January & February 2021 College News

COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATION JANUARY AND FEBRUARY ISSUE | SPR I NG 202 1 CONTENTS ART AND DESIGN [PG. 2] DANCE [PG. 10] MUSIC [PG. 14] COMMUNICATION STUDIES [PG. 6] JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION [PG. 12] THEATRE [PG. 18] f inearts.t xstate.edu facebook.com/t xstcollegefac instagram.com/t xstfac twitter.com/t xstfac youtube.com/t xstatecollegefac FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! LETTER FROM THE DEAN DR. JOHN FLEMING While the winter storm (a.k.a. SNOVID-21 or Snowmageddon) and its impacts closed the university for a week and a half, we are now catching up, and thus this belated edition of College News . Despite all the challenges, faculty and students continue to excel at truly impressive rates. Art and Design faculty presented their art and research both nationally (Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Texas) and internationally (Japan, Iceland, Germany, Portugal, China, and Brazil). In addition, Communication Design students won 12 Silver Addy Awards and 60 Graphis New Talent Awards (pp. 3-5). Communication Studies faculty won multiple research grants and published multiple articles (pp. 6-7). In addition, Communication Studies hosted our 5th annual TEDx featuring a dynamic array of speakers around the theme of Amplify (pp. 8-9). Dance faculty were published in The Bloomberg Handbook of Dance and Philosophy , received a grant to host an Interdisciplinary Festival, and screened their video dances across the globe (pp.10-11). Journalism and Mass Communication faculty won a Best Article Award and had an article published in The Conversation , with the latter reaching a global audience of 20,000 readers across at least 10 countries (p.12). Music faculty contributed to a movie soundtrack, were featured by Austin Opera, and presented their work nationally (Michigan, Tennessee, California, South Carolina) and internationally (Mexico, Germany). In addition, the Texas State Chorale was one of only two United States choirs selected to perform at the London Handel Festival (pp. 16-17). Theatre faculty were engaged in international master classes, music videos, podcasts and featured on television (p.18). Theatre students dominated the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival playwriting competitions (p.19), and alumni continue to make their mark across the industry in a wide array of fields (pp.20-21). As always, my deepest gratitude and congratulations to all! COVER PHOTO: The Department of Communication Studies hosted the fifth annual TEDx Texas State University event in February, focusing on the theme: Amplify. [ P G . 9 ]