A welcome message from the Dean
Dean Mercy Cannon
As we look forward to the 2024-25 academic year, I am pleased to share recent accomplishments in the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. The college continues to excel in its mission of educating students for the Commonwealth.
We invite you to join CLASS faculty, staff, and students for the first home football game of the season, September 14. We will tailgate in the Colonels Courtyard and celebrate our community. With a new Vice President and Director of Athletics, Kyle Moat, EKU is well-positioned for an outstanding year. Many thanks to all of our alumni and friends for your continued support of Eastern. It is an exciting time to be a Colonel!
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Foster Music Camp: 89 Years of Performing Arts Excellence on the Campus Beautiful
This article was originally published here
By Evan Bentley
Orchestra Stands at the Center for the Arts Foster Grand Finale
The sight of hundreds of middle and high school students around campus with their music instruments is synonymous with summer at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU)—and it has been since 1935. EKU’s Foster Music Camp is the second oldest music camp in the entire nation, behind only the famous Interlochen. This year, Foster Music Camp celebrated its 89th year with the most campers—more than 800—since its establishment. The camp is for middle and high schoolers with at least one year of experience with a musical instrument. Serving thousands of campers throughout the years, the camp attracts young musicians from across the state and country who want to fine-tune their skills.
“The campus activity and sounds of Foster Music Camp are a point of both nostalgia and pride for many of us at EKU,” said EKU President David McFaddin. “In hosting hundreds of budding musicians every summer, it is our hope that campers have an enriching and memorable time on our campus and can truly experience what all EKU has to offer in the performing arts. We strive to be a leader in the performing arts, and this camp has proven to both grow and recruit excellent students and musicians to the Campus Beautiful.”z
Campers choose from programs specialized in different instruments or music areas, such as band, orchestra, percussion, piano and even voice. Each camp program offers the best music educators from EKU and the region.
Ben Walker, director of EKU’s Foster Music Camp, has been involved with the camp for over 24 years—first as a trombone player in high school and Foster Music Camp participant. Walker spoke to the leadership qualities that students bring back to their schools after their time spent at the camp.
“We have a large allotment of middle and high school teachers in the state and even beyond our state that send kids here solely because they know it’s going to foster them into being a better leader in their programs. They’re going to come back a stronger musician and a person, and they’re going to hopefully feed that into their programs,” said Walker.
Camp schedules range from one to three weeks, offering a residential or commuter experience for students. Along with expert faculty, EKU provides facilities and venues from the Foster Music Building to the Center for the Arts, Ravine, residence halls and dining hall.
Throughout the camp, students spend their days in masterclasses and rehearsals for their chosen instruments, and evenings are filled with concerts, recitals and recreational activities. At the end of the camp, students perform a grand finale at the Center for the Arts, where family and friends are invited to see and hear the music the campers have worked on with each other.
Mikayala Hagen, a Foster Music Camp attendee from Madison Central, said, “It’s just a nice feeling to see everyone come to the concerts and have a packed crowd of not just parents and family but people from the community as well.”
While at Foster Music Camp, students thrive as they learn in the campus environment and experience EKU as an option for continuing their music or higher education endeavors.
Former camper and now camp counselor, violinist Eve Blackburn, ’24, knows firsthand about the camp’s success with attracting students to the university. Blackburn, a recent music education graduate from EKU, said, “I heard about Foster Music Camp from my sixth-grade orchestra class, and this camp truly influenced my life. I would not be here at this university without the summer camp. This has been a part of my life every single year for the last nine years.”
Future Colonel and trumpet player Cooper Hoverman, from Tates Creek High School, can relate.
“It was the amount of networking I’ve been able to make through this camp—not only with people my age, but older people who have just graduated from EKU and the professors,” Hoverman said about his decision to continue his education at EKU. “Like Eve said, I wouldn’t be coming here if it wasn’t for this camp because I’ve got connected to my specific professor (Dr. VanFleet), and he’s given me a bunch of feedback and we’ve worked together for seven years now.”
The 2024 Foster Music Camp concluded on June 28. As next year will be the 90th annual Foster Music Camp, Keith Talley, director and professor of music at EKU, said, “We are looking forward to creating great memories with new and returning campers and strengthening the bond between these young musicians and EKU.”
With long-standing programs like the Foster Music Camp, robust music academic programs and impressive venues, such as the Center for the Arts, EKU continues to lead in the state and beyond in providing exceptional opportunities and experiences in the performing arts.
EKU Celebrates Faculty Awards
This article was originally published here
2023-24 Faculty Awards, Dr. Heather Fox, Dr. Rusty Carpenter, Dr. Charlotte Rich
In a celebration of excellence at Eastern Kentucky University, several instructors were honored at the 2024 University Faculty Awards and Recognition Ceremony on April 9 in the Keen Johnson Building. The evening’s festivities also included the Sabbatical Showcase and Faculty Club Open House.
The faculty awards cover several categories, including teaching-focused awards, scholarship-focused awards, first-year courses awards, and the EKU Libraries partnership award. New to this year’s ceremony, EKU’s Graduate Profile team recognized faculty and staff who have demonstrated a commitment to the intentional implementation of employability skills within classes and university efforts for students.
Applications for most awards are submitted in mid-January and departments are encouraged to nominate candidates for award categories.
The 2024 University Faculty Awards recipients are as follows:
Faculty Leadership Award
- Nedim Slijepcevic, Assistant Professor, Instructional Design
Teaching-Focused Awards
- 2023-24 Teaching and Learning Annual Themed Award: Workforce & Employability Skills, Teaching & Learning for Future Careers – Niki Hill, Assistant Professor, American Sign Language & Interpreter Education; Heather Fox, Associate Professor, and Charlotte Rich, Professor, English
- Faculty Innovation in Teaching Awards – Vigs Chandra, Professor, Computer Science & Information Technology; Erin Presley, Associate Professor, English
- Inclusive Excellence Faculty Award – Emily Zuccaro, Associate Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator, Teaching, Learning, & Educational Leadership
- Transformative Teaching Award – Laura Barthel, Assistant Professor, Accounting
- Dr. Jerry Pogatshnik Graduate Faculty Award – Cy Mott, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Scholarship-Focused Awards
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award – Jill Parrott, Professor, English
- Transformative Scholarly and Creative Achievements Awards – George Ashley, MSW Field Director and Associate Professor, Social Work
First-Year Courses Awards
- Outstanding Foundations of Learning Instructors Awards – Cassie Bradley, Program Manager, Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning and Coordinator, Credit for Prior Learning; Bethany Warner, Director, Office of Advising & Career Services
- Outstanding College-Specific Student Success Seminar Instructor Awards – Sabrina Moore, College of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics; Darlene Stocker, Associate Director, Office of Advising & Career Services
- Distinguished First-Year Instructor – Ashton Chaffins, Advisor, NOVA Program
Graduate Profile Recognitions: Essential Employability Skills
- Integrating Employability Skills (Faculty) – Casey Humphrey, Associate Professor and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator, Occupational Science/Therapy; Brian Simpkins, Assistant Professor, Homeland Security
- Commitment to Employability Skills (Staff) – Bethany Warner, Director, Office of Advising & Career Services; Darlene Stocker, Associate Director, Office of Advising & Career Services
EKU Libraries Partnership Award
- Catherine Stearn, Associate Professor, History
- Starr Wentzel, Director, First Year Courses
Faculty award winners are announced during EKU’s Scholars Showcase, held each year in April.
EKU English professor shines light on Ukrainian poetry and the power it holds during wartime
This article was originally published here
Dr. Brent Shannon’s English 310 class finishes discussing their unit on Ukrainian war poetry
Here in Kentucky, students can safely walk from class to class. There is no concern that a bomb will be dropped onto a school building. However, in other parts of the world it’s not that simple.
For some students, like those who attend school in Ternopil, Ukraine, their experience is different. Air raid sirens often disrupt classroom learning and force students into bombs shelters. Liza Tvardovska is a translator in training and attends school in Ternopil. She said her experience in the bomb shelter is challenging.
Photo of Liza Tvardovska on a Zoom call Photo Credit: Olivia Doyle/ WEKU
“Shelter is a place where people are loud and interrupts each other. Our teachers, I don’t know, they are simply, literally, have no opportunity to give us this information and we just don’t like receive the amount of information that we have to.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine heavily impacted Tvardovska’s educational experience.
“I often have nightmares because of war. When like alarm starts I often wake up at night and I just can’t normally sleep and that’s what interrupts my studying and my normal life.”
After the full-scale invasion started over two years ago, Tvardovska said it greatly affected her learning. As a student, she finds inspiration from her mentor, who often uses poetry as a way to educate.
In Ukraine, poetry is a huge part of their culture. It impacts much of their lives and is used as a way to unite the people. Inspired by this culture surrounding poetry, Eastern Kentucky University English Professor Dr. Brent Shannon decided to integrate Ukrainian war poetry into his curriculum.
“And so I saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate how, here is a culture and a community that is using poetry to talk about the real world, you know, talking about death and war and fear and how this was changing their lives. Things that for them were incredibly real and incredibly important and that they chose to use poetry as a forum in which to express these ideas and feelings.”
He wants to share with EKU students the impact of the written word.
“We can see, regard poetry as a sort of communal act of resistance and defiance, that it can become a kind of political act. It can become a weapon of war. It is a voice through which you can resist against your oppressors.”
Ukrainian poets, especially in war time, insist upon their own culture and their own nationhood. A sense of national identity is central to the poetry Shannon is introducing to his students. Showing the impact poetry can make on an event as life changing as war can be a challenge.
To aid in this, Shannon invites Ukrainian individuals to speak to his students, allowing them to share first-hand knowledge of their experiences. One is translator Vira Hrabchuck, who has met with the class over Zoom.
“I think poetry for us is a lot of about a way to express yourself. A way to express your thoughts, your stand, your feelings, emotions.”
Hrabchuck grew up in Ukraine and works as a translator and educator. She takes every opportunity to share her perspective as someone living through the war.
Photo of Vira Hrabchuck on a zoom call Photo credit: Olivia Doyle / WEKU
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be an alive Ukrainian scholar, student, and it’s my duty to also talk on behalf of those who unfortunately have perished.”
Hrabchuck said poetry for her is an important escape from the realities of war.
“It just requires a lot of focus and it helps me to zone out in many ways, like forget about the war, it’s my meditation. Translating poetry or reading poetry is my meditation for sure.”
Hrabchuck often has her students translate poetry and one of her students is Liza Tvardovska. She recently translated a poem by a popular Ukrainian poet, Vasyl Symonenko called “Perhaps the guns will cry again”.
Ukrainian poetry is often written so it can be relevant for decades to come. Many Ukrainians, like Tvardovska and Hrabchuck, feel connected to these poems.
For now, times remain uncertain as the war in Ukraine continues but the use and impact of poetry can provide solace to those enduring it.
Student Spotlight: Kiaira Tomlinson, Criminal Justice
Dean Mercy Cannon and Kiaira Tomlinson
As the Dean’s Merit Award recipient for 2024, Kiaira Tomlinson represents the very best of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. A Sociology and Criminal Justice double major with an African and African Studies minor, Kiaira is an accomplished junior researcher in sociology with a well-defined research agenda and outstanding skills that allow her to pursue projects well beyond the level of most undergraduate students.
She has been distinguished as a McNair Scholar and Honors Scholar, volunteers for Madison Home, and participates in the Black Student Union, the AFA Club, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Sociology professor Dr. Alison Buck writes that “Kiaira has a passion and capability for answering meaningful questions through social science research that is rare among undergraduate students.”
African and African American Studies professor Dr. Ogechi notes that Kiara “lends her strong voice to promote an understanding of the people and their history with unapologetic passion. She is an admirable and reliable ambassador of EKU Black Studies.”
She will be attending UNC-Charlotte’s Masters of Sociology Program this Fall with full funding through an assistantship. After graduate school, Kiaira will pursue training and licensure as therapist focused on non-traditional therapy for women and children who have been wronged by the criminal justice system.
Kiaira, we believe you will change this world for the better and we are honored to have been a part of your journey. Congratulations on all your success!
EKU Names 2024 Society of Foundation Professors
This article was originally published here
Dr. Todd Gooch, Dr. David Coleman, Dr. Jason Koontz, and David McFaddin
By Evan Bentley
While this year Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) celebrates 150 years of teaching in the Commonwealth, every year for almost four decades EKU recognizes the faculty who demonstrate the highest standards of teaching through the Society of Foundation Professors. On April 30, 2024, Dr. Todd Gooch, professor of philosophy and religious studies, and Dr. Jason Koontz, music professor, were inducted into the Society of Foundation Professors. Dr. David Coleman, executive director of EKU Honors and professor of history, was inducted as an honorary Foundation Professor.
“I am proud of this honored tradition of celebrating our most outstanding faculty through the Society of Foundation Professors,” said EKU President David McFaddin. “These three professors come to campus every day with the clear intentions of enhancing the lives of our students through education. Their work does not go unnoticed, and I applaud their commitment to providing opportunity for every student.”
The EKU Foundation established the Society of Foundation Professors to recognize “creative, self-motivated exemplars of the ideal college professor.”
Full-time tenured faculty members are eligible for the Foundation Professorship. The award provides a $5,000 salary increase for two years. The selection is made by a committee composed of members of the Society of Foundation Professors, and the process provides for a high degree of peer review.
Gooch started as a part-time professor at EKU in 1999 and became full-time in 2001. He has taught 25 different courses during his time at EKU. Gooch has designed and conducts interdisciplinary Honors seminars with colleagues, and has contributed to several academic books about the history of modern religious thought.
Although Gooch grew up in California, his father grew up in Lincoln County, Kentucky, where the family has a seven-generation farm. Gooch’s great-aunt graduated from Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College (now EKU) in the early 1930s, and Gooch recalled fond memories of her teaching him sentence composition on the front porch at the family farm where he spent summers as a boy.
“Because of this family history, I am especially honored to have been able to pursue a career as a professor at EKU,” said Gooch. “I want for my students to develop their abilities to think intelligently and exercise good judgment in making informed choices. My biggest aspiration, however, is for them to experience the study of the liberal arts as something that is itself liberating by virtue of the opportunity it provides us for self-reflection, and, in conversation with others who may think differently, to identify, clarify and articulate our own fundamental beliefs and values.”
Considering himself an EKU devotee for the past 32 years, Koontz’s EKU journey began as an undergraduate music student in 1992, and he’s now taught at EKU for 24 years. He has traveled the world to perform and teach music and collaborate with students and artists.
Koontz was encouraged by colleagues to apply for the Foundation Professorship. “I am honored to receive the recognition for my work and commitment to EKU and be selected to become a part of such a venerated group of educators,” said Koontz. “Throughout my career, I feel that I have made a positive impact on EKU and have maintained a strong desire to educate, collaborate and nurture my varied professional interests.”
Koontz strives to ensure students become independent thinkers, artists and lifelong learners through “sound pedagogy, leading by example, being open to new ideas and promoting an atmosphere where students are challenged and can express themselves freely in a multitude of ways.”
Coleman, an honorary inductee, has achieved significant accomplishments throughout his time at EKU, including publishing two scholarly books and seven research articles. He served as chair of the EKU History Department for five years and has served as executive director of the EKU Honors program for the past 11 years. Last fall, Coleman received national recognition as a Fellow of the National Collegiate Honors Council.
About being an honorary inductee into the EKU Society of Foundation Professors, Coleman said, “It means a great deal to me to be recognized by my peers on the EKU faculty as a campus community leader in the core teaching mission of our institution—I am deeply grateful and honored.”
As for his highest ambitions as a professor, he said, “So many of my EKU faculty colleagues and I share the goal of building in our students a lifelong curiosity and a growth mindset that encourages our students to persist in pursuing their dreams. As embodied in the inscription on EKU’s Turner Gate, we seek to bring students to our campus to seek not just ‘Knowledge,’ but also ‘Wisdom.’ We also seek to empower our students who go out into the world to live lives of ‘Passion’ and ‘Purpose’ in service to their communities.”
Gooch, Koontz and Coleman join more than 70 professors who have been recognized for teaching excellence since the awards were first given in 1988. As an Employer of Choice, EKU celebrates and rewards the outstanding efforts and accomplishments of its faculty through several recognition opportunities, such as the Society of Foundation Professors.