Everything Nac

The Stephen F. Austin State University Office of Multicultural Affairs will host its second Brave Space Series of the fall semester at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Multimedia Room. The series will feature a discussion on the identity of mixed-race and multiracial individuals.

“This Brave Space Series will discuss topics regarding mixed-race and multiracial identity,” Veronica Beavers, director of OMA, said. “This discussion will allow participants to gain insight about the thoughts and struggles a mixed or multiracial person might go through.”

Each month, OMA’s Brave Space Series provides a forum for open and honest discussion concerning difficult topics.

“Our goal is to have SFA students, faculty and staff come together to discuss intercultural and interfaith issues and concerns that affect our global, local and campus communities,” Beavers said.

The discussion is free and open to the SFA and Nacogdoches communities. For more information, visit http://www.sfasu.edu/multicultural/480.asp.

By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Situated by the South America music table, Stephen F. Austin State University student Emma Blinn watches as children explore diverse cultures through playing with different musical instruments.

“It was so amazing to see the kids figure out how each instrument worked. This truly gave me a first encounter on how children absorb the world around them,” Blinn said. “There is something really special about seeing their curiosity come alive, even if it is just over a little xylophone.”

Blinn, along with several other SFA students enrolled in human development and family studies courses, and members of the Jacks Council on Family Relations, recently volunteered to participate in the Family Fun Night event at the Greater East Texas Community Action Program Head Start.

“Family Fun Night was really special because I got the chance to experience the family dynamics, sibling interactions and the overall atmosphere of Head Start,” Blinn said. “This heavily relates to my nursing field of study because it has shown me what type of approach I should take when it comes to speaking with this age group and helping them understand.”

During the event, all seven continents were represented to give students the opportunity to explore different cultures. Each station had interactive and educational activities for participants.

Dr. Flora Farago, assistant professor in SFA’s human development and family studies program, explained how this collaborative event provides SFA students with the opportunity to engage with and learn from community members and leaders from diverse cultural backgrounds. Farago said it also provides students with a way to support local agencies serving children and families.

“These experiences are mutually beneficial to our students, community members and agencies serving the Nacogdoches community,” Farago said.

For more information about SFA’s human development and family studies program, visit sfasu.edu/hms/71.asp.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Stone Fort Museum, located of the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University, will host the second annual Deal Me In: Night at the Stone Fort Saloon from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, with an evening of card games, bar room food, music and prizes.

Participants start the night with a pocket full of Republic of Texas replica bills. They can play a round or more of Texas Hold ’em, while eating sausage, drinking root beer and listening to live music.

The SFA Young Violinists will perform early in the evening, followed by local band El Camino Real de Nacogdoches.

The SFA Young Violinists, featuring SFA students under the instruction of Brenda Josephsen, have played at venues across East Texas, including the Nacogdoches Farmers’ Market, Lamp-Lite Theatre and the Pineywoods Herb Farm.

In addition to private lessons, the students meet weekly to learn to play together as an ensemble. With accompanist Kaden Harman, The SFA Young Violinists will set the mood with saloon-style music.

El Camino Real de Nacogdoches will play old-time acoustic music on the fiddle, guitars, mandolin, banjos and percussion in what the band describes as “East Texas’ answer to The Old Crow Medicine Show.”

The event also will include a shooting gallery using rubber band pistols, a game of horseshoe, cards for Go Fish at a kids-only table and a photo booth. Each game will reward the winner with tokens that can be exchanged for prizes at the end of the night. Door prizes also will be given away.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (936) 468-2408 or email stonefort@sfasu.edu.

By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Tickets are selling quickly for The Purple Xperience, the most authentic Prince tribute show in the world, coming to Stephen F. Austin State University on Nov. 30 as a special Encore Event to complement the SFA University Series.

A presentation of the College of Fine Arts and sponsored by Lehmann Eye Center, The Purple Xperience is a five-piece group that transports the spirit and sound of Prince direct from Minneapolis. Front man Marshall Charloff, who once recorded with Prince, channels the vocals and moves of the critically acclaimed icon in an unmatched, uncanny fashion, from his appearance to his multi-instrumental capacity, according to Scott Shattuck, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and director of the University Series.

“Marshall Charloff styles the magic of Prince’s talent through his spot-on vocal imitation and brilliant performance on guitar and piano,” Shattuck said. “This is going to be a full-on rock concert that no one will want to miss.”

The Purple Xperience has entertained well over 300,000 fans and shared the bill with The Time, Cheap Trick, Gin Blossoms, Cameo, Fetty Wap, the Atlanta Rhythm Section and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. Prior to the performance, Herbert Midgley, music technology lecturer in the SFA School of Music, will present an informative talk at 7 p.m. in Griffith Gallery. The gallery is located across the hall from Turner Auditorium, which is inside the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive. The audience is invited back to the gallery for a post-performance reception to meet the performers and to honor the corporate sponsor.

Encore Event tickets are $45 for Section A seating; $36 for Section B seating; and $27 for Section C seating. Discounts are available for seniors, students, children and SFA faculty and staff members.

For more information, visit finearts.sfasu.edu, stop by the Box Office in Room 211 of the Griffith Fine Arts Building, or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “Oklahoma!” is known as the breakthrough musical of its time with songs like “Oklahoma!” and “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'” that have withstood time in popularity.

Set in Oklahoma Territory at the turn of the 20th century, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and farmhand Jud Fry. Between the story, the memorable music, the elaborate dancing and fight scenes that define “Oklahoma!,” the show has something for every audience member, according to Angela Bacarisse, professor of theatre at Stephen F. Austin State University and director of the show for the School of Theatre’s Mainstage Series.

A collaborative production between the university’s School of Theatre, School of Music and the Dance Program, “Oklahoma!” will seamlessly and artistically come to life nightly on W.M. Turner Stage Nov. 6 through 10. But the preparation behind the scenes, specifically fast-paced fight scenes and sweet love scenes, comes from a careful concentration on timing and technique. Slade Billew, assistant professor of acting and movement, is working with students on scenes that involve violence and intimacy.

“There are some big fights, mostly fist, in the play, but the weapons that are used must be very carefully choreographed so that no one gets injured,” explained Bacarisse. “And, you cannot imagine how awkward it can be the first time a young actor is asked to kiss someone who is, in truth, a stranger. There is a skill and a way of setting up those scenes that keeps it professional and relieves some of the tension. There are a lot of ‘young loves’ in this show who will be working on this aspect of the craft of acting.”

Fight choreography starts with discussions between the choreographer and the director about the style of the show and how the fights should feel to the audience, Billew said. Fight scenes in some shows will seem like real violence, while those scenes in others, like “Oklahoma!,” are more stylized, he explained.

“I like to create choreography in collaboration with the actors, so that I can better adapt to their abilities,” Billew said. “We build each fight using a combination of the actors’ understanding of their characters and my knowledge of both actual fighting and stage combat technique.”

Fight-scene safety is all about precision and control of distance, Billew said. The actors must do the moves the same way every time.

SFA theatre students who take movement courses learn unarmed and rapier/dagger fighting for the stage. In rehearsals, students learn the specific fights they are performing. For “Oklahoma!,” that included various punches, kicks and grappling maneuvers, depending on the fight. There are also some knife-fighting scenes and the use of some prop firearms, Billew said.

“Students who perform in these fights or use these prop weapons learn a variety of details of handling them for both safety and the illusion of reality,” he said “Also, in working on ‘Oklahoma!,’ we have used a heightened style that looks a bit more like the fights in a western movie from the 1950s as opposed to a more contemporary martial arts based style.”

Lastly, stage fights are performed a little slower than a real fight would happen. This is not necessarily for safety, but rather because faster movement makes it more difficult for the audience to follow the action, Billew explained.

At the other end of the spectrum are the love scenes in “Oklahoma!” Choreographing intimacy is a relatively new process in the theatre, said Billew, adding that he has only been working in this arena for the last few years since first encountering the work of Tonia Sina and her organization Intimacy Directors International.

“Stage intimacy, as I have learned to approach it, has five key elements: context, communication, consent, choreography and closure,” Billew said. “Culturally, theatre artists of all kinds often feel uncomfortable even talking about, much less staging, moments of physical intimacy. This has often led to unsafe practices of various kinds. Many of these issues have been brought forward in the past few years.

“Choreographing intimacy is about creating a rehearsal environment around intimate scenes that encourages open communication among the creative team,” he said. “We choreograph the intimate moments so that everyone feels safe and has consented to the staging. This makes the actors better able to commit to playing the moment because they know what is going to happen and are comfortable with it.”

Lastly, it can be difficult for any actor, but especially student actors to separate personal feelings from character feelings, Billew said. The closure process gives actors a way to remind themselves that their relationship to their scene partner is professional, and they are more easily able to keep their personal daily life separate from the character life they are exploring on stage, he explained.

For “Oklahoma,” choreography was used to both nuance and heighten moments, Billew said.

“Intimacy choreography allows us to explore details of intimate moments that we do instinctually in daily life, but that often gets left out on stage,” he said. “Something as seemingly simple as the hugs between Laurey and Curly are choreographed as a series of ‘moments’ rather than just a hug.”

Similar to the fights, the romance in “Oklahoma!” is bigger than is normally found in life.

“Oklahoma!” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 6 through 10, in W.M. Turner Auditorium in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive, on the SFA campus.

Single tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for youth. Tickets for SFA students are $5. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.theatre.sfasu.edu.

The Stephen F. Austin State University Department of Languages, Cultures and Communication will host the annual International Poetry Reading at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

The event will feature SFA students, faculty, staff and community readers presenting poetry in a variety of non-English languages.

Past presenters have spoken in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Romanian, Russian, Greek, Latin, Bengali, Elvish and more.

“We ask each reader to briefly preview the poem in English, but, rather than rely on translations, we want audience members to appreciate and explore each language’s poetry on its own terms,” said Dr. Joyce Johnston, professor of French and co-coordinator of the event.

Readers often ask the audience to listen for a certain onomatopoeic sound, repetition or refrain in order for the audience to better understand the poem. Readers also may share the importance of the poem to its native language’s culture. Some presenters sing poems or present original works.

Fabiola Juarez, a senior political science major, has presented poems in French and Spanish. Participating in the readings in the past has taught her to be more appreciative of all languages, and she has enjoyed hearing poetry read and interpreted in different languages.

“This event is important because it exposes us to so many different languages and poetry. I feel like sometimes we don’t give much appreciation to other languages and poetry,” Juarez said. “However, this event makes us sit down and open our eyes and heart to such a wonderful experience.”

The event is part of the Department of Languages, Cultures and Communication international arts series. Throughout the year, the department hosts a variety of events that expose the SFA and Nacogdoches communities to international movies, books, music and more.

This event is open to the public, and free refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact Johnston at (936) 468-6722 or Dr. Louise Stoehr, associate professor of German, at (936) 468-2167.

By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

SFA Board of Regents approves faculty and staff appointments

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Board of Regents approved various leadership changes during its Monday quarterly meeting.

Dr. Mark Sanders, professor, was appointed associate dean of the College of Liberal and Applied Arts. Sanders has been a part of the SFA faculty since 2008, serving in various roles such as department chair and English professor. He has more than 40 years of experience in education at the collegiate and secondary education levels.

In the College of Sciences and Mathematics, Dr. Michele Harris, chemistry professor, was named associate dean. Since 1994, Harris has been a member of the SFA faculty, where she has served as assistant professor, associate professor, professor, graduate advisor, and assistant chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Regents also appointed physician Dr. Janice Ledet as director of health services. Ledet was licensed by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners and began practicing at SFA’s health clinic in 1986.

BUSINESS

Faculty appointments approved for the Rusche College of Business included assistant professors Thomas Branton and Jose Vega, accounting; Wenjing Li, management and marketing; and Rebecca Davis, economics and finance.

In the Department of Management and Marketing, Antoine Busby was approved as a visiting assistant professor, and William Kirkpatrick was approved as clinical instructor. Lecturers Nicole Brantley, accounting, and Laurie Rogers, business communication and legal studies, also were approved.

EDUCATION

Brandon Fox, James I. Perkins College of Education associate professor, was appointed as interim assistant chair of the Department of Elementary Education. Professor Gloria Gresham was appointed as interim assistant chair of the Department of Secondary Education and Educational Leadership.

Amber Wagnon, who formerly served as a lecturer of English and creative writing, was approved as associate professor of secondary education and educational leadership, and Cyndra Krogen-Morton, a Title IX specialist, was approved as visiting lecturer of kinesiology and health science.

In the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science, Mi Hae Bae was approved as assistant professor, and Sharon Rice was approved as an instructor. Assistant professors Shannon Darst and Summer Koltonski, human services, and Mychelle Smith, secondary education, also were approved. Mandy Seybold was approved as lecturer of human services.

Regents approved the SFA Charter School appointments of Juliana Akerson, Madison Taylor and Brooke Taylor-Johnson as teachers, and Jacklyn Hamilton as a substitute teacher.

FINE ARTS

The promotion of David Campo from associate professor to professor of music and director of bands was approved. Christopher Kaatz was approved as assistant professor of music and assistant director of bands, and Pierre-Alain Chevalier was approved as visiting lecturer and director of orchestral activities.

The following changes also were approved: Alexander Amato, from lecturer to assistant professor of music; Tamey Angley, from assistant professor to professor of music; Lee Goodhew, from visiting assistant professor to associate professor of music; Kirsten Nelson, from assistant professor to lecturer of music; and Kenneth Verdugo, from visiting assistant professor to assistant professor of theatre.

In the School of Theatre, Rosemary Brownlow-Calkin was approved as visiting professor, and Jennifer Malmberg and Jackie Rosenfield were approved as lecturers.

Nicholas Lambson was approved as visiting lecturer of music and Thomas Nixon as accompanist. Margaret Leysath was approved as visiting assistant professor of art.

FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE

In the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Sheryll Jerez, associate professor, was named interim associate dean of the college. Jason Paul was approved as instructor of forestry, and Sabrina Thomas was approved as an agriculture lab associate.

LIBERAL AND APPLIED ARTS

Professor Mark Barringer was appointed as director of research, and Matthew McBroom, associate dean of forestry, was approved as interim chair of English and creative writing.

Aparecida Cordeiro Dutra, a Heritage Research Center associate, and Kelsey Pelham, visiting lecturer, were approved as lecturers in languages, culture and communication.

In the Department of Mass Communication, Yiran Wang was approved as assistant professor and Phillip Anderson was approved as instructor.

Approval was received for Megan Fleming, lecturer of government, and Jennifer McLaughlin, visiting lecturer of English and creative writing.

The following changes also were approved: Rhanda McGee, from adjunct faculty to lecturer of English and creative writing; Kristi Warren, from adjunct faculty to lecturer of psychology; and Charles White, from visiting instructor to lecturer of psychology.

SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS

In the College of Sciences and Mathematics, William Bradford, Brooke Busbee and Cheryl Janusa were approved as lecturers of mathematics and statistics, and Marissa Rotenberry was approved as a visiting lecturer.

Also approved were:

. Erin Childress, lecturer of biology, and Ray Kamps, visiting assistant professor

. Kelley McDonald and Vanessa Pacheco, clinical instructors of nursing

. Puntitra Glendowne, assistant professor of computer science

. and Adrienne Bay, STEM programs coordinator.

In the Steen Library, Edward Kownslar was approved as librarian III.

In Information Technology Services, regents granted the following changes of status: David Justus, from associate director of library technology to compliance coordinator; Jon Laurent, from technical support specialist I to security specialist I; Timothy Lewallen, assistant manager of technical support to assistant director of customer service; and Jennifer Stringfield, from assessment specialist to project analyst.

In the Department of Athletics, Jeffrey Byrd’s appointment as interim head football coach was approved, along with Erin Scott’s appointment as head tennis coach. Other approvals included Alisa Blair, assistant volleyball coach; Cody Dukquits, conditioning professional specialist; Ryan Friedline, marketing coordinator; and Hadrien Choukroun and Hunter Key, assistant track coaches.

In Residence Life, staff appointments were approved for hall directors Jamyia Barrett, Jonathan Boulanger, Jamil Frech and Natalie Roberts. Lori Havard was approved as area coordinator and LaShirine Howard as hall director.

Approvals in the student affairs division included Jalon Berry, assistant director programs for multicultural affairs; April Chaney, compliance specialist for Title IX investigations; MacKenzie Enderwitz and Clare Fite, counselor interns; Julia Denhollem, student engagement coordinator for Greek Life; and Rhylie Gachot, assistant director for orientation.

In Academic Affairs, Stephanie Weatherford was approved as Academic Assistance and Resource Center program director, and Mary Smith, assistant director of instructional technology, was approved as interim director.

William Boucher was approved as Campus Recreation coordinator for fitness and wellness, and Tierney White was approved as coordinator in the Center for Career and Professional Development.

In the University Police Department, Lt. Marcus Madden was approved as interim associate director and assistant chief. Kallie Westmoreland was approved as accountant II in the Controller’s Office.

Regents approved the retirements of employees with 113 years of combined service to the university. Shelly Lackey, director of divisional operations for university affairs; Sean Lonergan, assistant track coach; Phil Stetz, professor of management and marketing; Larry O’Neal, associate professor of management and marketing; and Treba Marsh, professor of accounting.

-SFA-

Shirley
Shirley Luna, Ed.D. | Executive Director | University Marketing Communications
Stephen F. Austin State University
Austin Building Room 121
P.O. Box 6100 – SFA Station
Nacogdoches, Texas 75962
936.468.2605 | Fax 936.468.1732
The views and opinions expressed in this message are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Stephen F. Austin State University, its Board of Regents or the state of Texas.