/news-archive/tag/karen-kuralt/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Fri, 08 Oct 2021 12:49:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2021/10/08/racial-barriers-meeting/ Fri, 08 Oct 2021 12:49:51 +0000 /news/?p=80020 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Community Invited to Meet Racial Barriers Committee on Oct. 14]]> The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. in Dickinson Hall Room 100 and online . The in-person meeting is open to the first 60 people . Chancellor Christina Drale will speak about the founding of the Racial Barriers Committee, and Dr. Richard Harper, dean of students and the committee鈥檚 advisor, will introduce the committee. The Racial Barriers Committee members will discuss their charge and mission, followed by a question-and-answer session and reception. The Racial Barriers Committee was formed in 2020. Committee members will review campus policies, processes, and practices for elements that may be unintended barriers to access and opportunity for people of color at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. They will report their findings to Chancellor Drale and will collaborate with parties to reconcile racial barriers. Christine Jones, Dr. Mark Baillie, and Dr. Jennifer Hune will serve as co-chairs of the Racial Barriers Committee. The committee members include Lindsey Baertlein, Hyginus Ukadike, Clara Cardriche, Erin Flowers, Karen Kuralt, and Lakendra Mackey.]]> /news-archive/2020/09/29/kuralt-establishes-funds-to-support-student-scholarships-faculty-development-in-rhetoric-and-writing/ Tue, 29 Sep 2020 16:15:26 +0000 /news/?p=77596 ... Kuralt establishes funds to support student scholarships, faculty development in rhetoric and writing]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor is establishing a legacy to make a better future for students and faculty members in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing.听 Dr. Karen Kuralt, associate dean of the Graduate School and associate professor of rhetoric and writing, is celebrating her 20th anniversary at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock this fall. She has made a planned gift, currently valued at $100,000, to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. 鈥溙切腣log传媒 Little Rock is where I鈥檝e invested most of my time as an educator. This is part of my legacy,鈥� Kuralt said. 鈥淚 know these funds will go to something I care about, which is my students, their future, and my department.鈥�听 The first half of the gift will create the Karen Kuralt Endowed Graduate Student Scholarship. The funds will be used for education-related expenses including tuition, fees, books, and room and board for rhetoric and writing graduate students. After serving for more than a decade as the graduate program coordinator in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing, Kuralt has seen a need for scholarships that benefit graduate students. 鈥淢ost scholarships are only available for undergraduate students,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hile graduate assistantships are available, it鈥檚 very difficult for people who are online students or working full time to get a graduate assistantship. There are a lot of students who want to get a graduate degree but don鈥檛 get a lot of options besides taking loans.鈥� The second half of the gift will form the Karen Kuralt Endowed Faculty and Professional Development Fund, which will pay for rhetoric and writing faculty to attend conferences and trainings that enhance teaching skills. Kuralt has created many new classes for 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock over the years and wants to provide more faculty members with the opportunity to participate in professional development opportunities.听 鈥淚f a faculty member needs additional training to teach a class our students need, then I want to provide that professor with the same support needed to keep their skills current and relevant,鈥� Kuralt said. 鈥淭his will ensure that we have a relevant program in the future. It鈥檚 good for our students, good for the economy of Arkansas, and good for keeping talented Arkansans in the state.鈥� Anyone who wishes to support students and faculty in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing can donate to these funds by following the links: Karen Kuralt Endowed Graduate Student Scholarship and Karen Kuralt Endowed Faculty and Professional Development Fund.  ]]> /news-archive/2019/05/09/ua-little-rock-senior-overcomes-injury-to-complete-college-education/ Thu, 09 May 2019 13:34:06 +0000 /news/?p=74248 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock senior overcomes injury to complete college education]]> In 2016, Kaiden O鈥橲uilleabhain鈥檚 life was on track. He had just graduated from the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College and was about to start school at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock as an engineering major.听 His life soon took an unexpected turn he wasn鈥檛 sure he would ever overcome. 鈥淚 had sudden cardiac arrest and suffered a brain injury. I was actually in a coma the first day that classes started,鈥� O鈥橲uilleabhain said. The year and a half that followed his injury would prove to be an intense journey through an extended hospitalization, rehabilitation, recovery, and setbacks, but O鈥橲uilleabhain fought hard to get his life back and started at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in fall 2017. All his hard work paid off, and he will graduate May 11 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in professional and technical writing at the Jack Stephens Center. 鈥淏eing back in college gave me a sense of normalcy I didn鈥檛 have anywhere in my life, so I fought my doctors to get back to college as quickly as possible,鈥� he said. 鈥�The thing about coming back to school so quickly after an injury is that I wasn鈥檛 completely fixed.鈥� Recovering from his injuries was not the only roadblock O鈥橲uilleabhain faced in his efforts to complete his college degree. 鈥淏ecause of the fact that I mysteriously did not show up to class, I lost my scholarship,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he doctors told my parents I wouldn鈥檛 survive more than a couple of days, so they were more interested in getting my family in to see me before I passed. They didn鈥檛 know they needed to contact the school. Sharon Downs was very instrumental in helping me get the scholarship back, and I probably wouldn鈥檛 have made it back to school without her. The Disability Resource Center was also very helpful in getting me back to school.鈥� O鈥橲uilleabhain joined the Department of Rhetoric and Writing after getting some advice from a friend. 鈥淚 originally came here to study engineering, but after my injuries, the doctors told me that I couldn鈥檛 pursue that,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 friend told me about the Rhetoric and Writing Department because she knew that I liked writing.鈥� While at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, O鈥橲uilleabhain greatly sharpened his writing, editing, and design skills while working at the University Writing Center and interning at the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp., where he wrote and edited safety training materials for electric workers. 鈥淚 loved my internship. I learned a lot about writing in the real world,鈥� O鈥橲uilleabhain said. 鈥淭he audience I was writing for was rural electrical workers, pretty much the opposite of me. My job was to make the technical writing clean enough and in the right terms that people will want to read it. I have to look at all the obstacles people have to reading these manuals and overcome those preemptively.鈥� O’Suilleabhain credits the rhetoric and writing faculty members with keeping him motivated and on track to complete his education. 鈥淔or me, the faculty is my favorite part of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. I鈥檝e had some professors who really motivated me. I鈥檝e had my health and other things on my mind while in college, but my teachers have kept me motivated,鈥� O鈥橲uilleabhain said. 鈥淒r. Karen Kuralt stands out. She is one of the teachers who seems very excited about her work. I took one of her classes my first semester. Being a writer wasn鈥檛 my original plan. I was still feeling nebulous, and she helped me feel like I belong.鈥� After graduation, O鈥橲uilleabhain plans to work as a technical writer. 鈥淕raduation is pretty exciting,鈥� he said. 鈥淔inishing college feels a lot like getting my life back in a way. This injury derailed my life, and I definitely feel accomplished now that I am graduating. This is a big step in rebuilding my life.鈥� ]]> /news-archive/2018/12/12/edna-rodgers-grad/ Wed, 12 Dec 2018 15:12:00 +0000 /news/?p=72934 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student鈥檚 degree is 20 years in the making]]> Most people may remember 1999 for the song (鈥淧arty Like It鈥檚 1999鈥�), the Y2K scare, and the excitement of the start of a new millennium.听 For Edna Rodgers, 1999 is the year she first embarked on earning her Master of Arts degree in professional and technical writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. After nearly 20 years, her hard work and heartaches have come to fruition with her upcoming graduation on Saturday, Dec. 15, at the Jack Stephens Center. 鈥淚 feel great,鈥� Rodgers, 66, of Little Rock, said. 鈥淚 just feel like I have run that mile and finished the race. It鈥檚 a real good feeling.鈥� Rodgers earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from Philander Smith College in 1995, but it wasn鈥檛 long before she realized she wanted to get a graduate degree to improve her chances at getting a better job. 鈥淲hen I worked at Children International, the former director, Cheryl Chapman, inspired me to pursue a field in technical writing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 wanted to improve my writing skills and develop myself further professionally. Later, when I went to work at 糖心Vlog传媒MS, I had to take a lot of meeting minutes and help with CV revisions for faculty members. I also helped revise the course syllabi and post them online. When you do a lot of writing and editing projects like that, you really need to know how to write and format different documents.听Besides personal development and helping me with my work assignments, I was interested in teaching at a junior college. I always wanted to be a teacher growing up, but I never pursued it. Since I have my degree, I can pursue that now. A lot of people have a second career that they love after they have retired. I am one of those people who would like to obtain a second career as a part-time editor and technical writer.鈥� While working on her master鈥檚 degree, Rodgers usually took one course a semester as well as having to balance work and raising two daughters. 鈥淎nother reason why it took me so long to get my master鈥檚 degree was because of a life-threatening illness, a battle that nearly cost my life,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 thank God each day for restoring my health. There were so many challenges in between that time, which is what took me so long to graduate. All of them were beyond my control. I was determined to finish what I had started because I just wouldn鈥檛 feel good about myself if I hadn鈥檛.鈥� After finishing the coursework for her master鈥檚 degree, Rodgers began working on her thesis in 2008. After facing a series of life challenges, Rodgers got back to her research and successfully defended her thesis this month, a project in which she researched methods designed to teach senior citizens computer literacy skills. 鈥淚 remember when I first started out using a computer, I was actually intimidated by it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know how to use it, and I faced a lot of anxiety using the computer until I was given more assignments to use the computer instead of a typewriter. That is the main reason I wanted to do that topic.鈥� She is thankful to her thesis advisor, Dr. Karen Kuralt, and her thesis committee, Dr. Allison Holland and Dr. Earnest Cox, for helping her complete this monumental achievement. After graduation, Rodgers wants to use the training manual she created as part of her thesis project to teach older adults at Dunbar Community Center in Little Rock. 鈥淎 lot of the adults I surveyed mentioned wanting to learn computer technology to pay their bills, keep in touch with their family and friends, and wanted to get better job opportunities,鈥� she said. Now that her school work is finished, Rodgers plans to spend time with her family before embarking on the search for a new job. 鈥淚 got laid off from 糖心Vlog传媒MS in February, but it worked out for my good because I was able to go ahead and complete my thesis. I looked at it as a positive,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like now that I have my master鈥檚 degree, I am hoping it will open doors for me to obtain a technical writer or an editor position. Now that my school work and thesis defense is completed, I am planning on relaxing for a little while and enjoying my only granddaughter, Jasmine, who is 2. I spend a lot of time with her. Eventually, I will start looking for an editor or technical writer position.鈥� In the upper right photo,听糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock graduate student Edna Rodgers is surrounded by master’s degree thesis project papers dating back to 1999, the year she started working toward her own master鈥檚 degree. Photo by Benjamin Krain.]]> /news-archive/2017/12/07/graduation-lindsey-stroud/ Thu, 07 Dec 2017 14:30:04 +0000 /news/?p=68762 ... Graduating Student Spotlight: Lindsey Stroud]]> Lindsey Stroud, assistant to Dean Julien Mirivel in the College of Social Sciences and Communications, will graduate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock this December with a Master of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing.听 Tell us a little about yourself. I鈥檓 27 and live in Jacksonville with my husband, Lance. I love to do yoga and hang out with my family and two dogs, Rhea and Athena. I also graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in professional and technical writing in 2015. I鈥檓 lucky and blessed to have come away with two degrees from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. Now I work as an assistant to Dean Julien Mirivel. Why did you choose 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock? My dad always said to me that you are going to go to college. I thought college would be a good way to explore career paths. I could have worked, but I felt like I would have stayed at the same place in life and I wouldn鈥檛 have progressed. Going to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock helped me because I could go back and forth as a commuter, have the support of my family, and still have the college experience. Nobody in my family went to college. I鈥檓 the first generation. I think it鈥檚 very much an accomplishment in my life. Why did you decide to major in professional and technical writing? I decided I wanted to go into professional and technical writing when I walked out of my Composition II class with Dr. Toran Isom. She lit a fire under me to progress with writing, and I was focused on going all the way with professional and technical writing. She told me what classes to take and all the great things about the program. The PTW program is very versatile. Writing is a part of a lot of careers, and it鈥檚 nice to be able to have a skill that is valued today. Who were your mentors? One of my main mentors during my undergraduate experience was Jenny Dodson in the Student Experience Center. I worked there for three years and moved my way up to an orientation fellowship. It is a very team-based environment, and everyone is really supportive. They have one common goal: to make 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock a great university and allow all students the opportunity to have the college experience. When I found my major, Dr. Karen Kuralt was very supportive, and I could always come to her for questions. Dr. Joe Williams currently serves as my committee chair for my master鈥檚 degree. Joe has been there every step of the way. What were some of your extracurricular activities at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock? I was a part of the charter class of. We were the first to start at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. We did philanthropic events for Prevent Child Abuse America. It was a very rewarding experience. Kappa Delta was a huge support system and allowed me to not only network but also allow me to better myself. What are your plans for the future? I started a full-time position in the dean鈥檚 office in the College of Social Sciences and Communications in August. I have my first 90-day review coming up soon, so I think I am going to keep focusing on my career here at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. In the summer, I plan to start working on a graduate certificate in strategic communication from the School of Mass Communication. What is your advice for future 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students? Don鈥檛 be afraid to ask your professor questions. If you don鈥檛 ask the question, then you and probably half your class will never know the answer. I feel like that is good advice, at least it was for me. ]]> /news-archive/2017/11/07/community-chorus/ Tue, 07 Nov 2017 14:28:40 +0000 /news/?p=68485 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Community Chorus, Second Presbyterian Church to perform 鈥楳ass of the Children鈥�]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Community Chorus and the choirs of Second Presbyterian Church will perform John Rutter鈥檚 鈥淢ass of the Children鈥� Saturday, Nov. 18.听 The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive. General admission tickets are $20 while 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students and employees can receive one ticket for free with ID. Conducted by Dr. Bevan Keating, the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Community Chorus is comprised of nearly 100 members from the university and the community who perform choral masterpieces accompanied by a full orchestra. The 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Community Chorus joins with the adult and children鈥檚 choirs of Second Presbyterian Church, the Praeclara Vocal Company, and professional orchestra players from across the state to present two choral compositions that celebrate the fusion of English poetry and song. John Rutter鈥檚 鈥淢ass of the Children鈥� mixes the traditional Greek and Latin text of鈥檚 鈥淢issa Brevis鈥� with the English poetry of William Blake and Bishop Thomas Ken in a five-movement work for two choirs and orchestra. First performed in New York in 2003, this uplifting piece brings together soprano and baritone solo passages that harmonize and contrast with the choral passages sung by the children鈥檚 voices (the songs of innocence) and by the adult group (the songs of experience). Shannon Rookey and Luke Angelo, members of the Praeclara Vocal Company, will perform as the soprano and baritone soloists. Keating prefaces the larger Rutter work with Ralph Vaughan Williams鈥� 17-minute 鈥淪erenade to Music,鈥� another British composition that offers a study in contrasts of voices. Tickets can be purchased online at or at the door. For more information, contact Karen Kuralt at 501-569-8334 or kmkuralt@ualr.edu. In the upper right photo,听Bevan Keating leads the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Community Chorus and Second Presbyterian Church choirs during a practice at Second Presbyterian Church.]]> /news-archive/2017/02/14/keating-artistic-director-wildwood-park-arts/ Tue, 14 Feb 2017 14:48:01 +0000 /news/?p=66274 ... Keating named artistic director of Wildwood Park for the Arts]]> It鈥檚 a goal that Keating, director of conducting and choral studies at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, spends much of his busy life trying to accomplish. At 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Keating conducts the Concert Choir, the Chamber Choir, and the Community Chorus. He is also director of music and the arts at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock and founding artistic director for , a multidisciplinary performing arts company supported by Second Presbyterian. To these positions, Keating adds a new role as artistic director of . Keating previously served as artistic director of the Wildwood Academy of Music and the Arts, which he will continue to oversee. He is the park鈥檚 third artistic director since its founding in 1991. Over the past 26 years, Wildwood Park has provided a home in west Little Rock for both natural beauty and artistic expression, including 105 acres of trails and botanical gardens and a 625-seat theatre and art gallery. Keating will manage the park’s music and arts education programs, all concerts and events in the Lucy Lockett Cabe Festival Theatre, Wildwood鈥檚 Art in the Park visual arts exhibitions, and many seasonal festivals. Through the combination of his leadership roles in the arts, Keating is enjoying helping young artists from childhood through new careers. 鈥淭his is another way to be active in the community and representing the university in a positive way,鈥� he said. 鈥淢any of our graduates from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock participate in productions at Wildwood Park for the Arts. It really shows young students what they can do in their future career.鈥� Keating keeps up with his many responsibilities thanks to an immeasurable amount of energy, help from his co-workers and friends, and a love for the arts. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have jobs,鈥� Keating said. 鈥溙切腣log传媒 Little Rock is not a job; Wildwood is not a job. It鈥檚 who I am. When I get up in the morning, I want to do something that I love. So when I get up in the morning, I don鈥檛 go to work. I go do something I love.鈥� He is thankful to the many people who help him with his artistic projects. They include Karen Kuralt, graduate coordinator for the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Department of Rhetoric and Writing, who serves as communications director for Praeclara and handles social media, web design, and publicity documents for many of the choirs Keating leads. Keating enjoys helping artists from childhood through new careers. 鈥淚t takes a community to foster and raise the arts in a city like Little Rock,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow at Wildwood, I am working the community as a professional. I am helping young performers to gain professional experiences. It鈥檚 a great way to connect the community at all levels, and that is the exciting part to me.鈥�]]>