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.”

The Drama department has seen much success with their fall productions this year, “Mach Band

Students acting in Trojan Women (photo courtesy of Tiffany Zajas)

 Predicament” and “Trojan Women”.  The former, written by student Linsey Retcofsky, saw a lot of positive publicity during its two-week run.  Professor Catherine Bradley said everyone in the department was thrilled at its success, and Retcofsky is still working on improvements for “Mach Band”.

“Trojan Women”, the classic play by Euripides, enjoyed its two week run, which concluded this past Sunday.  Professor Christine Williams directed the tragedy, which is based on the story of what happened to the women of Troy after its defeat at the hands of the Greeks.  Students enjoyed the production, one senior saying, “It was of course very sad, but it was very well done.”  Visiting artist Rob Rachow designed the lighting for the set.  

This Friday, the Drama department will be featuring the Director’s Showcase, which will feature several different student-led productions.

Posted by Amber Mear

Lee University students with Prof. Trowbridge at 2007 Conference

Mr. Kevin Trowbridge accompanied nine Lee University students to Nashville for the Baptist Press Collegiate Journalism Conference.  This is the second year that Mr. Trowbridge has taken students to the conference, which took place between October 9 and 11.  Between 150 and 200 collegiate journalists, professional journalists, and media advisors were present to take place in the conference’s theme, “Pursuing Excellence”.

On Thursday evening, Rudy Kaylis spoke on the theme of the conference.   Trowbridge commented that hearing a professional who is a Christian speaking about his work was a way for the students to be “challenged and spurred on to work on excelling.”  Friday morning was spent in workshops, while the evening offered the opportunity for Lee University’s publications to be critiqued.  On Saturday morning there were more sessions for participants to attend.  The weekend culminated Saturday night with the Awards Ceremony.  

Lee students won a variety of different awards.  The Lee Clarion website won first place for Best Overall Web Site for Lee Clarion Online (www.leeclarion.com).  Senior Janchai Montrelerdrasme won first place in the Feature Photograph category for his photo “Hands on Ministry.”  Lee graduate Christopher Sirico won first place for yearbook art and illustration for “Online Life” (can be found in the Vindagua).  Sirico also won third place for the Newspaper Cartoon/Art category for “Laughing at Faith”.  Alex Lisic won third place for his Individual Sports Action Photo, “Getting Wet”. Tess (Ball) Losen also won third place for her Yearbook Sports/Club Design, entitled “Jazz”.

Professor Catherine Bradley is very busy with the current theatre season at Lee. The theatre program will be mounting four fully produced shows this year, an ambitious season for a small program. She is proud to announce that three of the four shows slated to take place this year will feature student set designers; Kathleen Hawkins designed Mach Band Predicament, Derrick Vanmeter will design Ideal Husband, and Rebecca Ogle will design My Children My Africa. In addition to the three student designers, Lee University Theatre will have a guest artist, Rob Rachow of Minneapolis, do the lighting for Trojan Women.

Bradley mentions that she is proud of how far the Theatre program at Lee has come in the past four years. She loves that students are becoming more involved in the production of shows. These design opportunities will provide practical experience for the students that is in many ways unusual in a B.A. program. “Students don’t normally get this kind of experience unless they’re in a B.F.A. program or an M.F.A program.”

Posted by Amber Mear

Four Communication students were awarded advertising scholarships from AAF-Chattanooga over the summer. Although the official presentation will be September 16, 2008, the students were notified and have already received their scholarship funds. Cedric Chalmers, COMPR, received the Governor Belton Minority Scholarship. Emily Steele, COMAD, received the largest scholarship based on her potential to rise in the advertising profession. Josh Warlick, COMAD, received a scholarship based on his portfolio work. Oluwanifemi Afelumo received the final scholarship to encourage her development in integrated marketing communication.

Emily Steele, COMAD, has been asked to join the board of AAF-Chattanooga as the new student liaison.

Three Communication Studies students (Carly Bishop Chaney, Lacey Stokes, and Rebecca Krese) are participating in an ACA Mellon grant to encourage undergraduate student research titled “Voices and Violence.” Dr. Megan Moe-Lunger will be working with them to establish an original line of research with female victims of domestic violence. They will also be collaborating with Professor Stacey Isom and four playwriting students in an original dramatic piece.

Carly Chaney, commenting on the ACA Mellon grant, said, “I’m excited about it, particularly because of the very real aspect the research is going to provide… I’m going to use it to its full potential.”

Posted by Amber Mear

The Lee University art classes have officially moved to their new home at the former Mayfield Elementary building. Professor John Simmons says the new site is a welcome blessing to the art program.”

Our new facilities are terrific!” says Simmons. “We finally have plenty of space for the studio art classes.”

“We are very happy with the move as it will give us the ability to add additional art classes in the future.”

Mayfield’s former cafeteria and kitchen area is now a home for ceramics classes. Simmons also hopes to add a sculpture class in the enlarged class space.

Above the cafeteria a large space has been devoted to two-dimensional art such as painting, drawing, and design. It includes a work space for matting and framing art as well as a small lounge and reading area. A large display space lines the hallway approaching the upstairs classrooms.

Simmons and other art instructors have been waiting since last summer for the move. It began as a discussion in professor Dirkson’s offices about making room for the new School of Religion building.

Shortly into the last fall semester, art classes were temporarily moved from the Art Houses on Parker Street into the former health clinic and the adjacent storage building. In the meantime plans were being made to demolish those buildings as well to make room for the new Natural Science and Mathematics building, so the art program held its breath as its patiently waited for the acquisition of Mayfield.

Thankfully, Mayfield was purchased and soon underwent extensive renovations. Physical Plant crews worked long hours to paint and repair what had been the school cafeteria and classrooms above that area for the new art facilities. Thanks to the hard working crew, art classes were officially moved in to their new home for the spring semester.

Simmons offered his warmest thanks to those involved in the lengthy move. “

We want to thank Dr. Conn for making the space available and Physical Plant director, Larry Berry, and his crew for all of their hard work. They have done a great job. We invite the Lee community to stop over and look around.”

Lee University assistant professor of communication, Dr. Christie Kleinmann, recently received a Page Legacy Scholar Grant from the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication. Kleinmann will be using the grant to fund her research on “Defining Public Relations’ Role in Social Responsibility: Practitioners’ Perception of Public Relations Ethics in Sport.”

As companies around the country continue to publicly embrace the idea of social responsibility, Kleinmann is examining what public relations practitioners are actually doing to support the increased ethical commitments of their organizations. She says that she chose to focus on the sports industry because of the significant role that it plays in American society.

“I really feel that there is an ethical crisis in the field of public relations today,” says Kleinmann. “While everyone says that it’s important to be ethical, the words and the actions don’t always match up.”

Kleinmann hopes that her work will provide far-reaching insights into the field of public relations. “This study looks at how people in one area of public relations are applying the idea of social responsibility in their every-day job duties, but I think that what comes out of it will be helpful to the entire profession,” she says.

Page Legacy Scholars are selected on a competitive basis by the Arthur W. Page Center’s academic policy and selection committee upon recommendations by experts from Penn State faculty, other universities and the professional community. Candidates may come from a wide variety of academic disciplines and professional fields, including scholars and researchers, doctoral candidates, and practitioners of public communication, such as corporate or non-profit public relations professionals, journalists, and editors.

Kleinmann joined Lee’s Department of Communication and the Arts this fall. She has previously taught at Northeast State Technical Community College and King College.

Kleinmann’s professional experience includes a position as the director of marketing and communication at Frontier Health for northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. She served as the promotional coordinator for the baseball program at King College, where she also worked in sports information and alumni affairs. Kleinmann is a former media and community relations coordinator for Wellmont Health Systems in Bristol and Kingsport, Tenn. and Big Stone Gap, Va.

PHOTO: One of Lee University’s newest faculty members, Dr. Christie Kleinmann, has been named the recipient of a research grant from the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication. Kleinmann joined Lee this fall as an assistant professor of communication.

Submitted by the Office of Public Information

Lee University Associate Professor of telecommunications and pianist, Dr. Richard Sparks, is set to release his newest album, Christmas Love, on November 1.

Christmas Love features piano solos “celebrating the spirit of Christmas.” The album was inspired by a range of artists including George Winston, Vince Guaraldi, Richard Carpenter, and Paul McCartney. The genres comprising Christmas Love are equally diverse, featuring popular works such as Merry Christmas, Darling; Christmas Time is Here; and Tennessee Christmas.

Sparks says, “I wanted this collection of carols, modern classics, and the original title song to evoke both the celebration and the solitude of the season.”

Sparks has previously released four original albums and two collections of smooth jazz and pop piano. However, the style of Christmas Love is markedly different. With the solo acoustic piano and simple arrangements, Sparks feels he has “found a recording style that feels like home for him as a player.”

Sparks recorded the album in his home studio from July to October 2007. Christmas Love contains one original song, and listeners can look forward to hearing more original pieces by Sparks in the future.

Christmas Love is available both at the Lee University Campus Bookstore, and online at www.cdbaby.com/ricksparks. For more information on this album please contact Dr. Richard Sparks at ricksparks@peoplepc.com.

Submitted by the Office of Public Information
Original Article by Katie Gee

The paintings of local artist Susan Seaton are currently on display in the Lee University DeVos Humanities Center on the campus of Lee University through the month of October. Her work consists of oil paintings reflecting her childhood as seen through references to old photographs.

“My painted images are based on family photographs and slides taken over forty years ago at holidays and other gatherings. These are “Kodak Moments” distilled in snapshots: projections of happy times,” said Seaton of the exhibit. “My subjective understanding of the past is not made know on the surface of the photos. While the nostalgic, iconic nature of the poses suggests idyllic American collective memory such as birthdays, family reunions, and holidays, the painted images question the appearance of the ideal.”

“Visitors to the show are bound to relate to the familial presentations of scenes that everyone remembers about family gatherings,” said Lee Assistant Professor of art John Simmons. “At the same time, these works are very artistically dynamic, displaying creative skill with both the paint brush and palette knife. Family memorabilia has here been raised to the level of fine art.”

Seaton holds an MFA in painting from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Her paintings have been shown at many venues in Chattanooga and Philadelphia. She serves as an adjunct professor of art at Lee University and is a lecturer on foundation drawing at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The exhibit is open during normal weekday hours and is free to the public. For further information, please call 614-8224.

Submitted by the Office of Public Information

Ron Gilbert, Lee University’s assistant professor of communication and director of video production, presented a position paper this summer at the fourth annual Faith and Communication Conference at Campbell College in North Carolina.

This presentation was part of Gilbert’s ongoing research that began with his doctoral studies in the uses of media as a part of Christian worship. The paper was entitled Implications of Pentecostalism to the Conception of Communication and How it Might be Theorized and Practiced.

The conference hosted speakers from all different Christian faith backgrounds. Gilbert represented the Pentecostal perspective on communication as a part of a panel that discussed the exploration of alternate Christian approaches to communication. The rest of the panel included Catholic, Anglican, and Quaker perspectives.

“The Pentecostal movement has always been willing to utilize any means and methods to promote their message; things such as radio, television, and sound systems,” said Gilbert. “Christian television, especially that of local churches, has had an amazing increase in electronic media usage to enhance worship.”

For the past four years this conference has met to take an academic look at Christians in the field of communication. Right now, the majority of Christian communication texts and information are from Calvinist perspectives, and Gilbert said this conference aims to include other perspectives and broaden the availability of resources and information.

Submitted by the Office of Public Information
Original Article By Elizabeth Hamilton