Poli Sci Grad Leads, Writes

December 2011 College of Liberal Arts top honor graduate Zachary Pearce is putting his Political Science degree to use. He's the youngest-ever member of the Board of Directors of the Delaware Valley School District and the author of two recent articles published on the Huffington Post. Zach's articles can be found here and here.

Here's an excerpt from his most recent piece:

If true reform is to happen in our locally-structured educational system, then it is going to take a real push by all the stakeholders involved: parents, students, teachers, unions, administrators, school boards, and community leaders. These stakeholders can be the true super heroes we need in the United States. I refuse to believe that America is in a state of decline; however, if we do not make real strides towards better educating our students, then that is the reality we face.

Zach graduated from Delaware Valley High School with honors in 2008 and from Bloomsburg University summa cum laude with a BA in Political Science in December 2011.

During his college career, Zach was an active part of the community both in Pike County and in Bloomsburg, holding leadership positions in several different organizations.

Music Prof On the Road for Spring Break

Dr. Gifford Howarth first visited Singapore in the spring of 2006 on a travel fellowship as part of his doctorate program at Michigan State University. Since then he has made 5 additional trips to the Southeast Asian country, and on March 9th he is back on the plane for the 24-hour flight to Singapore. This visit is going to be a unique one.

Dr. Howarth has had a teaching relationship with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore since 2006. His visits involve teaching percussion workshops and lessons with students of the school. He has built a great teaching relationship with Jonathan Fox, head of percussion at the conservatory. Mr. Fox is originally from Boston and studied music at The Juilliard School in New York City. He has been teaching and performing with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra since 2000.

During this visit to Singapore, Dr. Howarth will be performing in the Yong Siew Toh Percussion Ensemble Concert on March 17th. He will be soloist for the world premiere performance of composer Jim Casella’s MEANWHILE IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE for solo marimba and percussion ensemble. Also on the program will be Dr. Howarth’s arrangement of the popular solo guitar work LEYENDA by Isaac Albeniz. His arrangement is for solo marimba and percussion ensemble.

Dr. Howarth with Jonathan Fox and students
of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory

A unique addition to the concert will be a high school group from Kuching, Malaysia. Mr. Fox has also included the members of a St. Joseph’s Secondary School Marching Band from Malaysia to perform on the concert. Mr. Fox has a strong teaching connection with the school in Malaysia. In the spring of 2010, Dr. Howarth had the opportunity to work with the Malaysian marching band and is looking forward to their contribution to this concert.

In addition to performing on the concert, Dr. Howarth will be teaching private lessons and presenting a percussion masterclass that is open to the public. He looks forward to working with the diverse student population of the conservatory. The percussion students are from countries throughout Asia,  including Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Reading to Feature Regional Poets

Melanie Simms, a senior Creative Writing major, and Jerry Wemple, Professor of English, will help the central Susquehanna Valley kick off National Poetry Month with a reading at the Degenstein Community Library in Sunbury on April 2.

Simms, a Sunbury resident, will read her poem “Sunbury,” which highlights the history of the town located at the confluence of the North and West branches of the Susquehanna River. The poem was published in a recent issue of Susquehanna Life magazine. Simms also read it during an interview on WKOK, a regional radio station, and at A Taste of the Arts, sponsored by BU's Center for Visual and Performing Arts.

Simms is an award-winning poet with over 150 poetry publications in magazines, literary journals, and newspapers. She formerly served as Poet Laureate of Perry County. Among her awards are a Vermont Studio Writers Scholarship and the Sophie Award for Poetic Excellence.

Wemple is the author of two poetry collections and co-edited the poetry anthology Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania (PSU Press). He also edits Watershed: The Journal of the Susquehanna. A regional native who graduated from Shikellamy High School in Sunbury, Wemple’s work often focuses on the people and places of the Susquehanna Valley. Among his awards are The Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award, the Word Journal Chapbook Prize, a Fellowship in the Arts from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and Pushcart Prize nominations for poetry and creative nonfiction.

The reading takes place at 7 p.m., Monday, April 2 in the Degenstein Community Library, 40 S. Fifth Street, Sunbury. An open mic follow the featured readers. The event is free and open to the public. 

CoLA Notes

 A just-published study of children’s literature co-authored by Chris Podeschi, assistant professor of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice at Bloomsburg University, is covered in today's USA Today. The examination of settings in children’s books finds that wilderness and nature are losing ground to man-made settings.  Podeschi and J. Allen Williams of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln discovered the trend while surveying the 296 Caldecott Award-winning children’s books written between 1938 to 2008.  Williams and Podeschi’s research is published in February’s Sociological Inquiry.

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The American Library Association has named Michael C. Hickey's 2011 book, Competing Voices from the Russian Revolution, Fighting Words, as a RUSA Outstanding Reference Source for 2012.   The ALA RUSA (Reference and User Services Association) award is given to 10 books a year, from among all "reference" books published in all fields. Last year, Competing Voices from the Russian Revolution was given the Outstanding Academic Title designation by Choice, the ALA book review journal; Choice's reviewer described the book as "an amazing collection." Michael Hickey is a professor of History at BU. 



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Lynda Michaels, Director of Alumni Affairs, provided this link to the announcement of the memorial service for James Walter Percey Jr., who retired from the Political Science department in 2002. A full obituary is included in the link. He is remembered by students and colleagues as a popular instructor.

Creative Writing / History Grad Makes Mark in Publishing

Hannah Karena Jones graduated in May 2011 with dual degrees in English-Creative Writing and History, and a minor in Professional Writing.

In July, she earned a Certificate in Publishing from New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute, part of the university’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. The six-week institute dedicated three weeks to the magazine industry, directed by Maryellen Gordon (former deputy editor of Glamour magazine) and three weeks to the book industry, directed by Libby Jordan (President of Musubu, Inc.). Digital publishing and discussions on the rise and importance of e-readers were emphasized throughout the program. 

Hannah (right) with author Meg Cabot (seated)

Students were divided into groups for hands-on projects; first they had to launch their own magazine--complete with a business plan and cover designs--and then they had to launch their own book publishing imprint. From beginning to end, the program offered daily lectures and panel discussions totaling in over 150 editors, publishers, content directors, web editors, marketers, publicity directors, art directors, literary agents, production managers, professional bloggers, booksellers, and authors, exposing students to the wide landscape of publishing and the various jobs within it, while at the same time offering the opportunity to forge invaluable professional contacts. Hannah found the program eye-opening; it gave her the opportunity to learn about publishing niches that she had never known existed and helped her figure out exactly what part of publishing she enjoyed most--editorial. To her surprise, she also learned that, despite the myth, publishing does exist--and flourishes--outside of NYC. Best of all, it introduced her to a huge community of passionate book-lovers. You can read more about the Institute here. 

Since graduation, her creative writing has been awarded 2nd place in The Baltimore Review’s Creative Non-Fiction Contest and Honorable Mention in the Writer’s Digest Young Adult Fiction Competition. Additional stories have been accepted for publication atThe Susquehanna Review and Weave magazine. 
Hannah is now an Assistant Editor at Transaction Publishers, a publisher of record in international social sciences, and maintains a writing and publishing blog.

Thank you to Hannah Jones and Professor Jerry Wemple for providing this profile. 

Why We Fight

The title of this entry refers to a series of films--documentaries or propaganda, depending on one's point of view--produced during World War II to explain to American soldiers and the American public why involvement in the war was necessary. They were, in effect, a call to arms.

As education in general, and public higher education specifically, faces increasing budgetary challenges, eyes will naturally turn to the liberal arts. Aren't these disciplines luxuries that we can do without? 

No. I would submit that the humanities, the fine arts, and the social sciences are far from luxuries. They are in fact the ways of thinking and expression that best allow us to understand ourselves as human. At this moment in our culture as much as ever in the history of our world and our species, we need the analyses and insights that these disciplines provide. 

The metaphor of world war suggested in my title is clearly hyperbolic; but greater understanding of and support for the liberal arts is not going to happen by itself, not with so many cultural and economic forces arrayed against it. We--liberal arts faculty, students, administrators, alumni, and friends--must strive to promote these programs and curricula because we understand their value. 

Education is, of course, the best tool to promote the value of education--and that's a problem. We can, however, also talk about the "value" of a liberal education in terms of some very basic, tangible benefits: knowledge, skills, and abilities that not only make someone a "better person" (whatever that means) or a better Jeopardy contestant, but also make people more effective and ethical leaders, decision makers, parents, and citizens. 

That, as I see it, is the challenge we're all facing. I hope that this space will provide us the opportunity to share our successes--alumni, students, and faculty alike--and work together to promote the programs and courses that best prepare students to understand the complex and diverse world of today ... and tomorrow.

I also hope that every faculty member in the College of Liberal Arts, every student in our quality programs, every friend of the college, and every one of our thousands of successful alumni will take the time to view the video below. It's the December 2011 commencement address by Dr. Stephen Clickard, chairperson of the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Bloomsburg University, and it very effectively addresses the issue of value in liberal education. Enjoy!

James S. Brown

Dean

Dead Man's Cell Phone

The Bloomsburg University Players, in cooperation with the Division of Theatre and Dance and sponsored by the Community Government Association, is in final rehearsals for Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl, MacArthur “Genius” grant winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Associate Professor Ethan Krupp, lighting designer for the production, describes the premise:  “You’re in a café.  Someone’s phone is ringing and ringing.  Do you answer it?  What happens when you do?  What sort of adventure can just answering someone else’s phone take you on? ”  That sets up a story that stage manager Rachel DelVecchio, a sophomore Theatre Arts major, says “combines the world we live in and an alternate place. It really gets people's minds going. It is abstract in its nature, and is going to be simply pleasing to the eye.”

According to members of the production team, the play asks important questions: “When does the technology stop being something used just to make a job easier/faster/better and take on a life of its own?” and “When do we stop and just look up at each other and communicate?”  And it asks those questions in a way that is both wacky and fun.  Director David Dannenfelser, Assistant Professor of Theatre, describes the play as “funny, relevant and beautiful.”

Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl opens February 22 and plays for 5 performances though February 26.  Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 3:00pm.  All performances at the Alvina Krause Theatre, 226 Center St, Downtown Bloomsburg.  Adults $6, Seniors and Non-BU Students $4, BU Students Free with Student ID.  Tickets on sale at the Haas Center for the Arts Box Office.

Friday night is faculty/staff night – Faculty/staff and guest get in free at the door (Please bring your BU ID -- no advanced sale).  Saturday night is BTE subscriber night – BTE subscribers get in free at the door, dependent on available seating (no advanced sale).

Directed by David Dannenfelser, Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre
Set design by Josh Curren (senior, Computer Science)
Costume design by Emma Scholl, Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre
Lighting Design by Ethan Krupp, Associate Professor of Theatre
Stage Managed by Courtney Costello, (sophomore, Theatre Arts)

Student cast includes Gabriella Russo, senior, Theatre Arts; Robert Pellechio, senior, Theatre Arts & Mass Communications; Megan Young, sophomore, Theatre Arts; Jaryn Wilcox, junior, Theatre Arts; Ben Deivert, senior, Theatre Arts; Lauren Shover, Junior, Theatre Arts; Phil Czekner, junior, Theatre Arts; Donovan Krebs, junior, Theatre Arts; Sydney Hare, sophomore, Theatre Arts; Michelle Boyce, freshman, Theatre Arts.