NEWS & CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

Four students from Tusculum College’s English Department were presenters on Friday, March 25, at the Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference, held at Maryville College.

All of the papers were the product of a literary theory class the students took with Dr. Sheila Morton, assistant professor of English, and were focused on an interpretation of Agatha Christie’s “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.” Each paper employed different theoretical lenses in their study.

Students presenting were Elizabeth McDonnell, a senior from Memphis; Abigail Wolfenbarger, a junior from New Market; Kenneth Hill, a junior from White Pine, and David Roncskevitz, a senior from Franklin.

“The variety of their arguments illustrate just how much literary theory can enrich our reading of a single text, offering various and compelling readings that yet ring true,” said Morton. “In her paper, for example, McDonnell approaches the text as a new historicist, drawing parallels to other discourses contemporary with Christie’s novel, most notably film noir. Though very different in their realization, she argues, both are propelled by similar social feelings of isolation and alienation.” 

Both Wolfenbarger and Hill approach the novel from the standpoint of reader response critics, Wolfenbarger arguing that the failure of the novel to surprise many twenty-first century readers is due in part to our changing “horizon of expectations” that has grown to accommodate the idea of a dishonest first-person narrator.  Hill, by contrast, focuses on the shifting role of the “narrattee,” a role the reader is asked to play as they enact the drama of the novel. 

Roncskevitz’s presentation showed how he deconstructs the novel, likening the piecing of “clues” in whodunit novels to the linguistic piecemealing of everyday language.

According to Morton, the panel was a huge success, garnering considerable praise and attention, including an email from the coordinator of the conference.

The Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference is designed to encourage undergraduates in colleges in the Appalachian region to conduct research projects by providing a high-quality, low pressure forum for presentations. More than 80 undergraduate students from eight colleges in East Tennessee and Kentucky attended the 2011 conference.

Tweet This Post

As the Tusculum College Earth Day Extravaganza community celebration continues to grow, volunteers are critical to being able to carry off the scope of the event. Sponsored by the Pioneer Green Team, the event commemorates Earth Day with activities focused on sustainability and environmental education.

This year’s Earth Day Extravaganza will be held on April 14, beginning at 9 a.m. Most of the activities will be held on the lawn between the Arch and McCormick Hall; however, historic tree tours will be given on campus and trees will be planted at the top of each hour at the Honors House near Doak Elementary School.

The event is open not only to staff, faculty and students at Tusculum College, but to the community and region. Several local school groups are expected to attend. 

As a result, volunteers are desperately needed, particularly in the morning hours. Any faculty member interested in using the event as an opportunity to participate in a group service project is encouraged to do so. And any other staff, faculty or student who is interested in helping out please contact the Pioneer Green Team; all help will be greatly appreciated. 

All volunteers are asked to consider wearing a green shirt on the day of the event for easy identification. Arm bands will also be provided. 

If you would like to volunteer or find out more about the event, please contact Kirstie Gust at kgust@tcstudents.tusculum.edu.

Tweet This Post

Heather Patchett has been named vice president of Institutional Advancement at Tusculum College and will be assuming her responsibilities on June 1, 2011.

Patchett has more than 20 years experience in all aspects of fund raising, including major gifts, capital campaigns and planned giving programs. She has also managed three departments and has extensive experience working in higher education advancement and development programs.

She has spent the past two years working at Otter Opportunities, providing services to not-for-profit organizations, including fund raising, grant writing and working with research and information systems. She has also managed advancement programs at Converse College, where she served as vice president of Institutional Advancement; at the University of the South, where she served as director of capital gifts, and Gustavus Adolphus College, where she was the director of the Office of Gift Planning.

Patchett will assume the position from Susan D. Vance, a 1991 graduate of Tusculum College, who has served as interim vice president of Institutional Advancement. Vance, who has been with Tusculum College’s Advancement Office since 2003, will continue to serve the college as associate vice president of Institutional Advancement. 

“We are very pleased that our search efforts have led us to Heather Patchett. She brings a wealth of experience to the position and will provide strong leadership for an already dedicated and experienced staff,” said Dr. Nancy B. Moody, president of the college.

“Heather will be an excellent addition to our leadership team, and we are all very much looking forward to her becoming part of the Tusculum community.”

As vice president of Institutional Advancement, she will oversee the staff and its departments, including the Offices of Development, College Communications, Alumni Relations, Advancement Services, Church Relations and Special Events. She will manage a donor portfolio and will be responsible for meeting the goals of the Advancement Office in support of the goals and mission of the college. She will also serve as a member of the President’s Cabinet and will help guide the overall operation and growth of the institution.

Patchett has a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of the South and a master’s of arts in teaching from Alaska Pacific University.

In her positions with institutions of higher education she has planned budgets, served on the President’s Cabinet and worked closely with members of the Board of Trustees. She has run successful capital campaigns and worked with major gift programs.

At Converse College she participated in a very successful $87.5 million capital campaign, including securing a $15 million major gift.

She is a member of the Spartanburg Evening Lions Club, where she serves as second vice president, and is a member of Westminister Presbyterian Church. She is also a patron of the Lawson Academy of the Arts.

Tweet This Post

Kevin Rose has joined the staff of Tusculum College as an enrollment representative to serve adult learners in the Tri-Cities area.

Rose works in Tusculum’s Tri-Cities Center, located at 104 Dillon Court in Gray. He will serve career-minded working adults who wish to continue their education through Tusculum’s Graduate and Professional Studies program, providing information to help them with their decision of which degree to pursue, guiding them through the admission process and helping them explore financial aid.

            In working with prospective students, Rose can draw on his own experiences as a Tusculum student. He earned an associate of applied science degree in respiratory care from Walters State Community College in 2003 and later returned to school through the Graduate and Professional Studies program to achieve his dream of earning a bachelor’s degree. In 2009, he did just that, earning a bachelor of science degree in organizational management from Tusculum.

            Prior to joining the Tusculum staff, Rose worked as a respiratory therapist and registered polysomnographer. He later worked in corporate healthcare sales and marketing, promoting products and services in the healthcare setting.

            Rose, his wife Autumn and their two children, Brandel and Baylyn, live in Mt. Carmel. In 2009, Rose and his wife started the Brandel Rose Scholarship Fund at Tusculum in honor of their son who has Down’s Syndrome. The scholarship helps students who are majoring in special education or early childhood development.

            “Our lives have been greatly impacted from those who help teach and serve the special needs community,” he said. “It has been our honor to give back to this great institution.”
            Tusculum’s Graduate and Professional Studies provides working adults the opportunity to earn a college degree through a uniquely focused and practical program offered at convenient locations and on a flexible, accelerated schedule. Undergraduate degree programs include bachelor of science degrees in business administration and organizational management and bachelor of arts degrees in education and psychology with a concentration in behavioral health. Master’s degrees are offered in education, organizational management and teaching.

Tweet This Post

Experiencing a different culture, interacting with other college students from a variety of backgrounds and discussing global issues helped make traveling to Salzburg, Austria, a life-changing trip for three Tusculum College students.

Mitchell Taylor, Sam Underwood and Altoine Wilson attended the Salzburg Global Seminar as representatives of Tusculum in January. All three students, who were selected for the seminar based on nominations from faculty, are sophomores. Taylor, from Kodak, Tenn., and Sam Underwood, from Muncie, Ind., are business majors. Wilson, who is from Covington, Ga., is a film and broadcasting major. The session that the Tusculum students attended was the “Mellon Fellow Community Initiative Student Seminar on Global Citizenship: America and the World.”

In a presentation about their trip on Monday, March 28, Underwood encouraged her fellow students to travel internationally if they get the opportunity. “After this trip, we were truly changed people,” she said. “It changes your mindset.”

While the seminar is designed to introduce a variety of viewpoints to its participants and broaden their perspectives, Underwood noted international travel for pleasure can also have a changing affect in immersing individuals into different cultures.

Wilson said the three “didn’t really know what to expect. I thought it would be a chance of a lifetime and it was.” It was the first time for travel outside of the country for Wilson and Underwood. Taylor had taken an earlier trip to South America.

The trip was focused on learning, Wilson said, and the participants addressed many controversial subjects, as well as how Americans view the rest of the world and how the rest of the world views the United States. The students described one activity in which they acted out Plato’s allegory of a cave to illustrate how people sometimes live in a bubble and how painful it can be to be forced out of that comfort zone to look at what is happening in the world.

Taylor said that one of the most important opportunities of the trip was getting to know and make friends with the other seminar participants who came from a variety of backgrounds. Participants came from a number of Appalachian region colleges as well as universities across the nation.

“I was impressed by others’ passion for various issues and their desire to make a difference in the world,” he said.

The Salzburg Global Seminars are held at the Schloss Leopoldskron, a regal, 18^th century castle surrounded by immaculate grounds with breathtaking views of the adjoining lake and the Alps.

“Our living conditions were really nice,” Taylor said. “The whole place was very beautiful.” The students’ living quarters were at the Meierhof, about 200 yards from Schloss Leopoldskron. There, students had access to a computer library, where they could stay in touch with their families, and a lounge area where seminar participants could relax at the end of the day.

The students took many photos of the palace’s ornate architectural features and the gardens and sculptures surrounding the palace. After the seminar sessions, students would gather for continuing discussion of issues raised in various rooms in the palace, Taylor said.

The Austrian cuisine served at the Schloss Leopoldskron reflected the surroundings. “There was amazing food at the Schloss,” Underwood said. “We were fed like royalty.”

Austrian food was similar to German cuisine, she continued, and all their meals featured quality meats and fresh vegetables. “All of the food seemed healthier and tasted better.”

Although most of the students’ time was spent at the seminar, the participants took a day trip to the Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany, touring what remains of the camp and visiting the museum and memorial at the site. “I can’t describe in words what it felt like,” Underwood said.

Seminar participants also had a couple days to explore Salzburg. In the older part of the town, “there was a ton of beautiful Gothic architecture,” Taylor said. “We also saw lots of street performers, but they weren’t like the guitarists you see on streets here. They were playing the harp and violin.”

Tusculum is currently planning international trips for the upcoming 2011-12 academic year. The current academic year has been the best for the college for international study as more students have participated in short-term study abroad trips than ever before, said Dr. Geir Bergvin, director of the Tusculum’s Center for Global Studies. Students have recently returned from trips to Central America and Europe.

Tweet This Post

The Museums of Tusculum College were recently honored with two awards from the Tennessee Association of Museums.

The awards were presented during the Tennessee Association of Museums annual conference, held his year in Johnson City.

The Museums of Tusculum received an Award of Excellence for its monthly email newsletter, which was accepted by Dollie Boyd, interim director of the museums. The monthly newsletter is an attractive, full-color informational electronic publication that features the latest news and upcoming events of the two museums on the Tusculum College campus, the Doak House Museum and the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library.

Featured in the newsletter are historic tidbits about Tusculum College. For example, the March newsletter contained a feature about the college’s history of women’s education in celebration of Women’s History Month and an article about Julia Doak, who in 1879 became the first female graduate of Tusculum College.

A monthly feature in the newsletter, “Receipts from Mrs. Doak’s Kitchen” provides recipes and other cooking and housekeeping tips from the 19^th century.

Also recognized was “Pickin’ at the Doaks,” the museums’ monthly free traditional music jam session, which earned the Museums’ an Award of Commendation. Leah Walker, site manager for the museums who created the program, accepted the award.

“Pickin’ at the Doaks” began last summer as musicians were invited to come to the museums for a jam session of traditional music and the public was invited to come and listen to music enjoyed in this region for years.  The jam session, which takes place on the fourth Friday of each month, has attracted a number of musicians and growing number of appreciative listeners.

Most of the performances during the summer and fall were held on the lawn at the Doak House Museum, except in cases of inclement weather when they were held inside the museum.  Taking a break for the holidays, the program resumed earlier this year at the Doak House Museum and is being held indoors until the weather warms.

The two museums on campus are operated by the Department of Museum Program and Studies. The Doak House Museum is the 19^th century home of the Rev. Samuel Witherspoon Doak, co-founder of Tusculum College, and hosts thousands of school children from the region for a variety of educational programs related to the 19^th century as well as other community programs.

The President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library houses a special collection of items relating to the 17^th president, the college’s archives, special themed exhibits and volumes from the institution’s original library.

The two museums are also part of the National Historic District on the Tusculum College campus. Follow the museums on Facebook and Twitter to learn the latest news and upcoming events or visit its Web site at www.tusculum.edu/museums to learn more about the variety of programs offered at the museums.

Tweet This Post

Tusculum College students have spent the past three weeks working to landscape the historic African-American New Hope Cemetery, mapping the cemetery and researching the stories of the people who are buried there.

The students will make a presentation about what they have done and learned at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, in Room 101 of the Charles Oliver Gray Annex. The students are part of a Service-Learning in Northeast Tennessee course taught by Robin Fife, assistant professor of social science.

The presentation is open to the public.

The students have worked to landscape the cemetery, located near the intersection of New Hope and Old Shiloh roads.  The class members have also been mapping the cemetery to record the location of the headstones and the information on each one. The students have been doing research to discover more information about the individuals and their lives. Creation of a web site to include photos of the headstones and the information they have discovered about the individuals there is another project the students have undertaken.

Following the presentation, the public is invited to visit the cemetery to see the work of the students. Some members of the Pioneer Band will play at the cemetery as well.

The cemetery is all that remains of an African-American congregation’s church that once stood nearby, the New Hope Presbyterian Church.

The church also has ties to Tusculum College. In 1869, the Rev. William Stephenson Doak was appointed by the Holston Presbytery to serve as an itinerant missionary in Greene County and as such, preached to a group of African-Americans meeting for worship in a school house near Holley Creek.  At the time, Doak was serving as president of Tusculum College.

The group decided to form a church, which became New Hope, and requested affiliation with the Holston Presbytery, a governing body of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that includes churches in 12 Northeast Tennessee counties and one in Southwest Virginia.  Tusculum College also has a covenant agreement with the Holston Presbytery.

Tusculum students have been involved in the clean-up and rehabilitation of the cemetery since it was rediscovered about eight years ago.

Tweet This Post

A plastic bucket of water and a bowl of rice were waiting as dinner for a majority of the participants of the Oxfam Hunger Banquet Wednesday (March 23) at Tusculum College.

Representing the food resources of roughly half of the world’s population, the meager amount of food was shared by Tusculum students who sat on the floor and had no utensils to use other than plastic cups.

Coordinated by the Tusculum Bonner Leader student service organization, the Oxfam Hunger Banquet is designed to give participants, through their experience, an understanding of how the world’s food resources are distributed among the world population and some of the issues faced by people living at each level.

As they entered, each participant in the Hunger Banquet received a ticket that indicated in which economic group (low, middle, or high) he or she was assigned. The ticket also described the life of a specific individual in that economic group. Some tickets described two individuals, one in the economic group in a third world country and another one in the United States who had been helped by one of Oxfam’s programs to assist people in becoming self-sufficient.

Bonner Leader Kalie Smith served as the master of ceremonies, sharing statistics about each of the income groups.  The majority of the students and staff who attended were in the low-income group, representing about 50 percent of the world’s population. Smith told the group about a widow in Ethiopia struggling to raise seven children, a family that typically eats one small meal a day.

A smaller group was designated as the middle-income group, representing about 35 percent of the world’s population. This group fared a bit better as they were able to sit on chairs for their meal of rice and beans. This group did have plastic forks and plates to use during their meal.  Smith noted that this group often lives paycheck to paycheck and a loss of a job, a bad growing season or some other factor over which they usually have no control can result in dropping down into the low-income group.

Four people received “high-income” cards and were seated at a table set with silverware and glass tableware to be served a meal of pasta and salad. Smith noted that the high-income group represented about 15 percent of the world’s population, those earning $12,000 per year and up who can afford nutritious meals each day.

Smith also shared information from Oxfam about the causes of hunger, noting it is not an issue of a lack of food production but an unequal distribution of resources.

Participants were encouraged to learn more about hunger and its root causes, to share that information with others and to become involved with a group like Oxfam America that works to find solutions to poverty, hunger and injustice.

Oxfam America is a part of Oxfam International, a confederation of 14 Oxfams working in 98 countries. Together with individuals and local groups in these countries, Oxfam works to feed the hungry, help people overcome poverty and fight for social justice.

Tweet This Post

Please join Dr. Angela Keaton’s Commons 251 class for a Women’s Fair for the Tusculum College community. The event will be held in Niswonger Commons, in front of the Student Affairs Office and will include interactive displays about major gender issues that affect everyone. The event will be from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. on Monday, April 4 and Tuesday, April 5.

On Monday, April 4, students will be hosting a table with information about gender pay equity. As part of this project, there will be a unique bake sale to highlight the gender pay gap. All items will be $1 or less. In addition, you can buy a raffle ticket for a chance to win a homemade, chocolate Coca-Cola cake. All proceeds will benefit CHIPS (Change in Progress), a local organization dedicated to helping victims of domestic abuse.

On Tuesday, April 5 students will be providing information about heart disease. A leading cause of heart disease among women and men is stress - so you will have the opportunity to make your own stress-relief ball and get life-saving information about heart disease among women!

Also on Tuesday, students will be collecting old wireless phones and accessories to support HopeLine, Verizon Wireless’ program that works to prevent domestic violence and raise awareness about the issue. Any no longer used wireless phones and accessories from any service provider will be accepted. So if you have old phones and don’t know what to do with them - we can help!

This event is open to all faculty, staff and students - we look forward to seeing you!

For more information, please contact Dr. Angela Keaton, ext 5692 or akeaton@tusculum.edu

Tweet This Post