April May 2021 College News

COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATION APRIL AND MAY ISSUE | SPR I NG 202 1 LETTER FROM THE DEAN DR. JOHN FLEMING As the Spring 2021 semester comes to a close, we are starting to put COVID-19 in the rearview mirror as we prepare for the return of live performances and other in-person events in the Fall. Despite all the challenges, it has been an incredibly successful year, with this edition highlighted by the news that Study.com has ranked both our undergraduate Public Relations program and undergraduate Advertising program as #10 in the country (p.11). Likewise, students continue to garner a steady stream of awards and nominations, with KTSW winning 8 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) Awards, the University Star winning 24 TIPA Awards plus another 10 nominations (and 5 wins) from Region 8 of the Society of Professional Journalists (pp. 10-11). Faculty are also excelling and making an impact. Multiple faculty participated in the 5th Texas State Health Scholars Showcase (pp.4- 5,16). Faculty from across the college earned accolades with Stephanie Dailey having “one of the top-cited articles” (p.5), Christa Oliver being accepted to the 2021 Mellon School of Teatre and Performance at Harvard (p.8), and Cindy Royal winning the 2021 Gene Barnwell Waugh Mentor Award (p.10). In addition, Kevin Mooney received the John R. Hood Honors Professor of the Year Award (p. 13), while Todd Oxford received a Grammy Music Educator Award nomination (p. 14). Te creative work of faculty was recognized in American Craft magazine (Datchuk, p. 2), Harper’s magazine (Stone, p.3), and the Chicago Tribune (Lane, p. 16). A wide-range of faculty were published, including Lieber (p.2), Sherman (p. 3), Farris (p.5), Miller (p.5), Graza (p.12), Scherer (p.14), Stern (p.15), and Martinez (p.16); the list of external, peer-reviewed exhibitions, performances, and presentations is even longer. In addition, this summer Michael Burns will be working on his 6th Olympic broadcast (p.4), and he provided leadership for Communication Studies’ Career Readiness Program (p. 5). Finally, the videos from TEDx 2021 are now available (p.6). As always, my deepest gratitude and congratulations to all! FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! CONTENTS f inearts.t xstate.edu facebook.com/t xstcollegefac instagram.com/t xstfac twitter.com/t xstfac youtube.com/t xstatecollegefac ART AND DESIGN [PG. 2] COMMUNICATION STUDIES [PG. 4] DANCE [PG. 8] JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION [PG. 10] COVER PHOTO: KTSW 89.9 received 8 awards at the 2021 Virtual Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Convention, including top honors in 4 contests. [ P G . 1 0 ] MUSIC [PG. 12] THEATRE [PG. 16]