November 5, 2009
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the National English Honor Society, held the Second Annual Graduate and Undergraduate Student Conference on Literature, Composition, and Rhetoric on October 16 and 17. Two Lee University students, Emily Carlisle and Mallory Leonard, were accepted to present their papers at the convention.
Carlisle presented her paper “The Eternal Poet” in a panel on Studies of American Literature. Her paper, which she wrote for 20th Century American Drama, focuses on Tennessee William’s play Suddenly Last Summer, and she subverts the protagonist’s perceived death. The reading slot for her was 7:30 a.m., and she says, “If you have to read your paper before the sun also rises, it is always a good idea to discuss Tennessee Williams’ religious hauntings in order to get the synapses firing.”
In her paper, “Struggle Against Water: A Deeper Look at Queen Gertrude in Hamlet,” Leonard uses feminist literary criticism to claim that Gertrude’s character serves as a warning to women who may give into patriarchy and deny their own femininity. She claims that Ophelia and Gertrude are opposites: Ophelia embraces her feminine nature and escapes the patriarchal structures around her through suicide, but Gertrude fears to follow and remains trapped in the world of men which destroys her.
This is the first conference at which either has presented, and both found the reading useful. Leonard says, “Overall, the experience was beneficial. This was my first experience reading one of my papers in front of anyone else, and I’m very glad I did it. I look forward to participating in more conferences in the near future.”
October 29, 2009
The Nillie Bipper Creative Arts Festival is held the first weekend in October. This year was the 42nd annual show, and it is a function of the Cleveland Creative Arts Guild. Professor John Simmons is a Vice President in the Guild and Co-Director of the Festival.
One of the exhibitors at the Festival
There are typically about 70 exhibitors from throughout the Southeast, and as far away as Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. The show is juried and only accepts quality handmade arts and crafts such as painting, ceramics, woodworking, fabric art, stained glass, and jewelry.
Each year there is also free musical entertainment and the exhibitors donate a sample of their work as a door prize. The event is held at the Tri-State Exhibition center off Exit 20 on I-75.
Simmons has been involved with the festival since 1997 and was also involved from 1971-1984. He says, “The festival is important to me because it gives craftspeople, both local and distant, a chance to show their creativity and gain some income from their talents.”
October 28, 2009
Earlier this month, Dr. Christie Kleinmann partnered with Oak Gove Elementary School to give the students in her Public Speaking class first-hand experience.
Students Taylor Presley (left) and Jared Powers (right) reading to their group
In order to teach delivery, phrasing, and voice inflection, Kleinmann took her students to Oak Grove Elementary to read children’s books to the Kindergarten class. Kleinmann says that she always uses children’s books for this lesson because you have to focus on vocal variety for it to work.
Students Vicente Nudman (left) and Matt Bryant (right) learning how to overcome a kindergartner's eagerness
Oak Grove was especially interested in this partnering because some of the children there have parents who may not read to them. This way, they were able to see older students showing them that reading is worthwhile.
The Lee University students were able to work on audience adaptation. While a college student may have a short attention span, a kindergartner’s is even worse. Students worked on their vocal variety, facial expressions, and began learning how to think on their feet, all while helping others. Kleinmann says, “These are the gifts God has given us to help others. We don’t have to do the great and grand, but it’s the little things.”
October 8, 2009
This year, new faculty joins the College of Arts and Sciences. Professor Jeff Ringer, Dr. Wendy Steinberg, and Professor Alan Wheeler are new additions in the English, Psychology, and Anthropology discipline respectively.
Professor Ringer, pictured middle, at his wedding
Professor Jeff Ringer is a Lee alum finishing his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition through the University of New Hampshire while teaching here at Lee. His dissertation is on Evangelical Identity and Academic Writing, which he says is an important reason he is here. “Part of the reason that attracted me to coming back here was teaching students who were the subject of my dissertation. I hope to continue researching and help design courses and programs that involve students and writing majors with research.”
Dr. Steinberg teaching her Statistics class
Dr. Wendy Steinberg, who taught previously at Eastern University, feels her charge is to teach Statistics and Research Methods effectively. The class is her passion, and as many students are afraid of statistics, her goal is “to help them find it enjoyable, fun, and useful.” To her, that is the definition of success, and she believes it’s possible. She is the author of Statistics Alive, an introductory text on the subject.
Professor Wheeler with Byamba
If he were to accomplish anything while here at Lee, professor Alan Wheeler says, it would be to give students a broader perspective of the world while encouraging them to draw closer to Jesus. He always felt called to be a missionary, but God had other plans. He became an anthropologist because he has a “natural love for the exotic, the distant, the unusual.” Here, he is pictured with Byamba in one of Mongolia’s remotest regions, only accessible traveling by moose trails for over 100 miles. The only contact this tribe had prior to Wheeler’s visit was Hungarian scientist 40 years ago. Wheeler is working on a doctorate from the University of Cambridge.
