Faculty/Staff Accomplishments and Departmental News 10/9/19

In this issue we celebrate the accomplishments of faculty and staff in child development, education, English, music, nutrition, and psychology. We also share news from the dietetic internship program.

Assistant Professor of Child Development Fain Barker presented a poster at the national conference for the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) on October 3. Her poster topic was “Infant Signs, Symbolic Gestures, Naturally Occurring Gestures, and Sign Language: Conceptual Examination.”

Liz Droessler, adjunct professor in education and art, was a featured speaker at the South Florida Gifted & Talented Symposium, held on Sept. 26, 2019.  Droessler was featured in two presentations, “Making Connections for All Students through the Arts,” with a principal from a Turn-Around Arts School and “Making Connections for All Students through the Arts,” with teaching artist Tammy Holder, a Meredith alumna who has taught in Meredith’s Artist-in-Me Camp for the last two years.

Professor of English Rebecca Duncan will speak at Gaston County Public Library on October 19 during an event honoring Zoe Kincaid Brockman, a writer, poet, and leader in North Carolina journalism. Brockman was the subject of an article by Duncan and former student Lyn Triplett that was published in the North Carolina Literary Review. Read more at https://www.gastongazette.com/news/20191006/woman-who-told-gaston-countys-stories-remembered

Director of Graduate Programs in Nutrition Jennifer D. McMillen and Site Preceptor Stephanie Ott both members of the Department of Nutrition, Health and Human Performance, co-authored an article published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The piece encourages collaborations between students enrolled in Didactic Programs in Dietetics and hospital foodservice, extolling the benefits of a wonderful partnership between Meredith College and Duke Raleigh Hospital by way of example. Read the article here, https://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(19)30854-8/pdf

Professor of Music Kent Lyman visited South Korea in May of this year to present again at the National Conference of the Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy (KAPP). The conference was held at the Korean National University of Education in Seoul. The topic of his presentation, which he delivered in Korean, was the composition entitled Go-Hyang, by American composer David Burge. After discussing the ways in which Burge uses a Korean folk song in each movement of the composition, he performed the work for the audience of around 150. In addition to his appearance at the KAPP Conference, Lyman also presented to two different piano teacher groups in Seoul, lecturing on topics such as using technology in piano teaching, and effective strategies for solving technical challenges in piano playing.

Associate Professor of I/O Psychology Joe Mazzola is the co-author of an article, “Obesity in the workplace: Physical, social, and environmental barriers and facilitators to healthy lifestyles,” that will be published in Occupational Health Science. 

Assistant Professor of Psychology Betty-Shannon Prevatt presented at the North Carolina Public Health Association Fall Conference in Greensboro, N.C., on September 26. Her talk was “When Adjusting to Motherhood Doesn’t Look Like the Commercials: Promoting Maternal Mental Health.”

Marge Terhaar, Professor of Education, will be participating in  the Fulbright Association’s 42nd annual conference, Connecting Hearts and Minds for Global Change, in Arlington, Va., October 24-27.  She will be representing our state in her role as secretary of the North Carolina Chapter of Fulbright Association.

Departmental News

Cynthia G. Melvin, MS, Meredith College, dietetic intern, Duke University Hospital, has published an article promoting the benefits of a collaboration between students enrolled in Didactic Programs in Dietetics (DPD) and hospital foodservice sites, such as Duke Raleigh Hospital. Hospitals gain qualified student employees and opportunities for their clinical Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to build mentorship skills, while providing students with valuable clinical nutrition experience.