Current Issue: Volume 21 - Number 11 - March 31, 2006
Historian Peter Kolchin to speak at Jeans Lecture
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Professor Peter Kolchin will deliver the twelfth annual Jeans Lecture in History on April 6 at 7 p.m. in Webster Hall Auditorium. The title of his lecture is “Interpreting and Reinterpreting American Slavery.” The lecture is free and open to the public.
Professor Kolchin holds the Henry Clay Reed Professor of History chair at the University of Delaware. Having earned his Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University, he is the author of many books and scholarly articles.
Professor Kolchin’s book, Unfree Labor: American Slavery and Russian Serfdom, won the Bancroft Prize in American History as well as prizes from the Organization of American Historians and the Southern Historical Association. His book, A Sphinx on the American Land: The Nineteenth-Century South in Comparative Perspective, is an expansion of the talks he gave when he was chosen to present the prestigious Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History at Louisiana State University in 2002.
His classic American Slavery 1619-1877, first published in 1993 and reissued in a revised edition in 2003, is the text for his Jeans Lecture that will consider the changing interpretations of slavery.
Among the many awards Professor Kolchin has received are the 2002 Francis Alison Award, the University of Delaware’s highest faculty award; and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Charles Warren Center at Harvard, and the John Simon Gugenheim Memorial Foundation.
Ayton to receive Outstanding Teacher award
Grace Ayton, Interim Head of the Department of Nursing, and Associate Professor of Nursing, has been nominated to receive the 2006 Governor's Outstanding Teacher Award.
Governor Matt Blunt will present the award to Grace and the other Outstanding Teacher Award nominees from the other Missouri universities at a special luncheon of the Council on Public Higher Education next Wednesday, April 5, at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.
"Mrs. Ayton has distinguished herself for her dedicated service to her students, the Nursing Department and MSSU since 1986," said MSSU President Julio León. "We congratulate Grace for this well-deserved honor."
District Music Festival March 31-April 6
Thousands of students, teachers, parents and family members are preparing for the Southwest District Music Festival, slated for Friday, March 31-April 6.
Friday, March 31 will feature the vocal solo and small ensemble festival. Saturday, April 1 will be the day for instrumental solos and small ensemble competitions. Events on both days will take place both in the Music Building and on the second and third floors of Hearnes Hall. Monday and Tuesday, April 3-4, will feature competition between bands in the district. Choirs in the district will compete on Thursday, April 6.
The festival runs from approximately from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day with up to 3,000 participants, educators and guests expected on the opening days, March 31-April 1. For bands and choirs, the event at Missouri Southern serves as the state level festival. Individual students who receive a "one" rating at district solo and small ensemble events will be eligible to go to state competitions in Columbia in May.
“ Missouri Southern is delighted to host this event as we have for over a decade,” says Bud Clark, Music. “It is always a pleasure to have the music students in our area on our campus filling our classrooms with music from the best student musicians in the state,” he adds.
The annual event is sanctioned by the Missouri State High School Activities Association.Jazz Combos Concert slated for April 4
The Southern Jazz Combos Concert will be held at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 4 in MSSU’s Webster Hall Auditorium. Although limited seating is available, the concert is free and open to the public.
The jazz combos, directed by Phillip C. Wise, Director of Jazz Studies, will feature three university jazz groups. The Monday Combo, Wednesday Combo and Thursday Combo will perform jazz standards and contemporary jazz.
”Jazz continues to flourish on our campus,” Phil says. “It’s amazing what talented students we have when it comes to jazz improvisation.”
Selections for the concert include tunes by Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Nat Adderley, John Coltrane and Juan Tizol.
Visiting Writers program welcomes poet Michelle Boisseau
The Department of English and Philosophy's new Visiting Writers program will be welcoming the poet Michelle Boisseau next week..
Boisseau is the author of several books of poetry, including, most recently, Trembling Air (University of Arkansas Press) and teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Michelle Boisseau is also the author of Understory (Northeastern, 1996), winner of the Samuel French Morse Prize; No Private Life (Vanderbilt, 1990); and, with the late Robert Wallace, Writing Poems (Longman, 2003).
She will be giving a reading at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 6 in the Spiva Art Gallery on campus. She will participate in a discussion about poetry writing with students and faculty at 10 a.m., Friday, April 7in the University Java coffee shop.
Both events are free and open to the public.
Vienna honors choir includes faculty member
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Bud Clark, head of the MSSU Music Department, conducted a high school honors choir in Vienna, Austria on March 21. This choir was made up of 48 students from 7 schools representing 12 different countries. The schools were from Germany, Russia, Spain, Czech Republic, Pakistan, Hungary, and Austria.
Their performance was in Peterskirche (St. Peters Cathederal), the second largest cathedral in Vienna.
Bud was invited by Missouri Southern music major and graduate, Lance Burnett, and his wife Mendy, also a music major graduate from MSSU. Lance and his wife are have taught music at the Vienna Christian School for the past 3 years.
(The picture at right was taken in front of the St. Peters Cathedral.)
Sherman special guest on Missouri Southern Live!
Robert Sherman, host of McGraw-Hill Companies' Young Artists Showcase on WQXR, the classical music radio station of The New York Times, will be the next guest of host Jeff Skibbe, Communication. The interview anticipates Sherman's April 29 presentation at MSSU of an abbreviated lecture version of a course he teaches at Juilliard titled "The Business of Music" for the contestants of this year's MSIPC.
He has published two books with Victor Borge, is the coauthor of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Classical Music, and with his brother, Alexander Sherman, has compiled a pictorial biography of their mother, the renowned pianist Nadia Reisenberg.
The show will air at 5 p.m., Friday, March 31 on 88.7KXMS. For more information, visit http://www.mssu.edu/kxms/missouri_Southern_Live.htm.
Comedian-Hypnotist Joshua Seth to perform April 5
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The Campus Activities Board (CAB) will sponsor an appearance by comedian-hypnotist Joshua Seth at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 5 in Webster Auditorium. The performance is free and open to the public.
Joshua Seth is recognized as one of the top comedy hypnotists in the world and one of the top voice-over artists in Hollywood.
He combines both talents in his interactive live performances. With thousands of live and televised shows to his credit since 1991, it is no wonder he has been called "The World's Most Animated Hypnotist."
In 2003, Joshua's body of work allowed him to be inducted into The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. For more information, visit his website at http://www.joshuaseth.com.
Spiva Library invites you to “Change your world at your library"
National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country which began in 1958 and occurs each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support.
April 4 is National Library Workers Day. The Allied Professional Association of the American Library Association (ALA-APA) annually sponsors National Library Workers Day, which falls on the Tuesday of National Library Week. The purpose is to recognize all library workers, including librarians, support staff and others who make library service possible every day.
"Spiva Library has a terrific staff whose efforts enable us to provide service seven days a week," says Wendy McGrane, Spiva Library Director. She adds: "National Library Worker's Day is a great time to see what's new at the library and to thank library employees for their contributions to student success."
Contemporary Series to show French film
Tonight's feature film in the Contemporary Foreign Film Series will be The Beat My Heart Skipped (France, 2005) at 7 p.m. tonight, Friday, March 31 in Cornell Auditorium in Matthews Hall. The showing is free and open to the public.
Romain Duris stars as a 28-year-old torn between his father’s world of sleazy, often brutal real estate deals and the possibility of pursuing his talents as a pianist. The tension is heightened when he begins taking lessons from a beautiful, young Chinese virtuoso. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote about the film: "Thrilling! Stirs up a delicious mixture of Alfred Hitchcock-style suspense, hard-boiled action and exquisite musical reflection!"
For further information about this film series, please contact Bill Kumbier, English, at kumbier-w@mssu.edu or Nick Kyle, Art, at kyle-n@mssu.edu.
Help others see a brighter tomorrow
Missouri Southern students, alumni and area community members have the opportunity to help others see a brighter tomorrow. The Missouri Southern Student Alumni Association is sponsoring a used eyeglass collection on campus March 13 - April 14.
Those who wish to participate are asked to drop off used unwanted eyeglasses in the marked boxes located in the Alumni Office, the Student Activities Office in Billingsly Student Center, the Crockett Dental Hygiene Clinic, the front entrances of Hearnes and Matthews Halls, Mayes Student Life Center, Taylor Education building and the Honors Office in Webster Hall.
All eyeglasses collected will be donated to the Lions Club of Joplin. The glasses will be redistributed to those in need who require visual correction but otherwise might not be able to afford it. For information, call Deb Gipson, Alumni Association, at ext. 9673.
Spring into action with the Student Coalition Against Child Abuse
As a part of the “Spring into Action” campaign the Student Coalition Against Child Abuse will sponsor a variety of events this spring. The events are not just for MSSU students but are also open to student family members, faculty/staff and the public.
There are a number of organizations participating in “Fun in the Park” from 1-3 p.m., Saturday, April 22 at Cunningham Park in Joplin. There will be food, games, prizes, and we will be doing FREE fingerprinting/safety kits. Please feel free to come by and join in the fun.
On April 28 the group will participate in “Take Back the Night” on the Oval on the MSSU campus. Coalition members will staff an information booth to spread the word about the work the organization is doing in the community.
JJ Spurlin, faculty advisor, says the Coalition is working with the March of Dimes and the Special Olympics. "These are awesome charities so be on the lookout for ways you can help these special and gifted children," JJ says.
Blackboard for the novice: posting your syllabus
Forty-five minutes is all it will take you to get quick, easy, step-by-step instructions in Blackboard. Betty Baker, Lifelong Learning, says sessions will be held at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 4 in Spiva Library, Room 418.
Baker says the sessions will help get syllabi into digital formats (if you don’t already have it that way, i.e. Word doc, pdf file, etc. (Those needing this service should bring materials to Room 116 in Webster Hall a few days before the training sessions.) Those taking part will:
- Leave the session with information on accessing Blackboard.
- Leave the session with a syllabus posted to course site(s).
- Have Blackboard sites ready to provide information to students with 24/7 availability (once they are uploaded and granted access to course sites).
For more information, contact Betty Baker at ext. 9888.
Phillip C. Wise, Music, performed as featured jazz trombone soloist at a "Live at the Row" concert in Iowa on March 23.
Learning? Tennis lessons available. Call ext. 9662 or 358-0600.
For Rent: One bedroom furnished apartment close to University is available for summer. Call (417) 625-9305 or (816) 522-2181(cell).
For Sale: White fiberglass camper top with Bed Kit installed. Fits Ranger pick-up, good condition. $300 OBO 625-9766.
