Associate Professor of Art Shannon Johnstone received an Honorable Mention in the 2010 International Photography Awards for her sabbatical project “Breeding Ignorance Continues.” Johnstone was recognized in the Deeper Perspectives category, in which acclaimed documentary photographer Lauren Greenfield also received an Honorable Mention. Click here to view Johnstone’s page for the award competition.
Assistant Professor of Communication Michiko Yamada is the author of a book, “A Lucrative Double-standard on Pop Culture: Western celebrities and Japanese TV commercials,” which was published this year by VDM Verlag.
From the publisher’s description: This book analyzes the messages Japanese TV commercials with Western Hollywood celebrities contained from three methodological perspectives: content analysis, interviews and semiology. One aspect of this study is a critical look at the double-standard whereby A-List actors in the United States appear in commercials in Japan but not in the USA.
Associate Professor of History Dan Fountain is the author of “Slavery, Civil War, and Salvation: African American Slaves and Christianity.” The book was published by LSU Press this month.
From the publisher’s description: During the Civil War, traditional history tells us, Afro-Christianity proved a strong force for slaves’ perseverance and hope of deliverance. In Slavery, Civil War, and Salvation, however, Daniel Fountain raises the possibility that Afro-Christianity played a less significant role within the antebellum slave community than most scholars currently assert. Bolstering his argument with a quantitative survey of religious behavior and WPA slave narratives, Fountain presents a new timeline for the African American conversion experience. Click here for more information.
Professor of Foreign Languages & Literatures Brent Pitts’ critical edition of a thirteenth-century Anglo-Norman Apocalypse poem, Revelacion, has been published.
The text of Revelacion is a versified, Anglo-Norman translation of the Vulgate Apocalypse (Revelation, the last book of the New Testament). Several manuscripts of Revelacion have, in addition to the poem text, a cycle of beautifully colored illustrations. It appears that during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in the Anglo-Norman sphere of influence, high-born women were among the chief readers and commissioners of manuscripts of Revelacion.
Pitts offered the following details about the project.
“I have actively pursued this critical edition since the mid-nineties. Along the way, Meredith College has supported the project in many ways, including a sabbatical in Spring 2002 and numerous Faculty Development grants, especially for travel to collections. I also benefitted from the encouragement of my departmental colleagues and of the dean of my school. With this support, I travelled to London (several times), Oxford, Cambridge, Toulouse, Copenhagen, Princeton and New York to examine each of the ten manuscripts of the Apocalypse poem and related materials. I spoke about my experiences in my 2007 Faculty Distinguished Lecture, ‘Sleuthing medieval manuscripts’.”
Faculty/Staff Accomplishments features news submitted by Meredith faculty and staff members about recent awards, publications, participation in professional organizations, and more. Send news for consideration to Melyssa Allen, newsletter editor, at allenme@meredith.edu. The deadline for the next issue is October 12.
In this Issue:
Welcome to Campus Connections
From the President’s Desk
Presidential Search Update
Senior Visitation Day Held
Family Fun Festival Kick-off for “Be One in a Million” Campaign
Faculty/Staff Accomplishments
Upcoming Events
News Briefs
Have you presented research or attended a professional meeting recently? Has your department earned an award? Share news of these accomplishments and more with the Meredith community. Faculty and staff are invited to email items to Melyssa Allen, “Campus Connections” editor, at allenme@meredith.edu.