This semester wasn't exactly the return to normal many of us were hoping for, but it was certainly a return to something closer to normal.

From the Fall musical 9-5 that marked the first large-scale production in Falk theater since the start of the pandemic to standing room only crowds for the annual holiday concert "Let Heaven and Nature Sing" that kicked off the return of the Damron Concert Artist series in the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values, it seemed obvious that audiences were ready to get back to live performances. And, of course, our students were excited to perform in front of live (and very appreciative) audiences again.

We also spent the semester settling into the dazzling new Ferman Center for the Arts. The Charlene and Mardy Gordon Performance Gallery played host to a kick off event for the Gasparilla Festival of Music, the BlackBox theater hosted its first MainStage play and the Charlene A. Gordon Theater was filled nightly with everything from lectures by top scholars to screenings of newly released Hollywood blockbusters.

We hope that you'll come visit us next semester and get inspired, be entertained, and support the next generation of scholars and creatives that call the College of Arts and Letters home.

Happy Holidays!

David Gudelunas, Ph.D.

Dean, College of Arts and Letters

At the Florida Communication Association’s Annual Conference two undergraduates were recognized for their scholarship:

Students in Dr. John Nichol's Recording and Electronic Music class partnered with the Tampa Bay SyncRays synchronized swimming team to produce special composition meant to be heard both under and above the water. You can read more about the project here.

Film students studying with Prof. Gregg Perkins were profiled by Bay News 9 making a short film at the Vu Studios in Tampa. The short film, directed by Perkins, was written using artificial intelligence and shot at the state-of-the-art facility housing one of the largest LED volumes in the country. UT has a partnership with Vu Studios that gives film students access to the next generation of film making technology.

Senior Musical Theater major Jayrn McCann was profiled on Bay News 9 about his role in the StageWorks Theater production of "Evil Dead." Karla Hartley, also a part-time professor of theater at UT, directed the production.

Several recent CAL graduates, including Sydney Rhodes, pictured left, were profiled by 83 Degrees Media about their plans after graduation fro UT.

For Rhodes and Jackie Steele, the answer was CAL's new MA in Social and Emerging Media.

The innovative new graduate program can be completed in just one year and prepares students for a variety of careers at the intersection of technology, communication and marketing.

Dr. David Gudelunas, CAL Dean, had his research on newspaper advice columns cited in an op-ed in the New York Times.

Dr. Marcus Arvan, Associate Professor of Philosophy, was quoted in the Tampa Bay Times discussing the ethics of travel during a local pandemic.

Directed by part-time Dance Professor Amanda Sieradzki, the evening featured investigational works by student choreographers and dance faculty — converging movement, music and spoken word. The program drew on a variety of themes, such as constellations, extraterrestrial encounters, social activism, the power of story and infectious rhythms inspired by two iconic Tampa spaces - Plant Hall and the Sticks of Fire sculpture in Plant Park. Guest Artist Jon Lehrer also worked with students on a special piece created just for UT.

Justin and Christian Long (pictured above with Professor Taylor Curry, Assistant Professor of Film Animation and New Media), returned to campus this month to screen "Lady of the Manor," a major motion picture they wrote and directed. Justin Long also stars in the film alongside Ryan Phillipe, Judy Greer, Melanie Lynskey, and CAL alumn Tamara Austin.

The film was shot in early 2020 at several iconic Tampa locations including the UT campus. Over 25 film students from CAL worked as part of the crew with several dozen CAL theater students serving as extras on the film.

The Longs returned to campus for a special screening in the Charlene A. Gordon Theater, a meet and greet with community members, and a talkback moderated by Prof. Curry and Prof. Aaron Walker, chair of Film, Animation and New Media.

Director of the Press Dr. Dan Dooghan, Associate Professor of English and Writing, says: "We have modernized our submissions infrastructure for Tampa Review, which is once again generating revenue. We are also returning to the publication of books through our long-running poetry contest, the acquisition of work from our established authors, and the development of new series in both the fantastic and translation."

Prof. Yuly Restrepo, Associate Teaching Professor, was named editor of Tampa Review and Dr. Sarah Juliet Lauro, Associate Professor, serves as editor of Studies in the Fantastic.

Lauro provides this sneak preview of the forthcoming Winter issue: "We are currently preparing the Winter issue, which will be a special issue devoted to the HBO series Lovecraft Country. Based on Matt Ruff's novel of the same name, this series produced by showrunner Misha Green folded together many recognizable elements of HP Lovecraft's fiction into the setting of 1950s Jim Crow America in a haunting portrayal of racism that speaks back to Lovecraft himself."

Earlier this semester, the College's Scarfone/Hartley Gallery partnered with the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum to bring a powerful exhibit to campus. “REVERBERATIONS: Black Artists On Racism and Resilience” shared artwork from emerging and established Black artists who live and work in the Southeastern United States, including three alumnae from The University of Tampa: Nneka Jones '20, Princess Smith '12 and Prof. Kendra Frorup '92, Associate Professor of Art + Design.

Jocelyn Boigenzahn, Director of College Galleries, said she was proud to partner and work with the team from the Woodson African American Museum as part of the galleries quest to connect with the Tampa Bay Community and be a place for cutting edge work in the city.

Under the direction of dance program coordinator Prof. Susannah LeMarquand, dance students closed out the program for the annual Equality Florida gala held at Armature Works in Tampa Heights. The dancers stole the show and left the audience cheering for more.

Dr. Devon Johnson, Assistant Teaching Professor, Philosophy, published a new book Black Nihilism and Antiblack Racism (Rowman & Littlefield).

Dr. Floyd W. Hayes, Johns Hopkins University, says: "In Black Nihilism and Antiblack Racism, Devon Johnson presents a thoughtful and welcomed philosophical explanation, analysis, and argument of Black existential thought in response to the contemporary situation. This book demands our attention."

Prof. Lisa Jayne Willard, Assistant Professor, Art + Design, wrote about Herbert Bayer's 1953 World Geographic Atlas. This influential publication from the Bauhaus designer, Willard suggests, anticipated the age of infographics. You can read more here.

Dr. Hein Jung, Professor of Music, performed in South Korea as part of the  “Environmental Concert” to protect the endangered Korean bird at risk of extinction. The concerto she performed is a new composition, commissioned by the city of Seoul and can be seen in the broadcast recorded for Korean public television starting at about 46:50 above.

Dr. Angel Duncan, part-time professor of Art Therapy, published "Arts in Mind: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Museum Programs for Persons Living with Young-Onset and Early Stage Alzheimer's Disease" in the International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education with co-authors Rachel Thompson and Jessica Sack (both of Yale University).

Prof. Jamie Aelavanthara, Assistant Professor of Art + Design, and Prof. Amanda Sieradzki, part-time professor of Dance, collaborated for a special art installation and performance as part of the 2021 Skyway series at the Tampa Museum of Art. The project fused Aelavanthara's photography with Sieradzki's choreography and featured four UT dance students. In the vide linked above both professors describe the collaboration and the importance of local art making.

Dr. Alyssia Miller De Rutté, Assistant Teaching Professor, Languages and Linguistics, published three recent articles (two with students from UT) and also received an award from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and the Teaching Culture Special Interest Group for her work in teaching Medical Spanish/Spanish for the Health Professions.

There is so much more to come this season - mark your calendars now for some of the best exhibits, performances, lectures and recitals anywhere in Tampa Bay.

You can find a complete list of events in the annual Arts & Ideas guide online and available for pickup at the Falk theater, the Scarfone/Hartley and Saunders Foundation galleries, the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values, or throughout the Ferman Center for the Arts. This year the guide was beautifully redesigned by Visiting Assistant Professor of Art + Design Luciana Gassett.

Be sure to join us as well for the return of the Damron Concert Artist Series in the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values as well as the all new Charlene and Mardy Gordon Chamber Music Series in the Charlene A. Gordon Theater.