Arts & Culture

Music Professor Jazzes Up Life Lessons for Students
Bobby Selvaggio, associate professor in the School of Music and director of the jazz studies program, has a storied musical resume. But what he is most proud of are the lessons he can pass on to his students.

Professor Scores Big With Short Film, Book
Scott Hallgren, associate professor in the School of Media and Journalism, teaches several classes in digital media production with a focus on sound in picture. He recently showcased his skills outside the classroom by composing the score for a local short film while also releasing his first book.

Wick Poetry Center’s ‘Dear Vaccine’ to Debut in October as Staged Theatrical Production
The performance, titled will have its opening night at 7 p.m. Oct. 24, in the 700-seat auditorium of the National Academy of Science in Washington, D.C.

Mapping Akron: Wick Poetry Center Begins New Effort to Highlight Akron Neighborhoods Through Poetry
Using poetry to explore Akron, Ohio residents’ sense of belonging to their neighborhoods is the goal of a new project by ºÚÁÏÍø’s Wick Poetry Center.

Wick Weekly Poetry Workshops Create a Community of Creatives
Every Friday, the Kent State community can come together to create poetry and share a more vulnerable side of themselves at the Wick Poetry Center. The Wick Weekly poetry writing workshop brings students together to help develop them as poets and create a community of creatives.

Kent State Trumbull to House Performing Arts School
ºÚÁÏÍø at Trumbull is opening the Hart’s School of Performing Arts in October. Shiloh Hart was featured on WKBN for starting an eight-week program for high school students searching for knowledge and experience in the performing arts.

ODHE Awards Grant for Kent State Fashion KnitLAB
You’ve probably seen someone knitting a scarf or a sweater as a hobby. However, knitting is big business and has a large impact on manufacturing. Kent State School of Fashion professors are using a new $236,816 grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) to spread awareness of the possibilities of knitting and creating training opportunities.

Florida Playwright Produces Drama Inspired by May 4, 1970
Kent State was more than 100 miles away from Philip Middleton Williams’ high school and his home in Perrysburg, but the May 4, 1970, shootings, which killed four students and wounded nine, reverberated through his psyche and brought the Vietnam War front and center. Williams was inspired by the May 4 events to write and produce a play "The Sugar Ridge Rag."

Soldier-Turned-Police Officer Draws on his Past for Debut Novel Featuring Crime-Solving Veteran
When he’s not working to keep the Kent Campus safe, police officer Vance Voyles can be found in the classroom where he works as an adjunct professor teaching Story for Film for the digital media production major in the School of Media and Journalism within the College of Communication and Information.

Kent State’s Reinberger Children’s Library Center Becomes New Home of Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
The Reinberger Children’s Library Center at ºÚÁÏÍø has become the new home of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, assuming the role formerly held by the Center for Children’s Books at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Established in 1982, the annual award of $5,000 goes to an author of an historical fiction novel for children published in the previous year and set in South, Central or North America.