The Leading Edge

News about happenings in MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment

Digital Literacy Campers

They’re the TikTok generation, eagerly capturing their every moment on video and sharing the results with the world. Those results can be as life-changing as the 17-year-old bystander’s cellphone video that helped convict George Floyd’s killer or a high school freshman’s racist Snapchat remark that a classmate made viral four years later, canceling her college plans.

Jennifer Woodard and Ken Blake, faculty in MTSU’s School of Journalism and Strategic Media, want to help the tweens and teens using TikTok better understand the power, pro and con, of digital media. Using funds from a Tennessee Board of Regents Student Engagement, Retention, and Success Grant, the two professors teamed up with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Rutherford County to bring 40 local middle school students to campus to learn the importance of responsible social media usage and digital literacy.

In the inaugural pair of weeklong programs called “Come to Voice,” the students wrote, filmed, edited, and premiered their own documentaries; worked with a green screen; checked out podcasting; learned about drone filming; completed an interactive campus scavenger hunt; and focused on social media safety with the help of Woodard and Blake.

“Responsible social media usage and digital literacy for tweens and teens is often touted by educators and politicians as a must-have part of their education,” Woodard said. “ ‘Digital literacy’ means having the skills you need to live, learn, and work in a society where communication and access to information is increasingly reliant on digital communication technologies.

“At a certain point MTSU should give back to the communities who are around us. Ken and I were talking about how we can give back, and we said, ‘We’re good at media, so let’s give that to the community.’ ”

Being aware of the content of their social media, like the scripted documentaries they filmed together, makes the younger students more aware that they can—and should—control what the world sees and hears about them, Woodard said.

“Social media’s forever, and they need to understand that,” she said.

— Gina E. Fann

Service and Songs

Commercial Songwriting student Paul Mathews and award-winning Nashville songwriter Adam Hood helped MTSU student Stefanie Marvin-Miller write “Woman’s Best Friend,” a song about her service dog, at one of the recent Operation Song projects on campus.

Leland, a 5-year-old Labrador retriever, has been by Marvin-Miller’s side since summer 2018, helping her manage the severe post-traumatic stress disorder she lives with after she was sexually assaulted and survived a traumatic brain injury in 2016 while in the Army National Guard.

“Getting to hang out with Adam was awesome, but meeting another MTSU student, who I can see on campus and who I’m actually going to get to see graduate at the same time as me next spring, is amazing,” said Marvin-Miller, an Industrial/Organizational Psychology major. “To work on the song and sit in that room for most of the day was an amazing process, and I can’t thank Operation Song enough.”

The daylong Operation Song events, which returned in 2021 and 2022 after the pandemic-related cancellation in 2020, team up trios of military veterans, students, and professional songwriters to create healing music for the veterans and training for the students.

— Gina E. Fann

Messaging about Masculinity

Shan Foster

Media Arts student Kinsey McBride is producing a podcast for author and Amend Together executive director Shan Foster (pictured), focusing on toxic masculinity and how to improve the lives of young men. Foster, who runs the YWCA’s Amend Together program, spoke to men and women, including studentathletes, in separate events at MTSU as part of Sexual Responsibility and Consent Week in 2020. Making appearances around the country, Foster has tried to encourage men to become more engaged on the topic of gender issues, such as women’s rights.

They Do Know Jack

Mike Forbes’ Video Display Technology class supplied the video wall and operated it for the Jack Harlow concert at Murphy Center in April. They were the only class on campus that worked the show, with the students entrusted by the management of the artist to execute the show for the 7,000 people in attendance. This project is a longstanding partnership between Media Arts and Student Programming and Raider Entertainment (SPARE). With a No. 1 hit at the time, Harlow had also just appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Read a concert review from the Sidelines student news outlet at:

https://mtsusidelines.com/2022/04/28/jack-harlow-rocks-out-murphy-center.

Legendary Talks

Dean Beverly Keel hosted a conversation with legendary performers Smokey Robinson and Alice Cooper at the fall 2021 International Entertainment Buyers Association conference in Nashville.

Famous Adventures for Web Series

After five years in production and post, Media Arts Associate Professor Allie Sultan ’s web series Incognita’s Infamous Adventures premiered at the 2021 Orlando Film Festival. The production won Best Web Series at the festival and also was nominated for Best Visual Effects.

The project, available on Amazon Prime, was a massive collaboration between faculty and students in Media Arts, Recording Industry, and Journalism at MTSU, as well as students/faculty from Austin Peay State, Belmont, and Lipscomb universities.

In January 2022, the film’s screening sold out at Lipscomb’s Shamblin Theater, where the cast performed songs live along with the film.

In May, Sultan and crew flew to Los Angeles for Stareable Fest, the leading film festival for independent web series creators, where the show was nominated as Best Fantasy Series. The cast then traveled to New York City to perform a live vocal performance/film screening at the Triad Theater on the Upper West Side.

In June, the program hosted a booth at Nashville’s inaugural Comicon, where Sultan and the cast enjoyed a meet-and-greet with fans. Season 2 is in the works—Sultan says they’ve already begun crowdfunding.

Making Connections in the Middle East

John Merchant

John Merchant, Recording Industry chair, flew to Saudi Arabia in March and met with Haifa Jamal Al Lail, president of Effat University in Jeddah, to discuss ways for MTSU to partner and develop media programs between the two schools. Thanks to these efforts, MTSU is now on the list of recommended schools as Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture is sponsoring 350 media students to come to the U.S. to study music and film production.

In May, Merchant returned to Saudi Arabia and talked with faculty and administrators at Effat University, a women’s university that houses the country’s first Cinema Arts degree program. Working with Robert Summers, MTSU’s vice provost for international affairs, Merchant signed an agreement to explore ways to help develop Effat’s media programs. At Effat’s spring student film festival event, MTSU was listed as one of Effat’s supporting institutions, along with New York University–Tisch and the University of Southern California.

Faculty Fulbright Fellowship in India

Sanjay Asthana, a Journalism professor, earned a Fulbright fellowship for a summer project in India, where he promoted MTSU and the College of Media and Entertainment programs during his activities. As part of his work, Asthana conducted advanced theory and research workshops for Ph.D. students, while also planning out his research on climate change mitigation for journal articles and a book in the next year. He conducted initial fieldwork interviews in the slums in Telangana as part of a larger comparative study (India and the U.S.) about media-making by working-class youth on environmental issues.

Sanjay Asthana

“It involved substantial travel to different locations for the interviews with working-class communities, especially young mothers and youth—one aspect of my study pertains to fetal and maternal health,” he said.

During the hottest month of May, the temps typically “hover around 107–108 for several days, and the real feel would be around 110-plus. The Department of State informed Fulbright researchers in India not to venture out in the sun for long periods of time, especially from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.”

Additionally, he interviewed officials from state institutions, governmental agencies, private corporations, and public organizations engaged in tackling climate change issues through policies and programs. Part of the Fulbright program involves promoting and building mutual understanding between people and cultures, and he made presentations on free speech and press freedom and on geography, media, and the environment.

Making the Virtual a Reality

Rodrigo Gomez , an Animation associate professor, gave a presentation at VR Night at Walker Library’s Makerspace. MTSU was named among the Best Maker Schools in Higher Education by Newsweek for its tools, technology, and resources.

Both Sides of the Pond

The Media Arts and Recording Industry departments collaborated with the University of Salford in Manchester, England, to create the TransAtlantic Sessions, a live student-produced/crewed concert broadcast live on True Blue TV, MT10, and eight social media platforms in the U.S. and in Britain. The 60-minute live special was produced by Bob Gordon’s two advanced production classes and Michael Fleming’s Broadcast Audio class.

The intercontinental concert went on to win a slew of awards, including a Silver 2022 Telly (online category), a Platinum Remi Award (entertainment category) from the Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival, and an Award of Excellence from the 2022 Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts. The show was later accepted by peer review to screen at the 2022 University Film and Video Association Conference in July.

King of Commentary

D.L. Hughley

Comedian, actor, and radio host D.L. Hughley delivered his unique social commentary on American politics and culture as MTSU’s Black History Month keynote speaker, co-sponsored by the School of Journalism and Strategic Media. MTSU alumna Jasmine Sanders co-hosts his nationally syndicated radio show.

Fine Design for Wine and Crafts

Professor Leslie Haines designed over 50 pieces to promote the Nashville Wine Auction, which raises money for eight different cancer-related organizations. The event sold out earlier than ever before, and the L’Eté du Vin main event in October 2021 raised $2 million—much higher than the goal of $1.2 million. Haines’ design work covered everything from the invitations and magazine ads to digital ads, signage, and menus.

In another major design project, Haines produced exhibition graphics for the Best of Tennessee Craft 2021 Biennial show for the Tennessee State Museum. Working closely with the museum exhibition team, Haines designed the main title wall with 3D type and plexiglass insets, the show logo, the color palette used throughout the exhibition, and all 75 labels. Her design was used on the website, merchandise, and signage, as well.

Claim to Wall of Fame

The College of Media and Entertainment honored three alumni at the annual Wall of Fame induction ceremony in April.

Don Aaron

• Don Aaron, a Journalism graduate, has been the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s associate administrator/public affairs director for the past 30 years.

Tamara Reynolds

• Tamara Reynolds, the Department of Media Arts honoree, is a world-renowned documentary photographer whose work has been published by The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and Oxford American, among others.

Ashley Ernst

• Ashley Ernst, the Department of Recording Industry recipient, is senior manager of governance in the Recording Academy’s Membership and Industry Relations department. Among other college honors handed out, Assistant Professor Keonte Coleman received the School of Journalism and Strategic Media’s Ed Kimbrell Excellence in Journalism Teaching Award.

Protecting Freedom of Speech

Felix Cavaliere

The Free Speech Center has launched the First Amendment Press—the first academic press in MTSU’s history—leading to the publication of insightful new books about First Amendment freedoms by MTSU Honors Dean John R. Vile, an internationally recognized constitutional expert, and Belmont Law Professor David Hudson (The Bill of Rights: The First Ten Amendments). Additionally, the center’s newest initiative in First Amendment education, Lessons in Liberty, features an unprecedented aggregation of online teaching materials for teachers from primary school through college.

The center also honored Felix Cavaliere, a founding member of the legendary rock band The Rascals (“People Got to Be Free”), with its inaugural Free Speech in Music award in partnership with the Center for Popular Music and the College of Media and Entertainment. Former CME dean Ken Paulson is director of the Free Speech Center.

Fearless Pioneer Feted

Lydia Lunch

MTSU’s Center for Popular Music (CPM) honored anti-establishment artist Lydia Lunch as the first woman and third legend to receive the CPM Fellows Award, recognizing her unique contributions to art and society with a two-day celebration in September. Lunch, a singer, poet, writer, actor, and self-empowerment speaker in the world of post-punk experimental music and art, joined Barry Gibb and Lamont Dozier in the small circle of music pioneers named CPM Fellows.

Roots on the Rivers

WMOT 89.5-FM held it first single-day festival, Roots on the Rivers, at Two Rivers Mansion, a Civil War-era estate between the Stones and Cumberland rivers in Nashville. The late August event featured Americana artists Maggie Rose, Lera Lynn, 49 Winchester, and Mike Farris, among others. “This is a new, intimate celebration of American roots music and all the things that WMOT stands for,” said Val Hoeppner, the station’s executive director. “It’s a big lawn party with cool vendors and great artists. All of it aligns with what we’re about, a strong, close-knit community.”

Ticket sales supported WMOT programming, while mini-fest partner Cumberland River Root Nashville aims to plant 500,000 trees across Davidson County by 2050.

Eight Straight

MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry—and the College of Media and Entertainment that houses it—are marking an eighth consecutive year on Billboard magazine’s latest international list of top music business schools, once again earning acclaim for the program’s diversity, depth, and longevity. According to the industry publication, “opportunities abound” for students’ professional development at MTSU, thanks to participation in events such as Bonnaroo and the CMA Music Festival; the presence of an active on-campus music venue, the Chris Young Café; and the student-run record label, Match Records.

MTSU has been on Billboard ’s best music business schools lists since 2013, receiving recognition that first year for the recording industry program’s entrepreneurial turn. The magazine has published seven such lists since then, skipping a 2015 compilation as well as one in 2021 due to the pandemic. MTSU appears on the 2022 list alongside long-recognized programs at Berklee College of Music, New York University, and the University of California–Los Angeles.

Singing Praise for Thesis

Martrell Harris (center)

Martrell Harris was named outstanding master’s student this year for the Media and Communication M.S. program after writing his thesis, “Praising on the Net: A Study of Hillsong, Elevation Worship, and Bethel Music’s Social Media Content and Comments.” Matthew Taylor, assistant professor in Journalism and Strategic Media, was his thesis advisor. Harris, a Music Business alum, is now director of marketing and communications for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee.

Pulitzer Talk

Mitchell Jackson

Author and novelist Mitchell Jackson gave insights into murder victim Ahmaud Arbery’s life, as well as his own as a creative writer, at MTSU’s Pulitzer Prize Lecture Series, sponsored by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies, College of Media and Entertainment, and Free Speech Center. Jackson’s Pulitzer-winning feature appeared in Runner’s World

CMT Tour of Campus

Chris Young

The new CMT Stages digital series filmed alumnus Chris Young performing in MTSU’s Chris Young Café and being interviewed in Bragg Media and Entertainment Building’s Studio B in June 2022. In the episode, he reflected on his childhood, relationship with music, run on Nashville Star, and near-fatal leg infection that required emergency surgery in 2013.

Mastership Remastering

Spring Fed Records, a Grammy-winning record label that forms part of the college’s Center for Popular Music, has released Stole from the Throat of a Bird: The Complete Recordings of Ed and Ella Haley. This seven-CD box set is the product of more than six years of painstaking work to restore, remaster, and present home recordings made in 1946 and ’47 by the Haley family.

Ed Haley’s reputation and influence as one of the greatest old-time fiddlers in Appalachia belies the fact that he never made any commercial recordings. These home recordings had only limited availability until now, and in versions with very poor sound quality. Now, after 75 years, the expert staff of the Center for Popular Music brought these historically vital artifacts to life once again.

Working with Ed and Ella’s grandson Steve Haley, Spring Fed Records Manager John Fabke, Center Director Greg Reish, and Center Audio Manager Martin Fisher undertook a careful restoration of these one-of-a-kind recordings made in the Haleys’ home in Ashland, Kentucky, on lacquer-coated 78 rpm discs. Fisher meticulously cleaned each disc and transferred them from analog to digital before remastering the audio with cutting-edge digital tools. Fabke, Reish, and Haley put together a 105-page booklet with extensive liner notes to contextualize the music.

Photo Finish

Photography students Josh Blake, Stephen Elston, Josh Mart, Kyle Neach, and Valkyrie Rutledge displayed their senior capstone projects in a Baldwin Photography Gallery exhibit last April.