- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Graduate Completes Thesis on Content in German-Language Newspaper During WWI

John Hill — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 16:00:44 +0000

A graduating ��Vlog��ý Little Rock student is thankful to the history department for helping prepare him for a career as an archivist through the extensive research he was required to do for his thesis.�� Little Rock native Harrison Mitchell earned his bachelor’s degree in news editorial journalism from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2011. Now over a decade later, he graduated with a master’s degree in public history on Dec. 17. Mitchell’s thesis explores written content in , a German-language newspaper based in Little Rock during World War I. The Echo is the only surviving newspaper source about Arkansas’s German community, as well as the only insight into what the German press was printing during the war. Mitchell got his inspiration for the topic from the year he spent as a foreign exchange student in Vienna, Austria, in high school. “That experience really cemented the language for me,” Mitchell said. “Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to do this research at all, since most of it was in German.” Mitchell focused his research on the years between 1914 and 1918, comparing the tone and content before and after the United States entered the war to see how the newspaper handled the growing anti-German sentiment in the country during the shift. Research also came from, “Das Arkansas Echo: A Year in the Life of Germans in the Nineteenth-Century South” by Kathleen Condray, associate professor of German at the University of Arkansas. The book examines the topics covered during its inaugural year, including the newspaper’s crusade against prohibition, advocacy for German schools and language, and stance on immigration. “Overall, I’d say the program prepares you for the field really well, especially when it comes to research,” Mitchell said. “I even had a graduate assistantship for the Center for Arkansas History and Culture downtown to supplement my archival learning and give me hands-on experience.” He organized his information on a database, the idea of which he credits to Dr. Charles Romney, professor of history and graduate coordinator of the public history program. “I collected about 300 articles, so it was a lot to keep track of,” Mitchell said. “The database gave me key searchability, helped me identify common themes, and what was going on. Staying organized is one of the most important parts of a research process.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Professor’s Film Set for Worldwide Release Dec. 20

John Hill — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:15:30 +0000

A film written and directed by a ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professor has been picked up for distribution and will be released worldwide on Dec. 20. Kiel Thorlton, assistant professor of film and television at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, debuted his first feature-length film last year at the Arkansas Cinema Society’s Filmland in Little Rock. “A Place Called Home” is the story of widowed father Levi, played by Ben Gavin, who struggles to raise his two young daughters after the tragic loss of their mother. Living paycheck to paycheck was hard enough but with the loss of his wife, things become increasingly strained forcing Levi to make some difficult decisions. “It’s a love story between a father and his daughters,” Thorlton said. “He is a high school dropout working in the rural South. His wife dies in childbirth, and he has a 7-year-old and a newborn to raise by himself. He has to find someone to watch the baby, and he has to go back to work. It’s a snowball effect. He is navigating grief with young children.” The film garnered attention on the film festival circuit from multiple distributors and sales agents; ultimately landing the film with Freestyle Digital Media in Los Angeles. “A Place Called Home” will be available to rent and own on North American global digital HD internet and satellite platforms on Dec. 20. You can find out more information at the .

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“Thankfully, ‘A Place Called Home’ sees hope in, well…the title does spell it out,” said Luke Thompson, reviewer for Film Gone Wild. “If the home is worth protecting, it’s not just because of the building but also the people around it. Is this undue optimism in an increasingly radicalized world of demonization? Maybe. But in the movies, at least, optimism can still be earned.” A native of Auburn, Kentucky, Thorlton and his crew filmed the movie in his small hometown of about 1,000 residents and in Logan County in 2019, bringing in more than 50 film professionals to the area and spending 30 days in the community creating the film. The production supported individuals from Atlanta to Los Angeles as well as local crew and cast such as Sean Ramey who has been a part of “Chicago PD,” “Chicago Fire,” and, “Snapped.” “It was imperative that this film, given the subject matter and style, be filmed inside the American South,” Thorlton said. “The fact that this area is where I found my love of filmmaking was a bonus.” The film was screened around the world at various film festivals such as Arkansas Cinema Society’s Filmland, The Oxford Film Festival, SoCal Film Awards, and South Georgia Film Festival. It also garnered multiple awards including Best Film at the Louisville International Film Festival, Special Jury Award at WorldFest – Houston International Film Festival, and Best Director at the London Fusion Festival.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Artist Kukuli Velarde as Windgate Distinguished Lecturer

John Hill — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 13:34:07 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will welcome acclaimed Peruvian American artist Kukuli Velarde as the next Windgate Distinguished Lecture Series featured artist for the Spring 2023 Semester. “We are genuinely excited for the opportunity to host Kukuli Velarde and her CORPUS exhibit at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” said Nathan Larson, interim art gallery director at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “This exhibition offers an insight into how our contemporary culture is the product of decades and centuries of assimilation and overlapping of cultures from across the globe.” The Windgate Distinguished Lecture Series, which began in 2020, is a lecture series that brings nationally known scholars, artists, makers, and art and craft influencers to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock on an annual basis. The series is funded by a grant from the Windgate Foundation. Based in Philadelphia, Velarde is a multi-talented artist working in ceramic, painting, drawing, and installation. Much of her work draws on pre-Columbian traditional forms and iconographies, highlighting colonized and syncretic identities and aesthetic systems. Her latest exhibit, “Kukuli Velarde: CORPUS,” will be on display from Monday, Jan. 9, to Friday, March 3, 2023, in the Brad Cushman Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design. The Windgate Distinguished Lecture, “A Voice of My Own,” will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building. The lecture will be followed by a reception from 7-8:30 p.m. in the second-floor lobby of the Windgate Center. During her visit, Velarde will also visit classes and review artwork with ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students. CORPUS is comprised of ceramic and fabric works that encourage reflection on the meaning of survival in the face of colonialism. Fifteen ceramic sculptures, each with matching tapestries, will be presented in a symbolic representation of the annual Corpus Christi festival in Cusco, Perú. The sculptures reference indigenous pre-Columbian forms and iconographies in a visual representation of syncretic aesthetic, cultural, and religious traditions. “Kukuli blends the imagery and ceramic forms of Pre-Columbian Peruvian cultures with the Catholic imagery brought by the colonizing conquistadors to create a visual voice uniquely her own,” Nathan Larson, interim art gallery director at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “But this voice is deeply rooted in the culture of assimilation; the culture she grew up in and the culture she now re-represents for us.” Velarde received a BFA from Hunter College in New York City. She is the recipient of such awards as the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2015), Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant (2012), and Joan Mitchell Foundation grant (1997). Her work can be found in the collections of Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima, Perú; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, among many others. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, and 2-5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, contact 501-916-5104 or email Larson at nglarson@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Launches Online Exhibit Featuring Vic Snyder Collection

John Hill — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 14:29:52 +0000

The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture (CAHC) has opened a new online exhibit featuring the congressional collection of Vic Snyder, a former Arkansas state senator and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The collection is quite large and includes more than 680 boxes of items Snyder amassed during his political career, spanning his time in the Arkansas Senate from 1991-1996, as well as his seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997-2011. “It’s one of the top five largest collections that we have at the center,” said Laura McClellan, CAHC assistant director. “This online exhibit creates a portal to find out more about Dr. Snyder and the work of a congressman. The exhibit provides a beautiful look into Snyder and the work that is being done by capable people like Emily Summers and her team.” The online exhibit, “,” launched in September. It highlights Snyder’s life and career in political office, including his politics, his legislative efforts, and his service to the constituents of central Arkansas. “I liked the fact that we had some of his previous staff members write essays for the exhibit,” said Emily Summers, CAHC processing archivist. “They could bring to their essays their own professional experiences that a historian might not know about. The website has interactive features, such as a crossword puzzle and maps.”

Congressmen Vic Snyder celebrates Astronaut Day in 1999 by visiting Booker T. Washington Elementary School with astronaut Kalpana Chawla.

The exhibit also features curriculum guides for educators to use in the classroom as well as an oral history where Snyder discusses his time in the Arkansas state senate and U.S. Congress. Snyder’s connection to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is twofold. He graduated from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s William H. Bowen School of Law and served ��Vlog��ý Little Rock during his time in Congress as it falls in the Second Congressional District. The Center for Arkansas History and Culture received the Victor F. Snyder Congressional papers in 2015, and it took five years to process the collection, which contains invitations, letters, photos, scrapbooks, news clippings, video and audio recordings, and papers that detail Snyder’s work drafting legislation. Anyone interested in viewing the Snyder Congressional Collection in person can contact the Center for Arkansas History and Culture to make an appointment by visiting /cahc/.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Holiday Art Sales Returns Dec. 1-2

John Hill — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 13:46:09 +0000

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for art lovers! ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will host its annual Department of Art and Design Holiday Art Sale on Thursday, Dec. 1, and Friday, Dec. 2. The holiday sale will be held from 6-9 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Friday in the Windgate Center of Art and Design. Patrons who attend the sale will have the chance to purchase a wide array of unique and beautiful items from the students, faculty, and staff in the Department of Art and Design. The Holiday Art Sale gives student artists a chance to learn about the fast-paced world of buying and selling art and what it takes to earn a living as an artist. This sale, which is free to attend and open to the public, is a great opportunity to buy handmade holiday gifts from local artists while also supporting ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students. “This is a great time to come check out the Windgate Center of Art and Design and see what the students, faculty, and alumni are making,” said Kensuke Yamada, assistant professor of ceramics. “It’s been three years since we’ve been able to hold the Holiday Art Sale, and there is a lot of anticipation for everyone to show their best work and holiday cheer.” The event will also feature music, hot cocoa, faculty art demonstrations, and more. For more information, contact Prof. Yamada at kyamada@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Wind Ensemble to Hold Fall Concert Nov. 17

John Hill — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 13:41:16 +0000

The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Wind Ensemble will hold its fall concert on Thursday, Nov. 17. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. The Wind Ensemble, directed by Dr. Michael Underwood, advanced instructor of music, will perform along with guest performances with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Jazz Ensemble and Concert Choir. The Jazz Ensemble will begin the concert with “Nostalgia in Times Square” by Charles Mingus followed by a vocal solo of the song “Sway.” The Wind Ensemble will perform “English Folk Song Suite” by Ralph Vaughn Williams. The concert will conclude with the Concert Choir joining the Wind Ensemble on Underwood’s arrangement of “Jupiter” from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.” For more information, please contact Geneva Galloway at 501-916-3291 or gegalloway@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Piano Ensemble Concert Nov. 15

John Hill — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 14:17:20 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Literary and Performing Arts will host a concert by the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Piano Ensemble and the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Extended Education Advanced Piano Ensemble on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. The piano ensembles, which are directed by Dr. Naoki Hakutani, associate professor of music, will feature arrangements for two pianos and eight hands of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Carl Maria von Weber’s “Invitation to the Dance,” and Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.” Also on the program will be four-hand selections by Maurice Ravel, Cecile Chaminade, Aram Khachaturian, and Moritz Moszkowski. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Piano Ensemble is the primary ensemble for pianists involved in music performance study at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and is also open to other student pianists through audition. For more information, please contact Geneva Galloway at 501-916-3291 or gegalloway@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Alex Hughes Senior Recital Nov. 6

John Hill — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 12:25:45 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Literary and Performing Arts will host a senior recital for Alex Hughes featuring Collaborative Pianist Leann Jones. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. While on the trombone, Hughes will play Sonata in E minor by Benedetto Marcello, “Wind Tides” by Adrienne Albert, and “Largo Al Factotum” from Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini. Hughes will also perform two jazz pieces – “Blue Monk” by Thelonious Monk and “Georgia On My Mind” by Hoagy Carmichael – with Clifton Belcher on trombone, Elijah Jennings on string bass, Dorian Izzo on guitar, and Dr. Rolf Groesbeck on drums. Hughes, a senior music education major, will graduate in May and plans to become a middle or high school band director. For more information, please contact Geneva Galloway at 501-916-3291 or gegalloway@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Researchers Explore the Role of Congregations in Racial Justice

John Hill — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 13:15:58 +0000

A trio of University of Arkansas at Little Rock investigators are exploring the role that Little Rock congregations play in faith-based, racial justice efforts, including the response of congregations after the 2020 death of George Floyd. The paper, “Race and Faith: The Role of Congregations in Racial Justice,” was presented at the American Political Science Association Conference in Montreal in September. The paper’s authors include Dr. Rebecca Glazier, a professor in the School of Public Affairs and the director of the , Dr. Gerald Driskill, a professor of applied communication, and Dominika Hanson, a graduate student in rhetoric and writing. They collected data that included a survey of 2,293 congregants from 35 congregations in Little Rock; an analysis of 90 sermons from 15 congregations that reveal how clergy talked about race in the weeks following Floyd’s death, 21 clergy interviews that illustrate how clergy use religion to engage on racial issues, and interviews with seven national leaders and focus groups with six congregations. “We have been talking with and listening to members of the Little Rock faith community for many years,” Glazier said. “For us, it began in 2019 when we held the Religious Leaders Summit. Race was one of the key issues that congregation leaders told us they wanted us to explore more. Because of what we learned at that summit, our research team has spent more than two years studying race and faith issues.” of nearly 2,300 people from 35 diverse congregations across Little Rock, researchers found that the No. 1 issue participants wanted their congregation to do something about was race relations. Further research with clergy members found that 88 percent of them said that Little Rock has a problem with racial division, while 64 percent believe race relations will get better and that clergy are in a position to help make that happen. The professors had already decided to investigate the role of congregations in racial justice efforts, but the 2020 killing of Floyd had such an impact on the country that it presented a unique opportunity to understand how congregations in Little Rock respond. “During the summer of 2020 when America’s reckoning with race relations happened, we did interviews with clergy to understand what was happening in the community after the death of George Floyd,” Glazier said. “A lot of people turned to their places of worship and their faith to determine what they should be doing in this moment. How do we handle such a volatile time in our history? How do we grapple with racism?” The researchers found that Little Rock congregations were very active in engaging with faith-based racial justice work in many diverse ways that include forming book discussion groups, creating podcasts with people from other congregations, conducting audits of their church, and engaging with conversations with people from different backgrounds and religions. “Events like what happened to George Floyd have been going on for a long time,” Driskill said. “Many of our congregations find that listening to different viewpoints is the right thing to do. We’re looking at the event in a larger context, and our congregations are stepping up by better engaging the community and being proactive. Some congregations are doing remarkable work with getting those bridges built.” Driskill described how one Little Rock church who provided food and other services to the homeless took an organic approach to really try to get to know the people they helped, many of whom are people of color. “Members started realizing that they really needed to get to know the people they are serving and not just give them things,” he said. “Others are engaged in literacy programs to address the disproportionate number of minorities with low literacy rates. In another case, a church leader decided to load up a bus and take other faith leaders on a tour of places of interest in civil rights in the South. Good things are going on, and we hope that those can spark others to look at their options.” In their analysis of sermons following Floyd’s death, the researchers found clear differences based on racial lines. Black congregations see their religion more closely tied to racial justice than white congregations. “I think a lot of congregations, both Black and white, were talking about it,” Glazier said. “Black congregations were more likely to talk about it in collective terms and say that it’s a systemic problem. White congregations were more likely to talk about Floyd’s death in individual terms, like this tragedy is sad on an individual level. We collected six weeks of data when people were out there protesting and talking about it all the time. There were some white congregations that didn’t even say George Floyd’s name.” The researchers’ interviews with national faith leaders and focus groups resulted in a collection of publicly available, faith-based racial justice resources. The free resources will be available to clergy participants of the on Nov. 2. They will also be released to the general public by the Little Rock Studies Congregation later this fall.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Present “The Threepenny Opera” Oct. 26-30

John Hill — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 13:15:23 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Literary and Performing Arts will present a fall musical production of “The Threepenny Opera” Oct. 26-30. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26-29 and at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 30 in the University Theatre in the Center for Performing Arts at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. This production features a variety of students in the Theatre, Music, and English program, as well as alumni, faculty, and community artists. Written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill and directed by Stacy Pendergraft, “The Threepenny Opera” is a biting satire of the post-war rise of capitalism, wrapped up in Weill’s jazzy score, and the tale of Macheath (Mack the Knife), a debonair crime lord on the verge of turning his illegal empire into a legitimate business. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for University of Arkansas System students and employees, seniors, and members of the military. Tickets can be purchased . For more information, please contact Geneva Galloway at 501-916-3291 or gegalloway@ualr.edu.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Graduate Completes Thesis on Content in German-Language Newspaper During WWI

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Professor’s Film Set for Worldwide Release Dec. 20

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Artist Kukuli Velarde as Windgate Distinguished Lecturer

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Launches Online Exhibit Featuring Vic Snyder Collection

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Holiday Art Sales Returns Dec. 1-2

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Wind Ensemble to Hold Fall Concert Nov. 17

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Piano Ensemble Concert Nov. 15

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Alex Hughes Senior Recital Nov. 6

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Researchers Explore the Role of Congregations in Racial Justice

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to Present “The Threepenny Opera” Oct. 26-30