USI Art and Design students honored at Evansville AAF Awards Ceremony
Five University of Southern Indiana art and design students received awards for their outstanding design work at the 2023 Evansville American Advertising Federation (AAF) awards ceremony on February 17.
Brianna Beard won a silver award for her Happie Box design and a gold award for The Fine Swine design. Kaleigh Appell also won a silver award for her Forthright design. Hope Burdette was awarded the gold award for her Organic + Tattoo Gallery poster. Alicia Ackermann won a gold award for her While It Lasted design. Megan Raleigh won a gold award for her Tarot Cards design and was also awarded Best of Show, along with a $500 scholarship.
USI Art and Design students swept the student awards this year, a testament to the program's commitment to excellence. Faculty advisors for the students include Chuck Armstrong, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, Dr. Greg Blair, Assistant Professor of Art and Design, Rob Dickes, Assistant Professor of Photography, and Sophia Okotah, Assistant Professor of Art and Design.
The Evansville AAF Awards Ceremony is an annual event recognizing outstanding advertising and design work. This year's event was attended by more than 200 advertising and design professionals from the Tri-state.
The USI Art and Design program provides students with a comprehensive education in the visual arts, preparing them for successful careers in a variety of fields. The program's emphasis on creativity, innovation, and collaboration has earned it a reputation as one of the best in the region.
For more information on the USI Art and Design program, visit their website at USI.edu/art.
Caitlin Daymon
Talk about somebody who exudes kindness and a quiet confidence, and you have Caitlin Daymon. She’s a Presidential Scholar who more than lived up to her billing and will head off to a Peace Corps assignment in Madagascar after she graduates this Spring. Caitlin tells us more.
You majored in political science, global studies and French. How did that happen?
My biggest inspiration is that I grew up in a Missionary Baptist church, so there were always people visiting from different countries and cultures, which really fascinated me coming from a small town.
What do you hope to accomplish with your degree?
I’m doing the Peace Corps after I graduate, but my long-term goal is becoming a foreign service officer with the Department of State and working in an embassy.
How would your peers describe you?
That’s a tough one. Adventurous? Maybe soft-spoken, sometimes?
What are your greatest strengths as a student?
I’m really determined to reach my goals. I have very clear goals and those push me to work hard because I know what I want to get out of them.
What programs, internships, clubs, or other opportunities have you been a part of here at USI?
I studied abroad in Aix-en-Provence and worked in a bookstore there for an internship. French citizens coming in the bookstore loved talking to an American student, especially about politics. They’re fascinated by our gun laws. I’ve been part of French Club, SGA, the Global Awareness Project, and some honor societies.
What characteristics do you prize the most in your fellow students?
I prize how open other people at USI are to exploring new things. I know a lot of people with multiple majors, and sometimes, when I hear about the different combinations, I think, it’s so interesting that you came up with that.
What are one or two of your proudest accomplishments at USI?
Getting into the Peace Corps. I worked with the French Department a lot on that application. Getting accepted was a really big deal. Also, maintaining a 4.0 GPA while still being involved in extracurriculars. I managed to juggle all of that and not take away from my grades.
Who made the biggest impact on you as a student prior to coming to USI, and who at USI has positively impacted your success?
Prior to USI? It was probably Ms. Fowler, who taught history and English classes at my small high school. She was always encouraging me to not be limited by what my high school had to offer. Our only extracurricular was Ag. I liked it but wanted a little more. Here, it was Dr. Jensen. I actually met her through the Presidential Scholarship process. She interviewed me, sold me on the French program, and led me to focus on French and francophone cultures.
What are three essential strategies for other students to succeed in college?
Focus on your passion, on something that interests you and not something you think other people will approve of. Make sure you find a good balance between social life and school. Some people put too much pressure on one or the other, but it’s the balance that makes people successful. Finally, establish good relationships with your professors –go out of your way to go to their office hours. They know of opportunities you may never see, and they can send them your way.
Shannon Hoehn, Senior Applications Administrator
No one embodies the phrase “high energy” quite like Shannon Hoehn, Senior Applications Administrator. In this role, she focuses primarily on Zoom and LMS academic technologies. But wait, there’s more: she’s an adjunct instructor in Communications, Gender Studies, Professional Studies and UNIV 101. She’s also— “also” is a key word here—a second year student in the education doctorate program, adding to her MAC and MBA degrees. Additionally, her son is a USI graduate. This is a person with USI bona fides. Let’s hear more from Shannon.
Why did you decide to go for the Ed.D.?
I wanted to go into upper administration in higher ed. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be on the student side, but I knew I wanted to effect change—good change. Also, I wanted my kid to have to call me “Dr. Mom.”
Did you have other jobs before joining USI?
I started here as “Project Coordinator for Instructional Tech Services” in 2002. Before that, I was a student employee, a bartender, and I worked at a liquor store.
What strategies do you use to be successful and balance work, school and life??
There are strategies? I try to prioritize; I take time to do things to re-center myself, like going on a hike or to a concert, or Thursday night “Girls Night,” which I don’t like to miss. I don’t sleep much.
How would your colleagues describe your teaching style?
Pretty open and free. I like to do a lot of creative projects—things that get students to open up and share themselves. You’re not going to see a lot of tests and quizzes from me unless it’s mandated. I’m committed to open resources.
What do you think are your greatest strengths as an instructor?
I think I’m relatable. I try to be open and make every student feel like their thoughts and opinions are valued—that they can share anything within the boundaries of respect. I also think I connect through humor.
What is your current research interest?
It centers around creating safe spaces for queer students, seeing things we can do to help them achieve success. I’m also crazy about ed tech.
What characteristics do you prize the most in your colleagues?
A good work ethic, being respectful, meeting deadlines and being open—open to new thoughts and ideas.
What are one or two professional accomplishments you are most proud of at USI?
Getting Ally implemented in Blackboard. [Ally is accessibility software that helps convert course content into multiple formats so that all learners have access.] I kept pushing until it was implemented. Also, getting people to adapt my UNIV 101 training module, which walks students through Blackboard and gets them set up for Office 365 in just one hour.
USI Radio and Television students place in prestigious Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts
Two University of Southern Indiana student workers at 95.7 The Spin radio station have earned recognition in the prestigious Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts. The festival is a competitive event for BEA faculty and student members, featuring entries from more than 300 colleges and universities in various categories such as audio, documentary, news, and more. The festival received over 1,650 entries.
USI radio and television (RTV) student Tyler Huyser won first place in the PSA, Promo or Commercial Category for his entry titled "Clairo Tickets." Adrianna Garcia, USI RTV student, tied for second place in the Radio Newscast Category with her “9am News” entry.
The winners will be formally recognized in award ceremonies during the BEA convention in Las Vegas in April.
Faculty Achievements
Click here to see more achievements from the College of Liberal Arts.
Dr. Leigh Anne Howard, Chair of the Communication and Media Department and Professor of Communication Studies, Dr. Anne Statham, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Dr. Erin Dennis, Associate Professor of Advertising and Dr. Wendy Turner, Professor of Social Work, published “From Awareness to Activism: Enhancing Commitment to Social Justice Among Liberal Arts Students.” in the Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice journal 2022.
Dr. Anna Stroulia, Adjunct Instructor for World Languages and Cultures, co-authored the article, "A ‘family of wear’: Traceological Patterns on Pebbles Used for Burnishing Pots and Processing Other Plastic Mineral Matters,” which appeared in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 2023. See the abstract here.
Yu-Li Alice Shen’s 10-minute play, Be My Qur’antine, received two premier productions in February: one at White Mouse Theatre Productions’ Queer Theatre Festival at Florida State University and one at TheatreWorks of Southern Indiana’s Humanity Festival of 10-Minute Plays in New Albany, Indiana. In a near-apocalyptic future, on what could be the last night of their lives, Lark and Mohammed, two estranged friends, meet up to play kickball and to question the hereafter.
Dr. Del Doughty, College of Liberal Arts Dean, contributed two chapters to The Resource Handbook for Academic Deans (Johns Hopkins, 2023), the first chapter is on budgeting and the second on partnerships.
A Word From the Dean
Del Doughty, PhD
Dean, College of Liberal Arts
I spent the better part of February and early March reading annual faculty activity reports, also known as “FARs” around USI, and although it is a lot of work—literally, it is a stack of about 100 or so reports—I like it. Once you get going on the task and get a little momentum, you really begin to get a picture of the diversity of talents and skills that exist in a University faculty.
In between reading sessions, it seemed every time I looked up from the reports someone was writing about the decline of humanities in The New Yorker, The New York Times, or some other national outlet. The “decline of the humanities” has long been a genre piece in mainstream media, but why so many now, all at once, I wondered? First, there was Nathan Heller’s piece in The New Yorker, lamenting the falling enrollments and the lack of federal and state support for anything but STEM initiatives. Then there was Russ Douthat in the Times, fastening onto the notion that contemporary students have such a strong “orientation to the present” that they have “lost their bearings in the past.” But it is not just students who have that orientation—Douthat confesses to it himself.) Pamela Paul, also writing in the Times a few days later, chalked up the decline to a multitude of factors, including shifting trends in the job market, the growing popularity of “esoteric” interdisciplinary majors, and the way that literature is framed as “language arts” in K-12 and taught in such a way as to drain the joy from reading.
And there I was, silly me, getting all buzzed up on FARs here in Evansville.
What all those aforementioned, gloomy op-eds have in common is their look at enrollment numbers. They see a drop in the number of English or history majors and conclude that the humanities are dying. As if the humanities existed only in higher education—as if the health of the humanities could be measured only by the number of graduates year-to-year! Of course, enrollment trends are a concern. But health can be measured in other ways. Influence, for example. The humanities inform us who we are as people and shape the way that frames our trajectories as a society. When I put it that way, it sounds kind of anodyne, but as we all know, sometimes the humanities get tagged for troublemaking in carrying out that seemingly simple mission (“good trouble,” I would be quick to add, borrowing from John Lewis). Yet another member of the chattering class, David Brooks, chimed in with this very point in his own op-ed, contending that at the dawn of the age of artificial intelligence, there has never been a better time to understand what is uniquely human about us by studying art, philosophy, languages, and other disciplines in the field.
As a humanist myself, I have something at stake in this conversation about the health of the humanities. When I read the Times, I get a little down, alarmed, and defensive. When I read the FARs, I found that the humanities still have the ability, as ever, to enlighten, disrupt, empower, and transport.
Coming Soon
Upcoming Events
World Religions: Exploring Diversity
Cultural Showcase on the LA Center Labyrinth
5 p.m.
Live Musical Performances in Kleymeyer Hall
5:15pm
Roundtable with Q&A in Kleymeyer Hall
Friday Night in the Forum Film Series
The Good Boss (Spain)
7:30 p.m. April 7
Forum I
Global Salon Series
“Cultural Experiences: Traveling and Building Bridges in Eswatini and Bolivia with Engineers in Action”
Noon April 4
Carter Hall
Applied History Series
“Theory to Praxis at a Moment of Human Crisis”
4 p.m. April 10
Zoom ID: 977 4819 2164
Alumni in Residence
Featuring Evansville Fire Chief, Mike Connelly
Noon April 12
Kleymeyer Hall
Global Salon Series
“Honoring the Legacy of the Gullah People”
Noon April 12
Zoom ID: 990 1194 7122
Tom Drury in Recital
7 p.m. April 12
Performance Center
USI Theatre Performance
Mallette Studio in the Lower Level of the Liberal Arts Center
USI Theatre's Devised Show
Get your tickets here
Friday Night in the Forum Film Series
Hatching (Finland)
7:30 p.m. April 14
Forum I
Save the Date
Distinguished Scholar Series
2 p.m. April 19
Kleymeyer Hall
Interdisciplinary Colloquium
8 a.m. April 20
University Center 2217-2218
Liberal Arts Faculty Colloquium
Friday Night in the Forum Film Series
After Life (Japan)
7:30 p.m. April 21
Forum I
Friday Night in the Forum Film Series
Official Competition (Spain)
7:30 p.m. April 28
Forum I
Friday Night in the Forum Film Series
Soul Kitchen (Germany)
7:30 p.m. May 5
Forum I
College of Liberal Arts Commencement
Screaming Eagles Arena
