Faculty Recognition
Thomas Hrach Selected Winner of the 2017 AJHA Book Award
The American Journalism Historians Association selected Thomas Hrach, associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media, as the winner of the 2017 Book of the Year Award for his 2016 publication, "The Riot Report and the News: How the Kerner Commission Changed Media Coverage for Black America." He will receive his award and discuss his research during the 36th annual convention in October 2017. For more information, visit AJHA online.
Christina Moss Receives Teaching Award from the Southern States Communication Association
Christina Moss, lecturer in Communication at the University of Memphis, Lambuth Campus won the Southern States Communication Association John I. Sisco Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award honors "SSCA members who have consistently demonstrated excellence in teaching communication throughout their academic careers." Peers and students nominate honorees for the award. The award was given at the Southern States Communication Association Convention Awards Luncheon on April 8.
Christina will be joining the University of Memphis faculty in Fall 2017 as an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Gender Studies.
Jim Williamson Receives AIA Award
Jim Williamson, Department of Architecture, was selected to receive the 2017 Francis Gassner Award from the Memphis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Awarded annually since 1977, the "Gassner" is the highest award AIA Memphis gives to individuals. Jim was recognized for "his outstanding contributions to the architectural fabric of the Memphis community" at the AIA Memphis Celebration of Architecture Honors and Awards Gala in March.
Steve Ross Documentary Featured at the American Documentary Film Festival
"Kallen Esperian: Vissi d'arte," an hour-long documentary by Department of Communication Professor Steve Ross, was featured in April at the American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs, California. The film chronicles the ongoing comeback by famed Memphis-based opera singer Kallen Esperian. Ross, Esperian and Gary Beard, accompanist, attended the event.
"When the festival director first contacted me to let me know that the film had been selected, we started talking about Kallen, and what a wonderful presence she is. I told him how terrific it was when she and her accompanist Gary Beard performed a few numbers following the closing night screening of the film at this year's Indie Memphis film festival. He asked for their contact information, and within a few days they had accepted his invitation to join me at the screening....and to perform a few arias following the film and Q and A," Ross said.
After returning from Palm Springs, Ross, Esperian and Beard attended a special screening of the film at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and participated in a Q and A following the screening.
Dr. Marcin Arendt to Lead UofM Musicians at Memphis in Poland Festival This Summer
Dr. Marcin Arendt, assistant professor of Violin at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, will lead a group of University of Memphis musicians in a concert during the Memphis in Poland Festival at the legendary Forest Opera in Sopot, Poland, June 2017. The UofM musicians will also lead musical master classes for students at the Gdansk University and School of Music. Gdansk and Sopot are sister cities about a half hour's drive apart from each other in northern Poland.
The idea for the Memphis in Poland Festival was born after the 2015 Memphis in May International Festival, saluting Poland that year. The purpose of the festival is to share music, arts and culture native to Memphis with an international audience in the Baltic region's festival capital. The long term aim of the festival will be to solidify a partnership that will flourish for many years to come, providing opportunities for educational and cultural exchanges, facilitating commerce, and promoting tourism.
Todd Richardson Named Communicator of the Year
Todd Richardson, associate professor of Art History at the University of Memphis, co-founder of Crosstown Arts and managing director of Crosstown Concourse, was selected as the Memphis Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America's (PRSA) 2016 Communicator of the Year.