Faculty/Staff Accomplishments and Departmental News 11/7/18

In this issue, we celebrate the accomplishments of faculty and staff in Art, Business, Career Planning, Communication, Education, English, International Programs, Mathematics, Music, Political Science, Retention and Student Success, and Theatre.

Professor of Education Mary Kay Delaney and Associate Professor of Education Tisha Duncan presented “Affective Upending and Intellectual Growth in Constructivist Classrooms: Grappling with Uncertainty” at the 48th Annual Conference of the International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning (ISETL), held October 10-13, 2018 in Tempe, Ariz.

Professor of Education Julie Schrock and Associate Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies Steven A. Benko presented at International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning (ISETL) in Tempe, Ariz., session “Teaching through Questioning.” In this session, participants analyzed a video of a Socratic dialogue, then developed some questions they could ask in their class based on the principles of Socratic questioning using Paul-Elder’s Eight Elements of Thought. Finally, participants had a brief opportunity to use their questions to engage in Socratic questioning with another session participant.

Professor of Education Cece Toole and Associate Professor of Education Tisha Duncan presented a session, “So you think you can teach middle level learners,” at the Association of Middle Level Educators, held October 23-27, 2018 in Orlando, Fla.

Assistant Professor of Sociology Kris Macomber was interviewed last month by MEL magazine about the role male allies play in gender-based social movements.

Jane Matthews, Assistant Director, Employer Relations, has been awarded a Best Practices Grant from the North Carolina Career Development Association (NCCDA) for her program Morning at Meredith: Diversity and Inclusion in Recruiting. This is the third Best Practices Grant from NCCDA that Meredith’s OCP team has received in the past four years. Tommy Peterson, Graduate Intern, Career Counselor was awarded a scholarship from NCCDA to attend the annual conference held Friday, October 26 at Elon University. Katie Peterssen, Assistant Director, Career Development and Candice Webb, Director, StrongPoints presented “Engaging and Empowering Women Through a Strengths-Based Professional Development Certificate Program.” This interactive session highlighted programming that challenges students to apply their strengths to build career readiness. Jane Matthews serves NCCDA as the past president and Katie Peterssen serves as the co-chair for membership.

Professor of Political Science David McLennan published an op-ed in The Charlotte Observer arguing that the “pink wave” has missed North Carolina in 2018, at least in terms of women candidates.  He also appeared in WUNC’s NC Spin as a panelist to discuss the midterm election. McLennan has also given a series of speeches about the midterm elections to the North Carolina State University Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the Bartlett Reserve, and the Cardinal. He was also a panelist for The News and Observer’s Decision 2018 community forum on October 29. Finally, McLennan spoke at Duke University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on political polling.

Associate Professor of English Kelly Morris Roberts reviewed the book So All Can Learn:  A Practical Guide to Differentiation by John McCarthy for Education Review. The article will be published in winter 2018.

Professor of Theatre Catherine Rodgers, Assistant Professor of Communication Alan Buck and Assistant Director of International Programs Traci Johnson attended Connie Book’s inauguration as the first woman president of Elon University. Book taught at Meredith in the Communication Department in the 1990s. The inauguration was held October 20.

Three Meredith faculty and staff have recently earned analytics credentials from SAS. Instructor of Mathematics Angela Stabler and Director of Retention and Student Success Brandon Stokes earned SAS Certified Data Scientist credentials and Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems Megan Martin earned SAS Certified Advanced Analytics Professional credentials.

Professor of Art Jane Terry attended the 2018 Santa Cruz Film Festival in California, as a presenting filmmaker October 4-7. Terry’s short film Stations was an official selection of the festival with independent films by national and international filmmakers.

Chelsea Waddelow, Adjunct Professor of Music, offered a continuing education workshop for Arts+, a non-profit based in Charlotte dedicated to making arts instruction accessible to children of all backgrounds and socioeconomic levels. The workshop, “Teaching Music to Children with Disabilities,” focused on providing music and movement teachers with tools to assess their own cultural attitudes and preconceived beliefs about disability, information about different common diagnoses, and practical strategies to help make arts education more universally accessible to individuals with learning differences and physical disabilities.

Professor of Music Kent Lyman has been very busy this semester with performances and professional service. On September 23, he played a solo piano recital at the charming Cherry Hill Plantation in Inez, N.C. He performed works by Mozart, Beethoven and Liszt.

On the weekend of October 11-13, Lyman attended the State Conference of the North Carolina Music Teachers Association at the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C. His current position with NCMTA is chair of the Performance Competitions of the Music Teachers National Association. As chair, he was responsible for organizing 10 different competitions involving a diverse array of instruments, including piano, strings, woodwinds, voice, and chamber ensembles involving wind and string instruments. The age of the competitors ranged from the youngest at age 12 to college students pursuing graduate degrees. There were 56 students involved and 12 judges. Lyman was assisted in this project by Meredith colleague, Margaret Evans, piano faculty member.

On Sunday, October 21, Lyman was the featured soloist in a performance of Franz Liszt’s Totentanz (Dance of Death) with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra. This concert – called Tricks and Treats – was a Halloween-themed event, and all orchestral members were dressed in costume, including Lyman who appeared on stage and performed in his tails with matching vampire cape. Meredith faculty member Yang Xi was also the featured violin soloist in Saint Saens’ Danse Macabre.

On Saturday, November 10, Meredith faculty members will be appearing in a joint concert presentation of works by Claude Debussy, in commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of his death. The concert will take place at 8 p.m. in Carswell Concert Hall. Lyman will perform Debussy’s work for two pianos entitled En Blanc et Noir (On White and Black), with colleague Margaret Evans. He will also be performing the Clarinet Rhapsody of Debussy with colleague Jimmy Gilmore, who has taught clarinet at Meredith for many years, and recently retired as principal clarinetist of the North Carolina Symphony. Other Meredith faculty members will be involved in performances of Debussy’s cello sonata, and works for violin and voice.