15 minute read
Where are they now? Featuring: Angela Duggins
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Angela Duggins
MA in Professional Communication, concentration in Storytelling and Theatre Department of Communication Studies • Year of Graduation: 2017
Why did you choose ETSU for your education?
I chose to attend ETSU because the storytelling program allowed me to focus both on the theory and practice of oral traditional performance while embracing my love of my home region.
What is your current position and/or research?
I currently hold a few positions: I am a PhD candidate at Southern Illinois University where I research Ozark performance traditions; I teach English, world literature, and theatre at a small high school; and I work as an author publishing plays, poems, and the occasional book. What does this position/research entail?
Every day is a new adventure. Right now, I’m directing a production of Seussical the Musical TYA while writing my next book, teaching Cervantes and Shakespeare, planning two dances, and writing my dissertation. I have amazing students who are up for anything, and I am starting to find my voice as a speculative poet.
How did your time at ETSU prepare you for this career?
Each of my professors at ETSU had a different approach to time management. They helped me learn to set boundaries and create systems that now allow me to go home every night and enjoy life. My coursework and mentors also helped me grow as a writer. I used to panic thinking about writing a two-page paper. Now, I present my research at national conferences that I’ve been fortunate enough to assist in planning.
What advice would you offer current or future graduate students?
A dream deferred is better than a life destroyed. Take time to build your finances early so that you can enjoy chasing your dreams later.
Anything else you would like to add?
I actually work with another Buc. We’re everywhere!
Reconnecting to Appalachia:
A Sculptural Perspective
Hanna Traynham
Studio Art, MFA
Lindsay Rogers
Faculty Advisor
Written by Marten Baur
Sensory memory is the first component of memory storage, and it refers to the snapshot of sensory information captured in a given moment. Sensory experiences can create strong sensory impressions that can be stored into long-term memory, especially if connected with people, places, and events. The connection to place, in particular, is what fascinates Hanna Traynham, an MFA candidate at ETSU. Connections to place, especially when tethered to a sensory experience, can form lasting impressions and memories that make a place meaningful. This research feature explores Hanna’s journey of reconnecting to Appalachia through sculptures made using “wild” clay and traditional firing methods.
The Blue Ridge Mountains are considered home to Hanna. She received her BFA in ceramics from James Madison University in the Shenandoah Valley. After graduating, Hanna taught high school students and developed her ceramics studio practice in the Pacific Northwest. She also traveled to Denmark and Japan to further her global understanding of ceramics. Her travels away from the Appalachian Mountains helped shape her understanding of how unique histories of craft and design are embedded in different places both culturally and geographically.
Hanna returned to the Appalachian Mountains to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art. She chose ETSU for two reasons: one, she wanted to reconnect with her home region of Appalachia, and two, the thriving community of ceramic artists. The abundance of wild clay in Appalachia laid the foundation for its rich ceramic art history, and it explains why Appalachia continues to serve as an attraction for ceramic artists. Wild clay
refers to clay that is hand-harvested from the ground. It contrasts commercial clay, which is a blend of clays that are manufactured to be malleable and consistent. Lindsay Rogers, an associate professor at ETSU, is well versed in harvesting wild clay, and she is another reason Hanna decided to pursue her master’s degree at ETSU. Wild clay has unique properties, and it can take months of processing and testing before it is ready to use. However, for artists like Hanna and Lindsay, the unique colors and textures are worth the time and effort.
Hanna chose to use wild clay because as an artist, “every decision you make, from the ground up, informs the audience what your work is about and influences how they are going to respond,” explained Hanna. The process of harvesting clay was a significant aspect of Hanna’s journey to reconnect with Appalachia, and it doubled as a way to visually represent the importance of place to her audience. Clay veins, typically found near rivers or springs, are about eighteen inches beneath the topsoil. They can be spotted by identifying streaks of red, orange, yellow, blue, or pink. Hanna often relied upon her community connections to find clay. For example, friends and community members would share their experiences of finding clay while digging a garden or excavating a basement. When she didn’t have any leads, Hanna often drove backroads with a shovel and a few buckets in her car throughout east Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and western North Carolina in search of banks of clay. “It’s been a hunt at times!” stated Hanna. After harvesting the wild clay and returning to the studio, Hanna would begin the testing process to determine the melt point, absorption rate, and pliability of the clay. Identifying the melt point is important, as the clay can melt and damage the kiln. To determine the melt point, Hanna formed small marbles of wild clay and placed them into the kiln. She progressively increased the temperature of the kiln and monitored the condition of the clay through several stages of heating. Between stages, Hanna measured the clay’s absorption rate. Ideally, clay should have less than a 3% absorption rate to be used for pottery. Testing is critical for understanding ceramic durability. If the absorption rate is too high, the ceramic will be porous and prone to chipping. If it is too low, it may start to warp or melt in the firing. Furthermore, the clay must be able to withstand temperatures of 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit if used in high-fire kilns. Because of this, wild clay will often require the addition of stable mined minerals in order to
make it more melt-resistant or malleable. To further complicate this process, no clay is the same. “Even clay a mile down the road from another vein can be completely different,” explained Hanna. The artists must assume that other contaminants exist in these different clay veins, which can affect the melting point of the clay. Therefore, the clay harvested from each vein must be individually tested. Hanna views the digging and testing of clay as a process of discovery that adds another layer of connection to land. “The digging of clay and the testing process has really been a huge proponent of meaning behind my work. It’s highly physically intense, but super rewarding,” explained Hanna.
Hanna uses wild clay to sculpt large, imposing vessels that represent the mountainous landscape of Appalachia. She follows an iterative process that allows her materials to inform the final product. Her work is gestural, performative, and demanding, as evidenced by her finger marks indented upon the surfaces of the sculptures. Instead of using glaze, Hanna relies on the natural colors of the wild clay that emerge through a calculated firing process. In addition, the use of wood, soda, and gas reduction kilns produce effects that alter the surface of ceramic objects. The origins of the clay and wood vastly influence the appearance of the sculptures. The variety of outcomes, despite following the same process, visually represent the meaning of place.
ECHOES OF HOME • Tipton Street Gallery
Hanna Traynham, in studio
sculptural archive of memories that expressed her reconnection to the land, culture, and history of Appalachia. Her hollow burntorange sculptures symbolically stored memories and experiences, and they represented the different places Hanna connected to within Appalachia. Her imposing sculptures were placed on tall pedestals to create a sense of being enveloped by mountains. Music recordings from ETSU’s Archives of Appalachia played within each hollow vessel added a cross-disciplinary experience that deepened the project’s theme of connection to place. Hanna acknowledged the impermanence of memories and undocumented traditions through the presentation of a vessel of raw, unfired clay. If left to the elements, the sculpture would dissolve back to the earth within weeks.
Hanna’s project would not have come to fruition without guidance from Lindsay. Lindsay’s expertise and enthusiasm for clay has helped Hanna grow as both an artist and teacher. “Lindsay has helped me understand how to think about clay on a deeper level, which was what I was craving when I came to this program,” explained Hanna. Lindsay is well connected to the creative community in Appalachia, and is another reason Hanna is glad to work with her. She helped Hanna connect with other artists and community members, which in turn helped Hanna re-establish her connection to Appalachia. After graduation, she plans on continuing her work with wild clay and pursuing teaching jobs.
Left, Lindsay Rogers, Right, Hanna Traynham
firing wild clay. Her imposing sculptures documented the memories she made throughout the rigorous process. Just as place impacted the outcome of Hanna’s sculptures, establishing a connection with place can influence how people interact with their environment and community. She hopes her project inspires others to connect to the land, history, and culture of Appalachia.
Parental Constrained Behavior Impacts Children’s Participation in Unsupervised Outdoor Play and Informal Sport
David Hutson
Global Sport Leadership, EdD
Dr. Brian Johnston
Faculty Advisor
Written by Marten Baur
In the early 1900s, social psychologists and philosophers theorized that some children might become juvenile delinquents if they participated in unsupervised outdoor play. This idea gave rise to organized youth sports as a way to keep children occupied with supervised activity. Starting in the 1950s, unsupervised play and informal sport began to be more prevalent. By the 1970s and 1980s, it was common to see children participating in unsupervised play and sport like in a scene from The Goonies or The Sandlot.
David Hutson, a doctoral student in ETSU’s global sport leadership program and an associate professor at Rochester University in Michigan, has observed a shift away from these unsupervised behaviors in today’s culture. Children are now spending more time indoors and limiting their exposure to outdoor physical activity.
While serving as a faculty advisor in 2018 for Rochester University’s three-month study-abroad program in Vienna, Austria, David observed children participating in unsupervised outdoor play in cities throughout Europe. He found this fascinating, as it reflected his own childhood growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. David began questioning the state of unsupervised play in the United States. “Unsupervised play not only keeps kids healthy, but also it helps children develop problem-solving skills, leadership skills, social skills, independence, and creativity,” David said.
After returning to the United States, David was inspired to start a doctorate degree and to explore youth sports at an academic level. He discovered ETSU’s global sport leadership program, which offers students a blend of domestic and global perspectives on sport administration, governance, ethics, philosophies, and culture. For his major research study, David began a study on parental constrained behavior and how it impacts the time children spend in
unsupervised play and informal sport.
David wanted to know if parents were constraining their behavior to protect their children against the risks inherent in unsupervised play and informal sport. David said there are two types of constrained behavior. Avoidance behavior refers to completely avoiding unsupervised outdoor play due to perceived risks, which include bullying, injury, and unwanted approaches from strangers. Defensive behavior refers to the presence of a supervisor to monitor outdoor play.
David’s project investigated the relationship between parents’ constrained behavior and the number of hours spent per week involved in unsupervised outdoor play (e.g., riding bikes, physical play with friends) and informal sport (e.g., pick-up basketball, football, or volleyball games). He hypothesized that parents’ constrained behavior due to perceived risks would have a significant negative relationship to children’s participation in unsupervised play and informal sport.
To answer his research question, David created a survey that was distributed across the United States to parents with children between the ages of six and 16. He received 158 responses from parents in 19 different states. The survey included demographic information including the family’s household setting (urban, suburban, and rural), the type of school the child attended (public, private, homeschool, other), and the number of children living in the household.
Next, the survey inquired about the number of hours per week their children were playing in organized youth sport supervised by adults and unsupervised outdoor active play. The survey then asked the parents about their perception of risk involved with the above activities. David’s study found significant negative correlations between parents’ constrained behavior scores and the number of hours their children participated in unsupervised play and informal sport. Interestingly, the reason for parents’ constrained behavior was not due to perceived risks. Children participated in an average of 5.5 (SD = 4.3) and 5.8 (SD = 4.4) hours per week of unsupervised play and organized supervised sport, respectively.
Importantly, many children are meeting the guidelines of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day; however, the percentage of children who participated in three or less hours of unsupervised play per week was 40%. In addition, 9% of children did not participate in any form of unsupervised play or informal sport.
David found the number of children per household also impacted a child’s amount of unsupervised outdoor play. In households of only one child, the average amount of unsupervised play was 3.8 (SD = 4.3) hours per week, whereas the average amount of unsupervised play in a household of five or more children was 7.3 (SD = 6.5) hours per week. “This might be explained by a strength-in-numbers concept,” David said.
When analyzing organized supervised youth sport, David also found negative correlations between time spent during supervised sport and parents’ constrained behavior scores. While a negative correlation existed between constrained behavior and both supervised and unsupervised outdoor play, David found that parents are not constraining their own behavior due to the perceived risks inquired by the survey. Only 13.6% of respondents said it was likely or highly likely that their children would be injured during unsupervised play outdoors, and only 7% of respondents said it was likely or highly likely that their children would have an unwelcome approach by a stranger in their neighborhood.
David’s work has important societal implications because unsupervised play can impact a child’s creativity, independence, and leadership skills. In addition, studies show that unsupervised children tend to be more active than
supervised children. To David’s knowledge, only two other studies exist in the literature covering constrained behavior and its effect on unsupervised play. He hopes to conduct future studies to uncover the reasons for parents’ constrained behavior, the impacts of socioeconomic status, and the differences of unsupervised play between the United States and European countries.
David is thankful for the guidance and support of his advisor, Dr. Brian Johnston, who has helped David develop as a researcher and professor. Dr. Johnston uses practical assignments to challenge his students to grow within their professional careers. David is able to take the knowledge he learns from Dr. Johnston and directly apply it to his career at Rochester University. After concluding his study, David plans to publish and present at professional conferences.
David has a long history as a teacher, coach and athletic director. He earned his master’s degree in sports administration with a concentration in intercollegiate athletics administration from Wayne State University in Detroit, and his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. David has taught at the collegiate level since 1999 when he helped start Rochester University’s sports management degree. Before becoming a full-time professor, he served as Rochester University’s associate athletic director, intramural director, and
Left, David Hutson, Right, Dr. Brian Johnston
head track and cross country coach. Previously, David taught K-12 health and physical education in Texas, and served as a middle school athletic director, and coach of a variety of high school and youth sports, such as basketball, volleyball, track, and cross country.
David’s practical experience as a coach and teacher combined with his academic experience makes his research into youth sports a perfect fit for him. He said that while it is evident that parents are practicing constrained behavior, the reasons for their constrained behavior remain unknown. Children are spending less time engaging in unsupervised outdoor play and informal sport, which may impact their physical, intellectual, and emotional development.
For children, the days of meeting at the sandlot to play ball or roughing it through the woods in search of buried treasure seem to be coming to an end. Although more work is needed, David’s capstone serves as the framework to restoring unsupervised play into contemporary culture.
