This week has been jam-packed full of meetings to prepare for the students who land on Winthrop University next week. It began on Monday. All faculty and staff were invited to an official 'Welcome' gathering in the
gorgeous McBryde Hall. I have to remember the university has existed since 1886, and there are some buildings and halls that truly reflect the glory of that architectural period. McBryde Hall rivaled any space in Europe.
President Mahoney is well respected and beloved here. Partly because he is always around on campus, and partly because he keeps addresses short and sweet (and he has a good sense of humor).
Tuesday was the CVPA gathering - that's
College of Visual and Performing Arts. There are so many acronyms in academia, it's a lot to keep up with! At any rate, the first half of the meeting was a very transparent conversation about the state of affairs and everyone was encouraged to chime in with questions and opinions. I was quite impressed - it made us all feel invested in the well-being of the university. I was also made aware of the responsibility of senior faculty to bring up delicate subjects that younger or less-senior faculty might be hesitant to address. There's a role for each person to play in their life at a university. Even I have a role as a newbie who knows nothing and therefore doesn't know protocol or past issues. I and my fellow new faculty shake things up just by the very nature of our ignorance. It's a healthy thing.
They fed us a nice lunch, and then we started the second half of the program. It was very much like the Pecha Kucha I did at the University of Edinburgh when I first began there. But here it was all faculty
for faculty - 10x10x10 - 10 faculty members with slides in 10-minute presentations. What a great way to get to know the impressive expertise of my fellow faculty. Our Dean,
Jeff Bellantoni, who hails from Ringling College of Art and Design and Pratt in New York before that, introduced everyone. Sadly, I didn't think to start taking pictures until about half-way through. So, I didn't get a picture of
Wanda Ebright's extensive and impactful dance history. Although I did get a photo of her with Karen Stock afterward. Wanda was so kind to me during my interview, I had to add to her rubber duckie collection with a Scottish duck.
There was also
Juliana Hane who showed videos of her aerial dancing. Check out this snippet on Youtube - it was so beautiful it made me want to cry. I can't wait to see her performances in person, they are so extremely beautiful!
Matt Farrell performed in HAIR and in commercials and Disney shows for years and it showed, he is
quite the performer/entertainer and had us in stitches!!
Marvin McAllister discussed reviving old versions of Shakespeare that when first performed by African-Americans led to their arrests. He's written several books on African Americans in theatre that sounds fascinating, such as
White People Do Not Know How To Behave At Entertainments Designed For Ladies and Gentlemen of Colour and
Whiting Up: Whiteface Minstrels and Stage Europeans in African American Performance .
And this is when I thought to pull out my camera.
Justin Isenhour played trombone for us, part of a performance he's been invited to share all over the world!
Jeremy Mims shared his recent performance as choral director at Carnegie Hall!!
Claudia O'Steen talked about her interdisciplinary art project studying the gage surveyor in Kronstadt, Russia.
Michelle Aaron Livek Garner discussed her breakthrough in assessing arts education. This is important. The education system has long left the arts behind because of a lack of understanding of how to
grade it like you would math or science. I can't wait to learn more about her studies.
Jesse Weser, who I am now working very closely within the DOD (Department of Design) shared her impressive history of studying and teaching in Italy and doing volunteer work in Uganda, along with coming up with some very cool designs.
And another faculty member I work closely with,
Jason Tslentis talked about his love of design and typography in particular. He's written several books about it and was named one of HOW Magazine's "100 Designers Everyone Should Know."
Indeed, that was the theme of the afternoon - the fact that Winthrop has some world-famous creators and performers at the top of their own practices teaching right here in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The reason is clear - the university supports their (our) research, encourages interdisciplinary experimentation, is on a
gorgeous campus, and is just big enough while not being so big as to be unwieldy. It's why I wanted to teach here. I didn't want to disappear on a campus that was so big that my voice would never be heard. Here at Winthrop, lots of voices are heard, and what voices they are!
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