A Message from the Dean

I always find it intriguing that the semester we fondly call "Spring" is launched in January cold. It doesn't feel like spring outside but we are certainly looking forward to a host of activities to launch our students into a warmer world.
 
One of the most exciting new projects is a CoLA mentoring pilot program. We have paired 13 CoLA students with 13 community volunteers who will provide a helping hand with their transition to professional life. Mentors can help with interview skills, networking opportunities, sage advice about career choices, guidance about business etiquette, and in a myriad of other ways. It is our intention to greatly expand the program in the fall. If you are interested in volunteering as a mentor, please contact Assistant Dean Jennie Buckwalter at jennifer.buckwalter@wright.edu
 
Speaking about (or writing about) the next phase of our students' lives, CLASS, our Center for Liberal Arts Student Success, offers a full range of internships, workshops, panels, and one-on-one counseling sessions. CLASS has really taken off, and more and more students and faculty are taking advantage of its services. It's a program uniquely targeted to the strengths of liberal arts majors, and thanks to the hard and smart work of Wayne Stark, the Director of Workforce Development, CLASS is having an enormous impact on the future success of our great graduates. Visit the CLASS website to see all the great programming planned for this semester, and if you have any questions about CLASS or want to get involved in some way, please contact Wayne at wayne.stark@wright.edu . 
 
The university is embarking on a very important strategic planning process. What do we want to be like in the next 10-15-20 years, and how will we get there? The creative thinking involved in envisioning the future is something CoLA folks are very good at, and we will have a significant role to play in developing the WSU strategic plan and assuring CoLA has a central role in it. Stay tuned.
 
Spring means ARTSGALA, and our 19th annual event is coming up on March 24. If you can join us, I guarantee you will have an unforgettable evening while enjoying the satisfaction of helping support scholarships for our students in the fine and performing arts. Tickets are on sale now at   http://www.wright.edu/artsgala/tickets - I hope to see you there!  If that's not in your plans, please drop by if you're on campus or drop me a line at   linda.caron@wright.edu. We love to hear your news.

Linda Caron
Dean, College of Liberal Arts

Zoe Dell Nutter Establishes Scholarship for Dance Students


 
Zoe Dell Nutter paid a special visit to CoLA's dance students last fall to celebrate her creation of the Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter Dance Scholarship, an endowed fund to help provide support for the future education of Wright State dance majors. Mrs. Nutter danced professionally for the San Francisco Ballet from 1937 to 1940 and remains passionate about dance and supporting others who pursue this field.  The first recipient of the Nutter Scholarship is sophomore Jacob Shade. Jacob said this support reaffirms his hard work and inspires him to keep working to reach his dreams.


Acting and Film Alumni Give Back to Students



Five highly successful graduates of Wright State's theatre and motion pictures programs returned to campus last fall to offer a full day of workshops for current performing arts students. The sessions covered exciting topics such as "On-Camera Combat" and "Acting for Camera."  The workshops concluded with a talkback session with the visiting artists, covering important themes like career advice and establishing a work-life balance. The group of accomplished actors, writers, producers, and filmmakers talked about their own careers and helped inspire our current students to think about where their futures might take them once they graduate. 


French Alum Uses Degree to Land Job in Guinea
 
Jacob Miller was named Outstanding Senior of Modern Languages when he graduated in April 2017 with a degree in French. He has continued his success as an alum, using his language skills to secure a position with the Peace Corps in Guinea, where the national language is French. While there, Jacob is learning local languages like Sou-sou and Kissi, all while teaching English at a local high school. Jacob has enjoyed having the opportunity to see ways of life different than his own and to learn what people from other cultures, countries, and religions experience.
 
 
Declaration of Independence

She had been in and out of foster homes since she was just a baby and began living alone at 16, struggling to keep food in the fridge and get herself to work and high school.  Yet Vicky Lindsey persevered.  She came to Wright State in 2014, in large part because of our Independent Scholars Network, an innovative program that nurtures, educates, and graduates emancipated foster students.  While at Wright State, Vicky worked on campus as a tutor and a patient assistant for students with disabilities.  She also worked and was actively involved in the Black Student Union.  Vicki graduate d this past December with a degree in communication studies and now hopes to p ursue her master's degree in public administration at Cleveland State University, where she would like to champion foster students like herself.

 
Iraq University Partners with Wright State LEAP Program
 
The University of Babylon wants to model teaching at its English-language center after that of Wright State's Learning English for Academic and Professional Purposes (LEAP) Intensive English Program. A group of Iraqi educators visited Wright State last semester to observe LEAP and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) classes. They met students and faculty, wrote curriculum, toured campus libraries, and met with officials at the University Center for International Education and the Center for Teaching and Learning. The also worked on a series of webinars to share with their colleagues in Iraq.

The project received a seed grant from the International Research and Exchanges Board and support from the U.S. Higher Education Partnership Program and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The long-term goal is to create and sustain a partnership between Wright State and the University of Babylon to promote many types of faculty and student exchange research projects.
 
 
From left: Thomas Fenton, assistant director of Wright State's LEAP program; Qasim Al-Azzawi, director of the University of Babylon's English-language center; Amjed Alshalah, assistant teacher at Babylon; and Asaad Janabi, lecturer of linguistics at Babylon (Photo by Erin Pence)
 
 
Communication Students Participate in Poverty Project

Wright State's Advanced News Writing class put a human face on the region's poor as well as chronicled the causes and effects of being destitute through their recent Poverty Project.  The students, all whom hope to go into journalism, public relations, multimedia, and related fields, reported and edited stories on how illnesses, accidents, and drug abuse can contribute to poverty. This project helped students hone critical skills in how to interview and write in a way that is clear and concise.  It also enabled them to better understand the complexities of poverty while teaching them something about themselves along the way. 

 
History Alumni Panel Gives Students Insight Into Career Paths

Students interested in history as a profession got a peek into their futures during a uniquely-crafted career panel last fall.  The students were told that the most pleasurable aspects of history-related jobs are working with artifacts, rubbing elbows with celebrities and scholars from around the world, helping researchers find what they are looking for, and telling the stories of important people who have long since died. Field/major-specific career events like this one give students a wonderful opportunity to ask questions to alumni, recruiters, and employers and start to make some connections between their studies and future career pathways.  

 
Film Grad Talks with Students About Her Oscar-Winning Productions   

Motion pictures graduate Hannah Beachler returned to Wright State to talk about her work as the production designer on Oscar-winner Moonlight, Beyonce's hit music video Lemonade, and the new Marvel Comics movie Black Panther.

Hannah, who graduated from Wright State in 2005, talked about her career and answered questions during a standing-room-only discussion with performing arts students.  She also gave the Motion Pictures Area (on indefinite loan) her award for production designing Lemonade

 
Supporting the College 

Take a moment to think about your ties to the College of Liberal Arts. Perhaps you are one of our alumni and can remember well what the campus looked like when you were a student and which CoLA faculty or staff made the greatest impact on you. You might serve on an advisory board and help provide feedback on the direction our programs and college are headed. Maybe you are a donor who passionately supports scholarships for students in need. Perhaps you are an avid patron of our fine and performing arts programs who has attended art exhibitions, dance performances, main stage performances in music or theatre, or our signature arts fundraiser, ARTSGALA. You might have hired CoLA students as interns or CoLA graduates as employees. You could be a faculty, staff, retiree, or current or prospective student of our college. You might be part of our brand-new professional mentoring program. Or maybe you are passionate about the liberal arts and about what we do in CoLA and are looking for ways to get more involved.
   
Whatever your connection is, we thank you for your interest in the College of Liberal Arts, and we encourage you to remain involved or get more engaged in the important work we do on behalf of our students. As you reflect on your ties to CoLA, if you would like to make a gift in support of student scholarships, academic research projects, special programs, and other needs, please visit this website to learn more or contact Sara Woodhull, Director of Development for the College of Liberal Arts, at 937-775-4921 or sara.woodhull@wright.edu . If you would like to consider additional ways in which your engagement can positively impact the college today and into the future, please contact Jennie Buckwalter, Assistant Dean for the College of Liberal Arts, at 937-775-2575 or jennifer.buckwalter@wright.edu.   
 
Quick Links

Music Faculty Wins National Choral Music Competition

Graduate History Student Creates Exhibit at Presidential Museum

TEDxDayton Features Wright State Faculty and Alumni

CoLA Dean's Student Advisory Board



Emma Mattingly
President
Urban Affairs


Doug Benedict
Political Science


Thanh Dang
International Studies
English (TESOL)


Kayla Mosley
English


Timri Nolte
English


Emma Peterson
International Studies
French and Spanish


Becca Webb
Liberal Studies


Mark Your Calendars


Drawing from Perception VIII
Jan 16 - Feb 25, 2018
Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries

Drawing from Perception is a recurring juried national show focusing on the discipline of drawing from observation.

2018 Senior Thesis Exhibition
Mar 27 - Apr 20, 2018
Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries

Featuring drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and mixed media from senior and graduating art students.


The Grapes of Wrath
Feb 1 -11, 2018
Creative Arts Center Festival Playhouse
 
The Pulitzer Prize-Winning novel brought  to stage in this Tony Award-Winning, heart-rending drama you won't forget!

Purchase tickets here.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Mar 15 - Apr 8, 2018
Creative Arts Center Festival Playhouse

The Tony Award-Wining hit musical - based on the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens - where YOU choose the ending!

Purchase tickets here.

Spring Dance Concert
Apr 19 - 22, 2018
Creative Arts Center Festival Playhouse

Five World Premiere Works by Wright State Faculty and guest artists.

Purchase tickets
here. 


School of Music
Creative Arts Center
Schuster Hall

Concerto Aria Night  
Feb 13  
Wind Symphony & Chamber Players 
Feb 16 and Apr 4 
University Symphony Orchestra  
Feb 20 and Apr 17 
Men's Chorale & University Chorus
Mar 14  
Chamber Orchestra
Apr 3  
Symphonic Band
Apr 5  
Opera Theatre
Apr 13-15 
Women's Chorale
Apr 18  
Jazz Ensemble
Apr 19  
Men's Chorale Alumni & University Chorus
Apr 20  
Collegiate Chorale
Apr 22  
Honors Recital
Apr 22

Visit the music calendar to learn more about these and other events. 


ARTSGALA 
March 24, 2018 
Creative Arts Center

At this year's ARTSGALA, enjoy top-notch entertainment and activities by our talented fine and performing arts students, along with fine dining and a magnificent silent auction. All net proceeds support arts scholarships to help our students succeed. Learn more and purchase tickets here.