by Amy K. Stewart

Weber State University theater professor Tracy Callahan of Ogden is directing a new play, "Course 86B in the Catalogue."

"I love working here at Weber State with my students, but it's also fun to get out in the community and work on a world-premiere play," said Callahan. She has been at Weber State for 15 years and is also head of the university's acting and directing program.

The production opens Wednesday, April 11, at the Salt Lake Acting Company. It continues through May 6.

The play, written by Kathleen Cahill of Salt Lake City, is a comedy about Stevie Stuart, a Harvard-educated paleontologist who is on the run from a philandering husband. She is hired to teach at an obscure community college in the desert. Her class, "The History of Life on Earth - Course 86B" brings out the past to collide with the present.

Cahill said she came up with the idea for the script after a trip to Southern Utah, where she saw dinosaur tracks and pictographs.

"It is exciting, there is just so much ancient life in Utah," she said. "There is something very inspiring about being in the state."

Cahill has written countless plays and has a background and degree in musical theater. Weber State is planning to do a play of Cahill's this fall. Titled "Charm," it's a comedy about great American thinkers in the 1840s.

Unique discovery

In "86B," Stevie Stuart makes a discovery while out hiking: She finds a 500-million-year-old fossil that represents a vanished, unique life form. She also finds ancient, petrified bones; teeth of an early hominid; and freshly painted ancient cave paintings.

One of Cahill's favorite parts of the play is that one of the students has a boyfriend who is a "hominid" -- which is halfway between a human and an ape. His name is Sterling.

"It's really funny," Cahill said, adding there is a lot of "evolutionary comedy."

Actress Colleen Baum of Salt Lake City, who plays Stevie Stuart in the play, has been acting in SLAC productions for 10 years. She said she respects Stevie Stuart's strong personality and believes she has a lot in common with her character, especially in that she is a "fossil fanatic" and loves paleontology.

"I understand Stevie so much," Baum said. "She struggles and is a fantastic character who finds joy and some resolve in her life. It's quite a lovely piece."

Stevie Stuart is goofy, but smart, while also being enthused about life, according to Baum.

"She tries hard," she said. "When she falls down, she picks herself up and just keeps on going -- and she does it with humor."

On a journey

Much of the play is set in what looks like a Southern Utah desert. Various scenes bring in elements to create the atmosphere the play wishes to convey. For example, in the classroom scene, the students sit on rocks, but there is also a lectern, a door, a TV set and a painting easel.

"We're sort of asking the audience to go on this journey with us to all these different places," Callahan said. "With lights and music, we are defining space -- as opposed to different sets coming out. We are just using one unit set."

Callahan says it has been a bonus to have the playwright, Cahill, on set during rehearsals. They have had the opportunity to gain input from her and rewrite or add scenes as needed.

"You wouldn't necessarily have that if you were just working off of a script," she said.

Working with director Callahan has been an excellent experience, Baum said.

"Tracy doesn't ever make us feel like we are doing it wrong," Baum said. "She helps us understand there are other ways we can try. She lets us experiment. I really like directors who let us experiment, and she does that a lot."

the original story can be found here.

Weber State's College of Arts and Humanities would like to congratulate Dick Halley, professor emeritus of Communication and a former International Listening Association (ILA) president, who was recently inducted into the ILA hall of fame.

 Board members of AHA! (The Arts & Humanities Advisors) are pleased to announce winners of AHA! Scholarships, as well as Awards for Faculty, Staff, Alumnus, and Friend-of-the-College  for 2012-13.  The AHA! Board funds these scholarships and awards to support “unsung heroes” in the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities at Weber State. 

Scholarships go to students who persevere despite difficult circumstances, reach beyond their grasp, and exhibit a talent or promise indicating their commitment to education.  Based on nominations from faculty members and application statements from students themselves, the Board determined that Kierstan Voorhees and Amy Gerard, both from the Communication Department, both of whom have faced considerable challenges in attending and succeeding in school, merit AHA! Scholarships.  Each will receive $2000 toward next year’s tuition and fees.

This year’s AHA! Recognition Award for Faculty, for a faculty member doing an exceptionally good job but who has not been previously recognized in significant public ways, goes to adjunct Music faculty member Linda Lee.  About Linda, her nominator notes: “By using her disarming sense of humor and her rather unassuming character, she skillfully nurtures novice singers, and yet she can also challenge the most advanced singers to reach new heights.”  Linda consistently works with between 14 and 16 vocal students per semester, pitches in to design and construct costumes for opera productions, and quietly takes on all kinds of other duties.  Again, her nominator comments: “She is not simply an ‘adjunct voice instructor;’ she is one of the most reliable, trustworthy, and highly competent voice teachers and colleagues we could hope for.”  Although it may seem ironic to give an “unsung hero” award to someone whose specific expertise is song, the Board is delighted to honor Linda Lee as our AHA! Faculty Member.  This award is $3,000.

Diane Neri Stern, Director of Weber State’s Cultural Affairs Program, is recipient of the AHA! Recognition Award for Staff.  One of her nominators says: “Energy, creativity, resourcefulness, talent, and integrity are but a few of Diane’s attributes.  Her belief that the soul of a community must be nurtured by culture makes her exceptional.”  Another nominator points to the way Diane has contributed to numerous programs—Mandy Patinkin, James Balog, Ta’u Pupu’a, for example—outside her own realm of responsibility.  Anthea Kreston, co-founder and violinist of the internationally touring Amelia Piano Trio, writes that Diane is a person with “razor sharp intelligence, passion, and creative energy. . . .  In her work, she digs deep to find the richest experience possible for her audiences.  She cares equally about her artists and audience, and works with both to create memorable and thought-provoking events.  She is, in my opinion, among the best of the best - always seeking to learn and share what she has discovered.  Her passion is infectious and affects all who she touches.”  We are grateful that Diane is a member of the Arts & Humanities College.  This award is $3,000. 

AHA! Recognition Award for a Friend of the College goes this year to the WSU “Treble Makers,” a student chapter of the Music Teachers National Association. The Treble Makers hold the national record of being awarded the most number of MTNA National Student Chapter of the Year (1997, 2003, 2005, 2007). Students who graduated from WSU’s Piano Pedagogy Program have also received the highest number of Student Teacher of the Year awards from the Utah Music Teacher Association (in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007).

The Treble Makers merit the Friend of the College Award in recognition of their involvement in helping WSU become an “All-Steinway School of Music.”   The hard work of individual members and of the group, as a whole, was directly responsible for enabling the Department of Performing Arts and Weber State University to join the ranks of the top music programs in the nation which provide Steinway pianos for student practice, lessons, rehearsals, and performances.

Over the past three years, the Treble Makers became increasingly involved in WSU’s All-Steinway School Initiative. Their participation began when several of their members took part in home recitals hosted by university donors such as Dr. Candadai Seshachari to raise awareness of the WSU music program. Their ability, as both musicians and as ambassadors for the university, grew as they performed, talked about their music, and conversed with current and potential donors.  Award: a plaque and as much publicity as possible.

Dr. Stephanie Chamberlain is this year’s AHA! Alumnus.  The daughter of Dr. Elmer Ericson, WSU professor of English (b. 1926, d. 1980), Stephanie  received her BA in English in 1982 from Weber State College, followed by a master’s degree and doctorate in English. She currently is a Professor at Southeast Missouri State University, where she teaches Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature.  A consummate scholar, she has published extensive and has presented at numerous conferences and other scholarly events. Through her education, teaching, research, scholarship and charitable donations, she has demonstrated a personal commitment to academic excellence that reflects highly on the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities.

Stephanie has supported WSU through a gift to endow the Elmer H. Ericson Scholarship in English and through a gift to fund the Dr. Elmer H. Ericson Classroom in Elizabeth Hall. She also extends her commitment to education at Southeast Missouri State University where she has endowed the Dr. Robert W. Hamblin Lecture.  Award: a plaque and as much publicity as possible.

Contact: Madonne Miner   madonneminer@weber.edu">madonneminer@weber.edu" data-mce-href="mailto:madonneminer@weber.edu">madonneminer@weber.edu   801-626-6424

By Ben Fulton

The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Mar 14 2012 03:04 pm • Last Updated Mar 14 2012 03:04 pm

Similar to Emile Zola’s Germinal, John Sayles’ "Matewan" and Elia Kazan’s "On the Waterfront," "The Cradle Will Rock" is a classic of working-class drama and literature. A classic, except for the fact that some people still know nothing about it.

Marc Blitzstein’s 1937 story of Larry Foreman’s attempts to unionize workers in "Steeltown, USA" in opposition to Mr. Mister sounds almost cartoonish in its outline, but impressed Orson Welles so much that he directed it as part of the Federal Theatre Project’s series of works that began as a program of the Works Progress Administration to employ unemployed artists, actors and theater writers during the Depression. The WPA, in turn, was so alarmed by unabashed political message behind Blitzstein’s drama that they tried to shut it down. Weber State University’s department of performing arts has selected "The Cradle Will Rock" both for its superlative qualities that stand alone, matched with its current relevance to the Occupy movement.

Trent Cox, director of this production, stated in press materials that the hand of German dramatist Bertolt Brecht guided his hand. "Ninety percent of the show is either sung or has musical underscoring—a great challenge," Cox notes.

‘The Cradle Will Rock’
When » March 23-31, 7:30 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinee March 31.
Where » Eccles Theater at Val A. Browning Center for the Arts, Weber State University, 3848 Harrison Blvd, Ogden
Tickets » $8-$11. Call 1-800-WSU-TIKS or visit www.weberstatetickets.com for more information. 

Original Article can be found here.

Weber State University journalism instructor Shane Farver hit the trail earlier this month in Canyonlands National Park.

Farver and friends hiked in Chesler Park in the Needles District. As you can see from the photographs, wide open vistas gave way to slot canyons on a day of sightseeing.

Farver also mapped his hike. Find it by clicking here.

What are your favorite trails in Canyonlands National Park?

— Nate Carlisle

Photos can be viewed here. 

OGDEN, Utah – Weber State University music professor Yu-Jane Yang has been named the 2012 John S. Hinckley Fellow, while WSU’s International Economics program is the 2012 Exemplary Collaboration Award winner.

Yang, an accomplished pianist who has performed in concert on three continents, joined the WSU music faculty in 1992. Known for her ability to train award-winning performers, she not only has grown WSU’s Piano Program, she has elevated its renown on the national and international stage.

That heightened awareness has helped Yang successfully recruit piano students from around the world to Weber State, in some cases eschewing famed conservatories like Julliard and Oberlin in favor of WSU. Under her tutelage, these young pianists have gone on to win prestigious competitions at the national and international level.

Yang is the author of numerous articles on piano teaching published in leading piano pedagogy journals. She is a sought-after teacher of both piano workshops and master classes as well as a judge of national and international piano competitions.

Yang was one of three national winners of the 1991 distinguished D.H. Baldwin Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in Piano. She received WSU’s Lowe Innovative Teaching Award in 2000 and was honored by the Utah Symphony Ballet Association with the Women in the Arts Award in 2008.

In addition, Yang was chosen to receive the Utah Music Teachers Association’s highest honor in 2010, the UMTA Legacy Award, and in 2011, the Music Teachers National Association named her a Foundation Fellow.

Yang, who is the 2010-12 Endowed Scholar/Artist in the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities, spearheaded the Steinway Project at WSU. She worked to attain the prestigious “Steinway School” designation, which the university received in 2011. She was also named a WSU Presidential Distinguished Professor in 2011.

“Professor Yang’s superior teaching skills have been acknowledged through a stellar record of student evaluations, and her reputation as a teacher able to combine high – indeed, world class – expectations with a comfortable yet rigorous classroom atmosphere,” wrote a colleague in nominating her for the Hinckley Award. “Her achievements have gained WSU a truly international reputation and made her a tireless advocate for our institution.”

Since 1991, the Hinckley Award has been bestowed upon a member of the WSU faculty who has excelled in teaching, scholarship and service. The award is named in honor of Ogden businessman and WSU supporter John S. Hinckley, who died in 1990.

The university’s International Economics (IE) program received the 2012 Exemplary Collaboration Award, in recognition of the teamwork demonstrated during the implementation and later expansion of the program.

Building on an existing international faculty exchange program, the John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics organized a partnership with Shanghai Normal University (SNU) in 2008, making it easier for Chinese students to travel to Ogden and earn a bachelor's degree in international economics.

WSU’s Department of Economics worked with SNU to develop a “two plus two curriculum,” where students take courses in Shanghai during their freshman and sophomore years and in Ogden during their junior and senior years. They complete the same courses at WSU required of any other international economics major. The program recently expanded to include students from Korea’s Woongji Accounting and Tax College.

As of fall 2011, 83 Chinese and Korean students were taking classes through the International Economics program at WSU. Twenty-one students from SNU have graduated from the program, and the first student from Woongji will graduate this spring.

 “Creating this program would have been impossible without the support and dedication of a wide variety of WSU personnel,” said Jeff Steagall, dean of the Goddard School.

Those involved in the program include the faculty and staff of the Goddard School, especially economics professor and associate dean Cliff Nowell, economics chair Doris Geide-Stevenson, and the economics department. Also taking part were professors from the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities, the College of Applied Science & Technology, and the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences, as well as staff from Continuing Education, the International Student Center, and the Admissions Office.

The university will formerly recognize the recipients of both awards at a luncheon on March 20.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.

By Briana Drandakis,
the Signpost 

The story of a two-faced hustler took center stage in the Browning Center’s Allred Theater last Friday as Weber State University’s theater department debuted its spring show, Tartuffe.

“Tartuffe is the name of the main character, and for a long time it was actually synonymous with a con man,” said Jennifer A. Kokai, the director of the show.

Kokai, a new theater professor at WSU this year, was given the play to direct unexpectedly from another professor. She took the show, a classic French comedy written by Moliere, and gave it a southern twist by turning it into a post-Civil War medicine show.

“What you would have is people would pull into town in a wagon, and they’d do all kinds of different entertainment and singing and dancing,” Kokai said. “They would do a free show and try to sell people patent medicines.”

The idea sprung from a joke about setting the Tartuffe show in a wagon. When the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival went on several weeks ago on campus, it had crossed into the cast’s rehearsal schedule, making them unable to have a large set. After Kokai had aligned the theme of a medicine show with the Tartuffe characters, a southern dialect was adapted into the original plot line, and the show was created.

They also added live music and dancing from the period in-between and passed out popcorn and their own medicine brand, named Draught of Dionysus, to the audience before and after the shows.

“That’s kind of what we’re playing with,” Kokai said. “We’re imagining that the actors are coming to town with the goal of selling you medicine, and they’re doing Tartuffe as a way of bringing you in to sell them to you.”

When rich gentleman Orgon takes in Tartuffe, a slick swindler wearing the mask of a pious beggar, he’s blinded by the man’s charms while his entire family is shaken by Tartuffe’s scheming ways. Orgon promises to wed his daughter Marianne to Tartuffe, even after she’s already been promised to the youth Valere, in order for divine blessings to fall on his household. Quite the opposite happens as Tartuffe makes advances toward Orgon’s wife behind his back and plans to blackmail him out of his house.

“It’s about getting swindled and false appearances I guess, and that’s something we’ve all dealt with in our lives,” said B.J. Whimpey, a WSU theater major senior who played the lead of Tartuffe. “Someone acts one way to your face, but behind your back, they’re completely different, and that’s basically what Tartuffe is.”

Whimpey enjoyed working with Kokai and her new vision for Tartuffe. He said that she let the cast create its own humorous details naturally as it coincided with her overall vision.

“Every single person brings something different to this show, and every single person is dedicated,” Whimpey said. “Every time everyone’s on stage, I’m just wowed by the talent in our department and how people change and grow and become better. I’m proud of every single person that’s cast, and I’d love to work with them one hundred times again.”

The show also featured student talent behind the scenes, including another WSU senior, Sean Bishop, who starred in last semester’s big show, Xanadu, but acted this semester as the Tartuffe’s main costume designer.

“I was going to graduate last year, and doing Tartuffe was one of the things that kept me here,” Bishop said.

Bishop stayed for an extra fifth year after being offered to costume the show. He said he believes it was challenging keeping to the director’s vision and also finding a way of incorporating himself and everyone else into the collaborative process.

“It’s been good for me to do this and stay because it’s given me confidence to know that I can do this,” Bishop said.

Bishop said that this was the first show with a specific period he has attempted to costume.

“I’ve been looking at some opportunities, and I feel a year ago I probably wouldn’t have been ready to do that,” Bishop said, “but I look at some shows that are coming up in the next year that will be out in the community, and I feel confident enough to apply for those jobs.”

Audience members enjoyed the southern adaptation to the classic French humor.

“I’ve read (the play), so I thought it was a really cool interpretation since it’s (originally) in French,” said Maria Leon, a WSU student who attended the show opening. “It’s kind of relate-able to see people who are deceived pretty easily, and it opens people’s eyes to con artists and televangelists and what not.”

The show will be running March 2, 3, 6-10, at 7:30 p.m. with also a 2:00 p.m. matinee on March 10. Tickets are $11, or $8 for WSU students at all shows. They are available in advance at Dee Events Center Tickets, 1-800-WSU-TIKS, weberstatetickets.com or at the door beginning one hour before the performance.

“Right now we’re in an election period where people are talking about who they are and what they stand for, but we are very cynical about our politicians,” Kokai said. “So the idea that there are people out there like Tartuffe who promise us great things, but they might be trying to fool us — that’s something we’re concerned about and can relate to.”

The original article can be found here.

By Stephanie Simonson February 23, 2012.

Weber State University students interested in public relations work will soon have an official outlet for honing their skills. Yeonsoo Kim, a public relations professor at WSU, is now accepting applications for WSU’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America.

“Journalism students have The Signpost so they can get some professional, hands-on knowledge in journalism, but in this department, even though PR has a lot more students, we didn’t have any organization or agency for students to have that kind of experience,” Kim said. “So I tried to reorganize PRSSA, and it’s going to become a student-run agency like The Signpost. . . . I heard there was a PRSSA before, but it was like students just have a meeting once per month and just having a guest lecture to learn a little bit more outside of the classroom, but that was it. So I tried to make it a big deal.”

Kim will be the academic adviser for the organization, and she said she also hopes to recruit three public relations professionals to help advise and train students in real-world issues within the field. Two of the professional advisers will be Allison Hess, WSU’s public relations director, and John Kowalewski, media relations director. The third is yet to be decided on.

Students of any major are welcome to join, but Kim said the actual student-run agency, once properly developed, will require a significant time commitment and passion for the field. However, she said the jobs the agency will offer will be diverse and require students of various skill sets.

“We need so many different types of people who are specialized in just general communications — it’s not only about PR students.”

For now, PRSSA membership will include conferences, workshops, internship opportunities and optional course credit for COMM 3890. Next Friday, the newly formed chapter will attend the regional conference at Brigham Young University, where students will have the chance to network with public relations professionals from around the country and students from other chapters, Kim said.

“It’s a large opportunity for networking and really understanding what the industry’s all about from an angle that can’t be had in a classroom,” said Steve Martin, president of BYU’s chapter of PRSSA. “It opens up doors, it provides people with the resources that they need in order to land their first job, because you just don’t learn about PR in general; you learn about your place in PR.”

Ryker Morgan, a public relations junior and the account director of the recruit campaign for WSU’s chapter, said the hands-on experience PRSSA offers is important for public relations students if they plan on getting related jobs out of college.

“The main point of the national chapter is kind of to bridge the gap between students and professionals,” Morgan said. “It just helps students to get professional experience in the PR field in many different aspects, so that it can basically ready them to enter into a professional world. It helps them get connections with professionals that work in PR, instead of, you know, just learning about what PR is in school and then having to worry about trying to find a job after they graduate without any type of connection to the professional world.”

Kim is taking applications for WSU’s chapter of PRSSA though Saturday. Students can find the applications and membership guides on the bulletin board next to the communications department office, Room 330 of Elizabeth Hall. A $50 deposit is required on application to cover conference and activity costs.

OGDEN — Weber State University will host its 16th annual Storytelling Festival next week.

Yarns will be woven by national and local storytellers between 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at Weber State, 3848 Harrison Blvd., and various community locations.

For a full schedule, visit www.weber.edu/storytelling, or call 801-626-6278 for other information.

All story sessions are free, but there’s a charge for storyteller dinner events.

For dinner information, call Lynda Goucher, 801-626-6278.