NEWS & CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

The Museums of Tusculum College received two awards during the annual meeting of the Tennessee Association of Museums earlier this month.

An “Award of Excellence” in the small museums category was presented to the Museums of Tusculum College for development and presentation of “Andrew Johnson: Heritage, Legacy and Our Constitution,” a celebration of the bicentennial of Andrew Johnson and the 221st anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. The event, held on Sept. 17 last year at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center, featured the 113th U.S. Army Band and was attended by more than 900 people.

The Doak House Museum received an “Award of Commendation” for the “Heritage, Legacy and Our Constitution” educational school program commemorating the Andrew Johnson bicentennial. More than 1,500 students participated in the program during 2008.

The awards were presented during the 49th annual meeting of the Tennessee Association of Museums on March 18-20 in Chattanooga. Tusculum was represented at the meeting by George Collins, director of the Tusculum Department of Museum Program and Studies; Cindy Lucas, associate director of the department and director of the Doak House Museum; Kathy Cuff, museum assistant/archivist, and Faith Bases, a museum studies major.

Collins was also appointed to the Awards Committee for the 2010 Conference to be held in Nashville.

The Doak House Museum and the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library are administered by the Tusculum College Department of Museum Program and Studies under the direction of George Collins, director of Museum Program and Studies, and Cindy Lucas, associate director of the department and director of the Doak House Museum. The department also offers one of the few undergraduate degree programs in museum studies in the country.

The Doak House Museum, which was the home of the Rev. Samuel Witherspoon Doak, co-founder of the college, hosted more than 10,000 school children from East Tennessee last year for a variety of educational programs related to the 19th century and CHARACTER COUNTS!

The Andrew Johnson Museum, located in the oldest academic building on campus, houses a collection of books, papers and memorabilia of the 17th president of the United States.  The museum also houses the Charles Coffin Collection from the original college library and the College archives containing documents related to the history of Tusculum.  The museums are also two of the 10 structures on the Tusculum campus on the National Register of Historic Places.

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More than 138 students and their families will be on the Tusculum College campus on Saturday, March 7, to meet with staff and faculty and learn more about the College and what it has to offer.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

“Our spring Open House is a chance for students who are interested in Tusculum College to visit campus and experience what it would be like for them to be a student here,” said Melissa Ripley, director of operations and marketing for the College’s Admission Office.

Students and their families are expected from across Tennessee, as well as from Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Kentucky. And, according to Ripley, the day will be filled with activities for both students and parents to learn about the College and to experience a day as a Tusculum College student.

“This is a chance for the students to see what Tusculum College is really about,” Ripley said, adding that students and parents will have the opportunity to meet faculty members and students will attend a mock class.

“There are parent sessions on financial aid, student life and opportunities for students to complete the application process if they choose,” Ripley said. Tours of the campus will be offered, including visits to the residence halls, lunch in the cafeteria and a visit to the new Thomas J. Garland Library.

Parents and students both will attend financial aid workshops and will have assistance from representatives of the College’s Department of Admissions in answering any questions regarding either financial aid or their application to the College.

Ripley said that more than 25 faculty and staff will be working the day of the Open House and interacting with the students and their families.  “So many people are involved and excited to meet our potential new students.  It’s a great opportunity for us as well as the families involved.”

For more information on Tusculum College’s Open House, admissions or financial aid information, contact Ripley at 423-636-7312.

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Don’t miss an opportunity to see one of the most popular Russian epic films of all time, when Cinema at Tusculum presents Russian epic Dr. Zhivago, on March 4 at 7 p.m. in the Behan Arena.  Students who attend receive Arts & Lecture Credit.

Brilliantly photographed and sweepingly romantic, Dr. Zhivago is an exploration of the Russian Revolution as seen from the point of view of the intellectual, introspective Dr. Zhivago, played by Omar Sharif.

Released late in 1965 Dr. Zhivago was a box-office success across the globe and grossed more than Gone with the Wind. It was nominated for 10 Oscars and won five of them, for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Music Score, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Costume Design.

Dr. Kim Estep, provost and vice president for academic affairs will introduce the film. Estep said she selected the film because she has previously used small snippets from the film when teaching about World War I, the Bolshevik Revolution and related historical events of Russian history.

“I find that it brings life to what can be ‘dry’ history, to see the impact of these cataclysmic events on individual people living during that time period,” Estep said.  “The social upheaval and personal hardship of this time in Russian history is very accurate-which is probably the main reason his novel was banned in the Soviet Union when it was published in 1957.”

In addition, mark your calendar for March 25, when the final film in the series, East/West will be show, also at the Behan at 7 p.m. The presenter will be Dr. Biliana Stoytcheva-Horissian, originally of Bulgaria, where the film was shot, and a department chair at Emory and Henry University.

All shows in the Tusculum College Cinema Series are open to the public and are free of charge.

Dr. Zhivago Trivia

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ((MGM)) who bankrolled the movie originally wanted to cast star Paul Newman in the title role played by Omar Sharif. Actor Peter O’Toole was offered the part, but declined.
• Although depicting Russia and in particular the stunning city of Moscow, the movie was actually filmed in Spain.
• The film was not shown in Russia until 1994.
• While the scene with the crowd chanting the Marxist theme was being filmed at 3 a.m., police showed up at the set thinking that a real revolution was taking place and insisted on staying until the scene was finished.
• One of the features which contributed to the outstanding box-office success of the movie and also critical impact was the immortal ‘Lara’s Theme’, a composition of ‘balalaika’ music, created by Maurice Jarre. This musical number was an international success and continues to be as popular as it was forty years ago.

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Ashley Bradford, a junior pre-physical therapy major and a native of London, KY, has been recognized as “Student of the Block” at Tusculum College for her campus leadership.

The College’s Office of Student Affairs recently recognized Ashley with its “Student of the Block” award for the fifth block of the fall semester during a ceremony on Feb. 23. She was presented a plaque detailing her achievements and campus involvement by Jacqui Elliot, vice president for enrollment management. The plaque will be displayed on the “Wall of Honor” outside of the Student Affairs Office in the Niswonger Commons.

Ashley is a 2006 graduate of North Laurel High School. Always the active student, Ashley participated in her high school soccer program, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Tri- Beta, National Honors Society and the track and field team (where her father was the coach). Recruited as a part of the highly-awarded Tusculum College Women’s Soccer Team, Ashley contributes to the team in her position as a mid-fielder/forward and upperclassmen leader.

Ashley notes she came to Tusculum College because of its close proximity to home and the unique block system. Ashley thoroughly enjoys the distinctive class schedule because it “allows me to be able to focus on one class at a time and not direct my attention to more than one thing. I can put all of my time and energy into one item instead of deciding what is most important to study.”

When she isn’t studying for her next test or working hard to make the upcoming season a success on the soccer field, Ashley is an active member of the Tusculum College Fellowship of Christian Athletes as the incoming 2009- 2010 president, a peer tutor, member of Pioneer Student Athletic Council and a member of the prestigious Honors Program.

Maintaining an impressive 3.88 GPA, Ashley has hopes of entering graduate school at the University of Kentucky as a member of their Doctorate of Physical Therapy program. As a reward to her academic successes, Ashley has received numerous awards including the Tusculum College Freshman Academic Female Athlete honor, 2007 South Atlantic Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll and the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.

Ashley’s love of service extends beyond the classroom and into missionary work, another sector in which she is heavily involved. Susie Jones, executive assistant to the vice president of finance and CFO, nominated Ashley because of her dedication to service to her community and her commitment to her faith.

“I admire her immensely for her dedication to her faith. In my opinion, it takes a special young person, especially during their college years, to come to a church by herself to worship, especially when that church is not her hometown church,” said Jones of Ashley’s commitment to faith and community.

“Ashley is a fine example of what Tusculum College Civic Arts is all about… giving back! She definitely leads by example,” Jones added.  Ashley is active with her church youth group, her college church family, and plans to go on an alternative spring mission trip with a group from Tusculum.

The “Student of the Block” award is a program of the Office of Student Affairs to honor Tusculum College students who excel not only in their academics but are also active on campus and in service to the community. Nominations for the award are sought from the campus community. A student is recognized each academic block. Tusculum operates on a focused calendar in which students take one class per a three-and-a-half week period, a block. The academic year is divided into eight blocks, four per semester.

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Dr. Kirpal Mahal, professor of physical education at Tusculum College, has been named to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Board of Program Reviewers.

Dr. Mahal will serve a three-year term on the board, whose members have successfully completed one program review and been co-trained by NCATE and the professional association in their educational specialty area.

NCATE is an independent accrediting body recognized as a standard of excellence in teacher preparation. Through the process of professional accreditation of schools, colleges and departments of education, NCATE works to make a difference in the quality of teaching and teacher preparation. NCATE’s performance-based system of accreditation fosters competent classroom teachers and other educators who work to improve the education of students.

The purpose of the NCATE Board of Program Reviewers is to provide consistent policies for programs reviewers for all specialty areas in education and to provide a status and position for program reviewers within the NCATE system. As a member of the board, Dr. Mahal is to participate in at least one cycle of program reviews annually, adhering to NCATE’s standards of fairness, collaboration, and confidentiality.

In a letter from NCATE notifying him of his selection to the board, Dr. Mahal was told, “The high-quality, rigorous reviews that the profession demands would not be possible without professionals of your caliber.”

Dr. Mahal has extensive experience in education program reviews. For more than a decade, he has provided his professional service as a volunteer reviewer of physical education and teacher education programs for the National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE), the professional association for physical education teachers.  A reviewer for NASPE since 1992, he reviewed four programs last year and has reviewed programs from a number of states from the Northeast to the Southwest.

Completing program reviews is beneficial to him professionally and to his students, Dr. Mahal says. Through the reviews, he learns what others are doing, what is happening in the field of teacher education and the changes that are occurring, which he can then share with his students.

In addition to his program reviews for American schools, Dr. Mahal is an examiner of doctoral dissertations for a university in his native India as a professional service to students in that country.

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A new interactive Web site for the Doak House Museum is providing a fun and different way for students and teachers to learn about the early history of Tusculum College and life in the 19th century.

The Web site, found at http://doakhouse.tusculum.edu/interactive, provides a virtual look at the museum located on the Tusculum College campus. While the Web site is engaging to those interested in history and education, it was created to be especially fun and informative for students and their teachers.

The Web site features an attractive shot of the Doak House on its front page and information about the house, the home of the Rev. Samuel Witherspoon Doak, who, with his father, founded a school in his home that became the Tusculum College of today. The educational focus of the Web site is underscored by the background graphics for each page, a blackboard surrounded by handsome woodwork with chalk and an inkwell and quill pen in the corners.

From the front page, visitors can click headings to learn more about the house itself, the Doak family history, early education and the pastimes of children in the 1800s. Another page features information about agriculture (the Doaks operated a large farm), archaeology and what recent archeological digs at the Doak House site have uncovered.

On the easily navigated topic pages, collages of photos can be clicked to reveal vignettes of interesting facts.

“The Web site interactive idea came from so many requests from students and teachers that were wanting more information about the Doak family,” said Cindy Lucas, director of the Doak House Museum and associate director of the Tusculum College Department of Museum Program and Studies. “Since 21st century students are in tune with technology, what better way to provide information than through an interactive Web site.  They can click and learn at the same time, entertaining yet educational in the same click.”

After coming up with the idea for the Web site, Lucas then wrote a grant seeking funding through a state grant. Last spring, the museum received a $7,500 Community Enhancement Grant from the state of Tennessee.  The Web site project has also received the support of Virginia Gray, and Charlotte Gray, who is a member of the Tusculum Board of Trustees and granddaughter of Charles Oliver Gray, who was president of the college in the early 20th century.

Developed by the Tombras Group, the Web site features photos by Christopher Bradshaw of Photography Done Right.

The Doak House Museum and the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library are administered by the Tusculum College Department of Museum Program and Studies under the direction of George Collins, director of Museum Program and Studies, and Cindy Lucas, associate director of the department and director of the Doak House Museum. The department also offers one of the few undergraduate degree programs in museum studies in the country.

The Doak House Museum, which was the home of the Rev. Samuel Witherspoon Doak, co-founder of the college, hosted more than 10,000 school children from East Tennessee last year for a variety of educational programs related to the 19th century and CHARACTER COUNTS!

The Andrew Johnson Museum, located in the oldest academic building on campus, houses a collection of books, papers and memorabilia of the 17th president of the United States.  The museum also houses the Charles Coffin Collection from the original college library and the College archives containing documents related to the history of Tusculum.  The museums are also two of the 10 structures on the Tusculum campus on the National Register of Historic Places.

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An Open House is scheduled for Thursday, February 26, to invite the community to visit the new Tusculum College Graduate and Professional Studies site in the Tri-Cities.

The Open House is set for 5:30 - 7 p.m. at the campus located at 104 Dillon Court in Gray (in the Northeast State Technical Community College complex). The College occupied the new site in October 2008 and has more than 100 students currently attending classes at the new facilities.

Alumni, former faculty, friends of the College and the community are invited to drop by and see the new site, as well as get additional information on the programs and courses offered through the College at the new site.

“Now that we’re settled in our new facility, we are welcoming in our friends, alumni and other community members to visit the new site and to learn even more about what the Tusculum College Graduate and Professional Studies program has to offer,” said Dr. Lisa Johnson, director of the School of Education and director of the Graduate and Professional Studies program.

“We hope anyone with an interest in the College and its programs will come out and visit us during this Open House opportunity,” she added.

For more information on the Open House event or directions to the site, contact Suzanne Richey at 423-636-7304 or by email at srichey@tusculum.edu.

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Ecumenical efforts on a local level and examples from the East Tennessee area were the focus of the fourth session of the Theologian-in-Residence series held Tuesday at Tusculum College.

“It is important in many ways to deal with the neighbor among us before we are equipped to go further into the world,” said Dr. Marian McClure, the featured speaker for the 2009 Theologian-in-Residence series, co-sponsored by the Holston Presbytery and Tusculum College.  And to provide examples of local efforts, a panel of East Tennesseans participated in the final discussion of the series.

Dr. McClure has served as director of the worldwide ministries of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and is serving as the associate director and North America representative of “Edinburgh 2010: Witnessing to Christ Today,” the centenary celebration of a pivotal world mission conference that challenged Christians to greater ecumenical and evangelistic collaboration.

Dr. McClure began the final session with a few suggestions of starting locally, including keeping the conversation civil and seeking out existing venues beyond the congregational level that already exist and serve as bridge-builders among congregations.

Examples of these types of organizations include ministerial associations, community ministries organizations, volunteer and civic organizations and music societies.  These types of organizations involve people of varying denominations and faith systems working together toward a common faith-based goal of service, said Dr. McClure.

These organizations have been very effective in bringing together diverse denominations for a common purpose and can be used as a starting point to discuss differences and similarities while growing closer through the shared experience of working together, she added.

However, while these organizations are all opportunities for someone to step forward and say something more, said Dr. McClure, “These organizations have not been sufficient to bring about major cooperation among the camps and rarely grapple head on with the reasons that divide us.”

Why has this been the case?  According to Dr. McClure there are several reasons that these organizations have not been able to foster the kind of ecumenical cooperation required at the most important levels.

One major issue has been the unintentional exclusion of African-Americans in these types of organizations, said Dr. McClure. Because many African-American pastors don’t have full-time employment within the church structure, they cannot engage in these organizations when they meet during daytime hours. Also, African-Americans believe that many of the ecumenical venues do not prioritize their areas of key concern, such as racism.

Other issues that have limited the effectiveness of these local ecumenical organizations include the belief that the dialogue among denominations is not a faith value for everyone, and that there is sometimes not enough of a shared-faith language to communicate across denominations, according to Dr. McClure.

The final reason identified by Dr. McClure that these organizations have been limited in their ecumenical success is that there is a lack of educational resources adapted for use in these community venues and the materials produced at denominational levels do not communicate to all segments or demographics.

To address these issues, Dr. McClure suggested that two tactics be taken.  First, work to develop a common longing to be enriched by differences, and second, develop a common language of ways to use scripture.

In the second part of the program, a panel of East Tennesseans offered their thoughts on the major challenges and opportunities they see in working ecumenically in East Tennessee.  The panel included: Father William C. Casey, who has been actively involved in ecumenism for more than 40 years and served as the ecumenical officer of the Diocese of Knoxville; Dr. David A. Hendricksen, minister of music at First Presbyterian in Greeneville and former Theologian-In-Residence; Dr. Ellen A. Macek, a distinguished scholar of church history and former executive secretary of the Office of Ecumenism in the new Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, and Rev. James A. Mays, retired executive presbyter and a member of the Holston Presbytery and the Council on Church Relations.

Casey shared what he has learned through the years in working ecumenically, as well as growing up in a “mixed-faith” family.  He told the group that it was a key element to overcome the desire to compare others undesirably to one’s own denomination. “There is no room for hubris and egotism in church relationships,” he said.

He added that his best advice is to “have faith and be steady in hope that God will draw us into unity when the time is right,” and he encouraged patience in all ecumenical efforts.

Dr. Hendrickson focused on worship and encouraged those seeking ecumenical connections to begin with a shared dialog on the practice of worship.

“Denominations are looking more similar in worship as we deepen our connections,” he told the group.

Through his experiences with Habitat for Humanity, Dr. Hendrickson said that despite the diversity of the group, they have “yet to find a denominational way to hit a nail.” He added that working side by side in action on behalf of Christ puts denominational differences in a larger context.

Dr. Macek shared with the group several examples of ecumenical efforts in the area that can serve as models for other efforts.  One such effort is the Knoxville Week of Prayer for Christian Unity program which not only provides the opportunity for ecumenical prayer, but also provides a number of learning activities and inter-church interaction.

She also discussed urban-suburban partnerships that have arisen in many areas which bring urban and suburban churches together to work on common causes. Drawbacks to these efforts, according to Dr. Macek, include a lack of international and national leadership in the ecumenical movement and insufficient seminary training on ecumenical views.

Dr. Mays suggested to the group that they start ecumenical efforts from a position of respect and “respectfully have other people from other faith groups tell us about themselves.”

He talked about the Gideons International program, which hosts a regular dinner for pastors from all denominations and demographics. Dr. Mays said that attending this dinner each year has afforded him the opportunity to meet and interact with pastors he would otherwise not meet, despite sharing the same spirit of Christ.

Dr. Mays encouraged the development of action/prayer groups that meet inter-denominationally.  “These are great opportunities to learn about differences and discover similarities by working side-by-side with common goals.”

Dr. McClure wrapped up the program by commenting on the current economic crisis.  She suggested it be viewed as an opportunity to increase ecumenical activities.

“People often begin to cooperate when they have to - when they cannot afford not to,” she said.  “Take the lead and stay non-anxious,” she said. “Take the lead in providing to those in need and calling for the best from our public servants.”

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Three members of the Tusculum College faculty and staff recently returned from Salzburg, Austria, with detailed plans for the future of the international program at the College.

Provost Dr. Kim Estep, Dr. Geir Bergvin, director of the Center for Global Studies and Dr. Joel Van Amberg, assistant professor of history, recently spent eight days at the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria, to participate in an international curriculum development program through a Mellon Fellowship grant program.

            “We did a lot of work prior to the trip,” said Bergvin, “And, we found that we were doing the right things right, and in seeing what others are doing with similar programs, realized that we are definitely well ahead of where many other similar institutions are at this time.”

            Bergvin has been a leader in the charge to expand international opportunities at the Tusculum College campus since Estep and Interim President Dr. Russell Nichols declared it a major strategic initiative of the College to increase the number of students who participate in international travel experiences and to internationalize the curriculum to better prepare students for the 21^st Century.

            “One of the key advantages Tusculum College has over the other schools implementing similar programs is the support and commitment from the leadership of the College.  Dr. Estep and Dr. Nichols have shown commitment beyond words by incorporating these programs into the strategic plan for the College and by allocating dollars for the programs.”

            Van Amberg, who has traveled extensively both personally and through his role at the College, said that this seminar was an intense work session for the three leaders, and that they left the program with a detailed implementation plan to globalize the campus over the next 10 years.

            “A lot of the prior work involved assessing what we have already achieved, so that once we got to Salzburg we were able to focus on establishing a series of principles to guide our plan, and concrete steps that we want to implement, including benchmarking and budgeting,” he said.

            “According to our most recent data, only six percent of our seniors report engaging in an international experience while enrolled at Tusculum College,” Estep said. “Our goal is to increase this number to 50 percent over the next five years, and this program will allow us to move this process forward and begin to lay the groundwork for future international connections.”

According to Estep, the fact that Tusculum College operates on the block schedule, with students taking one course at a time, makes it a great fit for globalization and internationalization of the curriculum.

“We don’t have to make giant curricular changes,” Estep said. She added that many of the components are already in place, and the College can use these international opportunities to meet existing requirements, such as service-learning and senior capstone requirements. Senior capstones are the culminating coursework in a student’s major.

Bergvin added that there were representatives at the seminar from other Appalachian College Association schools, as well as five from Historically Black Colleges and Universities member schools.

“It was a good opportunity for us to interact with the others and learn what they are doing in the international arena.”

The three will return to Salzburg in December, as their grant participation is a two-year program that will give them time to develop and implement the international components they designed at the first seminar.

Estep said the next step is to begin implementation.  The Advisory Council for the Center for Global Studies is looking at a possible faculty retreat that would focus on globalization.  In addition, there are two trips approved and funded for this summer for faculty, and the group is currently planning several student trips for the 2009-10 school year.

“We got further down the road that we expected,” said Estep. The group brought back a five-year draft plan, along with other documents from the seminar.

Major goals outlined in the document include that Tusculum College students will gain the skills needed to be successful in a globalized 21^st century. These skills include the ability to engage citizens of other countries in civil discourse, explore other languages as appropriate to their program of study and the ability to apply critical thinking skills to complex global problems.

In addition, with implementation of the full program, Tusculum College students will recognize that the power structures and cultural assumptions that impact poverty in Appalachia also exist in other parts of the world and are interconnected.

In order to reach the goal of enhancing students’ global competency, the plan recognizes that the College must first increase the global competency of its faculty members.  The program is designed to be interdisciplinary in nature and is aimed at improving student learning outcomes and broadening faculty and staff development opportunities.

All three agreed that the Salzburg summit provided them with the tools they needed to come back to Greeneville and begin moving forward.

“It was a lot of hard work,” said Van Amberg, and not a lot a free time, although the three were pleased with the opportunity to have their meetings at a Schloss (German for palace) that was used as a set during the filming of “A Sound of Music.”

“We are very fortunate that we have leadership at Tusculum College who are visionaries,” said Bergvin. “The support has been strong. The programs have been implemented into the strategic plan and money has been set aside to develop the program.”

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Kellie Wells will read from her award-winning fiction during an event on the Tusculum College campus on Monday, March 2.

The event begins at 7 p.m. in the atrium of the Shulman Center, located near the Pioneer Park baseball stadium. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public.

Wells is the author of a collection of short fiction, “Compression Scars,” the 2001 winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award, and a novel, “Skin,” published by the University of Nebraska Press in the Flyover Fiction Series, which was edited by Ron Hansen.

Her work has appeared in various literary journals, including The Kenyon Review, Ninth Letter, The Gettysburg Review, and Prairie Schooner. In 2002 she received a Rona Jaffe Prize, and “Compression Scars” was awarded the Great Lakes Colleges Association’s New Writer’s Award in fiction. She is a native Midwesterner and currently lives in St. Louis, where she teaches in the Master’s of Fine Arts Program at Washington University.

Other fiction authors have high praise of Wells’ work. Peter Ho Davis, author of “Equal Love,” says of Wells writing, “Slyly comic yet deeply felt, Kellie Wells’ marvelous fiction embraces the sacred weirdness of everyday life. These are magical stories, in every sense of the word, by a writer with a conjurer’s feel for the hidden compartments, death-defying escapes, and lighter-than-air levitations of language.”

Kathryn Davis, author of “The Thin Place,” commented this about Wells’ novel, “From within the deceptively commonplace bodies of the inhabitants of a small Kansas town with the deceptively homespun name of What Cheer, Kellie Wells unleashes the clamorous, resistless, marvelous voice of our world’s collective unconscious, the language of ecstasy and despair in all its manifold registers. Reading ‘Skin’ is like finding yourself inside one of the great medieval paintings, every last detail (a sycamore tree, a TV, a firefly, a set of dentures in a glass, a meadowlark) perfectly rendered, and exploding with celestial meaning.”

Following the reading, Wells will announce her selections for this year’s Curtis and Billie Owens Literary Awards, annually given to recognize the literary achievements of Tusculum College’s creative writing students.

Curtis Owens was a 1928 graduate of Tusculum College who went on to a teaching career at what is now Pace University in New York.  He and his wife established the Owens Award at his alma mater to encourage and reward excellence in writing among Tusculum College students.

Wells is the third outside judge for the competition. Playwright David Muschell and poet Sally Keith judged previous competitions.

Following the program, Wells will be available to sign her books.

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