ADDRESSING THE HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY

Dean’s Message

The Department of Natural Sciences insti-

tuted a "Brown Bag Series" this semes-

ter. The idea was to have a time set aside for

the majors to have their learning enhanced in

a relaxed setting, outside of the classroom. In

addition to research presentations by faculty

and students, guests were invited from the

outside so that they could take advantage of

resources such as guidance in developing

strong resumes and personal statements for

graduate and professional school applica-

tions. This activity has received rave reviews

from the students. As a result, the department

believes the Brown Bag Series will have a

positive impact on closing the achievement

gap.

The Brown Bag

Series" is on

Wednesdays

at noon.

C.A.S. News

ISSUE 3 VOLUME 2 SPRING 2013

Brown Bag Series

The 2012 academic year was very busy

for our College. Several new initiatives

were launched, including the Scholars

Forum, which is designed to promote

high scholarship and interaction among

faculty. In addition to C.A.S. News,

several new publications were started to

report in more detail on our engage-

ments in various aspects of our opera-

tion, including service to the commu-

nity, mentoring of students, and inter-

national programs.

Our students excelled on the national

stage, some of them winning prestig-

ious awards. Similarly, our faculty con-

tinued in their winning ways, securing

major grants, pursing cutting edge re-

search, teaching with passion, and men-

toring our students. We also began to

work on a comprehensive plan for clos-

ing the achievement gap or improving

the graduation rate of our students.

On Nov. 17, the fabulous Fine and

Performing Arts building was for-

mally opened at a ceremony that was

truly a night to remember! I con-

gratulate you all on a job well done. I

hope you had a restful Christmas

break, and hope that you return this

new year, 2013, with a renewed sense

of purpose and continued dedication

to the pursuit of excellence in all

your endeavors.

Bearden@Bowie Fea-

tures Fine Arts Building ….2

Grapevine Express ….3

Fugard’s BLOOD

KNOT and Danny Glover ….4

2013 Black History 2013 Black History 2013 Black History

Month ThemeMonth ThemeMonth Theme

“At the Crossroads of

Freedom and Equality:

The Emancipation Procla-

mation and the March on

Washington”

C.A.S. News ADDRESSING THE HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY

14000 Jericho Park Road,

Bowie, Maryland 20715

Mission Statement The purpose of the C.A.S.

News is to promote the pro-

grams, events, faculty, staff and

students of the College of Arts

and Sciences at Bowie State

University.

Distribution Each issue of the newsletter is

distributed at the beginning of

the fall and spring semesters.

Editorial Team Tamika Payton

Amanda Hamilton

Editor Prof. Rochelle R. Daniel

Contact If you have questions or com-

ments about articles that appear

in this newsletter, or sugges-

tions for content, send an email

to rdaniel@bowiestate.edu.

C.A.S. News is produced by

students in the Advanced Pub-

lic Relations class in the Dept.

of Communications.

Bearden@Bowie

The Department of Fine and Performing Arts

opened the fall semester with a very unique exhibi-

tion of the art of Romare Bearden. The Gallery of

Art located in the new Fine and Performing Arts

Center (FPAC), presented an exhibition entitled

“BEARDEN@Bowie.” Prof. Clayton Lang, gal-

lery director, said, “The exhibit was a response to

the centennial celebrations of the artist

by museums, galleries and other venues

throughout the country. Arguably, the

most important African American artist

of the 20th century, Romare Bearden is

an iconic figure in American art.”

“BEARDEN@Bowie” was the result of

a collaboration between the Bearden

Foundation, the University, and a group

of local art collectors who agreed to lend works

from their art collections.

The result was a display of 35 works by Bearden

with themes that included the Odyssey, Mickelen-

burg, N.C., the Bible, Jazz, Harlem and the natural

world. The media of the works on display included

various types of limited edition prints and collages.

Within the gallery a video entitled, “Bearden Plays

Bearden”, played continuously during the exhibit.

The exhibition was culturally and educationally

enriching, and inspiring to students and visitors

alike.

The opening reception on Sept. 25 was well at-

tended by students, faculty and the community.

Opening remarks were given by Diedra Harris-

Kelley, co-director of the Bearden Foundation, in

the FPAC Recital Hall. Following the presentation

by Ms. Harris-Kelley, students and guests enjoyed

the piano medleys of Prof. Gilbert Pryor while shar-

ing refreshments and conversation in the Art Cen-

ter’s foyer. During October, a panel discussion was

presented in the Recital Hall to discuss

Bearden and the Art of Collecting. The

panelists included Dr. Michelle Wilkin-

son of the Reginald Lewis Museum in

Baltimore, Md.; Dr. Dianne Witfield-

Locke, art collector; Ms. Juanita Hardy,

art collector and Mr. Wisson West,

owner of Gallery Serengeti in Capital

Heights, Md. The event drew visitors

from the community.

Several professors on campus engaged their students

in writing assignments and creative projects in con-

junction with “BEARDEN@Bowie” and met the

objectives of the Gallery of Art which are to educate

and inspire our students; and to create viable con-

nections with the community. “The real beauty of

the exhibit was not only the brilliance of Bearden

but the collaboration between the University and its

community,” Lang said. “It was a sharing of re-

sources that resulted in a museum quality exhibition

in the midst of our community. We hope to facilitate

similar exhibitions in the future as the gallery con-

tinues to bring excellence in the arts to Bowie State

University and its surrounding communities.”

The Dept. of Fine and Perform-

ing Arts, in conjunction with the

Prince Georges Arts and Hu-

manities Council, celebrated the

official opening of the multi-

million dollar Fine and Perform-

ing Arts Center on Saturday,

Nov. 17, 2012. The GALA event

was a rousing success with over

300 in attendance.

Dr. Alan Anderson of the Dept.

of Natural Sciences has secured

funds through a Department of

Defense (DoD) grant to acquire a

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

(NMR) machine (Anasazi 90-

MHz FT-NMR spectrometer) for

BSU.

Prof. Rochelle Daniel of the

Dept. of Communications pre-

sented at the Public Relations

Society of America International

Conference in Oct. 2012. Her

presentation was entitled “Using

Real World Experience to De-

velop Public Relations Students’

Writing Skills.”

Dr. George Ude of the Dept. of

Natural Sciences was invited to

participate in an accreditation

visit in Nigeria. BSU has a

Memorandum of Understanding

with Godfrey Okoye University.

Dr. Ude has assisted GOU to

establish a biotech teaching lab.

Dr. Anne Osano has ongoing

research collaboration with

Dr. Manuel Aregullin, director

of the Cornell Minority Health

and Health Disparities Interna-

tional Research and Training

Program (MHIRT) Biodedicines

and Control of Tropical Infec-

tious Diseases and Vetors Pro-

gram. The program is geared

towards increasing minority par-

ticipation in graduate and medi-

cal programs. Through this col-

laboration, three BSU students in

the Department of Natural Sci-

ences – Charles Whaler, Meryl

Collins, and Ghislain Tchomobe

– were sponsored to conduct

field research over the summer in

the Dominican Republic.

Mr. Wendell Felder, a student

assistant who is majoring in gov-

ernment, was a candidate in th2

2012 election. He won the D.C.

Election for Advisory Neighbor-

hood Commissioner with 56.18

percent of votes that were cast.

Dr. Kehbuma Langmia of the

Dept. of Communications com-

pleted his new chapter in the

book Re-imagining development

communication in Africa. His

chapter is entitled, “Moving a

Signpost in Cameroon? Resolv-

ing Inter-village Rivalry Through

a Form of Communication.”

Dr. Robert Birt discussed his

most recent book, The Liberatory

Thought of Martin Luther King,

Jr.: Critical Essays on the Phi-

losopher King, at Ivy Bookshop

in Baltimore. He was invited by

the Center for Africana Studies

at Johns Hopkins University.

Prof. Tewodross Melchishua of

the Fine and Performing Arts

Department created video projec-

tions for the multimedia produc-

tion of Liner Notes: The Se-

ries! The production took place

last semester in Nov. at the Atlas

Performing Arts Center, Wash-

ington, D.C.

Dr. Karen Cook Bell of the

Dept. of History and Govern-

ment co-authored the article,

“Robert Smalls and Politics of

Race and Freedom in Low Coun-

try South Carolina, 1865-1890. It

appears in the newly-published

book, “Before Obama: A Reap-

praisal of Black Reconstruction

Era Politicians.”

Bowie State University’s new

Military Resource Center opened Oct. 31. It is available to

current and former service mem-

bers and their dependents, and

will help them address chal-

lenges often faced by service

members in higher education,

such as transferring credits

caused by service-related reloca-

tions and informing them of the

full array of financial and other

benefits to which they are enti-

tled. The center will also serve as

a gathering place for the military

community.

Prof. Allissa Richardson, who

recently joined the Dept. of

Communications, presented last

semester in Berlin, Germany, on

the pedagogy of mobile journal-

ism in the classroom. She was

selected 2012 “Journalism Edu-

cator of the Year” by the Nat’l

Association of Black Journalists.

C.A.S. News ADDRESSING HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY

Faculty, Staff, Student Highlights

C.A.S. News ADDRESSING THE HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY

Upcoming Events

Feb. 2013

6–Spring Convocation

Speaker: Ambassador Linda Thomas-

Greenfield

March 2013

18–22 Spring Break

April 2013

5–Nat’l Conference in Commemoration

of the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther

King, Jr.

April 2013

17–Spring Career and Internship Fair

May 2013

17– Spring Commencement

Dr. Shirelle Briscoe, communications

professor, and Clarence Molock, presi-

dent of the Bowie State University

National Alumni Association Balti-

more Alumni Chapter, represented the

University at the HBCU vs. State of

Maryland court hearing in Oct. 2012.

BSU Public Relations Student Society

of America (PRSSA) chapter member

and public relations student Tamika

Payton (center) coordinated a panel

discussion, “Is College Really Worth

It?” The panelists (standing) agreed col-

lege is “worth it.”

Dr. Monique Akassi represented the

Dept. of English and Modern Lan-

guages at their Open House for high

school students in early Oct. Potential

candidates were recruited to enroll as

English majors for next year.

During the fall semester, Prof. Bob Bartlett

and his colleagues in the Dept. of Fine Arts

recently hosted famed actor Danny Glover for

the BSU Theater’s production of Athol Fur-

gard’s Bloodknot.

The conference will addresss the contemporary relevance of Dr. King’s life and thought, in- cluding his vision of a beloved community, the role of philosophy and religion in his praxis, his critique of militarism and materialism, and his commitment to social and economic justice.

Nat’l Conference

in Commemoration of the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther

King, Jr. April 5, 2013

Wiseman Student Centre,

Room 102

Contact: Benjamin Arah,

barah@bowiestate.edu