Humanities Every Day

UMN Morris Faculty, Students, and Alumni in the News

Faculty

  • Siobhan Bremer, Associate Professor of Theatre, played Gail, Marge, and a few other roles in an online concert reading of "Nickel and Dimed" on Saturday, January 30th and Sunday January 31st with Theatre Midwest. Theatre Midwest, a professional theater in Iowa, offers readings free of charge.
  • Andrew Nordin, assistant professor of studio art (painting), was featured in an episode of Pioneer Public Television series Postcards from June 18, 2020. Watch the video at https://www.pbs.org/video/andrew-nordin-fakjp5/
  • Jonathan Campbell, assistant professor of music, and his Jazz Ensemble I earned third-place honors in the college division of the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton Competition. The competition is one of the largest and oldest educational jazz festivals in the world.
  • Angela Hume, assistant professor of English, co-edited Ecopoetics: Essays in the Field (University of Iowa Press, 2018).
  • Michael Lackey, professor of English, edited Conversations with Biographical Novelists (Bloomsbury, 2018).
  • Jason Ramey, assistant professor of studio art, received a $75,000 grant from the Windgate Charitable Foundation to upgrade UMN Morris's sculpture studio.
  • Andrew Stansbury, assistant professor of studio art, was recognized for his work in the exhibition"To Be Human" and also for curating the "Queer Craft" exhibit in the Morrison Art Gallery, MPR News
  • Julia Dabbs, associate Professor of Art History, had an essay published in The Routledge History of Women in Early Modern Europe 
  • Windy Gonzalez Roberts, Teaching Specialist in Spanish, was interviewed on November 6, 2019 by Minnesota Public Radio's Angela Davis and Karen Zamora for a live radio broadcast titled, "A Look at What Life Is Like for an Immigrant Living in Greater Minnesota."

Students

  • Eleanor (Koranda) Melton '21, Music, received the College Age Piano Scholarship prize in the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra Young Performers Competition for her performance of Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3, 1st movement. The competition was held on April 28, 2021, on the campus of St. Cloud State University, and comes with a cash award.
  • At the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region 5 organization, the cast of "Alone, Together" and "The Seed"—Natalie Peterson '22, Skylar Tumbleson '22, Dana Voss '22, Velora Wilson '22, Bethanie Brocar '24, Kendra DeRosa '24, Tierra Flesner '24, Gabrielle Holboy '24, Bella Pettit '24, Melanie Rittenhouse '24, and Rika Matney—received a certificate for Outstanding Ensemble work, and Madison Kessel '23 received a certificate for outstanding Stage Management for the same show. Hailey Stobb '21 received both the Citizen Artist award and an honorable mention for her work in "Fashion Trashion" at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The Citizen Artist award is presented to the student who demonstrates excellence in sustainability and its application to theater.
  • Alex Boyd '21, Ya-Sokee Yang '20, and Vinny Fontana III '21, members of Philosophy's newly-founded Competitive Ethics Defense Team competed against thirty other colleges at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE)'s California-South West Regional Ethics Bowl.
  • First-year students in Julia Dabbs' IC Course, "Art + History, UMM + Community," were shown working on their barn quilt projects in Pioneer Public Television's Prairie Yard and Garden episode on "Barn Quilts & Flowers." The quilt will be unveiled on the UMM Seed Barn in May 2019 and become part of the Stevens County Barn Quilt Trail.

Alumni

  • Sarah Severson ’20,  was awarded a 2020-21 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Spain. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program of the United States and she will represent the country as a cultural ambassador while she is overseas, helping to enhance mutual understanding between Americans and the people in Spain.
  • Olivia Carlson ’20, art history and studio art, proposed, designed, and curated "Insectarium" exhibit at Stevens County Historical Society & Museum, spring 2019.
  • Anika Kildegaard 13 is a member of The Crossing, a professional choir that has received two Grammy Awards (and 5 nominations). Listen to her (timestamp 3:48-4:04).
  • Evan Aanerud ’20, Bailey Soika '19, Laura Steblay '19, and Megan Steblay '20 created the Emerging Artist Initiative (EAI). EAI offers young creatives emotional, professional, and financial support. This work has been featured in American Theatre, Broadway World, and the Fergus Falls Journal. 
  • Alexa Barta '18, Spanish and statistics, earned a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award for 2018-19. Barta will spend nine months teaching English in Brazil, beginning February 2019, UMN Morris News
  • Sarah LaVoy-Brunette '19, art history, classics AOC, medieval studies, had her paper, "Seeing God in Word and Image: The Seafarer and the Fuller Brooch," accepted for presentation at the International Congress on Medieval Studies to be held at Western Michigan University in May 2019.
  • Amanda Hudinsky '17, Spanish and secondary education, was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award for 2017-18 in Brazil, UMN Morris News
  • Drewe Jefferson ’16 earned a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Award, UMN Morris News
  • Paige Quinlivan '19, theatre arts, had her one-act play John Hughes Wrote My Diary, chosen for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) one-act play reading contest. The script earned her first-place honors. It is also a finalist for the KCACTF National Festival John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short Play held in April.
  • Paige Quinlivan's play Moon River (which got a staged reading this past April on campus) was recently performed at the Minneapolis Fringe Festival. It was directed by Maggie Caplan and had original music by Claire McManus. Featured in the cast in leading roles were Katie Rowles-Perich '18 and Bailey Soika '19, recent UMN Morris grads and theatre majors or minors. 
  • Laura Sims Peck '12, anthropology and art history, was named curator of The Warehouse, Urban Milwaukee