Civil Rights tour
Dr. Michael Thompson, chair of the history and geography department at Pfeiffer University, recently retraced the significant steps of human rights icons like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and dozens of extraordinary, but nameless individuals who led this country’s Civil Rights Movement.
Thompson and others were part of a weeklong Civil Rights Tour led by Julian Bond, co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and current chair of the NAACP.
Thompson chronicled his journey through a daily blog and digital photography. “My hope is that this blog can provide some perspective not only on my experience, but also on the significance of the Civil Rights Movement in the nation’s past and to its future,” said Thompson, who also serves as Pfeiffer’s Historian-in-Residence.
To read more and follow his daily travels, visit http://historytravels.blogspot.com/.
YLA speaker
Seth Morris, a junior at Salisbury High School, was one of two speakers presiding over the recent session of the Youth Legislative Assembly in Raleigh.
A record number of students from across North Carolina attended the 38th annual assembly sponsored by the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office of the N.C. Department of Administration.
YLA is an opportunity for North Carolina high school students to write, debate and vote on bills and share their views with legislators and other state government officials.
For more details, call 919-789-5880 or email Cynthia.Giles@ncmail.net.
Faculty awards
Several faculty members in Catawba College’s Theatre Arts Department have received awards and have been recognized for publications.
Dr. Woodrow Hood, chair and associate professor of theatre arts, published an article, “Another Terrain: Theatre Nohgaku’s The Pine Barrens,” in “Theatre Topics, an international peer-review journal and “From Revolution to Revelation: Women Performance Artists in America” in the book, “Women in American Musical Theatre.” Also, the seventh edition of his “Theatre: Its Art and Craft,” published by Rowman Littlefield, will go to press in early April.
Theatre Arts Professor Christopher Zink had three articles included in a new book in the Southeastern Theatre Conference’s Field Guide Series, “Outside the Box: 25 Design-Tech Strategies to Save You Time and Money,” Professor Zink was also recognized with the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival Meritorious Achievement Award for Excellence in Direction in 2007.
Theatre Arts Professor David Pulliam was recognized for Excellence in Design for 2007 with the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival Meritorious Achievement Award.
Psychology meeting
Members of the faculty and several students from Catawba College’s Psychology Department attended and made presentations at the recent annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association.
They include students Kathryn Shanklin of Cypress, Texas, Danielle Schneider of New Castle, Del., Jessica Davison of Springfield, Pa., Kathleen Rebadow of Melbourne, Fla., and Amanda Kanoy of Thomasville and faculty Dr. Lyn Boulter, professor of psychology; Professor Pam Thompson, associate professor of business; and Dr. Sheila Brownlow, professor of psychology.
Casmus reappointed
Robert Casmus, head athletic trainer at Catawba College, has been named N.C. Athletic Trainers’ Association College/University Athletic Trainer of the Year for the second time in his career during the association’s recent annual meeting in Wilmington.
Casmus has been head athletic trainer at Catawba College since July 1990. He oversees the care of student athletes and teaches in the physical education/athletic training area. He has also been instrumental in fund-raising for the athletic training program to add key equipment and make other improvements.
He has a degree in health education from Temple University in Philadelphia and received his graduate degree in exercise and sport sciences from the University of Arizona in Tucson. He was head athletic trainer for five years at Chowan College in Murfreesboro prior to moving to Catawba. He is certified nationally and in North Carolina.
He and wife Teresa live in Salisbury and have a son Will.