus. Performances are also scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, as well as Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28. Sunday matinee performances will be at 2 p.m. Feb. 22 and March 1.
A cast of 17 under the direction of Marilyn duBrisk bring to life the play that is considered Shakespeare’s finest and most popular romantic comedy, a tale of full of mistaken identities, scorned love, bawdy drinking songs, sword fights, intrigue, humiliation and joyful reunions.
While it may seem incredible that a play written more than 400 years ago is relevant today, Shakespeare had the ability to hold up a mirror to the foibles of men and women. His characters are not a reflection of any particular place, but are a reminder that men and women of all ages and backgrounds share similar hopes and fears.
The cast consists of some of Greeneville’s finest actors as well as a few exciting newcomers. Duke Orsino, (played dramatically by Doug Presley), is in love with the beautiful Countess Olivia, (Brandi Ricker). Into this story of thwarted love, comes the lovely Viola, (newcomer Martha-Grace Burkey), who has just been shipwrecked and thanks to the ship’s captain, (Wess duBrisk), she narrowly escapes with her life.
However, she fears her twin brother, Sebastian, (played by Kenny Hamer) has drowned. Viola decides to dress as a boy and join Duke Orsino’s court as a page and chooses the name Cesario. The Duke takes a liking to Cesario and sends her to plead his case to the Countess Olivia.
Much of the hilarity of the play comes from those in Olivia’s household - her drunken uncle, Sir Toby Belch, (played by Chris Greene), Sir Andrew Auguecheek (Brian Ricker), whom Sir Toby wants to marry his niece; her chambermaid Maria, (Angela Bride), Malvolio, (Mike Lilly), her pompous steward, and Fabian, a fun loving servant. Last, but by no means least, Feste, (Sterling Bean), her jester, who winds his merry and tuneful way throughout the play.
The plot then thickens when Sebastian, Viola’s twin, appears after having been rescued from the sea by the brave and courageous Antonio (Robbie Poteete). Supporting this rich cast are the Duke’s Gentlemen played by Will Chilcutt and Dallon Jones and two ladies-of-the-court Brittany Connolly and Hannah Stryker.
Assisting duBrisk, artist-in-residence at Tusculum, with the staging of the play are Frank Mengel, technical director and stage manager for Tusculum Arts Outreach; Barbara Holt, overseeing the colorful costumes, and Angie Clendenon, music director.
Ticket prices are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors 60 and over, and a special rate of $5 for all students. For more information, please contact Tusculum College Arts Outreach at 423-798-1620 or email jhollowell@tusculum.edu.
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