A special mini-publication specifically for our digital audience
Creating a Paper Trail Though it pours out from a place of grief, the art of alumnus and MTSU professor Charles Clary strives to leave viewers with a feeling of joy Table of Contents Editor’s Letter...............................................2 Spring Into Middle......................................3 Vampire Slaying............................................4 Your Move.....................................................8 Creating a Paper Trail.............................. 11
Making It Better........................................ 14 Welcome to the Future............................ 16 The Stone Pride......................................... 21 Pro Aspirations.......................................... 24
MTSU iMagazine
Editor’s Letter
Something Blue MTSU iMagazine is our twice-annual “miniversion” of MTSU Magazine intended to keep our growing web and app audiences “in the know” about all things MTSU. From an MTSU professor’s research on Buffy the Vampire Slayer to an interview with NFL quarterback hopeful Logan Kilgore, this newest edition of MTSU iMagazine covers a broad swath of topics— and includes multimedia content that isn’t available in print.
•
A closer look at the personal impact MTSU’s underwater treadmills have had in providing the next step for many suffering severe mobility impairment;
An explanation for the placement of the stately lion sculptures outside the Honors College—non-living embodiments of the college’s nobler aspirations;
University Editor Drew Ruble Contributing Editors Michael Burgin, Bill Fisher Art Director Kara Hooper
•
An exploration of how the James E. Walker Library and its staff are deftly riding the digital humanities wave;
Writers Darby Campbell, Bill Lewis, Gina K. Logue, Candace Moonshower
•
A visual journey through the eyes of alumnus and MTSU professor Charles Clary, whose art pours out from a place of grief;
Videographers Mike Browning, Darby Campbell
Other stories include: •
by Drew Ruble
Middle Tennessee State University April 2014 | vol. 2 no. 2
•
An article detailing the evolution of home economics into the human sciences and the program’s proud tradition at MTSU.
The next print edition of MTSU Magazine will reach MTSU alumni and friends by mail in July 2014. Until then, we hope you enjoy this latest digital issue!
University Photographers Darby Campbell, Andy Heidt, J. Intintoli Designers Brian Evans, Amanda Hooten, Susan Phillips, Sherry Wiser George Special thanks to Bonnie Allen, Sara Brookfield, Jimmy Hart and the entire News & Media Relations team, Rob Janson, Krisetn Keene, MT Athletics, MTSU Alumni Relations, Bea Perdue, Marsha Powers, John Vile, Terry Whiteside University President Sidney A. McPhee
Visit MTSUMagazine.com
Designed by MTSU Creative and Visual Services.
Don’t miss the
Vice President for Marketing and Communications Andrew Oppmann MTSU iMagazine is produced periodically. Correspondence should be sent to MTSU Editor Drew Ruble, FAIR 130, 1301 E. Main St., Murfreesboro ,TN 37132.
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2014 Alumni Weekend April 10 –13
The third annual “Spring into Middle” Alumni Weekend took place Friday through Sunday, April 11–13, at venues both on and off campus. Activities for alumni, friends, and families included open houses, sporting events, music performances, tours, special passes to utilize the Campus Recreation Center, and much more. One highlight of the weekend was the presentation of The Drowsy Chaperone, a five-time 2006 Tony Award-winning musical about a starstruck musical theater lover’s imagination coming to life. “This actually is one of my dream roles,” explained MTSU senior Joshua Hosale of Antioch, Tenn., whose “Man in Chair” narrates the onstage festivities he’s imagining in his dreary apartment as he plays the soundtrack of his favorite—nonexistent— 1928 musical. The 22-member MTSU student cast auditioned last December and started rehearsals in early February, working through their spring break for seven hours each day and “really digging in and getting a professional feel, because that’s what you do as a professional, when you’re not auditioning: spend hours in rehearsals,” explained director Kristi Shamburger, a Department of Speech and Theatre professor at MTSU.
Other weekend events included the second annual 1911 Society Luncheon in the Student Union Ballroom on Friday, April 11. The group, named in honor of MTSU’s founding year, celebrates individuals and families who have created gifts to the university through their estate plans. New members honored this year included Steve and Kathy Anderson, Alee Clark, Gayle H. and Dwayne Duke, Jean Gould, Margaret R. Hall, Richard Key, Rita S. King, Paul W. Martin Jr., Karen and Toby Mongan, Andrew and Elise Oppmann, Gayle Ray, and Mary Secrest. Also celebrated at the April 11 event were certain members of the Signal Society, which honors annual donors who have supported the university for 20 or more years. This year’s group included H. Dalton and Cynthia Drennan, Barbara and Jerre Haskew, Dan and Margaret Scott, David and Lorraine Singer, and Tommy and Judy Smith. True Blue!
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The Drowsy Chaperone, a parody of the American 1920s musical comedy, entertained alumni at MTSU’s Tucker Theatre.
April 11, during recognized Friday, re we rs no do U TS M g those Several y Luncheon honorin et ci So 11 19 al nu the second an e university. d gifts benefitting th ne an pl d te ea cr ve who ha
April 2014
From Literary Canon to
Vampire Slaying Dr. David Lavery is crafting a new pop canon, one Buffy at a time by Candace Moonshower
“I
’ve been asked a hundred times why I’m interested in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer,” says Dr. David Lavery, director of Graduate Studies in English at MTSU. “I say it’s because it makes me feel like my education wasn’t for nothing.”
Connecting the respected canon of literature to a TV show about vampires and a heroine slayer isn’t the typical self-reflection one might expect from a professor of English literature with curriculum vitae long enough to warrant an ISBN number. But Lavery isn’t typical. Since 1978, when he earned his Ph.D. in English at the University of Florida, Lavery’s career trajectory, which began with a desire to focus on American literature and specialize in Native American literature, has taken a surprising detour out of the realm of the canon and into the uncharted waters of popular culture, particularly television studies. The first leg of that journey was his dissertation, which came out of a push to see a Federico Fellini film. Then, during an early stint at the University of Memphis as a professor of communication and film studies, Lavery was asked to teach a class called TV and Culture. “At first, I thought it was ridiculous, but I enjoyed it,” he said. Little did he know, but he was in the first group of scholars engaged in groundbreaking studies about TV and its impact on our culture. Since arriving at MTSU in 1993, he has continued to break new ground, bridging the gap between pop culture and the canon. “It’s exciting to teach at a school with such a comfort level,” Lavery says. “Here at MTSU, I can teach Wallace Stevens and then Joss Whedon,” the latter being the creator of Buffy, the director of recent continued on next page
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photo: J. Intintoli
April 2014
Vampire Slaying Lavery created
the first scholarly book devoted to an individual TV series
continued from previous page
box-office smash The Avengers, and other iconic shows and movies. (Lavery recently published a book titled Joss Whedon: A Creative Portrait.) According to Lavery, the division between low and high culture is not as strong as it once was—or as people thought. “As a graduate student, I used to hate TV,” he admits. “I thought it was Orwellian and would ruin our souls. I never pictured myself here, in this career. And I’m having fun.” Lavery adds, “No one has ever invited me to Australia to talk about Wallace Stevens, but they have invited me there to talk about Buffy.” (His eyes twinkle as he tries not to smile too broadly.) One promising aspect of this burgeoning area of study? The need for scholarly articles and books. Lavery created the first scholarly book devoted to an individual TV series, Twin Peaks. “No one had thought of taking on a book about TV— and I certainly never anticipated being that person,” he says. Since that seminal work, Lavery has authored, coauthored, edited or coedited over 20 books and over 150 published essays, chapters, and reviews, including the aforementioned book-length biography of Whedon. Lavery believes MTSU is a leader in the integration of pop culture and traditional English studies. He acknowledges that while English departments have accepted film studies, many have not yet taken on TV, which he calls misguided. “TV shows are like novels,” he says. “They cover a long narrative time, and they should be part of the canon. The canon will grow.” It’s not the first time MTSU has done pioneering scholarly work related to pop culture. Lavery points to former professors Michael and Sara Dunne (also noted pop culture scholars) and the much-celebrated Charles Wolfe, who became, arguably, the most important music scholar in the world writing about country music. For Lavery, it all starts with Buffy.
photo: J. Intintoli
“I hated the movie, so I didn’t watch the show on TV,” Lavery admits. “Four years in, students wanted me to watch. They said, ‘It’s your kind of show!’ I finally watched it, and it changed my life. Those students changed my life.” And what about Joss Whedon, around and about whom a good deal of Lavery’s work has been centered? continued on next page
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April 2014
Vampire Slaying
pring 2012 saw the return to the crea tive and critical suc Whedon, with the cess of Joss release of both his horror flick The Cab and the box-office in in the Woods sensation, Marve l’s The Avengers. Afte himself as a premie r establishing r cult creator, the man who gave us Buffy the Vampire great television wit Slayer, Angel, Fire h fly, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A web long Blog, as well as series comic books includin Astonishing X-Men g Fray and , finally became the filmmaker he’d long dreamed of being. Drawing on a wid e variety of sources and making use of psyc Gruber’s insights hologist Howard into the nature of the creative process Creative Portrait offe , Joss Whedon, A rs the first intellec tual biography of career arc from acti Whedon, tracking vated fan boy to film his studies major, thir writer, successful d generation televisio script doctor, inno n vative television aute sought-after collabo ur, belo ved cult icon, rator, and major film maker with Marve Film and televisio l’s The Avengers. n scholar and Wh edon expert David multi-faceted mag Lavery traces Wh ic from its source edon’s – the early influen teachers, comics, ces of parents and books, movies, coll aborators – to its artistic incarnation.
‘You think you kno w,
continued from previous page
From
“Whedon is the champion out there for all of us out here who once thought we were losers,” he says.
what you are, wh at’s
to come. You haven’ t even begun.’
to Marvel’s
Lavery boldly places Whedon studies as a natural complement to those of a better-known literary icon. From to Marvel’s
“Shakespeare . . . has kept English teachers busy for 400 years,” Lavery says. Dhow a v i D our L a v eimaginations r y is Professor of English “Whedon . . . has tapped intoTen work and changed TV. and Popular Culture nessee State Univers at Middle ity. He is author and editor of over 20 Joss Whedon: Con books, including Like versatin He has reached whole families and spoken language we understand. ionsa , The Essential Cult Essential Sopran Tele visi on Reader, The os Reader, as well as Reading The Sop Deadwood (both I.B. ranos and Reading Shakespeare in his day, Whedon is one ofTauus.” ris). Dr Lavery is co-f Associa ounder tion, founding coof the Whedon Stud editor of its journal ies Slayage, and one of Critical Studies
of the founders in Television. He has lectured arou Lavery is one of us, too. ToriofWarenik, aghtformer student ofnd the Lavery’s television and tau world on thewho at Brunel Univers subject ity in London from 6 to 2008. received her master’s in English from MTSU in 2013, says she200 enrolled specifically to study under Lavery.
ISBN 978-1-8488 5-030
Cover:
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DaviD Lav e r y
“I first met Dr. Lavery in 2010 at Slayage, a popular culture conference on Joss Whedon, which convenes every other year. When applying for graduate 9 781848 850309 programs, I contacted Dr. Lavery, who volunteered some advice: ‘Go where you feel like you belong.’” (Lavery was a cofounder of the Slayage conference, and the Slayage Journal—each outgrowths of the Whedon Studies Association Lavery also cofounded.) Graham Robert Ward
D av i D Lav e r y
Warenik chose MTSU. “Many people don’t get the opportunity I did to make a connection with someone so plugged in to his area of interest as well as to his legacy: his students,” Warenik says. “Though he has written and edited a veritable shelf of books and academic papers, Dr. Lavery wants his students to succeed in their chosen paths as he has, which in academia, is actually extraordinary.” Warenik, now a high school English teacher in Florida, says she is excited to try to make those same types of connections with her own students. What is next for David Lavery? His ambitions are many and varied. He certainly doesn’t want to be pigeonholed. He admits that he has always chafed at the “turf ” of academia. “In my perfect world, the English Department and the Chemistry Department would teach together,” he says. Lavery says he has enjoyed teaching in the Honors College and would like to teach an interdisciplinary course on the topic of creativity. “Our Honors [program] does an incredible job of giving good students a chance to think outside the box,” he says, acknowledging that MTSU is the number-one target for the state’s best and brightest students.
MTSU is a leader in the integration of pop culture and traditional English studies.
In summer 2014, Lavery is teaching Special Topics in Popular Culture: James Tiptree, Jr. and Science Fiction—a graduate class. He is also finishing a book called Finale about the great television finales of all time. And the canon? “I’d like to write a book on Wallace Stevens,” Lavery says with a smile. MTSU
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April 2014
– true Blue pledge
As alumni of this great University, we have all benefitted immensely from the exceptional education provided to us during our time on campus. The generous support that we provide in return helps propel MTSU to even greater heights. In short, as the True Blue pledge indicates, we are recipients, and we are givers.
Visit www.mtsu.edu/supportMT to make your gift today, or contact us at (615) 898-2502 to discuss the impact you would like your gift to have at MTSU.
Your Move MTSU’s underwater treadmills provide the next step for many suffering severe mobility impairment by Gina K. Logue
T
hey come from home and from work from Murfreesboro, Nashville, and points beyond to MTSU’s Alumni Memorial Gym (AMG) to spend a few minutes walking in water. As ordinary a task as it seems, it’s really quite extraordinary since most of them can’t walk at all. People who the insurance industry asserts are incapable of making any physical progress for the rest of their lives are making progress on MTSU’s underwater treadmills.
Photos on next page: (top) Richard Locke from his playing days at Memphis State University (photo courtesy of University of Memphis athletics); middle—Locke during a physical therapy session in the underwater treadmill lab on the campus of MTSU; bottom—Trent Swarthout (left), also performing therapy in the underwater treadmill.
The two machines themselves, located in separate rooms, are not so unusual. Many universities and athletic facilities have underwater treadmills. However, they are used most commonly for the rehabilitation of able-bodied athletes who have sustained injuries, mere temporary setbacks on the way to their next gold medals or touchdowns. Richard Locke was a fullback for Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis, from 1977 to 1980. He amassed a total of 1,630 all-pur-
pose (rushing and receiving combined) yards and scored eight touchdowns in his collegiate career. Today, he is trying to raise his left leg high enough not to drag it against the treadmill as he walks at a steady pace through the 90-degree water, holding to the steel-enclosed glass sides for balance. The lead custodian at Murfreesboro’s Blackman High School is determined to recover from a stroke that affected the left side of his body last year. “I can bend my knees a lot better with the water resistance,” Locke says. “It feels like it gives me some stability, and it feels safer than a regular treadmill.” Any time Locke’s left leg starts to shuffle, his wife, Debbie, positioned behind the treadmill, says, “Pick up that left leg!” Dr. Sandy Stevens, who fills the tank and guides clients through their workouts, says people have been coming to the unpretentious cinder-block environs of the AMG basement for the past two years to regain lost mobility. continued on next page
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April 2014
Your Move continued from previous page “Insurance doesn’t cover this type of exercise because the companies say these people can’t make functional improvements,” Stevens says. Whether full recovery is possible or not, there is value in improving one’s physical, mental, and emotional quality of life. That’s what Stevens wants to emphasize. “If you put these underwater treadmills in YMCAs, in senior citizen centers, in community centers, people would use them on their own with minimal supervision,” Stevens says. Stevens is a postdoctoral research fellow with a tenuretrack teaching position in the Department of Health and Human Performance’s exercise science program. She knows from her past research with children with cerebral palsy that using the underwater treadmill to stimulate the pathways from the nerves to the brain produces results. She also knows from interactions with academic colleagues at conferences that no major university in the United States is conducting this type of research. That’s what Trent Swarthout and his parents found to be so frustrating. A handsome 23-year-old from Wisconsin paralyzed from the neck down in a February 2012 skiing accident, Swarthout found out about MTSU’s underwater treadmill therapy from a cousin who lives in the Nashville area. “Initially, I was really tight,” Swarthout says. “I would have spasms and involuntary movements. But, eventually, I loosened up and got a fluid walking movement going.” With an assistant behind him to move his feet, Swarthout graduated from three five-minute sessions a day to three 20-minute sessions a day over three months. He took a total of more than 50 steps, 20 favoring his nondominant left side. “I really didn’t know what to expect,” Swarthout says. “By the end, I was very much surprised at how much I had done.” Swarthout is back home in Wisconsin, where he does regular treadmill work wearing a harness to prevent him from falling three days a week and two continued on next page
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April 2014
Your Move continued from previous page days each week with a personal trainer.
By contrast, Thompson describes swishing through the warm water of the treadmill as “exhilarating.”
His father, David, insists his son has improved mentally and physically and that Trent has increased his bone density and muscle mass.
“I walk for 10 minutes at a time with a three-minute break in between,” Thompson says. “It is relaxing to me.”
“It’s just amazing,” David says. “You would think they would do this everywhere.”
A present from her husband, Tink usually either sits in Thompson’s lap as she pushes the wheelchair or trots beneath the chair, her four tiny legs a collective blur as she keeps pace.
Thompson is further bolstered by her therapy companion, Tink, a Pomeranian who looks like an oversized powder puff.
Carmen Thompson of Nashville had been married only two years when her honeymoon-like bliss ended abruptly on a summer day in 2007.
Today, Thompson can walk on solid ground with braces attached to her legs, but she says she gives all the glory to God.
She was mowing the lawn on her husband’s family farm in New Orleans when the mower struck a chain hidden in the grass. The chain was wrapped around a two-ton A-frame structure, which crashed down on her, pinning her to the ground for 20 minutes before her husband arrived home and rescued her.
“I have been able to take my leg braces with me to wear to church and on vacation,” Thompson says. “I can stand up and sing praises to God with the congregation whenever I want. Amazing after sitting for four years without the option to stand!”
Two back surgeries later, Thompson is still in a wheelchair, but a newspaper article sent to her by a friend informed her about the MTSU program. “The article sat on my desk for several months as I was a complete paraplegic and did not see how it applied to me,” Thompson says. “But one day, I just decided to call Sandy and see what it was all about.”
Even Thompson doesn’t use the word “miracle,” but she and other MTSU treadmill clients are quick to acknowledge the personal revolution in their lives. “I am still paralyzed,” Thompson says. “That has not changed. But the opportunity to stand, walk, move, and see the wonderful people at the lab three times a week has been life-changing!” MTSU
On Aug. 1, 2011, Thompson became the first fully paralyzed person to try the underwater treadmill as a study subject.
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photo by J. Intintoli
Not So Run of the Mill: (top) Carmen Thompson performing therapy in the underwater treadmill lab on the campus of MTSU; (middle) Thompson walking in the lab; (bottom) Thompson and her dog, Tink, outside the Alumni Memorial Gym, location of the underwater treadmill lab.
“Before I started the study, I was swimming laps in the Olympicsized pool at the YMCA twice a week, but it was not the same,” Thompson says. “The water was really cold, and it was like drudgery.”
April 2014
by Darby Campbell
Creating a Paper Charles Clary’s art cuts both ways Trail
W
hen you step into an exhibition of Charles Clary’s (’04) paper sculptures, it can be an overwhelming experience. The playful shapes come off the wall and reach out to the viewer. Cut in such precise, delicate detail, the tiny brightly colored landscapes invite you to come closer for exploration. What you see there may surprise you. Organic topographies, pencil marks, and subtle imperfections let you know that each piece was cut by hand. Given that the room contains hundreds of pieces with thousands of layers—all hand-cut—the sheer volume of work is astonishing. continued on next page
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April 2014
ers:
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t ecen ost r m ’s Clar y tilized… su aper serie s of p es t e e h ® blad 80 s cto • 4,0 A X 40 • 2,0 onths m al • 5.5 ieces tot p • 220
Paper Trail continued from previous page The art world is taking notice. Clary recently exhibited as part of a two-person show at the prestigious Nancy Margolis Gallery in Chelsea, New York City. He was a featured artist on television program Daily Planet, of Discovery Canada. Highly regarded art journals including Hi Fructose have covered him. By the end of this year, Clary’s work will have been featured in five books devoted to paper art. He produces all of this work while also working as a foundations and painting professor at MTSU, teaching four classes each semester. A devoted teacher, he’s passionate about setting an example for his students as a practicing professional. “If I’m not doing what I preach, what good am I to my students?” he asks. “If I’m not pursuing my professional goals of being a recognized artist who has relevance in the contemporary dialogue, then I’m not of any use to my students because I’m trying to tell them this is a possibility, this is something they could do with their lives. And if all I’m doing is teaching, then that’s telling them, ‘Forget it. All you can do with [an art degree] is teach.’”
mother’s diagnosis of stage-four lung cancer in July 2012 and her death in February 2013, followed two weeks later by the death of his father. Clary described making the work as cathartic. “It was kind of a nice renewal of getting back into working just as hard as I did before they passed,” he says. “So the work that’s going to come out of it is going to be energetic. The colors I used were based on radiation and chemotherapy, and some of the other colors were quite a bit more pastel, so it kind of emphasizes the idea of losing one’s life, of having that kind of essence pumped out of you.” Despite the grief that inspired the work, Clary strives to leave the viewer with a feeling of joy. No wonder he relishes describing a time when a four-year-old girl came to one of his exhibits in France and started poking her fingers in all the openings of his work.
“She was just laughing, all giddy, and people were horrified that she was doing this. I was like, ‘Whatever, I can always In December, the Rymer Gallery in Nashville held an exhibition of make another one, but that reaction is priceless!’” he recalls. Clary’s work called Meticulous Excavations, in conjunction with fellow artist Jamey Grimes. This particular body of work was a sort Though Clary freely admits he would discourage adults from doing the same, his goal is clear—always leave the viewer with of memorial. Each of the 204 pieces represent a day between his a smile. MTSU
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April 2014
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by Candie Moonshower
From Home Ec to Human Sciences: The lessons to be learned remain the same While “home economics” has long been synonymous with cooking and sewing and considered solely the province of girls and women, the history of home economics—and the current flourishing state of the department that houses it at MTSU—tells a completely different story. Born at MTSU in 1916 as the Department of Home Economics, the Department of Human Sciences encompasses Family and Consumer Studies; Interior Design; Nutrition and Food Science; and Textiles, Merchandising, and Design. Bachelor of science degrees are offered in six different programs of study. What we now know as Human Sciences developed not out of the realm of domestic duties, but out of scientific inquiry. Ellen Swallow Richards, after graduating from Vassar, was the first woman in America to be accepted at a scientific school, and she graduated with a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She then established a Women’s Laboratory at MIT, where she worked without pay prior to being appointed as an instructor at the nation’s first laboratory of sanitary chemistry at MIT in 1884. In 1887, at the request of the state of Massachusetts, Richards and her assistants at the lab began to survey the condition of the inland waters there, leading to the first state water quality standards in the nation. Richards went on to apply her knowledge of scientific principles to domestic topics and endeavors, and the field of home economics took shape as a science that studies humans and their needs in the areas of food, shelter, clothing, and relationships. One of the pioneers of home economics and human sciences at MTSU was Lyndall “Lyn” McMillian, who attended MTSU and received her degree in home economics. A native of New York, as a teacher McMillian worked with students at Castle Heights Military Academy, military wives, Wilson County school system students, and finally in the Home Economics Department at MTSU. Retired Health and Human Sciences professor Sondra Wilcox first heard of Lyn McMillian while sitting at a lunch counter in a drugstore in Jackson Heights shopping center. “Two young women were talking, and one commented that they might as well stay—they were already late and would not be able to get into their class because Mrs. McMillian locked the door when class began,” says Wilcox. Wilcox was later invited to a dinner by a student in a nutrition class of McMillian’s. “It was a formal dinner with students serving as hostesses, and formal etiquette was required. While it may seem outdated now, students were learning things—including manners—that would help them professionally,” Wilcox says. As fellow faculty members at MTSU, the two were soon acquainted. “I took home economics in high school and college, but it didn’t really ‘take,’” Wilcox continued on next page
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continued from previous page
says. “But opposites attract, and we became good friends.” McMillian passed away at age 101 on August 1, 2013. “Lyn McMillian was so professional— an alumna and a faculty member to be proud of,” Wilcox says. Hilary Turner Walker, a 2010 graduate of the department with a B.S. in interior design, represents the new face of home economics and human sciences. “I had always been interested in home decor, design, and interiors,” she says. “I loved doll houses as a child and was constantly decorating, redecorating, and changing the furniture around in the houses.” Walker was minoring in dance but was unsure of her major until she heard that there was an interior design program at MTSU that offered a degree. She researched the program and, while intimidated, she thought it would be fun. “And it was fun,” she says, “but rigorous. People do not realize what a serious degree program it is—one that combines technical, conceptual, and theoretical skills and knowledge and all within a wide range of industries.” Walker explains that what used to be considered just sewing, cooking, and childcare is so much more. “It is fashion and fashion merchandising, interior design, nutrition, and early childhood development,” she says. “What used to be done primarily in the home has been ‘outsourced’ to meet the needs of this new world we’re living in.” Walker’s career trajectory illustrates the wide variety of paths a B.S. from the department might encompass—from an early job in furniture sales, Walker transitioned into managing social media for a company that produces high-end lighting and accessories. After making connections, she went into freelancing and assisting other interior designers with their projects, which gave her a broad perspective on how different designers work. She began working exclusively for Pulp Design Studios in Dallas and became interested in publishing in the design industry. Now she blogs and writes for D Home magazine and is a freelance writer for other companies. “These days, we aren’t able to be home 24/7,” Walker says. “A lot of younger women aren’t learning the same skills as a generation ago.” She is happy that there is a revival of sorts going on in the field of
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human sciences as illustrated by TV shows about design and food; fashion, home design, and cooking blogs; and the use of social media such as Facebook and Pinterest to share ideas about subjects previously considered as “home economics” and the province of mostly women. From its early years as the Department of Home Economics, the goals of the department have always reflected its roots in the physical, biological, behavioral, and social sciences. In 1990, in order to more clearly represent the breadth of the programs in the department and improve the marketing of the programs to recruit quality faculty and students, the faculty passed a motion to change the name to the Department of Human Sciences. In January 1991, the name change was formally adopted, and Ernestine Reeder, department chair, reminded the community in a press release that Ellen Swallow Richards, the founder of home economics, had described the field “as the application of sciences to the betterment of the human condition.” Current department chair Deborah Belcher wholeheartedly agrees. “Human sciences is about basic survival,” she says. “It is a science that studies humans, and all our professional degrees deal with the human condition from early childhood through adolescence and adulthood and into old age.” Each year, the department offers its approximately 700 students opportunities such as internships and experiential learning and programs such as “Farm to Fork” and composting. It also supports community initiatives including the War on Hunger and Bras for a Cause. And Lyn McMillian would be proud to know that there is still an etiquette seminar available. (Ellen Swallow Richard’s alma mater, MIT, also offers courses and workshops in etiquette.) After all, social graces can play an important role in improving the human condition. MTSU
April 2014
Welcome to the
Future
James E. Walker Library and its staff deftly ride the digital humanities wave
by Gina K. Logue and Drew Ruble | 16 | MTSU iMagazine
April 2014
Dating back to the third century BC
and the library of Alexandria, the most famous example of an early library in the ancient world, the mission of libraries has been simple: to connect people to information.
I
n modern times, in a world filled with Web-based media, social networking, and cloud computing, that fact remains true. But today, libraries serve a world extending far beyond bricks and mortar, including anyone with an interest in a particular topic and access to an Internet connection.
MTSU’s Walker Library is a sterling example of a modern library that already offers electronic versions of many or most of its periodicals, books, and collections. As library dean Bonnie Allen points out, “We have rows and rows of books on shelves, but that is only about half of our entire collection—the other half is accessed through a keyboard or your smart phone.” Significantly, though, that pathway to information isn’t limited exclusively to the library’s standard collections. Libraries now acquire collections in electronic formats but are also transforming unique collections into digital collections. Beyond digitizing its own materials, Walker Library has also partnered with other academic units to make some of the University’s priceless intellectual holdings available electronically. In doing so, Walker Library has evolved into a true hub for humanities research in a digital age, becoming less a warehouse for books and more of what Allen describes as a “portal to a world of information.”
Brave New World
Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Maryland (and
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associate director of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities), has written that while science disciplines have always evolved with new technology, and, in fact, depend on technological advancements, the humanities have remained “largely the same in approach and creation, staying rooted in the so-called ‘analog humanities,’ which consist of printed, physical media.” That’s changing. Engulfed by the digital age, the humanities are, in Kirschenbaum’s words, rebooting. The defining phrase in the library profession today is “digital humanities.” In a recent interview with the Journal of Education and Information Studies at UCLA, Johanna Drucker, a UCLA professor of bibliography, described digital humanities as “work done at the intersection of computational technology and the humanities.” “That means that we use a whole suite of methods, tools, and techniques that make humanities materials available to digital processing,” Drucker added, specifically citing text analysis, data mining, databases, metadata, geospatial encoding, virtualworld building, network analysis, information visualization, interface design, and imaging, among other approaches. “Most of these techniques come from the empirical sciences, statistics, or business applications and have been adopted for use in the humanities. They require structured or formalized presentations of materials—documents, images, sound—in digital formats, which means migrating analog artifacts into a digital format.” In other words, the digital humanities encompass the use of new technology to study what have been historically nontechnological disciplines. And Walker Library is in step with that transformation. continued on next page
April 2014
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From Stacks to Cyberspace
Crucial to this new landscape for libraries is collaboration between campus entities—the humanities, computing, and libraries—to take full advantage of digital scholarship. At MTSU, Walker Library serves not only as a catalyst for the creation, management, and delivery of digital content but also as the new focal point for the storage and dissemination of content through a strong and growing web presence of digital text, images, audio, and video. One major initiative in particular illustrates Walker Library’s role as a leader in the digital spectrum— namely, the execution of digitization projects that will preserve the oneof-a-kind, vintage analog materials already in MTSU’s possession for future generations of scholars. To coordinate the work, Walker Library is partnering with three highly regarded MTSU research centers—the Center for Popular Music, the Center for Historic Preservation, and the Albert Gore Research Center—to make what are some of Tennessee’s most precious collections more accessible worldwide. “This started with a meeting more than a year ago where we looked at synergies among our campus collections, our
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expertise, and our space, and realized we had a common mission,” Allen says. “I had just joined MTSU as dean of Walker Library and was accustomed to collaboration with a wide range of scholars, as well as libraries. I knew that MTSU archives and Walker Library had this great opportunity to work together. We all seemed to have the same idea at the same time—it was an easy partnership to form!”
Walker Library is less a warehouse for books and more of what Allen describes as a
“portal to a world of information.” Named the Digital Partners, the partnership is now publishing in digital form what Allen describes as the “hidden collections of MTSU.” Digital Partners marries the technology, expertise, central campus space, and unique collections at MTSU for the electronic benefit of all who are drawn to the collections housed physically on campus. “Each of the partners has been working to establish processes, gather equipment, and initiate training to digitize their most valued collections,” Allen says. “So, for instance, CPM and Gore are visited by researchers who travel to use their special collections. Walker has the foundational collection
of published reference materials that provide the historical context and factual verification on nearly every discipline.” “Each of the partners had also spent time in the trenches learning the standards and the technical tools of digital publications,” she adds. “All had staffers who had experience in the creation of specific digital collections and had collaborated in the production of Web-accessible portions of our collections, were ready to expand, and eager to do this together.” To support Walker Library’s strategic push further into the digital realm, the library has in the past year alone hired various professionals with specializations in metadata or descriptive data for digital publications. It has also expanded its technological staff expertise. Two librarians, Ken Middleton and Mayo Taylor, who had already developed digital collections in recent years, have continued to keep pace with new developments in digital publishing. Behind glass walls on the second floor of the library are the technical tools Middleton and Taylor use to transform images and documents into a rich digital collection used by local schoolchildren, world scholars, and top researchers alike. The Digital Scholarship Lab, which opened in August 2013, includes scanning equipment, computers, and staff and meeting space that encourages and enables more publishing.
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April 2014
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One major initiative in particular illustrates Walker Library’s role as a leader in the digital spectrum—namely, the execution of digitization projects that will preserve the
one-of-a-kind, vintage analog materials already in MTSU’s possession for future generations of scholars.
All copies of the student newspaper Sidelines through 2011 have been scanned. The digitization of Midlander yearbooks was outsourced. These were obvious targets for preservation to chronicle the University’s history and growth. But there’s more to it than that. For example, one project now underway chronicles the effect of Jim Crow laws on the formation of statewide communities in Tennessee. This yearlong project is funded with a diversity grant from the Tennessee Board of Regents and will conclude with both a collection and a website. The digital collections created by Walker Library, including those achieved through collaboration with the Digital Partners, can be seen on the library’s digital collection website (http://digital.mtsu.edu/cdm). Allen says the influence of the collections to date is “strongly toward southern history and MTSU’s history.”
Student Success
According to Allen, the implications of the Digital Scholarship Lab include positives for graduate students and departments on campus “to apply a variety of technologies in the course of their research and then publishing a digital format or collection.” Allen adds that Walker is evaluating software for the creation of an institutional repository that will virtually house such items as electronic theses and dissertations, articles, reports, photographs, and
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research data from undergraduates through faculty. “This repository will be the searchable electronic archive of works as they are created on campus,” Allen says. Looking to the future, Allen promises that the Digital Scholarship Lab “will be a place for training our students and faculty in the use of technology to better visualize research and publish in an electronic media.” Preparing students and faculty in this way, Allen says, is the truest definition of digital humanities in academic circles. UCLA, the recognized leader in the digital humanities in higher education, states on its website that at its core, digital humanities teaches students “to create and critique media content, to develop the necessary skills and abilities to evaluate this content, to manipulate and transform digital technologies, and to develop the requisite literacy across information environments and media forms, including textual, aural, visual, and digital domains.” One example Allen cites of the future of digital humanities at MTSU is the potential use of geographic information system (GIS) software to better visualize the influence of music across the South and how that is associated with community change or historical events. “It is so exciting to think of the potential for graduate students in the Historic Preservation program working with the Center for Popular Music and specialists in mapping technologies to work together in creating new scholarship,” Allen says.
“We have models among the leading research institutions like UCLA to guide us, but most importantly, the library and archival partnership bring the necessary talent and the collections to provide a rich and innovative learning environment for our students and faculty.”
Back to the Future
Walker Library’s collaboration with the three MTSU centers is symbolic of the interdisciplinary nature of the digital humanities. The Jim Crow laws project is an example of how libraries can facilitate such research using new technologies and working with multiple databases. The total effort, which emphasizes realworld education in a digital age, ties in seamlessly to MTSU’s focus on student success. Clearly the role of the university library in the 21st century is not simply to serve as a repository for books. Libraries have been reinterpreted and redesigned to serve as a vibrant resource for a diverse audience looking for multimedia solutions. But whether content is being delivered off the shelf or online, the modern library’s mission remains the same as it was in the third century—to make reading accessible and learning possible, even as it remains a true community resource. Walker Library has deftly changed with the times to maintain that seminal role at MTSU and beyond. MTSU
April 2014
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MTSU has a beautiful campus. There are
many beautiful buildings (both new and old) and several important landmarks that include the enduring columns of Kirksey Old Main, the obelisk at the Main Street entrance, the horseshoe in Walnut Grove, the columns in the roundabout from the Old Capitol Building, and the new veterans memorial near the University’s four original buildings. Enter the lions.
Those who know John Vile, dean of the Honors College, know that, next to writing, he loves to collect. Vile and his wife spend many Saturday mornings going to estate sales and flea markets, and the dean has a special fancy for old books, political collectibles, and art.
Though he says he was tempted to carry them to his own front porch, both had been brought from China, with which MTSU has many connections, and both were stately symbols that in Vile’s mind seemed to epitomize the strength of mind, will, and character that the Honors College seeks to imbue. Vile placed the lions outside the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building, facing visitors approaching from the College of Mass Communication or the College of Education to the west. “I thought perhaps they would also inspire courage,” Vile says. “After all, the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz is so memorable because it so contradicts the stereotype.” To be precise, the lions are actually Fu dogs. In feng shui, the Chinese art of placement, a Fu Dog is a door guardian. The lion-like statues usually appear in pairs (a male and a female) and have muscular bodies, fearsome faces, and curly hair. Fu dogs are sometimes referred to as lion dogs, temple lions, or Chinese guardian lions. continued on next page
The hobbyist/collector just happened to spend two summers studying at Princeton University, where he was especially impressed by the statues of tigers spread throughout the campus. “It was almost as though they were breeding,” Vile says. “One could practically direct a visitor through the campus by directing them from one such statue to another.” Imagine Vile’s delight, then, when he was at a favorite consignment shop in Nashville a few years ago and saw two gray granite lions.
The Honors College is home to some nonliving embodiments of its nobler aspirations
The Stone Pride by Drew Ruble
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photo: Andy Heidt
April 2014
photo: J. Intintoli
| 22 | MTSU iMagazine
April 2014
continued from previous page
Fu dogs guard and bring energy blessings to the places they “protect.” They are traditionally displayed in front of a door or a hallway near a door to prevent bad spirits and harmful energy from entering a home or business. Vile says he only purchased the lions because of the University’s China connection and because he liked them—not because he is a follower of feng shui (or was even fully aware of the connection at the time). “I think they add a bit of personality to the entrances,” Vile says. “The Chinese consider them to bring good luck. And if they do so, then that’s just an added bonus!” The deal was done after some negotiation. Luckily for Vile’s pocketbook, the owner had an MTSU connection and was proud to have the statues ending up on campus. Vile soon discovered that each lion seemed to weigh about a ton! He recruited one of his strongest students, who helped lift them into the dean’s Honda Odyssey and eventually onto the back steps of the Honors Building, where they now regally reside. Smitten with his first pair of guardians, the search was on for Vile. He found four other lions later at the same Nashville shop. They are now found on the other side of the Honors Building, facing the Rec Center and the new student services building. They are white rather than gray, smaller, look more distinctly Chinese than the first two, and are perhaps more whimsical than imposing. Two have marbles in their mouths. Lions are often associated with strength, but Vile says he thinks the six now perched outside the Honors Building also look just a bit wise. “The statues help remind me that the Honors College values not only the retention of facts but also strength of character and wisdom,” Vile says. “That, at least, is what I think of when I look at them. It seems fitting that statutes from one of the world’s most ancient civilizations, which values wisdom, have found a home at the Honors College.” In many ways, the lions dotting the perimeter of the building also provide a new, signature, artistic marker for the campus.
photo: J. Intintoli
Hear them roar. MTSU
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23 Honors Magazine www.mtsu.edu/honors
April 2014
S
ports Illustrated writer John Lopez introduced a formula in 2010 aimed at predicting the future success or failure of college quarterback prospects at the professional level. According to Lopez, if an NFL prospect scored at least a 26 on the Wonderlic test, started at least 27 games in his college career, and completed at least 60 percent of his passes, there was a good chance he would succeed at the NFL level. (The Wonderlic test, a popular group intelligence test used to assess the aptitude of prospective employees for learning and problem-solving in a range of occupations, has become best known for its use in evaluating prospective professional football players.) If a prospect did not reach those three high-water marks, their chances of success professionally diminished. The list of quarterbacks since 1998 to ace all three parts of Lopez’s formula includes Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Tony Romo, Matt Ryan, and Matt Stafford. (Others include Matt Shaub, Kevin Kolb, Kyle Orton, and Ryan Fitzpatrick.) Those who failed at least one part of the formula include famous NFL busts Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, David Carr, Vince Young, and JaMarcus Russell. Based on those lists, it would certainly appear that Lopez’s formula is a pretty accurate barometer of quarterback success at the highest level of the sport. Middle Tennessee quarterback and recent graduate Logan Kilgore hopes to be drafted by or to sign a free-agent contract with a professional football team later this spring. For the record, Kilgore started 38 career games for the Blue Raiders and had a 61 percent passing completion rate. At the request of NFL teams, Kilgore has already taken the Wonderlic test several times. Though teams have not revealed to him what the results were, it is highly likely that Kilgore met or exceeded Lopez’s threshold score of 26. That’s because Kilgore is not only a highly decorated college quarterback but also a highly accomplished academic graduate of the University.
Logan Kilgore’s NFL hopes rest on his arm and on his head by Drew Ruble
During his senior season, Kilgore was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team. The list, selected by the league’s media relations directors for football, consists of student-athletes who have earned a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or better and are starters or key reserve players on their team. Kilgore earned his undergraduate degree in three years and received his M.B.A. (with a 3.78 GPA) before graduating last winter. The Rocklin, Calif., native was also named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll each semester he played and was also a Capital One Academic All-District III member. He was a two-time winner of the Terry Whiteside Award, presented for excellence in academics, football, strength training, community service, and campus activities. (Whiteside is dean of the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, and MTSU’s faculty representative to the NCAA.) continued on next page
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April 2014
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Kilgore is busily preparing himself to audition for NFL scouts who may be interested in drafting him in May or signing him to a free agent tryout contract afterward. His athletic accomplishments are likely to draw at least some interested scouts. After all, Kilgore is a member of the 2013 Manning Award Watch List, which is presented every season to the nation’s top quarterback, as judged by the Sugar Bowl Committee in conjunction with ESPN.com. Kilgore owns a school record of 53 career touchdown passes and is the first player in MTSU history to throw for more than 2,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. Kilgore and the Blue Raiders completed an 8-4 regular season in 2013 and led the team to the Armed Services Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, against the Navy Midshipmen last December.
At almost 6’3” and more than 210 pounds, Kilgore has the size NFL scouts like in a prospective quarterback. In today’s pro game, where speed and elusiveness is key to keeping plays alive, Kilgore’s 4.9-second 40-yard dash speed is also attractive. The Sports Exchange rates Kilgore the 24th best quarterback of 152 eligible for the upcoming May draft. It also rates him the 492nd-best overall player out of roughly 4,000 eligible. No doubt MTSU’s move to a larger, more competitive conference (CUSA) during Kilgore’s senior season (and the success both he and the team experienced playing better competition) bodes well for his prospects. Bryan Perez, director of college scouting for firstroundgrade.com, lists Kilgore among his five “under the radar” quarterback prospects in the draft. According to Perez, “Kilgore is a traditional pocket passer who has a strong arm and can make all the NFL throws. Kilgore throws a nice, tight spiral and presents as an intriguing developmental prospect. He’s shown the ability on tape to make all the throws, but he is a limited athlete who, as stated above, is going to need to get bigger in order to have a shot at a long NFL career.” Kilgore has something else working in his favor. He is represented by “Bus” Cook, one of the top pro football sports agents in America. In fact, Kilgore is the only college quarterback Cook is representing in the draft. Cook’s list of pro quarterback clients includes recent Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson and household names Cam Newton and Jay Cutler. Cook is actively lobbying NFL teams to take a closer look at his client. “When he calls, people pick up the phone,” Kilgore says. According to Kilgore, who has been training in Mississippi alongside fellow NFL prospect A.J. McCarron of Alabama, the feedback he’s been receiving from NFL teams has been very positive. “We have been hearing good things from teams, and I fully expect to be in a pro camp at the start of next football season, whether it be through the draft or through free agency,” he says. What will Kilgore do if for some reason that dream of playing in the NFL doesn’t materialize? Kilgore credits MTSU head football coach Rick Stockstill for preparing him for that possibility. “Coach Stock emphasized to all of us from the time we got to Murfreesboro to make sure we use MTSU to our advantage—don’t let MTSU use you,” Kilgore says. “I took that to heart. I graduated early, worked my butt off, and got my M.B.A., always thinking about the fact that football isn’t going to last for anybody…Coach Stock has helped me position myself for success regardless.”
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[Editor’s notes: MTSU defensive back Sammy Seamster and lineman Josh Walker are the Blue Raiders most likely to be drafted in May. Kilgore, defensive tackle Jimmy Staten, and cornerback Kenneth Gilstrap will also, according to various media reports, receive consideration either as draft picks or free agent signees.] April 2014
Middle Tennessee State University
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