Voices Spring 2022

THE MAGAZINE OF THE COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND FINE ARTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

SPRING 2022

FASHION FORWARD The Department of Art ushers in a newly revamped Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising program unlike anything else in the region

PRESIDENT Dr. M. David Rudd EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY RELATIONS Tammy Hedges DEAN Dr. Anne Hogan EXECUTIVE EDITOR Casey Hilder PHOTOGRAPHY Wendy Adams ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN University of Memphis Division for External Relations PUBLISHED BY University of Memphis College of Communication and Fine Arts 232 CFA Building Memphis, TN 38152 901.678.2350 memphis.edu/ccfa

To submit story ideas, alumni updates or other CCFA-related inquiries, please contact Casey Hilder at CCFA@memphis.edu.

The University of Memphis does not discriminate against students, employees or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, age, status as a protected veteran, genetic information or any other legally protected class with respect to all employment, programs and activities sponsored by the University of Memphis.

For inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies, please contact the Director for Institutional Equity, kpndrsn1@memphis.edu, 156 Administration Building, 901.678.2713.

The University of Memphis policy on nondiscrimination can be found at policies. memphis.edu/UM1381.htm.

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CCFA | SPRING 2022

D E A N ’ S M E S S AG E

FA S H I O N F O R WA R D

The Department of Art ushers in a newly revamped Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising program unlike anything else in the region

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A M U M F O R E V E RY B O DY

A series of new and interactive digital exhibits lead the charge in reimagining the museum experience for 2022 and beyond

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F E AT U R E D FAC U LT Y: R U OX U WA N G Department of Journalism & Strategic Media

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F E AT U R E D FAC U LT Y: A N D R E W PA R K S Department of Architecture

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F E AT U R E D FAC U LT Y: A R T I N A M C C A I N

Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music

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A T I G E R ’ S TA L E I N H O L LY W O O D

UofM Film & Video Production MA alum Shannon McIntosh, producer on the film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” shares her moviemaking journey

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contents

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C O M M S T U DY W I T H U S

A bevy of exciting new projects are on the horizon as the Department of Communication & Film continues to produce award-winning work on a grand scale

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G O I N G T H E D I S TA N C E

The Department of Theatre & Dance’s distance MFA program for working professionals in the design/ technology area brings a new class of students to CCFA

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A R T S & H E A LT H I N AC T I O N

Exploring the impact of new studies led by faculty members of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music and the Department of Communication & Film

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REMEMBERING ROBERT FOGELMAN

Remembering the lasting legacy of Robert Fogelman, real estate executive, philanthropist and namesake of The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries

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N E W S & N OT E S

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D E A N ’ S M E S SAG E

W

elcome to the spring 2022 edition of Voices, the magazine of the College of Communication and Fine Arts.

As outlined in our strategic plan, CCFA aims to further advance an academic community where “creativity, culture and ideas flourish and provide a fertile environment for the artists, scholars, educators, architects, communicators and innovators of the future.” The people and the projects that are showcased in these pages tell the story, or at least part of the story, of a college on an upward trajectory toward that vision; one whose future-oriented momentum is propelled by a deep commitment to empowering our students to serve, and to thrive, as agents of positive change.

CCFA’s recent accomplishments are even more poignant for the tumultuousness of the times during which they have unfolded. Our world has been profoundly disrupted by a global pandemic that has lasted more than two years, as well as an onslaught of socio-economic uncertainties, and the CCFA community has experienced much hardship and loss. The past four semesters – four semesters! - have been heart wrenching, and yet I continue to be awed and inspired by the ingenuity, resilience

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and, perhaps most importantly, the compassion of our CCFA community.

It’s an honor to serve as dean for a college comprised of so many talented and highly productive faculty, staff, students and alumni. I commend the CCFA community for its wideranging achievements, and I also want to express my gratitude to our many supporters for their commitment to our vision and mission. And there is, indeed, much to celebrate!

For starters, the University of Memphis has achieved its goal of attaining Carnegie R1 status and is now formally classified as a top-tier research institution. Attaining this designation is a triumph for the University and I want to commend CCFA for the outstanding research and high-quality teaching that have contributed to this high-profile recognition of educational and research excellence for the UofM. As I write, the Scheidt Family Music Center is rapidly nearing completion, and what a stunning sight it is on Central Avenue! We are counting the days until the end of May, when construction is anticipated to be realized, and eagerly looking forward to celebrating the official opening next fall and hearing beautiful music played in a fantastic venue.

The Scheidt Family Music Center will offer a state-of-the-art performance and rehearsal space for the Rudi E.

Scheidt School of Music. It will also make possible a wide range of creative gatherings that will serve our college, the UofM and our wider community; while honoring the legacy of Rudi and Honey Scheidt and their generous devotion to their dream of a worldclass home for the outstanding Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. I am extremely grateful for the continuing support of the Scheidt family, and so many others who have contributed to this gamechanging music center (see page 44).

CCFA’s increasing visibility and impact affirms the multifaceted excellence of our community. The following pages will introduce you to some extraordinary individuals, including film alumni Shannon McIntosh, one of the world’s foremost movie producers and recent recipient of a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (see page 18).

On behalf of CCFA, I want to express our sadness at the passing of Robert Fogelman, an extremely knowledgeable art lover and an indefatigably generous supporter of CCFA and the University of Memphis. Mr. Fogelman is greatly missed (see page 32).

I want to share with you how excited we are to integrate a new fashion program into the Department of Art. The program has already attracted many students eager to explore their passion for fashion, and I am confident that it will continue to grow and deepen its links with the burgeoning fashion scene in Memphis.

Finally, I want to give you a bit of advance notice about the soon-tobe launched student radio stream, The Roar, a key component of the UofM’s partnership with Crosstown Concourse and The Daily Memphian that has already established Memphis’s new free-form radio station, WYXR. This partnership facilitates student engagement with WYXR, including

opportunities for internships and special projects. The Roar will complement the radio station by giving students the opportunity to develop and produce content on a specialized stream. More news coming soon!

I hope that you enjoy the 2022 edition of Voices, and that if you have not already, you will subscribe to our Voices blog (blogs.memphis. edu/ccfa) to keep abreast of CCFA events and accomplishments.

I greatly appreciate your interest in our wonderful college.

Anne F. Hogan, Dean of CCFA

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Fashion FORWARD

THE DEPARTMENT OF ART USHERS IN A NEWLY REVAMPED FASHION DESIGN AND FASHION MERCHANDISING PROGRAM UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE IN THE REGION

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ith the incorporation of a new and expanded Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising program joining the Department of Art, CCFA students have yet another way to express themselves and stand out in increasingly competitive creative fields.

“We are absolutely thrilled to take on this high-quality program that has already established such incredible connections to the fashion industry in Memphis under the leadership of Sonin Lee,” says CCFA dean Anne Hogan. “It feels like the natural home. Looking ahead, there’s so much potential synergy for interesting interdisciplinary work for all of our programs across the College of Communication and Fine Arts.”

The program is built around Visual Arts, Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandising and Global Art Histories concentrations.

The University of Memphis is the only public institution in the state and the only university in the region to offer a Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising concentrations within the BA Art degree. The BA fashion curriculum consists of a 15-hour art core and a 24-hour art focus.

“We were asked if our department was interested and I immediately said yes,” says Richard Lou, chair of the Department of Art. “What was there to think about? Fashion Design is yet another articulation of the art world and how people express themselves. Of course, this is a home for them.”

When the Department of Art was presented with the opportunity to acquire the Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising program from the College of Professional & Liberal Studies, the outcome was obvious for all involved.

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Lou credits Hogan for arranging a meeting between Department of Art representatives and Richard Irwin, dean of the College of Professional & Liberal Studies.

The new BA degree from the Department of Art allowed for the transference of Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising students from the College of Professional & Liberal Studies to the College of Communication and Fine Arts, in essence applying the appropriate nationally recognized art degree and more visibility to an expanding program. The program graduated its first crop of students under the banner of the Department of Art in the spring of 2021.

“We’re still in the process of transitioning, but the faculty and I

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are very excited,” Lou says. “Once we completely integrate the fashion design program, you’ll see fashion students walking around the building, sharing their work with the rest of the creative community within the department.”

Lee, clinical associate professor and program coordinator with the Department of Art, is credited as the person behind the move and was tasked with expanding and modernizing the program in its new home. Lee previously taught fashion merchandising and design courses in Los Angeles for more than 15 years.

“There’s a difference between a professional degree and a fine arts degree, and fashion is one of those areas that could really be seen as either one,” says Lee. “At the end of the day, it just made sense that the fashion

program ended up in the Department of Art where it would thrive.”

Lee, who moved to Memphis from Los Angeles five years ago to take a job as a professor of fashion merchandising, was no stranger to both the fashion program and the Department of Art. She fit in right away as things took shape.

“When I got the job, I immediately started rewriting the whole fashion merchandising program,” she says. “It was so clear from the start that this was something that Memphis wanted and needed.”

As part of the effort to modernize the preexisting fashion courses, Lee brought in new software and focused classes around things like editorial photo shoots and consumer

engagement in the digital era.

Lucas Charles, an associate professor of graphic design with the Department of Art, shepherded the process of transitioning the existing fashion curriculum to its new home, accounting for things like budget, personnel and equipment availability.

“For us, it was a whole group of students that we believed we could really support,” Charles says. “We took the time and looked at it from an accreditation and national standards approach to create an appropriate degree option that fits the nature of the practice. It has also helped us to build a strong BA program in the department, which didn’t exist before the integration of fashion.”

As a result of this new program, the Department of Art expects an increased enrollment of more than 25% over the next two years. Lee, Lou, Charles and others are currently looking at the department’s available space to physically integrate the new program into a department that is quickly growing.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Lou says.

“One that will require some reimagining of the space within the Department of Art and college as a whole, but we are up for it.”

For students like Colin Chapman, a junior fashion merchandising major, the presence of a strong fashion program presents a huge draw for enrollment.

“As a Memphian, a lot of us try to attend school somewhere outside the city, but at the last minute — literally one week before school started — I transferred to Memphis and enrolled in my first fashion class in the fall of 2019,” he says. “I loved it, I loved how interactive it was, how the teachers brought in people from the field and how active all the instructors are in the industry. It has become my favorite thing ever.”

Chapman studies fashion merchandising, which means his coursework focuses on the business end of things as well as behavioral aspects of clothing.

Brooke Ballard, an adjunct professor with the Department of Art, teaches merchandise buying with knowledge drawn from her own 10plus years of experience in the retail field.

Ballard graduated from the program in 2018 and began teaching in January of 2020.

“When I found out we were moving to the Department of Art, I was so excited,” she says.

“The students already see themselves as artists, and I believe this transition will help our program grow even more.”

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Although a nascent program in the Department of Art, Lee and co., have already formed crucial community partnerships with the likes of Abby Phillips, head of Arrow Creative and executive director of Memphis Fashion Week. In addition, Lee serves as liaison for Memphis Fashion Week’s Emerging Memphis Designer Project, which helps bring the work of new local designers to a larger audience.

“Our local partnerships have helped the community really learn about our program by getting our name out there,” she says. “I even have a couple of students now in the program who started as emerging designers.”

With a growing local buzz, Lee hopes to raise visibility for the program through more community partnerships and local collaborations in the future.

“That speaks tremendously to Sonin’s charisma, she is a dynamic person,” says Lou. “It’s really to her credit that she has plugged into our community so quickly.”

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Fashion design students are tasked with learning things like pattern drafting, textiles, basic industry sewing and computer-aided design. For students like Bobbye Scurlock, senior fashion design major, that means cultivating a distinct personal style and finding ways to showcase work in any way possible.

“I love fashion, clothes and styling different looks,” says Scurlock, whose own personal style can run the gamut from streetwear to Met Gala-inspired ensembles.

Another student, senior studio art major Vince Long, returned to UofM after a 10-year absence when he learned of the new program.

“I knew I wanted to go back to school and I was going through the list of possibilities knowing that I wanted to maintain my existing art background,” says Long. “My first time around, the fashion program didn’t exist, so I knew that was something different that I really wanted to pursue.

I chose the fashion design program because I wanted to stay in the art world,

and this is a very utilitarian aspect of that world that really appeals to my brain.”

Long works on campus as manager of the fashion lab located at 400D Manning Hall. His fashion design goal is to create his own brand of sneakers while crafting his own line of sustainable, environmentally friendly apparel.

“Since joining the program, sustainability has been a big part of absolutely everything I do," he says. “At the end of the day, I want to see more clothing out there that is comfortable and doesn’t kill the planet.”

Both Scurlock and Long wear their curriculum influence on their sleeve in the form of custom-embroidered clothing of their own creation.

“This program is incredibly important for us because we’re tapping into the talent that’s already here locally, not in New York or California,” Lou says. “This area might one day become a central hub for fashion thinking and conceptualizing in

the Mid-South. You see it going on all over the world: culture making has become decentralized, and now artists have the ability to make anything from anywhere as long as they have internet access which grants them the ability to jump into that global market.”

Faculty members behind the new program hope to see crossover among a wide variety of art majors thanks to the potential to take fashion courses as electives.

“It just seems like we have a chance to all help one another,” says Lee. “For example, we offer textile courses and many sculpture students already work with textiles and soft sculpture. They certainly can come over and take our textile courses to better understand the properties of different textiles. The same goes for different branches of graphic design and photography.”

Lucas Scott Smith

There are several Fashion Merchandising courses that would also benefit these students.

At the same time, Lee points out that many of the technical-minded fashion program students could benefit from branching out into different disciplines, hoping to see synergy among different practices like sculpture, photography and even art history.

“Conversely, some of the fashion students are interested in more avante-garde and wearable art,” says Lee. “Fashion students are more avant-garde, so I’d imagine that sculpture component really appeals to them, as well.”

While the establishment of a BA in contrast to its many BFA-centric degrees was a big draw for the Department of Art, Charles sees

the integration of fashion as a great place to kickstart a number of new and compelling design disciplines.

“I think the department is really looking to expand in a lot of ways at the moment and fashion is a great place to start,” he says. “It will be interesting to see what that kind of dynamic can create now that we have a whole other facet of design and art understanding in our department.

There’s interest in all these different

areas, and the presence of fashion makes it so much easier for students to move in and out of these disciplines while navigating their core coursework.”

Upcoming plans for the Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising program include a spring museum exhibit at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis featuring a wearable art show that will be open to all students, not just fashion majors.

“I absolutely can’t wait to see a fashion show in our galleries soon.”

- Richard Lou, Chair of the Department of Art

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HERE’S NO FEELING QUITE LIKE BROWSING A MUSEUM AND SEEING CENTURIES OF CREATIVE

works in just a few short steps. Over the past year, the staff of the Art Museum of the University of Memphis has worked to bring that unique sensation of peering through the lens of history beyond the gallery halls to the homes and devices of art aficionados and curious souls worldwide by documenting a substantial array of permanent collections online.

“We didn’t have much of an alternative at the time,” says Leslie Luebbers, director of the Art Museum at the University of Memphis, citing the uncertainty of the pandemic as one of the driving factors behind the decision to revamp AMUM’s online catalog. “It was an act of necessity, but also a great opportunity for us.”

AMUM FOR EVERYBODY THE ART MUSEUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS LEADS THE CHARGE IN CREATING A DIGITAL MUSEUM EXPERIENCE FOR 2022 AND BEYOND

The new online catalog contains collections managed by the Art Museum of the University of Memphis (AMUM) and the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology (IEAA). At the bottom of each catalog record, viewers will find a data field indicating which organization manages the object. Questions related to objects in the collections can be addressed to the appropriate contact within the museum, adding the potential for backand-forth discussion between visitors and curators.

The online catalog groups art in many different ways that might be helpful to the viewer, allowing items to be sorted by material, medium (drawings, fine art prints, paintings and sculpture), collections (including the sizable ancient Egypt and African art collections) and place of origin. The online collections database is steadily growing, with an overarching goal to bring AMUM’s complete catalog online in the near future.

Luebbers credits Kristy Griffin, the new assistant director of the Art Museum at the University of Memphis, for taking up the substantial task of logging hundreds of works of art in a sizable digital database of sorts.

“This was not my first museum that I’ve taken online,” says Griffin, who once helped establish a substantial online presence for the Wyoming State Museum by documenting several thousands of items online in a collection that numbered up to 70,000.

“That particular museum had been collecting since around 1895, so they have quite a lot of stuff.”

The complete catalog of AMUM, which opened its doors in 1981, is comparatively smaller, housing more than 4,000 different items including the IEAA collection.

Portrait/Figure Study of Sarah Crone in Period Costume, August 1895 | Samuel Hester Crone (18581913) | Chalk on brown paper | Gift of William S. Huff.

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instead of simply logging items,” Griffin says.

This free-to-use platform allows for virtual exhibits to be easily created and maintained for the purpose of showcasing art in a variety of ways. This is achieved through blog or wiki-style pages, as well as more freeform design layouts.

“What’s really nice is that each of these pages can be displayed in a way that looks very different from one another, so it’s like being guided through a museum in different sections,” Griffin says. “A lot of this is student-driven and we started the process with Hindsight 2020, which we built from the ground up knowing that was how we needed to display it due to all the closures and uncertainty at the time.”

I Have Been to the Mountaintop, post 1977 | Richard Hunt, American, b.1935 | Ink and pencil on paper | Purchased by Bernice Cooper with support from Hope Christian Community Foundation.

For Griffin and Luebbers, the transition to a digital catalog offered a crucial connection to the museum’s collection of historic works during a time where museums across the country were unable to operate as usual.

“If we ever get stuck working at home, we can still look at our collections and do certain kinds of research," Griffin says.

“This was a big part of helping us to join during closures.”

The new online catalog was achieved through the use of a collection management system called PastPerfect Museum Software, a catalog system used by museums across the country to track things such as outgoing loans, incoming loans and temporary items. AMUM employees all have a unique login that can access and build upon the collection from anywhere with a connection to the internet, while a function called “public access” allows catalog records to be listed for viewing by anyone as a key public-facing feature of the software.

The museum’s online catalog is now available for viewing at amum.catalogaccess.com.

Further innovative moves from AMUM include the implementation and regular use of Omeka, an open source web-publishing platform built specifically to display museum collections and exhibitions.

Griffin says the idea behind this new method of showcasing artists’ work came with a desire to disrupt the traditional curatorial voice in terms of who has the power to craft the narrative in a museum, which was embodied in Hindsight 2020’s hard-edged take on documenting the racial turmoil and uncertainty of 2020.

“There is a push in the museum field right now to question the traditional curatorial voice, and to try and wrestle some of the power to craft cultural narratives away from museums and place it in the hands of the community,” she says.

“These types of efforts have DEAI goals, with aspirations of creating platforms for new voices to be heard and to make museum spaces more approachable. At the UofM, the students are our community and they should be supported and empowered to craft narratives reflective of their lived experiences. That was the driving force behind the exhibit.”

A selection of AMUM’s virtual exhibitions can be found online at amum.omeka.net.

“The online exhibitions do wonders for our teaching mission, which is a big part of what I do,” Luebbers says. “These exhibitions allow us to continue to work with our students involved in the museum studies program. This is the kind of work, as well, that can bring in many students who have not identified as having an explicit interest in museum studies.”

Carving of an Equestrian Figure, ca. 16th/18th Century | Dogon/Mali Culture | Wood | Gift of Martha and Robert Fogelman.

“It’s a little bit different from something like our digital catalog in that you’re actually adding a curatorial oversight and narrative to the exhibits

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R UOXU WA NG Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism & Strategic Media

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need to observe and document the effects of contemporary forms of mass media is what drives Dr. Ruoxu Wang, one of the most active research scholars at the University of Memphis and recipient of the 2021 CCFA Dean’s Award for Research.

Wang joined the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media as an assistant professor of advertising in 2017. Before arriving at the UofM, she received her PhD from Pennsylvania State University, and her master’s and bachelor's degrees from North Dakota State University. She teaches a range of both graduate and undergraduate classes, including courses on visual media, creative strategy, web publishing, media planning and quantitative research methods.

Wang’s research focuses on the intersection of media effects and persuasion under the context of strategic communication and communication technology. Her work has been published in a wide variety of peerreviewed journals, including Mass Communication and Society, Telematics and Informatics, International Journal of Human Computer Interaction and Social Media + Society, among others.

“I am passionate about research as it relates to social media, websites and user experience,” she says. “At first, my research interest was pretty much just focused on the psychological impact of the emerging technologies, but as I continued my study at Penn State, I started to learn more about strategic communications such as public relations, advertising and persuasion. So right now, I like to focus on where technology and advertising meet.”

I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT RESEARCH AS IT RELATES TO SOCIAL MEDIA, WEBSITES AND USER EXPERIENCE

With a mind geared toward the intersection of advertising and technology, it is no surprise that much of what Wang studies is related to things like web design, mobile gaming and virtual reality. In 2019 and 2020, Wang secured Communities of Research Scholars (CoRS) grants from the University of Memphis to engage in the study of mobile VR gaming.

Other studies by Wang include examining the most effective ways to display advertising messages on wearable devices and the many factors that can influence ad effectiveness, as well as a study titled, “Catch them all: Exploring the psychological impact of playing Pokemon GO,” that explores the impact of the 2016 mobile game phenomena.

“For the mobile VR gaming study, Dr. Jin Yang and I collaborated with Dr. Amy Cook with the Department of Computer Science to create a simple racing game that displayed two different ads, the impact of which was measured on user experience,” Wang says. “It’s still an ongoing process, but it is very exciting.”

“We conducted the study in 2016 when everyone was crazy about the game,” Wang says. “We looked at the connection between these different gaming features it offered and how that can impact a sense of community and psychological well-being among players.”

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For Wang, one of the most interesting and unique parts of her work is how much it deals with the human element.

“Many of the studies we do within our department deal with social science research,” she says. “We study

D E PA R T M E N T O F J O U R N A L I S M & S T R AT E G I C M E D I A

Wang’s most recent published study, which appeared in the Journal of Communication Technology, was titled “User Experience (UX) Matters: What are the Most Desired Skills in the UX Designer and UX Researcher Job Ads” and examined 200 UX job ads, 100 UX designer ads and 100 UX researcher ads to determine the most needed skills in the field of user experience.

people a lot. We deal with people and rely on them to build conclusions, so it isn’t like chemistry or physics.”

Dr. Wang’s work was recognized with the top paper awards from AEJMC and IPRRC in 2016. In 2019, she won the Top Three Most Promising Professor Award from AEJMC’s Mass Communication and Society Division. In 2020, she won the D. Mike Pennington Outstanding Mentoring Award from the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media. In addition, she currently serves as the associate chair of the awards committee at AEJMC’s Mass Communication and Society Division.

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A N D REW PA RK S

Instructor, Department of Architecture

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ndrew Parks can see the future, and his banner-sized architectural renderings of the upcoming Schiedt Family Music Center displayed on the north end of campus prove it.

Parks, an Instructor in the Department of Architecture, is the mastermind of the architectural visualizations at archimania, the local architecture firm behind the design of the music center, a soon-to-be crown jewel of the Central Avenue Arts Corridor to be completed in 2022.

“I got to be involved in the design of the new music building very early on during the conceptual stages,” Parks says. “I’ve gotten to stay involved throughout the process by creating all of the architectural visualizations for the project.”

An award-winning, multi-faceted designer with nearly two decades of experience working on commercial and residential projects at many scales, Parks specializes in utilizing digital rendering and modeling as a way to develop, test and bring design ideas to life.

As part of one of the most complex acoustical architecture projects of the region in the Scheidt Family Music Center, archimania conducted a series of cross-departmental meetings to create a new building that would be designed from the ground up with sound in mind. Parks had the task of creating the visualizations that would tell the design story and communicate the team’s vision of the exterior form and materiality as well as the interior spaces, atmosphere and finishes. “archimania has done a lot of performance venues, including the Live at The Garden venue at Memphis Botanic Garden and the outdoor performance venue at Germantown

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THE SCHEIDT FAMILY MUSIC CENTER WILL BE AN ABSOLUTE TRANSFORMER OF A MUSIC SPACE THAT CAN ADAPT TO ALL MANNER OF ACOUSTICS AND PERFORMANCE STYLES

Performing Arts Center,” he says.

“As architects and designers, we know we can’t come and say ‘the design has to drive this project.’ We absolutely have to be able to adapt within constraints.”

music program representatives.

In addition to sound concerns, members of the archimania crew will help determine how the feel of the space can be altered through different lighting and stage setups.

Since the project started, a team of archimania designers has regularly coordinated with acoustical consultants and engineers, as well as CCFA and

“It will be an absolute transformer of a music space that can adapt to all manner of acoustics and performance styles,” he says. “It was very exciting to be part of

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on the history of architecture taught by now-Department of Architecture chair Michael Hagge.

“I was blown away when I saw the ways that people think about buildings as a way to discuss culture, express ideas and integrate with the environment around them,” Parks says. “Early on, I didn’t know what I wanted to major in, but it all came together after that course with Michael Hagge and I’ve never looked back.”

After graduation, Parks headed to UT Knoxville for two years to earn a professional Master of Architecture degree before returning to Memphis to take a job at archimania.

“I only ever interviewed with this firm since I knew where I wanted to be,” he says. “Luckily, I got the job.”

A native Memphian, Parks earned a BFA in architecture and a BS in engineering technology at the University of Memphis.

For Parks, dual majoring offered the sort of technical knowledge that could grant a distinct advantage over his peers.

“I started in engineering technology

and, in my third year, the program shifted to architecture,” he says. “I was able to add an extra year and earn both degrees, which was excellent because there was such an overlap between the courses I was taking at the time.”

The son of a contractor and an avid artist himself, Parks discovered how to fuse his interests in a dynamic way in 1997 when he signed up for a course

Parks was recognized at the 2021 AIA Memphis Gala and Celebration of Architecture for his work at archimania with an Honor Award for Girls Inc. South Park + LDT Centers and a Merit Award for East Memphis House. He served as lead designer and photographer for both projects.

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that kind of dynamic back-and-forth that makes for such good projects.”

After taking a full-time job at the University of Memphis in 2019 following 15 years as an adjunct instructor, Parks is still active within archimania in a part-time capacity. As a result, a wealth of real-life experience informs his teaching style in his courses, which are focused on things like the architectural design process, visual communication, architectural visualizations and digital media.

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A RTI NA MCCA I N

Coordinator of Keyboard Area, Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music

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ith a lifetime goal of promoting and promulgating the moving music created by underrepresented Black and female composers, Dr. Artina McCain, coordinator of keyboard area in the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, has a way of celebrating musical history while creating her own.

“Many works of Black composers, and other underrepresented composers, have been historically overlooked,” said McCain. “So, there’s opportunity here. Most people have never heard this wonderful music before.”

Expanding the musical canon beyond the three Bs of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms is just one of the many achievements of McCain, who is described as a pianist with “power and finesse” by the Dallas Arts Society. McCain enjoys an active career as a solo and chamber performer, educator and lecturer. In addition to teaching applied chamber music and piano pedagogy in the School of Music, McCain performs nationally and internationally throughout Europe, Asia and the United States.

In March of 2021, McCain performed alongside one of the country's most renowned orchestras in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra during a time when most large musical ensembles remained shut down.

“We performed the Florence Price Concerto,” McCain says. “Her music is experiencing a renaissance lately as one of the leading American composers. The orchestra programmed her piano concerto in one movement along with a commissioned work by composers and Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin, as well as works by William Grant Still and Black composers.”

McCain’s educationally-focused performance was recorded and broadcast to more than 2,000 high school, middle and elementary students nationwide. In addition, she recently authored the African American Folk Songs Collection “24 Traditional Folk Songs for Intermediate Piano Solo,” one of several in a series published

by Hal Leonard. The book aims to introduce younger and/or intermediate musicians to unique African American history, spirituals and

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rhythms in a pedagogical format to increase their musical knowledge and skill set. The book includes recognizable hymns like “Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing,” “Wade in the Water” and “Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child,” alongside in-depth notes and beautiful illustrations.

“Some of these songs have become quite familiar and woven into American history,” she says. “And at the intermediate level, many students and hobbyist pianists can play them!”

McCain is also the new curator of the new Mahogany Chamber Series at Crosstown Arts. Composers featured prominently in McCain’s recent performances include the likes of Price and Margaret Bonds, both of whom rose to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance period alongside celebrated author Langston Hughes.

F E AT U R E D / FAC U LT Y

ONE OF THE MOTIVATING FACTORS IS THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC’S NEW YAMAHA DISKLAVIER, US TO DO VIRTUAL MASTERCLASSES

“I’m very excited to bring this music to Memphis,” said McCain. “Many people who hear this sort of music are often surprised at just how familiar and influential it is in a way that’s not just specific to Black people, but all ethnic cultures.”

McCain is the mind behind the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music’ Memphis International Piano Festival + Competition, an annual event that celebrates the piano through concerts, masterclasses and competitive and non-competitive youth performance events by showcasing the very best pianists from the Memphis area and beyond. Although the events of the past two years were markedly different than piano festivals of days gone by due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McCain and her colleague Dr. Jonathan Tsay were able to incorporate

some innovative technology to keep the show going.

“One of the motivating factors is the School of Music’s new Yamaha Disklavier, which allows us to do virtual international masterclasses,” McCain says. “The instrument can communicate with other Disklaviers and produces a live sound for student and teachers in their respective locations.”

McCain was the recipient of the 2021 Dean's Award for Creative Achievement, which recognizes outstanding achievement in the creative arts in the UofM community.

In February of 2022, McCain made her debut at Wigmore Hall in London in an inaugural series titled “African Concert Series” alongside the Emmy-winning Titus Underwood on oboe and Ebonee Thomas on flute.

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RUDI E. SCHEIDT SCHOOL OF MUSIC

WHICH ALLOWS

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

W

hen Shannon McIntosh, a 1991 graduate of the Department of Communication & Film, won a Golden Globe for her role as producer on “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” she was joined onstage by the likes of Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Quentin Tarantino. As a longtime Tarantino collaborator with decades of producer credits under her belt in films like “Grindhouse,” "Angels Sing," “Django Unchained” and “The Hateful Eight,” McIntosh was no stranger among modern moviemaking greats.

“When you go into any award show situation, you never know if you’re going to take home the prize, but you’re a winner if you made it there,” she says.

Up against stiff competition in the form of Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit,” Memphian Craig Brewer’s “Dolemite is My Name” and Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out,” the Tarantino-directed comedy-drama won the 2020 Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, as well as Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and a Critic’s Choice Award.

“Good to see the UofM at the Golden Globes,” University of Memphis President Dr. M. David Rudd tweeted after the awards show.

“That's our own Film & Video Production M.A. Alum, Shannon McIntosh. She was the producer of the film. Go Tigers.”

As a producer, McIntosh’s responsibilities include a little bit of everything, but her overarching goal is always to make sure the director’s vision appears on the screen.

“The producer role is different for every movie, depending on the project,” she says.

“But essentially, where there are loose ends, it’s your job to iron them out.”

“Just because a movie hits theaters doesn’t mean your job is over – it’s never over, really,” she says.

Prior to her role as independent producer, Shannon worked as executive VP at Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company, where she managed and oversaw the entire life of a film, from production to release to postrelease life. Originally from Atlanta, McIntosh attended the University of Miami to study acting and soon found herself obsessed with 18 VOICES | UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

A Tiger’s Tale in Hollywood

UofM Film & Video Production MA Alum Shannon McIntosh, producer on the film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” shares her moviemaking journey

filmmaking, especially in regard to documentaries. She was active in various student activities across the Miami campus, which eventually led to her attending the University of Memphis as a graduate advisor to the student activities program.

As a UofM graduate student studying film and video production, McIntosh learned movie history and the art of shooting and editing.

“I studied under some great professors, a couple of whom have just retired in Steven Ross and David Appleby,” she says. “And also Roxie Gee, who is still there.

I learned a tremendous amount from the three of them while I was at the University of Memphis.

The impact that David and Steven had on the department and their students is indelible, I am sure it will be felt by generations to come.”

After earning her degree from the UofM, McIntosh headed to the Northeast to tackle a variety of jobs that ranged from PBS programming to medical instructional videos before receiving a call from Miramax Films.

“They needed someone who understood all levels of production and post-production to come in and help to finish a project,” she says. “I originally signed up for a three-month job and I stayed there for 13 years.”

Many of those early years brought McIntosh together with legendary director Quentin Tarantino, who she has known since production of his breakout 1994 hit, “Pulp Fiction.”

“In a way, it’s like we’ve kind of grown up together,” she says. “I met him just after he’d done Reservoir Dogs and during the making of Pulp Fiction, we’d take phone calls and discuss post-production between me in NY and him in LA. The first day I actually met him in person was his birthday and also the day he won the Academy Award.”

From there, she worked on several Tarantino productions, including the 1996 film “From Dusk Till Dawn.”

“He is an auteur: a writer, director and film aficionado,” McIntosh says.

“Every time you’re with Quentin,

you learn something about movies you didn’t know before. You really have to keep a notepad on hand to keep track of all the movies he names. He loves film history and is very much willing to teach.”

McIntosh has diverse personal taste in film, with a list of favorites that includes “Cinema Paradiso,” “Apocalypse Now,” and “Iron Monkey.” She currently has a slate of kung fu movies she’s working her way through.

“The most important thing to know about a project is that when you dive into a movie, you’re going to be with it for a long time,” she says.

“The difference between myself and other producers is — probably because I come from the distribution studio background — I work through every stage of the life of a movie.

They’re with me for a long time, so you absolutely have to have a love or passion for each project.”

McIntosh’s passion was on full display during the sleepless nights and uncertain air associated with the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic during production of her latest film, a vibrant, musical rendition of “Cinderella” that featured the likes of Idina Menzel, James Corden, Billy Porter, Camila Cabello, Pierce Brosnan and Minnie Driver.

“We made it exactly 22 days into production before we had to shut the movie down,” she says.

A two-week shutdown soon stretched into months as McIntosh returned home to Los Angeles to be with her family.

“After that first shutdown, we just started figuring out ways that we could go back and shoot safely,” she says. “We really had to think to figure out what would work best for our production.”

Production resumed in August of 2020, with spiking cases in the U.K. and U.S. further complicating matters along the way. On set, participants were tested multiple times a week.

“These people needed to work, they needed to make money, but we needed to adhere to these new protocols,” she says. “I felt like I was a general in a war. My most important job on the set has always been the health and safety of the crew, and this one took that idea and notched it up in a big way.

If a crewmember sneezed, we would send them home with full pay. We found a way to keep moving that was effective and we made it through and we all cried on the last day once it was all done.”

While Sony Pictures, the film’s production company, initially hoped for a theatrical release, additional concerns as the Delta variant spread meant that “Cinderella” would premiere on Amazon Prime streaming services in the fall of 2021.

“It’s a time when the world needs joy, and there is a lot of joy in this movie,” McIntosh says.

“We’re not saving lives or anything, but people like their entertainment. I think it helps.”

McIntosh says that initial call to go to Miramax was among the most pivotal moments in her filmmaking career.

“I never thought I would stick with a studio that long,” she says. “I was able to work with a super-smart group of young, hungry executives and filmmakers.

That movement at that time in independent films really did change the course of film history.

As an executive leader in the male-dominated world of post-production, McIntosh says her upbringing helped form a unique outlook on the business.

“I grew up with brothers and it never really occurred to me that I couldn’t do something,” she says. “I never really thought of myself as any different, so I couldn’t be deterred. There have been some times where I felt like I may have been addressed differently if I was not a woman, but I have always been the type to set my path.”

As a wife and mother of two sons, McIntosh has been fortunate enough to take her family along when filming some of the fantastic locales that serve as backdrops in her movies.

Her advice: “Don’t look back and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something,” she says. “I was able to have kids and a husband that support me while building my career. You can have both and don’t believe anyone who says you can’t.”

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COMM A

new group of graduate film faculty is reenergizing the award-winning film curriculum of the Department of Communication & Film following the retirement of two beloved longtime faculty members.

With an emphasis on innovative forms of storytelling, the trio of David Goodman, associate professor of film and video production, and new UofM hires Dr. Elja Roy and Marty Lang now lead the filmmaking side of the department to new horizons following the recent retirement of a pair of department stalwarts in David Appleby and Steven Ross, both of whom are now recognized as professors emeriti.

“The faculty who have retired have done an incredible job of leading the department to where it is now, as well as helping with selecting the recent hires we have made to

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fill the gaps,” says Dr. Wendy Atkins-Sayre, chair and professor of rhetoric and media studies with the Department of Communication & Film.

“Their contributions have been really important to get us to this point and they’re still involved in some ways. David and Steve still make visits to campus while working on their own projects and mentoring faculty and students. It’s great that they’re still available to participate in some ways and help build this new phase of the program.”

Ross and Appleby both announced their respective retirements in 2020 and 2021 after more than 30 years of teaching at the UofM. Lang and Roy joined the faculty of the Department of Communication

STUDY WITH US

A BEVY OF EXCITING NEW PROJECTS ARE ON THE HORIZON AS THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION & FILM CONTINUES TO PRODUCE AWARD-WINNING WORK ON A GRAND SCALE

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James Neal as Gavin in Marty Lang's new directorial effort STAY WITH ME.

and Film in 2020 and 2021, while Goodman has taught film and video production for the past four years.

“David Goodman was once a student here as well, so he brings with him both years of experience from being a faculty member, as well as that of a former student,” Atkins-Sayre says. “I think that combination really sets him up well for leadership within the department.”

Goodman’s latest project, titled “A Ballet Season,” is a featurelength documentary film created alongside Ross that covers Ballet Memphis’ last full season before the COVID-19 pandemic. After securing permission from Ballet Memphis to create a totally independent film, the filmmakers showed up repeatedly over the course of more than a year to shoot upwards of 80 hours of footage. The film covered the production process of traditional ballets like “The Nutcracker” and more modern shows dealing with timely themes and subjects. It also chronicles the unexpected, including injuries and the retirements of the company’s unofficial prima ballerina, Crystal Brothers, and Ballet Memphis CEO and founding artistic director Dorothy Gunther Pugh.

Goodman teaches courses in motion picture production, cinematography and documentary.

“Since I make documentary films myself, it’s definitely the practice that I choose to bring with me into the classroom,” says Goodman, who specializes in camera-based work such as filming and editing. “The work springs from the camera, and that 22 VOICES | UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

is where I spend most of my time.”

New hires can bring new energy to any given department, especially one as varied as communication and film.

“It’s great to have a new team here to help forge ahead,” Goodman says. “It’s exciting to be back in the classroom and we’re all really looking forward to the future. Bringing in Marty Lang and Elja Roy has brought a new level of energy and creativity to what we do.”

Roy, a seasoned documentary filmmaker who has also worked

on music videos and short films, was recently recognized by the Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) in the Creative Research Competition for her new film, “Musical Mangrove,” a documentary about efforts to save the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, which is shared between India and Bangladesh. The film showcases the artists and musicians of both countries as they work toward a shared goal of using their gifts to drive environmental awareness. The

Christie St. John stars as Jackson, and Reggie Kaufman as the monster Chompy, in the horror/comedy CHOMPY & THE GIRLS, produced by Marty Lang.

region depicted in Roy’s documentary is also home to the Royal Bengal tiger, a creature that should be familiar to many UofM faithful as the University’s longstanding mascot.

“All of the faculty were very excited about her work during the interview process,” Atkins-Sayre says of Roy, who earned a PhD in communication studies while pursuing documentary work. “She studies the concept of environmentalism through several lenses, including through traditional research as well as film.”

As a rare instructor who is adept in communication studies and filmmaking disciplines, Roy contributes to both sides of the department in the form of courses on audio production and media criticism. In both cases, she encourages students to be more aware of the world around them and be present in what’s happening in their communities.

“Visual creativity is something that almost everyone can relate to or become involved with in one form or another,” she says. “However, using your ears in such a way is something many people are not familiar with. Adapting from professor Appleby's syllabus in my audio production classes, I ask students to do things like recreate existing background scores from movies and tell stories through sound.”

Lang, whose focus on narrative films presents a different kind of creativity compared to his documentaryfocused predecessors, recently served as producer on the quirky horror flick, “Chompy and the Girls,” which saw a one-week theatrical run in Memphis through Malco Theatres, as well as co-writer and director for a drama titled, “Stay With Me.” “I have worked in independent film production for about 20 years,” he says.

“During that time, I have filled nearly

every role on the set: writer-producer, actor, director, you name it. After I spent about five years working in Los Angeles, I felt like I had been in the trenches long enough that I could share some of what I knew and pursue a career in teaching.”

Lang teaches courses on screenwriting, directing and producing, with the latter standing out as a big area of emphasis in his own career.

“I have produced about 40 films, including feature films, short films, TV pilots, web series, that sort of thing,” says Lang. “But it’s the entrepreneurial process that I really try to include in the work I do these days.”

It’s exciting to be back in the classroom and we’re all really looking forward to the future. Bringing in Marty Lang and Elja Roy has brought a new level of energy and creativity to what we do.

- David Goodman, associate professor of film and video production

Lang’s production classes offer a healthy emphasis on crowdsourcing and crowdfunding practices that have become prevalent in modern filmmaking, granting students the opportunity to work as support staff in live crowdfunding campaigns for real filmmakers. This spring, he hopes to help fund the debut narrative film by the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change through MomentUM, the University of Memphis’ very own crowdfunding platform. In addition, Lang was recently named as the firstever Faculty Entrepreneur Fellow of the Crews Center for Entrepreneurship.

“I’ve been working in crowdfunding since 2010 and it is absolutely the future of independent film,” says Lang. “This crowdfunding course is the only semester-long film course in the United States and it has the potential to do great things.”

In the fall of 2021, Lang and Roy received a Communities of Research Scholars (CoRS) grant from the UofM, which will help fund a master class series sponsored by the Department of Communication & Film and MVP3 Film Studio.

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GOING THE

DISTANCE The Department of Theatre & Dance’s distance MFA program for working professionals in the design/technology area brings a new class of students to CCFA

A

n evolving distance learning MFA program for graduate students with the Department of Theatre & Dance aims to rethink and reinvigorate traditional approaches to online instruction.

“The MFA in theatre is a terminal degree, but in many instances people have been working in the professional discipline for a fairly long time before they seek an MFA,” says Jacob Allen, chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance. “Those that have been out of school for 10, or in some cases even 20 years and have spent that time working in the industry have learned a lot of practical skills that an MFA can help provide, so a lot of the hands-on learning is something they have already achieved. In the case of our distance learning program, it is focused more on honing the theoretical and philosophical side of the discipline.”

The Department of Theatre & Dance’s distance learning MFA provides a unique opportunity to individuals with industry experience to earn a terminal degree without necessarily having to upend their professional

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lives. While this program existed before the COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary halt to in-person learning at the UofM, the infrastructure the University has put in place to facilitate remote instruction has primed the pump to ramp up this method of delivery moving forward.

As a result, enrollment in the distance MFA offered by Theatre & Dance has grown by 50% in the past year.

“It’s something that we started well before COVID-19 came around,” Allen says. “Which, by coincidence, meant that all of our graduate programs were already thinking in terms of remote content delivery when the time came for everyone to do it.”

Six faculty members in the area of directing and design are the most connected to distance learners enrolled in the program. However, all 14 members of the department’s faculty are involved in some fashion, whether through instructing a course, working with students on a production or serving on a graduate committee.

The University of Memphis is among a handful of universities across the country that offer a distance learning MFA in theatre. Just like in-person students, distance learners are expected to contribute to

department productions as part of a degree requirement.

“In many cases, our distance learners tend to have either a fulltime teaching job or a job such as technical director or staff designer at a theater somewhere around the country,” Allen says. “So it’s really pairing that need with the opportunity to provide the missing pieces with the MFA that has proven both popular and effective.”

Jen Gillette, assistant professor of costume design and head of design technology with the Department of Theatre & Dance, is among the faculty members with significant experience teaching her craft from a distance.

“It’s always something that we’ve wanted to do for our students, but it has to be the right learner at the right time,” Gillette says, noting that the program has grown steadily since she arrived at the University four years ago.

“You can go to school anywhere if you’re studying history remotely, but it takes something special to learn some of these more hands-on skill sets in a digital environment. This program is kind of a national rarity in that aspect.”

In an effort to connect instructional methodologies with the populations for whom it is most effective, the distance learning program is geared toward a very specific kind of student. A sophomore undergraduate with no formal theatre background, for example, might find great difficulty in completing a remote course on a very hands-on subject such as millinery or hat making.

“Those who have been out in the world tend to have developed that tactical, kinesthetic awareness that provides an opportunity where this kind of instruction can be very effective,” Gillette

YOU CAN GO TO SCHOOL ANYWHERE IF YOU’RE STUDYING HISTORY REMOTELY, BUT IT TAKES SOMETHING SPECIAL TO LEARN SOME OF THESE MORE HANDS-ON SKILL SETS IN A DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT. THIS PROGRAM IS KIND OF A NATIONAL RARITY IN THAT ASPECT.

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says. “We don’t make this program available to those who aren’t already experienced in the field to some degree. As an accelerated track program, it is specifically geared toward those working professionals in the field who hope to further their education in new ways.”

Gillette’s archetypal distance learning student came in the form of Donna Seage, a MFA design and technology student with a focus on costume design.

Seage currently teaches theatre at Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In addition, she frequently works in professional theatre and as an adjunct professor at Middle Tennessee State University.

“I had been wanting for a while to do an MFA in theatre, but the rigors and requirements of physically getting there kept

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getting in the way,” Seage says.

“It seems like every MFA I looked into required basically putting my life on hold for up to three years. But Memphis found a way to make it work, and it seems to be really unique among MFA theatre programs.”

Seage’s professional experience benefits her continued education in several ways, mainly through a preexisting vocabulary of theatre practices, work ethic and jargon.

“So much learning in a classroom environment can be incidental, and there is a loss of that kind of learning,” Seage says. “On the other hand, I always submit lots of pictures and hold onto very specific written feedback from my instructors, which can help people retain knowledge. In many ways, it’s a balancing act.”

Seage’s practical, hands-on learning at the UofM has led

to benefits in her day job, where she encourages students to step outside of the traditional box. In some cases, she has been known to apply learned techniques the very next day after picking them up from her UofM classes.

degrees in theatre through a regionally accredited program. The recipient wins a $5,000 scholarship, a one-year SETC membership, waived admission to the following year’s SETC conference and recognition on the SETC website.

“Dance is more difficult to deliver in an online format, so we do things like summer intensives, which consist of two to four weeks of training sessions that allow a large amount of content to be taught in a short amount of time,” says Allen.

“I have learned so much from four hours away that I haven’t learned in 40 years of practicing theatre,” says Seage. “I am fortunate enough this year to have a really small sixthperiod class, so I’ve been trying out some new things in draping and hat making, both of which require lots of individual attention.”

“Donna is a passionate high school theater teacher who is always looking to advance her formidable skill set and I’m so happy for her to receive the financial support and recognition attached to this award,” Allen says.

This new, accelerated program will allow current undergrads to complete their BFA in dance and continue on in an expedient fashion into the MAT certification in dance.

It also provides an opportunity for working professionals to come back and pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching with a focus in dance.

This past year, Seage won a major award from the Southeastern Theatre Conference in the form of the William E. Wilson Scholarship.

For this award, SETC chooses applicants from a pool of secondary educators pursuing graduate

In addition, the Department of Theatre & Dance is currently crafting a program with the College of Education to develop an MA in teaching certification for the dance concentration that will provide even more new opportunities to prospective students.

“We are not sacrificing the quality of our training in any way,” Allen says.

“Our MFA students, through the accelerated distance program, have proven equally as sophisticated as those who come through the three-year program in person.”

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With the establishment of the Institute for Arts & Health in 2020, the University of Memphis has moved a step closer in its research-driven mission to bridge the arts, humanities, social sciences, digital technologies and STEM areas. The overarching goal of the Institute for Arts & Health is to contribute to a more diverse and equitable society by incubating and seeking funding for transdisciplinary research and community engagement broadly related to the arts and health.

“I am so thrilled to share with you some of the exciting research that is happening at our new Institute for Arts & Health at the University of Memphis,” says CCFA Dean Anne Hogan. “It is through projects like this that we will gain a greater understanding of successful methods associated with health in artists and techniques for well-being.”

The following story is just one of many exciting research projects currently happening under the banner of the Institute for Arts & Health.

Art s & He alth in

Ac t i o 28 VOICES | UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

Exploring the impact of new studies led by faculty members of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music and the Department of Communication & Film

on

C

all it stage fright, performance anxiety, butterflies or the jitters — the bane of the performing artist goes by many names.

But the symptoms tend to manifest in the usual ways: tremors, dry mouth, sweaty palms or even a complete launch into fight-or-flight mode.

A recent UofM study led by a collaboration of experts including Dr. Ryan Fisher, associate dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts; Dr. Sean Holden, research analyst with the Office of Institutional Research and Dr. Robyn Jones, associate professor of music with the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music hopes to address and ease this dreaded and often very sudden manifestation of stress using natural and long-lasting mindfulness techniques.

Some of the newest innovations in Arts & Health at the University of Memphis come from a study on the applications of Koru Mindfulness, an evidence-based meditation practice designed for college-age students that is geared toward teaching mindfulness and meditation to manage stress and reduce anxiety. Mindfulness is a therapeutic technique focused on using one’s own emotional awareness as a way to reduce stress.

“A lot of the specifics behind the practice were formed based around college students, from the length and size of the classes to the order our meditations are introduced in,” Jones says, citing similar research at Duke University and interest from former Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music associate professor Kyle Ferrell as an early inspiration for bringing the program to the University of Memphis.

“Koru Mindfulness basically serves as an introduction to mindfulness and meditation, something easy for our students to pick up.”

Koru Mindfulness training is comprised of four weeks of one-hour classes of 10-12 people.

Various techniques are learned and applied, after which participants share their experiences in a discussion segment. Training is backed by a teacher-accessible mobile app that contains instructions for all guided meditations, as well as a log to keep track of individual sessions. Following success at the college level, the Koru Mindfulness model is now being used to teach all ages.

“That’s the thing that’s really good about this,” Jones says. “It’s all about building the habit.

They know that their instructor will be checking their log throughout the week, which adds motivation. After they’ve done it for at least 30 days, it usually becomes a habit that is continued long term. It’s definitely a lifelong practice.”

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For Jones, the goal of the practice is to increase mindfulness and become aware of your own thoughts as a way to cope with stressful situations.

“When you’re sitting there silently not focusing on anything else, you’re forced to be aware of your thoughts,” she says. “Once you become aware of them, you must practice letting them go. It is a constant, cyclical process guided by anchor points and breathing practices, which gives the mind something to attach to.”

One example Jones gives relates to a form of walking meditation that focuses on the sensation of feet touching the ground as an anchor point.

Koru Mindfulness research within the College of Communication and Fine Arts began in the fall of 2021 when a pilot study was implemented to examine performance anxiety in students at the School of Music,

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with a primary focus on Jones’ own clarinet studio students.

“We were looking at specific things in the pilot study, such as depression items that can be measured from a preexisting questionnaire, perceived stress, mindfulness, music performance efficacy and, most importantly, music performance anxiety,” says Fisher.

“Music performance anxiety can be one of the biggest struggles that musicians face, even crippling in some instances for people who are really struggling.”

Jones led the initial meditation sessions and training for members of her studio in hopes of addressing and curbing pre-performance panic attacks, as well as discouraging unhealthy coping mechanisms such as selfmedication through drugs and alcohol.

“Especially in commercial music, you often hear stories of musicians who might feel like they need to

drink or smoke excessively to reduce anxiety and go onstage,” Fisher says. “But performance anxiety permeates the culture and is also something that is prevalent in the classical music field, as well.”

Initial findings of the study reported a reduction in self-reported depression scores and perceived stress, reduced fear of negative attention and an overall substantial decrease in music performance anxiety from pre-test to post-treatment.

With hopeful results from the initial study, the team pivoted and used the same measures to observe orchestral musicians from the Memphis Symphony Orchestra in an effort funded by a Communities of Research Scholars (CoRS) grant by the UofM Division of Research and Innovation. In that study, music performance anxiety decreased in both the control group and experimental group and suggested

long-term emotional wellness benefits for practicing musicians.

“What was interesting there was that we measured them before and after the treatment, but the experimental group was also measured one month after the post-test,” Fisher says.

“That is where we saw the most significant decrease in some of these measures, especially when it comes to music performance anxiety.”

For Jones, Fisher and Holden, that seemed to indicate that Koru Mindfulness treatment does seem to have some degree of immediate impact on performance anxiety but seems to work even better as these habits and behaviors are developed after months of regular use.

“Anecdotally, I overheard students from my own choir who I knew were participating in this study, although I couldn’t speak to them about it,” Fisher says. “They were talking to each other and sharing some of the mindfulness practices they had been developing before class. Some days I could tell they were stressed and I could see them close their eyes and it was obvious that they were applying what they had learned. It’s really cool from the standpoint of a professor running a research study where I’m not allowed to talk about what’s happening to see some of these methods in action, even in people who weren’t part of the study.”

A further study by Dr. Joy Goldsmith, professor of communication studies with the Department of Communication & Film, implemented components of treatment and some of the dependent measures from the work done by Jones, Fisher and Holden, but pivots into a different sample population.

“We wanted to work together on a study that I thought would be a great avenue to connect our worlds,” Fisher says.

Goldsmith’s study centered around resources for family oncology caregivers, an area of study that she has made her own following her sister Janet’s bout with a rare form

of cancer. Goldsmith, who has her own performing arts background as a former theatre major prior to shifting to the field of health communication after serving as a caregiver for her sister for nine months, saw an opportunity for synergy.

“What a cool thing for us to have this transdisciplinary opportunity across the college,” Goldsmith says.

“Our worlds have a lot in common, in addition to our shared skill sets.

Oncology has always been my wheelhouse, with some prior work I had done focused on caregivers that has been tested already, so we were very keen on a pilot project with well-tested components. It turned out to be a great benefit to the University and our own departments’ research programs.”

Goldsmith’s study, titled, “Teaching Self Care to the Oncology Family Caregiver with a Transdisciplinary Telehealth Treatment Program,” is centered around three important aspects: Koru Mindfulness training, therapeutic drumming sessions for oncology caregivers through workshops led by former UofM professor Dr. Frank Schaffer and specific training through health literacy resources specifically built for family caregivers. For Goldsmith and co., this line of research is all about finding and providing the right tools to support the right population.

“We are attempting to work together to mesh these seemingly very different components to form a kind of non-medicinal component that can lead to visible reductions in stress and anxiety in different populations,” says Fisher. “The drumming therapy sessions are not about performing. It’s really a nonverbal way to communicate what an individual is dealing with through the drum, which can be a really healthy way to deal with frustration, anger and all the various emotions that caregivers are often discouraged from displaying openly. Among other benefits, we hope these kinds of practices can provide that outlet.”

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Remembering Robert Fogelman The College of Communication and Fine Arts lost an avid and generous supporter with the passing of Robert “Bobby” Fogelman, real estate executive, philanthropist and namesake of The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries

R

about, art. The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art have significantly benefited our students and our community by dedicating state-of-the-art space to showcase national and international contemporary art in Memphis.”

obert Fred Fogelman died on May 20, 2021, at the age of 85, just 80 days after the passing of his wife of 56 years, Martha Hicky Fogelman.

Fogelman and his family have a long history of giving graciously to many areas associated with the University, including the arts, the Fogelman College of Business & Economics, Tiger athletics and more.

“On behalf of the College of Communication and Fine Arts (CCFA) at the University of Memphis, I want to express our sincere condolences to the Fogelman family on the loss of Robert Fogelman,” said CCFA Dean Anne Hogan. “Bobby Fogelman was a generous man with a deep love for, and knowledge

A philanthropist and champion of many civic causes, Fogelman and his brother, Avron, established the Morris S. Fogelman Chair in Real Estate at the UofM in 1973 as a tribute to their father. Ongoing support from the family prompted the naming of the Fogelman College in their honor and

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later the Fogelman Executive Center.

In the 1980s, Fogelman led a group of prominent Memphis business and community leaders in forming the University’s Board of Visitors, for which he served as its first president.

He also served on the UofM Foundation Board of Directors, including time spent as its president, and remained an advisor to the dean of Fogelman College for several decades. A lifetime member of the UofM Alumni Association, Fogelman was named a Distinguished Friend of the University in 1987. The UofM presented him with an honorary doctorate of letters in 2012.

“The UofM would not be the wellrespected institution that it is today without the continued outstanding and generous support of the Fogelman Family, including Bobby and his wife,

Martha,” said UofM President M. David Rudd after Fogelman was named an Emeritus Lifetime Foundation Board member in 2019. “We are extremely grateful for their wonderful friendship and are so fortunate to have Bobby and Martha play such an important role in the University of Memphis family.”

Over the past eight years, The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art have provided the very first chance for thousands of aspiring artists at the University of Memphis to have their work showcased in a professional gallery exhibition space on campus in the Art and Communication Building on Central Avenue.

“That is part of Robert Fogelman’s legacy to our department: he provided a beautiful space for one of the most important moments of an artist’s life where they need to be able to reflect on their work,” said Richard Lou, chair of the Department of Art. “The Fogelman Galleries has been a real cultural windfall for us.”

The presence of The Fogelman Galleries provides a valuable educational experience for students in the Department of Art and serves as a source of entertainment for the Memphis community while increasing the University’s ability to bring contemporary working artists to campus. The gallery exists with a goal to not just exhibit students, but bring in regional, national and international artists of great stature to share their knowledge with UofM students.

“The Fogelman Estate has an amazing contemporary art collection, so it was only natural that his gallery came with a goal to showcase all of the contemporary art we produce at the Department of Art,” Lou says.

Originally conceived in 2011 by Bobby Fogelman and former CCFA Dean Richard Ranta, the Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art was designed in a way where works of art could be hung from nearly any surface.

“We are extremely grateful for their wonderful friendship and are so fortunate to have Bobby and Martha play such an important role in the University of Memphis family.”

- M. DAVID RUDD

“He was very hands on in delivering the look and feel of the gallery along with the architectural team and his assistant, Nita Hurdle,” says Lou. “It was an extensive makeover of that space and Mr. Fogelman was there every step of the way.”

In 2008, the Fogelmans donated approximately 200 works of indigenous art to the Art Museum of the University of Memphis (AMUM).

The primarily African pieces include wooden objects, iron utilitarian, beaded garments and furniture.

“As Bobby and Martha wished, the collection, which is on permanent display in AMUM’s African Gallery, is actively used by UofM students for research and as a resource for K-12 education,” Hogan said.

Fogelman’s commitment to the University went beyond large projects to include finding ways to improve everyday campus life and helping ensure business school graduates were prepared for job interviews. He was a strong believer that a great city needs a great University, and his impact on the UofM helped make that a reality.

HE WILL BE GREATLY MISSED

BY THE TIGER FAMILY.

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NEWS & NOTES

VOICES

Thang Nguyen, graduate student with the Department of Architecture.

A RC H IT E CT U R E » Professor MICHAEL HAGGE , Chair of the Department of Architecture, received the 2021 CCFA Engaged Scholarship Award. Michael also received the inaugural CCFA ES award in 2005. » Professor JENNIFER BARKER , Director of Graduate Studies in Architecture, received the 2021 CCFA Academic Advising Runner-Up Award. » Professors MICHAEL HAGGE and JENNIFER BARKER were invited and served as panelists in the AIA Tennessee JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) Conference.

The student body of the UofM Department of Architecture is among the most diverse architecture schools. » A monograph of the work of Professor BRIAN ANDREWS , VERVM FICTVM, was published

by Culicidae Architectural Press. » Professor MARIKA SNIDER received a grant from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards and participated in the NCARB Scholars 34 VOICES | UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

Professional Practice Seminar. She also published several peer-reviewed articles, webinars and co-edited a new suite of five AIA contract documents for the residential construction industry. Her work was also selected for the 2021 Official Selection – Better Cities Film Festival, Detroit, Michigan – Sudden Suburb. » Adjunct Professor of Architecture JIMMIE TUCKER was elected chair of the national AIA Public Outreach Committee. He also served on several national AIA design juries including the Ida B. Wells Light of Truth Plaza Design Jury and the Design Awards Jury for AIA Grand Rapids, MI. His firm, Self+Tucker Architects, which hires a significant number of UofM architecture graduates, was named AIA Tennessee 2020 Outstanding Emerging Professional Friendly Firm (EPFF) and also received the AIA Memphis Firm Service Award.

Professor Tucker also received a number of design awards from the AIA and other organizations.

» Master of Architecture student THẮNG NGUYỄN was featured in one of the UofM’s 2021 promotional campaigns and on the UofM home page. Nguyen is the recipient of the 2021 AIA Memphis Scholarship.

He was presented the award at the AIA Memphis Gala and Celebration of Architecture. » UofM Architecture alum MARIO WALKER (M.Arch + BFA-Arch) won first place in the Highland Heights Methodist Church design competition put on by the Heights Community Development Corp.

The team of CAMERON MCLEMORE (M.Arch + BFA-Arch+ID) and ANDREA JIMENEZ , (M.Arch), won second place. Current student RUUT PATEL (BFA-Arch+IA) won fourth place. » Professor THOMAS PROVOST chaired a panel at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts along with Tess Given and Milo Hicks, both from Indiana University. The theme of this year's conference was energy. The three collaborated on a novel panel

format tinkering with and attending to speculations on energy within their respective fields of inquiry. » Professor MICHAEL CHISAMORE and BROCK TERWILLEGER (M.Arch 2021) presented the paper, "The Evolution of the Human Figure in Architectural Illustration" at the Design Communication Association (DCA) conference held virtually from Kennesaw State University in Atlanta.

The work explored the narrative nature of human figures in design drawings and how structures of empathy are built between graphic works and the viewer. Professor Chisamore also presented the paper, "Notions of the Sublime and Design Communication" that investigated the definition and use of representations of the sublime as a tool in design communication. » Two design images created by PRIYANKA KINIKAR (M.Arch 2017) and four by Professor MICHAEL CHISAMORE were included in the Design Communication Association biennial exhibit in Atlanta. The images by Ms. Kinikar were an observational drawing exploring the experience of entering a stepwell in India and a design drawing showing a community center supporting a revitalized Claiborne Temple in Memphis. Three images by Professor Chisamore were observational investigations of buildings in Memphis including the Sterick Building and Crosstown Concourse tower. He also submitted a design image for a speculative Mississippi Delta Center in the flood plain for the Hurricane Creek in Eudora, Mississippi. »

RUUT PATEL and NARINA JARANDOGHA were recognized

with the Award of Merit for their Creative Design Submission for the Wolf River Bluff Gateway Student Design Competition. Ruut is a first-year Architecture + Interior Architecture dual major and Narina is a first-year BFA in Architecture major. They received a copy of the book “The Architect's Studio Companion” by Edward Allen and Joseph Iano at a presentation in the spring of 2021. The winning team was comprised of five graduate students from the UofM Department of City and Regional Planning.

» The following students, all members of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), received scholarships and awards in the Department of Architecture for the 2021/2022 academic year:

Delta National Architecture Honor Society Class of 2020/21: SADIKSHYA BASTOLA (Master of Architecture), FARNAZ SADEGHI (Master of Architecture), MD SHAHDATUL ISLAM (Master of Architecture), JESUS DUARTE (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture), CAMERON ALAN HENAGER (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture), DUEWA RAJI ALFUQAHA (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture), RAZAN HADIDI (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture), LAUREN SOUTH (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture).

AWARDS » AIA Henry Adams Medal with Certificate - BROCK TERWILLEGER (Master of Architecture) » ARCC Jonathan King Medal for Architectural Research - BROCK TERWILLEGER (Master of Architecture) » Department of Architecture Academic Achievement Award - JESUS DUARTE (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture) and CAMERON HENAGER (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture) SCHOLARSHIPS » AIA Memphis Scholarship (AIAS) - THẮNG NGUYỄN (Master of Architecture) » AIA Chattanooga Scholarship (AIAS) - MELISSA MENG THIELEMIER (Master of Architecture) » Department of Architecture / AIAS Merit Scholarship – MASON LONG (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture) » CSI Memphis Dempsie Morrison, Jr. Memorial Scholarship - ISAAC BARRANTES (Master of Architecture) and RAZAN HADIDI (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture) » LRK Architects Endowed Scholarship - MD SHAHDATUL "SHAHD" ISLAM (Master of Architecture) » Van Walton Memorial Scholarship DUEWA ALFUQAHA (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture); BRENDA CANO (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture); ANA PADILLA (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture); and ALEXIS RODGERS (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture) » James Weaver Memorial Scholarship - LAUREN SOUTH (BFA Architecture + BFA Interior Architecture)

»

D E PART MENT O F ART

» Art Education Professor BRYNA BOBICK co-edited a publication titled, “Engaging Communities Through Civic Engagement in Art Museum Education.” In addition, Mr. J. Bruce Bobick and his daughter Dr. Bryna Bobick, Professor of Art Education, have endowed the Bobick Family Art Education Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship was created to help ease the financial burden for Art Education students during their senior year. The Bobick Family Art Education Scholarship is restricted to undergraduate students from the Memphis metropolitan area attending the University with a demonstrated financial need, and who are majoring in, or who intend to major in Art Education. The recipient must be a rising senior with a minimum 3.0 GPA and must submit a letter stating their teaching philosophy. »

VIRGINIA HUSS retired in January of 2021. Not only will she be missed in the support and functioning of the Department of Art, most importantly her personality, humor, feistiness and friendship will be greatly missed. We wish her the best on her well-deserved retirement: to reap the rewards of her good work, to share more time with her family who adores her (and she loves deeply) and, just as importantly, to own her time completely.

» The following Architecture students were inducted into the Tau Sigma

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NEWS & NOTES

» Art History Professor EARNESTINE JENKINS was recently featured in art consultant Alaina Simone’s list of Five Black Women to Know in the Art World in Forbes Magazine. Jenkins, who specializes in African American Diaspora history, was lauded in the article for recently establishing a graduate concentration on Arts of Africa and the African Diaspora. »

Earnestine Jenkins, professor of art history with the Department of Art.

DR. REBECCA HOWARD , an early

modern art historian with the Department of Art, presented new research at the annual Sixteenth Century Society Conference in San Diego. Dr. Howard’s talk titled, “Impressed Memories: Death Masks in Renaissance Italy,” and is part of her forthcoming book on Italian Renaissance portraiture and the processes of memory.

» Visiting Hohenberg Chair of Excellence, DR. ADRIAN DURAN , contributed a chapter to “Artistic Representations of Suffering: Rights, Resistance, and Remembrance,” a new book edited by Mark Celinscak and Curtis Hutt and published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Dr. Duran’s contribution is entitled, “Art History and Human Suffering: Pasts, Pedagogies, and Possibilities.” » The Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology and DR. W. RAYMOND JOHNSON presented new findings about

King Tutankhamun in the 15th Annual William J. Murnane Memorial lecture, titled, “Tutankhamun’s Life, Death, and Afterlife: New Evidence from Thebes,” at The Art Museum at The University of Memphis. The lecture shed light on the new archaeological material that has emerged in Luxor (ancient Thebes) that enriches our knowledge of the life of one of Ancient Egypt’s most enigmatic kings, Tutankhamun, revealing the luxurious court in which he lived, his extraordinary building activities and the circumstances of his death.

UofM Art Education hosts Virtual Community Art Academy.

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» Memphis Public Libraries, in collaboration with the University of Memphis Department of Art, hosted a seven-week Virtual Community Art Academy that invited children from third to sixth grade to learn how to create original works of art with the help of the University of Memphis Art Education majors. Under the guidance of DR. BRYNA BOBICK , graduate and undergraduate students recorded a series of art education lessons for the 2021 Community Art Academy. The lessons were uploaded to the Memphis Public Library’s social media accounts.

» In addition, Noor Ghazal Aswad received the John A. Campbell teaching award for her work with the Department of Communication & Film’s Oral Communication and Communication Methods classes. »

DE PA RT M E N T O F COM M UN ICAT I O N & FILM » “A Ballet Season,” a feature-length documentary film created by faculty from the Department of Communication & Film, premiered with a prime time broadcast on WKNO. The film covers Ballet Memphis’ most recent full season before the COVID-19 pandemic and was created by STEVEN ROSS , Professor Emeritus with the Department of Communication & Film, and DAVID GOODMAN , assistant professor in the same department, alongside graduate student NATHAN CHIN and undergrad KEVIN WUKASCH . » Professor Emeritus DAVID APPLEBY served as a judge for the 42nd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards. »

REGINA ALABERE , PhD student in

Health Communication and Master's student in Public Health, has been awarded the highly select honor of being an International Peace Scholar for the 2021-2022 academic year. The honor includes a $12,500 scholarship.

The International Peace Scholarship Fund, established in 1949, is a program that provides scholarships for selected women from other countries for graduate study in the United States or Canada.

training series for physicians at Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya. » Professor DR. JOY V. GOLDSMITH and her team announced the national launch of new communication interventions to support the national needs of nurses working the frontlines — especially those balancing clinical and teaching workloads.

The COMFORT Communication Project received funding from the Archstone Foundation to create a free teaching guide and smartphone app for COVID-19 communication. » In addition, Dr. Goldsmith has been selected as the recipient of the 2021 Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Research in the Social Sciences, Business and Law. The committee writes that her work is exceptionally impressive and that her long history of publication and grants have brought honor and recognition to the University of Memphis. » Doctoral student NOOR GHAZAL ASWAD and faculty member ANTONIO DE VELASCO’S article titled, “Redemptive Exclusion: A Case Study of Nikki Haley’s Rhetoric on Syrian Refugees” was published in the interdisciplinary journal Rhetoric & Public Affairs.

» The University of Memphis Department of Communication & Film helped facilitate a casting call for the feature film “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.” Director RAVEN JACKSON and producer MARIA ALTAMIRANO saw over 100 actors and actresses, including a number of UofM theater and film students. Actors traveled from as far away as Nashville and Atlanta. » PhD student, REGINA OGECHI ALABERE , served as a trainer in a three-part webinar COMFORT communication

is the editor of a new book series Studies in Communication, Culture, Race and Religion with Peter Lang. Books in this series demonstrate how communication and cultural frameworks help shape our understanding of race and religion — and, in turn, how an understanding of race and religion shapes our understanding of how we communicate and interpret culture.

ANDRE E. JOHNSON

» Graduate student JOANNA BOUDREAUX received the Graduate Student Research Award. According to her committee advisor, Dr. Katherine G. Hendrix, JoAnna has “demonstrated solid research and writing skills.” Her article, "The Radical Spiritual Motherhood of Amina Wadud: The Call of a Black Woman Muslim Scholar" was published in the special issue of Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion, and Culture (Fall 2020, 55.3). was awarded a research grant through the Program to Enhance Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Research (PECIR), which is a collaboration between the UofM and Meharry Medical College. Her Co-PI at Meharry is Shyamali Mukherjee, PhD, MS. The project is titled, “A Focus Group Study of the Communication and Educational Needs of Parents and Patients with Sickle Cell Disease or Sickle Cell Trait.”

»

DR. AMANDA YOUNG

»

DR. KATHERINE GRACE HENDRIX is the 2021-23 recipient of the Benjamin W. Rawlins, Jr. Meritorious Professorship Award at the University of Memphis. This award is one of the highest distinctions given to a faculty member in the College of Communication and Fine Arts.

Professors receiving this acknowledgment and stipend must demonstrate outstanding and sustained contributions to scholarly-creative activity, teaching, service and outreach, bringing national and international honor and recognition to the College and the University. Dr. Hendrix also published "There are No Awards for Surviving Racism, Sexism and Ageism in the Academy: Contemplations of a Senior Faculty Member" in the Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies Journal.

Noor Ghazal Aswad, doctoral student with the Department of Communication & Film.

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NEWS & NOTES

The ROAR will take to the airwaves in spring 2022.

D E PART MENT OF J O U RNALISM & S T RAT EG I C MEDIA

Courtney Ellet, owner of Obsidian PR.

»

DR. CRAIG STEWART is co-PI (with DRS. CHYSANTHE PREZA and STEPHANIE IVEY , Herff College of

Engineering) on a new $300,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant entitled, "Understanding the Role of Undergraduate Research and Mentoring in the Efficacy, Identity, and Success of Engineering Undergraduate Students."

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» In addition, Dr. Stewart's article, "STEM Identities: A Communication Theory of Identity Approach," based on research conducted as part of the NSF-funded Urban STEM Collaboratory, was recently published in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology.

» Professor KIM MARKS MALONE , APR, was named a PRSA Fellow in 2020, one of 13 new additions to the Public Relations Society of America College of Fellows, one of the highest honors in the public relations industry.

Marks Malone also received the 2021 Dean's Advising Award from the College of Communication and Fine Arts. In addition, Marks Malone was awarded the Steve and Linda Simon Family Fellowship for 2021-24 in recognition of her status as an outstanding early career public relations faculty member in the Department of Journalism & Strategic Media and was selected as a 2021-2022 Lillian Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication Fellow. »

JESSICA JAGLOIS has joined the Department of Journalism & Strategic Media faculty as a visiting assistant professor. Jaglois comes to the University from local NBC-affiliate WMC-TV5 where she relaunched

the investigative unit and won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for her coverage on excessive force complaints against Memphis Police officers. Jaglois teaches journalism and specializes in broadcasting and public issues reporting. »

»

TAYLOR ACKERMAN has joined the Department of Journalism & Strategic Media faculty as a visiting assistant professor. Ackerman teaches public relations classes and specializes in helping with brand strategy, social media content and event planning.

COURTNEY ELLETT , a Journalism

alumna and owner of Obsidian PR, donated $20,000 to help create a social media lab in the Meeman Journalism Building. The new lab will contribute to the department’s burgeoning social media concentration and serve as an engine for research. Obsidian Public Relations was named the best place to work in the Memphis micro-category by the Memphis Business Journal in 2020.

» The Department of Journalism & Strategic Media is hosting the 46th annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Southeast Colloquium on March 17-19, 2022, as a hybrid event at the University of Memphis. Research panels will be conducted in person and shared on the conference platform.

aspects of radio station operations. » Professor TORI CLIFF secured a grant from The Free Speech Center for fall 2021 to promote experiential learning as her Public Relations Campaigns students build a comprehensive campaign with the First Amendment as its client. A virtual event, Exercise the First, occurred on National News Engagement Day, followed by Freedom to Create, a creative competition, that concluded Nov. 8.

»

ALEXANDRA FILIPOVICH , a graduate

student with the Department of Theatre & Dance, has been awarded significant funding from The University of Memphis Sustainable Campus (Green) Fee Fund for her eco-conscious approach to practicing design as outlined in her proposal, “Reducing the Environmental Impact of Costume Design.”

D EPART ME NT O F THEAT RE & DANC E » The Department of Theatre & Dance hosted a vibrant year of performances in 2021, kicking off with sociallydistant renditions of “The Women of Lockerbie,” “5x5: A Senior Dance Showcase,” and the musical “Working.”

The fall semester marked the return of in-person performances with “Ordinary Days,” followed by a horror-inspired take on a Shakespearean classic in “R & J & Z,” and concluding with “From Me to You: A Dance Concert.”

» The Department of Journalism & Strategic Media faculty has started the Ida B. Wells Scholarship. The $500 award targets first-generation students from traditionally underrepresented communities. » The ROAR - University of Memphis Radio, the student-led live stream will launch in early spring 2022. The ROAR will feature a diverse blend of music, news talk, sports and specialty programming. UofM students and staff members will participate and play an open format of music and respectfully engage in topics important to campus culture. The ROAR will be all about the happenings in and around the University of Memphis campus and surrounding community.

The ROAR will function much like a commercial radio station providing students hands-on training in all

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NEWS & NOTES

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The Department of Theatre & Dance presents "The Women of Lockerbie."

The Department of Theatre & Dance presents "R&J&Z."

» The THEA 4441 cast for “Midsummer Night’s Dream - Lite!” completed a five-performance run of outreach shows throughout the spring 2021 semester. The UofM cast ended up bringing live theatre back to Memphis, playing to more than 85 people over three performances and aiding community partners such as Theatre Memphis and Theatreworks in raising more than $700 in donations for Memphis theatres which have had to be dark for a year. The cast, known as the (UM) Street Light Players was comprised of ANALYSE CAPODIFERRO , WILLIAM DRAPER , TRISTIN HICKS , AVERY HALL , PERSHON HARPER , BENNETT MCCLUSKEY , ALY MILAN , NIKKI MONSON , LANE PIPPIN and JAMIE WARROW . »

research for writing her own solo show where she will uncover the past lives of her ancestors. Brown initially received the award in 2020 but declined to accept it at that time due to uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After reapplying, she received the award yet again.

The Department of Theatre & Dance presents "Ordinary Days."

» University of Memphis dance alum and current dance science adjunct professor RACHAEL ARNWINE ’s scholarly article titled, “Open Access Sex Differences in Ground Reaction Force Profiles of Ballet Dancers During Single- and Double-Leg Landing Tasks” was published in the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, Volume 24, Number 3.

SARAH BROWN , associate professor

in Theater & Dance at the University of Memphis, has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to Romania where she will teach performance and direct acting students in a series of solo shows for NATO. The award runs from October 2021 through June 2022. Brown will be teaching solo performance and mask performance at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, as well as directing shows for an international audience. Along with her theatre project, Brown will be doing

40 VOICES | UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

The Department of Theatre & Dance presents “Working.”

Jonathan Colbert, instructor of double bass for the Rudi Scheidt School of Music.

R UDI E . SC HE I DT SC H OOL O F M U S I C » In keeping with its status as an emerging R1 university, the University of Memphis is now the editorial home of the Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Education (JAEE), a Tier 1 journal with an international profile in the allied fields of arts management, entrepreneurship and education. Spearheaded by DR. JOSEF HANSON , an assistant professor in the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music and past president of the Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education, the JAEE was formerly housed at North Carolina State University and received a major overhaul and rebranding in its transition to Memphis. Hanson worked with

librarians DR. JOEL ROBERTS and DR. KENNETH HAGGERTY , both

of whom will also serve on the JAEE editorial board, to forge the partnership with University Libraries that brought the project to life.

»

has joined the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music as its newest instructor of the music business. Cohran brings a wealth of real-life experience to his position from his time serving as tour and production manager for Oscarwinning and Grammy-nominated Atlantic Records artist Janelle Monáe.

»

JONATHAN COLBERT has joined the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music as instructor of double bass. Colbert, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, comes to Memphis by way of Scandinavia, where he spent six years serving as

JEFF COHRAN

co-principal bass of the Royal Danish Orchestra. Colbert comes from a family of music educators and started playing in middle school because his mother’s orchestra needed a bassist. » The City of Tomorrow, an experimental wind quintet that features Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music flute instructor ELISE BLATCHFORD , released their second album “Blow” on New Focus Recordings. The album features music by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Franco Donatoni, and the world premiere recording of a work Hannah Lash wrote for the quintet, supported by a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant. The album was recorded at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music’s Harris Hall.

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NEWS & NOTES

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» Memphis-based singer/songwriter and RESSOM alum KELSEY TAYLOR released her first full-length album, a concept work about how we cope with loss and isolation. Pulling inspiration from the poems of T.S. Eliot and musical influences from folk, rock, indie and classical genres, “The Frost” is a compelling piece rooted in universal human experiences. Kelsey and her band have worked to create an acoustic, live version of the album, recorded in Memphis’ iconic Annesdale Mansion. The video for “The Frost,” a collaboration between Taylor and the University of Memphis Department of Theatre & Dance, premiered in 2021. » Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music alum DR. JEFFREY MURDOCK (PhD Music Education, 2015) was awarded the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator Award. This award is given annually to an outstanding music educator nominated by other music teachers, school administrators, students, parents or recording academy members. The GRAMMY Music Educator Award is supported by the NAMM Foundation, the National Association for Music Education and the National Education Association.

Blue Tom recording artist and UofM student Kelsey Taylor.

Dr. Jeffrey Murdock (PhD Music Education, 2015), GRAMMY Music Educator award winner.

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Joe Sills, a celebrated UofM band director.

» The Bandmasters Championship, a University of Memphis-hosted contest of the Mid-South’s top high school marching bands, has named its championship trophy after legendary band director JOE SILLS . Sills competed in the contest, then known as the Mid-South Invitational, from 1964-95, taking home the championship trophy nine times. He achieved a three-peat in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s at the helm of three different programs: Bolivar Central High School, Murray High School and Ripley High School.

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A New Destination for Arts is Underway

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» With completion of the new Scheidt Family Music Center, the School of Music will be able to offer a $40 million, state-of-theart, 40,000-square-foot facility to serve our students and the surrounding community. » This facility will offer more stage space, high-capacity seating, exceptional acoustics, rehearsal spaces, classrooms and modern laboratories. » An average month of work on the Scheidt Family Music Center can consist of more than 15,500 man-hours. » Ground broke on construction of the new music center in 2017.

The project is expected to be completed later in 2022. » The Scheidt Family Music Center is part of a Master Campus Plan to improve the University of Memphis.

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