CAL
Currents
: The Newsletter of the College of Arts and Letters
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Vol 2 | Issue 3 | May 2019
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The academic year here at the College of Arts and Letters ended with a bang. Literally. Last month, the UT community came together to dig shovels into the ground for the new Ferman Center for the Arts, and this issue of CAL
Currents has details about this very exciting new project that is a game-changer for the College. It will be a physical and metaphorical stage for emerging talent and we are excited!
You'll also get a glimpse into all of the other reasons students and faculty across the College are cheering at the close of the semester. From prestigious faculty awards like the Bennett Prize and a gold medal in the Florida Book Awards, to students being named top emerging artist at the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts and being accepted into some of the most prestigious PhD programs in the nation, there is no shortage of things to make everyone who supports the College of Arts and Letters extremely proud.
Our students and faculty do amazing work and the end of the academic year is a wonderful time to celebrate and reflect on the dedication, creativity and innovation that students and their faculty mentors pour into their passions. It is also the right time to think about how we can make the College of Arts and Letters even better and continue to meet the needs of students and our world-class faculty well into the future. I look forward to engaging with many of you on just these questions.
Enjoy your summer!
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David Gudelunas, Ph.D.
Dean and Professor
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UT Breaks Ground on New
Ferman Center for the Arts Building
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The stunning new facility will be the largest new academic building constructed at UT and the first new building ever for the
College of Arts and Letters
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A groundbreaking ceremony was held on campus on April 25th to celebrate the start of construction of the new
Ferman Center for the Arts.
The new arts building is the first new building project specifically for the arts and humanities in the history of the University. It will also be one of the first new multi-use arts buildings to be built in Tampa Bay in at least the last decade.
At the groundbreaking, Dean Gudelunas commented that, "The building will be a physical commitment to the energy and creativity of the students, faculty and community members who will literally make the building come alive through performances, recitals, screenings, gatherings and lectures."
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If you're interested in helping turn the dream of a new building for the arts into a reality, contact
Dean David Gudelunas
or
Marc Brechwald,
the CAL Development liaison. More philanthropy is still needed to ensure we have the best equipment and technology for our programs. We have many naming opportunities still available to recognize you helping us achieve our dream.
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The College of Arts and Letters is a place where a lot is going on, and our friends in the local and and national media can't help but notice too.
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The film’s subjects were present at the screening, along with
Jemaine Brown
’16, a media technology specialist in UT’s Office of Information Technology Operations, who served as assistant editor and color grader. The film was featured on the Sarasota News Network.
You can also watch the clip here.
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Junior Art + Design major
Nneka Jones was named "Top Emerging Artist" at the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts and featured prominently in the
Tampa Bay Times.
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Digital Photography major
Chandler Culotta had his photography work featured in
Creative Loafing. Culotta got connected to the Gasparilla Music Festival by his photography
Professor Jaime Aelavanthara.
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Associate Professor of Theatre and
Assistant Dean Michael Staczar was featured on Fox 13 discussing the Spring musical "The Theory of Relativity."
You can see the clip online here.
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Oprah Magazine recently listed
Dr. Erica Dawson's third book of poetry, "When Rap Spoke Straight to God" as one of 17 of the best poetry books in honor of national poetry month. Dawson serves as Associate Professor of English and Director of the
Low Residency MFA program in the College of Arts and Letters.
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Associate Professor of Music
Dr. Ryan Hebert
was profiled in the Tampa Bay Times as part of their coverage of Bach Bash, celebrating the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach. Hebert serves as the University organist.
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Associate Professors of Music
Dr. Grigorios Zamparas and Dr. Hein Jung were described by the
Sarasota Observer as "the dynamic duo."
The paper explained, "
Pianist Grigorios Zamparas and soprano Hein Jung delight in creating musical castles in the sky. Both live in the area and teach at the University of Tampa as associate professors. He’s the head of the piano program; she’s the director of vocal studies. Both perform extensively at concerts across America and Europe."
This is most certainly not fake news. They do all of those things and they are also wonderful teachers.
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The
Film, Animation and New Media Department's Black Box Film Festival received some love and attention from the
Tampa Bay Times.
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Time
Magazine Person of the Year and UT Alumna Returns to Campus as Part of Journalism Week
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The Department of Communication celebrated UT's first-ever Journalism Week March 25-29.
Events featured several recent journalism graduates, including
Selene San Felice
'16, who is not only a Time Magazine
Person of the Year
but also a recipient of a
special citation
by the Pulitzer Prize Committee.
On March 26, the University honored San Felice with a Distinguished Journalism Alumni Award in Sykes Chapel, where she gave an acceptance speech.
The week-long celebration, which included classroom sessions with UT journalism alumni, continued on March 27 with a symposium on news media careers in the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center. For this event, San Felice joined three other recent journalism grads:
Orlando Sentinel
reporter
Tess Sheets
’17, Fort Myers television reporter
Megan Myers
’17, and
Suncoast News Network
reporter
Alejandro Romero
’18.
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Experiential Education in CAL
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Advertising & PR Students
Launch The Spartan Agency
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The Spartan Agency celebrated a year’s work by presenting a strategic marketing plan and creative campaign to BarrieHaus Beer Company, the new craft brewery opening in Ybor City this summer.
The full-service student agency, composed of about 30 members across disciplines, was mentored by Faculty Co-Directors
Prof.
Juliet Davis of Communication and
Dr. Gary Beemer of Marketing.
The BarrieHaus media presentation included website, video, social media, advertising, public relations, photography, graphics, product branding, logo versions, and email and texting campaigns. The creative team even named the beers.
Student leaders included Creative Director
Erika Peitersen, a sophomore in Advertising & Public Relations and
Taylor Whitesel, a senior in Film, Animation, and New Media who served as Student Director of Digital Media. Whitesel has already been hired as a digital developer at HCP Associates, one of the top ad agencies in Tampa Bay. Other CAL agency members included Art majors
Imayen Effiong and
Nneka Jones, who provided key illustrations and photographs, and many other ADPR and Communication majors who worked on graphics, social media, advertising, and public relations.
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Film Students Help Produce Film for Plant Museum
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“
Letters from Tampa: Two Spanish-American War Stories
” is a short historical documentary film based on a series of letters from a soldier and a nurse who are in Tampa during the build up to the Spanish-American war in Cuba. The film was directed by graduating Film, Animation and New Media seniors
Rachel Parrella
and
Ashley Acevedo
, who have put together a considerable piece using recreation and archival materials in close collaboration with
Dr. Charles Groh
(History) and
Prof. Paul Finochario
(Theatre).
Dr. Rodney Shores
(Music) provided recordings of the UT Glee Clubs for the film while
Prof. Kris Atkinson
(FMX) helped design and build the sets. Film work was supervised by
Prof. Aaron Walker
(FMX) and funded through an ALEX Grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry.
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Communication Majors Explore Comparative Media in Cuba
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Dr. Christopher Boulton and Dr. Stephanie Tripp
took students to Cuba over Spring Break to visit Cuban media institutions and compare state-run versus commercially driven media systems.
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Art + Design and Journalism Majors Study in New York City
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Art + Design majors traded their flip flops and tank tops for winter coats and hoodies during a cruelly named Spring Break trip to New York City to meet with artists in their downtown studios, explore the galleries of West Chelsea, and visit some of the most important cultural institutions in the world. The students were accompanied by
Prof. Chris Valle and
Prof. Crissy Singer from the Department of Art + Design.
Dr. David Wheeler from the Department of Communication also participated in the trip north with a group of fashion journalism students who got to peak in on fashion and media headquarters.
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CAL Faculty are productive scholars and creative leaders. This is just a small sampling of their recent achievements.
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Art + Design part-time faculty member
Prof. Aneka Ingold was named the inaugural winner of the
Bennett Prize, the largest award ever created to honor solely women painters.
Awarded at the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan on May 2, the $50,000 prize
"
is meant to propel the careers of women figurative realist painters from across the country. In the exhibition catalog, the four-member jury praised Ingold’s paintings for powerful and expressive representations of femininity."
Image:
Aneka Ingold
Aberration
Mixed media on vinyl, 2015
84 x 72 inches
Courtesy of RJD Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
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Dr. Sucheta Kanjilal,
Department of English and Wrirting
,
has been invited to speak at the Celebration of India Event at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota on April 27. Sucheta will present “A Journey through Indian Literary/History,” presenting an overview of events in modern Indian history, politics, and literature using stories from the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata. Dr. Kanjilal also published "An Epic Heroine in the Age of Global Commodity Culture: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions." in the
Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies
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Assistant Professor of English
Dr. Sarah Juliet Lauro
was selected for inclusion in the 2019 Fulbright Hays GPA study of the African Brazilian Diaspora in Brazil. The program includes study of the history and culture of Brazil at the University of Salvador and language study in Portuguese, during which she will develop curriculum on Afro-Brazilian culture for a course on hemispheric literature.
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Assistant Professor of English
Prof. Yuly Restrepo
published “Falling in Love and (Finally) Finding Queer Representation on a Telenovela.” in Catapult.
You can read the piece here.
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Dr. Laura Kane,
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, had her peer-reviewed article, “What Is A Family? Considerations on Purpose, Biology, and Sociality” published in
Public Affairs Quarterly.
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Dr. Minjie Li, Department of Communication, published "Mediated vicarious contact with transgender people: How narrative perspective and interaction depiction influence intergroup attitudes, transportation, and elevation" in the
Journal of Public Interest Communications.
Dr. Li was also recently competitively selected to participate in this summer's prestigious Visiting Professors Program of the Advertising Educational Foundation sponsored by the
Association of National Advertisers.
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CAL Partners with FMoPA on Education Program
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As part of FMoPA's Institute for Continuing Education, members of the FMoPA community came to campus to experience recently remodeled photography studios and darkrooms and to learn from master photographers
Profs. Jaime Aelavanthra and Janelle Young.
Image courtesy of Prof. Jaime Aelavanthra.
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Celebrating Student Success
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University of Tampa Trustee and CAL Advisory Board Chairperson
Mrs. Charlene Gordon (far left) was on hand to present the Charlene Gordon awards at the annual College of Arts and Letters student awards ceremony. Mrs. Gordon and her husband Mardy make generous cash prizes available to the top graduating students in Musical Theatre, Dance, Music and Visual Art.
The awards are meant to help students financially as they graduate and pursue a career in the arts. This year's recipients were
Jodi Minnis (Visual Art),
Kevin "Sam" Alderman (Music),
Ryan Widd (Musical Theatre) and
Dakota Kuharich (Dance).
Congratulations to all of the students who took home awards and prizes at the annual celebration of academic excellence!
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Danielle Ronzo
, Art + Design Major, attended National Society for Photographic Education Conference, Cleveland, Ohio and participated in official portfolio reviews
.
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Senior Communication major
Fallon Fischer
produced and directed "Accessible UT," a 17-minute documentary about students with physical disabilities on campus. Fischer collaborated with
Ionna Zanchi
, a psychology major with physical disabilities, on the documentary and the two arranged a university-wide screening and roundtable discussion. The project was part of a class with
Dr. Stephanie Tripp
on community engagement and critical media practice.
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English and Writing major
Adeline Davis
presented her research, "Striking the Sight: Angela Carter’s rejection of the beauty mystique in 'The Tiger’s Bride'" at the Talking Bodies conference at the University of Chester (England) on April 12.
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Senior Music major
Kavin “Sam” Alderman was awarded a full tuition remission and assistantship in the School of Music at The University of Oklahoma to study Organ Performance.
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CAL-A-PALOOZA, the second annual CAL Scholarship and Creative Work Showcase was held on April 23, 2019 in Fletcher Lounge. The CAL Showcase is an opportunity for each of CAL’s eight departments, as well as a number of affiliated programs and centers, to highlight the scholarly achievements and creative efforts of their faculty and students.
This year's event included performances, readings, poster displays, screenings, interactive presentations, and saw increased attendance.
Images courtesy of Prof. Jaime Aelavanthra.
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The close of this academic year sees the joys retirement for three long-serving members of the College of Arts and Letters faculty. Combined, these three faculty members have over 100 years of service to the University of Tampa. Professors Kennedy, King and Solomon will all be missed by their colleagues and students.
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Dr. Timothy Kennedy
is a pioneering expert in the field of development communication, the concept of using modern communication technology to assist emerging people in governance.
He was a founding member of the Department of Communication.
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A frequent exhibitor and subject of many collections,
Prof. Jack King
combines teaching with a professional art career.
King's works are in collections throughout the Southeast including those of William R. Hough and the Walt Disney Company.
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Dr. Andy Solomon
is the author of the novel
Partners
and has published his fiction and poetry in
The Atlantic
,
Boulevard
,
Creative Nonfiction
and the
New Orleans Review
. He serves as a book critic for
The New York Times
,
Washington Post
,
Los Angeles Times
,
Chicago Tribune
,
Boston Globe
and several other publications as well as on National Public Radio
.
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The End of the Semester and the Summer Heats Up in CAL!
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New Media and Animation Senior Projects
Friday, May 10, 6 PM, Cass Building
See cutting edge work by graduating FMX students.
Senior Art + Design BFA Show Reception
Friday, May 10, 7 PM Scarfone/Hartley Gallery
See the paintings, drawings, sculpture and graphic design projects from graduating seniors. (pictured left)
Changing Identities Opening Reception
Friday, June 7, 7 PM Scarfone/Hartley Gallery
Join Professor Emerita of Dance Susan Taylor Lennon for the opening of "Changing Identities: A Moving Memoir"
CAL Convocation
Saturday August 24, 1 PM Falk Theatre
Join Faculty and the newest students in the College for an official kick-off to the new academic year.
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