Vol. 30 No. 13 - November 10, 2025

 
The Kohlenberg Lyceum Series will sponsor a performance of the opera classic, “La Bohème” at 7 p.m. Dec. 6 in Baldwin Hall Auditorium. 
 
Originally composed by Giacomo Puccini in the late 1800s, this innovative reimagining performed by Ozarks Lyric Opera is set in the modern day and focuses on young artists hustling to make ends meet. At the forefront, Rodolfo, a poet and writer, falls for Mimì, a seamstress and aspiring designer facing grave illness. Puccini’s lush score captures the fleeting joy, heartbreak and defiant spirit of youth in a production that pulses with contemporary energy and emotional depth.
 
Established in Springfield, Missouri, in 1979, Ozarks Lyric Opera is committed to the transformative power of opera and providing live performances in the Ozarks. In keeping with the spirit of accessibility and bringing opera to a wider audience, this production of “La Bohème” is performed in Italian with English supertitles projected on stage. 
 
This production of “La Bohème” will make use of the orchestra pit in the Baldwin Hall Auditorium. Portions of the stage will be removed, and musicians will perform from the pit. This is the first time the orchestra pit has been utilized since 2015. 
 
Tickets for “La Bohème” will be available Nov. 17 and can be picked up at any of three convenient campus locations: the Union and Involvement Office in the Student Union Building; the Advancement Office in McClain Hall 205; or the Admissions Office in the Ruth W. Towne Museum and Visitors Center. Tickets are also available off campus at the Kirksville Arts Association in downtown Kirksville. Any remaining tickets will be available the day of the event beginning 30 minutes before each performance.  
 
Tickets for the 2025-26 Kohlenberg Lyceum Series are provided free of charge thanks to the generous support of local sponsors, the Friends of the Lyceum program and the Truman State University Foundation.
 
For more information about the Kohlenberg Lyceum Series, visit lyceum.truman.edu or contact the Advancement Office at 660.785.4133.

The Academic Affairs Office is soliciting a call for proposals for the University’s new Innovation and Success Grants. 
 
There will be an introductory workshop from 1:30-3 p.m. Nov. 12 in Baldwin Hall 102 for individuals interested in submitting a proposal. The workshop will feature a question-and-answer session, and the associate deans of each school will be available to help brainstorm possible proposals.  
 
Created last year, the Innovation and Success Grants are an effort to advance Truman’s culture of interdisciplinarity and engage in academic innovation to collaboratively address emerging fields and societal needs that fit within the University’s public liberal arts and sciences mission. 
 
More than $120,000 is available for potential projects this year. Financial support for Innovation and Success Grants comes from multiple donors to the Truman State University Foundation. These funds do not come from the Education and General Budget, or from the Auxiliary Budget. They do not compete with budget for staffing, nor can they be used to support staffing. 
 
Proposals may be made by full-time faculty and include full-time staff and should be about four to five pages in length. Multiple proposals may be initiated from within a school and compete for available funds. Multiple smaller awards within a school may also be made.
 
In addition to the Nov. 12 session, there will be Proposal Framing Workshops during the Jan. 8 SPAW event. Proposals are due to associate deans by Feb. 23, with final awards tentatively planned for March 20. Successful proposals will be ranked by the Dean’s Council with the provost and associate provost making the final decision.
 
A detailed call for proposals can be found on the Academic Affairs website.

The Ofstad Reading Series will host scholar Steffan Triplett at 5 p.m. Nov. 12 in Baldwin Hall Little Theatre.

Triplett is the managing director of the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics at the University of Pittsburgh where he is a teaching associate professor. During this event, he will read work from his hybrid memoir, “Bad Forecast,” and suggest new ways of thinking and crafting through the nonfiction writing process, using examples of climate from other diverse, contemporary nonfiction writers.

Further information about Triplett and his work can be found at steffantriplett.com.

 
Truman will conduct a test of the emergency notification system at 10:45 a.m. Nov. 13.
 
Students, faculty and staff that have signed up to receive Truman emergency alert text notifications will get a TruAlert text and email message letting them know it is a test. Those that have not signed up for emergency text messaging can do so through TruView.
 
Sign in to TruView and click on the “Everyday Tools” tab. Click the “Update Emergency Text Messaging Information” under “Update and View My Personal Information” (lower right screen). A maximum of three phones can be registered to receive texts. Confirm information in the same manner.
 
In addition to text and email messages, an emergency alert will be displayed on all Truman In addition to text and email messages, an emergency alert will be displayed on all Truman computer systems – Windows and Mac – where the Alertus software has been installed. This should include nearly all workstations on campus. There will also be alerts sent to all Truman maintained digital signs on campus.

Truman will transition to a new campus phone provider this December to improve service reliability and support modern communication tools. The upgraded system will provide better features and a more dependable phone experience campuswide.

Emergency phones – blue light/elevator phones – will migrate to the new system and receive new numbers around Dec. 1. General phone migration will take place Dec. 15-19, following graduation. During this process, phone lines with no calls in the past year will not be reactivated. Low-usage lines with fewer than 15 calls a year will get web portal access for calls, not a physical handset. Existing Polycom VVX300 or VVX400 users will keep their current phones and gain web portal and mobile app access. Users that do not currently have a Polycam handset will receive a replacement to their existing phone. The replacement will be a Polycom E220 VoIP handset, programmed to their extension.

The new provider offers enhanced features, reliability and better long-term cost savings for campus communications. The first phones to be migrated include Public Safety, Registrar, Financial Aid, Payroll, IT Service Center, Admission, Residence Life, the President’s Office, Library Services, primary departmental lines and other key campus offices. Essentially, any individuals who currently use a Polycom phone will be migrated first. Individual faculty and staff phones migrating from analog to digital phones will be the next priority.

ITS is committed to working quickly to get all campus phones operational and functioning properly. Documentation about the current and upcoming phone systems is available at phones.truman.edu.

Lambda Pi Eta invites communication and theater arts students to take part in finals presentation critique events from 5-8 p.m. Nov. 11 and 13 in Baldwin Hall 257. 

Students can practice final presentations in front of Lambda Pi Eta members and receive feedback before finals week. Email lph@truman.edu to reserve a 30-minute time slot. Participation is free.

Sponsored by the Department of Communication and Theater Arts.

Truman Theatre will perform, “Cabaret,” Nov. 13-16 and 19-20 in the James G. Severns Theatre in Ophelia Parrish. 

“Cabaret” explores the decadent world of cabaret inside the Kit Kat Club. Pleasure and danger entwine as love, freedom and identity clash against the rise of darkness in 1920s Berlin. Kander and Ebb’s masterpiece “Cabaret” is daring, dazzling and timelier than ever. While the world outside is changing – inside, anything goes. 

Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13-15 and 19-20. There will also be a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Nov. 16. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at boxoffice.truman.edu or at the theatre prior to each performance. For more information, contact boxoffice@truman.edu.

The 35th Annual Philosophy and Religion Conference will take place from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 15 in Baldwin Hall 114. 

At 1:30 p.m., Dereck Daschke, professor of philosophy and religion, will deliver the keynote address titled, “Taking Root in a New Land: Field Notes from the New American Psychedelic Religious Landscape.” The global “psychedelic renaissance” has sparked many Americans’ curiosity about the spiritual and healing potential of traditional plant medicines and other “entheogens.” But can they find religion in a tea, a tab or a toke? And if so, what do they owe the Indigenous people from whom many of these medicines come? Daschke explored these questions throughout the last year and will share what he found in search of an authentic American psychedelic spirituality.

During the conference students from Truman and other universities will present original papers from a variety of topics in philosophy and religion. This event is free and open to the public. Visit phre.truman.edu and select “Philosophy and Religion Conference” for the conference schedule and more information. Updates will be posted as they become available.

This spring, Sal Costa, professor emeritus of psychology, will offer a new course open to the public that explores the complexities of the human mind and the science behind psychological disorders.

“The Psychology of Abnormal Behavior” will be a scientific study of the causes, assessments and treatments of a variety of psychological disorders and maladaptive behaviors. The class aims to raise awareness of how these issues and problems can have a profound impact on everyday life.

This one-credit, pass/fail course will be offered both in-person and online, providing flexibility for participants. The in-person section, INDV 161: Abnormal Psychology, will meet during first block on Tuesdays in Violette Hall 1010. Participants taking the class online can join synchronously from 6-8 p.m. Tuesdays or watch asynchronously at a time of their choice.

Registration for the course can be done online. The course is open to all non-degree-seeking students and costs $65. The start date is Jan. 13 with the end date March 3.

For more information, contact the Institute for Academic Outreach at 660.785.5384 or visit institute.truman.edu.

The Office of Student Research is accepting Conference Travel Scholarship applications for spring 2026. 

Students who plan to present the results of their research or creative scholarship at a conference taking place between December 2025 and March 2026 may be eligible to receive up to $500 to cover conference expenses. To be eligible for the Conference Presentation Scholarship, students must have completed or be currently involved in a faculty-mentored research experience and plan on presenting at the conference. The application deadline is Dec. 1.

Complete guidelines for the Conference Travel Scholarship can be found at the Office of Student Research website. Questions regarding the applications can be directed to osr@truman.edu.

Truman’s Upward Bound program is currently accepting applications for spring employment. 

Upward Bound is a grant-funded college preparation program for income-eligible area students. It hires Truman students to assist high school juniors and seniors with tutoring, workshops and overall college application processes.

All hours spent training, preparing, traveling and working with students are paid. This a great transformative experience for upper-level students and those interested in education, social work or related fields.  

Applicants should be juniors, seniors or graduate students. Positions require regular weekly availability 1-3 days per week between 1:30-6:45 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. Interested students can access application materials here.

Truman Out-in-STEM is partnering with Nancy Daley-Moore, associate professor of health science, to present the third annual Queer Sex Education at 7 p.m. Nov. 13 in Magruder Hall 2090. Daley-Moore will present on multiple topics most high school sex ed classes don’t cover including: lube, safer sex practices, healthy relationships, self-love, sexuality, gender and more. Some serious topics will be discussed so attendance is at each person’s discretion.

Stacy Davis, associate professor of Spanish, presented a paper, “Voces detrás del muro narrativo: Desenmascarando el indiano en la narrativa breve de Emilia Pardo Bazán,” at the V North American Symposium of Galician Studies hosted by St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Truman alumna Kathleen Placke (’20, ’21) traveled with her mentor Davis and presented a paper, “El niño como redentor en la ficción breve de Emilia Pardo Bazán.” Truman alumnus Ross Jones (’20, ’21) was also in attendance and served as a translator due to his Galician skills acquired during his Fulbright year in Santiago de Compostela while at Truman.

Katelin Mathis, residence life coordinator of Missouri Hall, and JD Adjra, Ryle Hall director, attended the annual conference of UMR-ACUHO in Omaha, Nebraska, Oct. 29-31. The Upper Midwest Region of the Association of College and University Housing Officers is a regional professional organization for staff working in residence life and campus housing. The conference brought together professionals from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Manitoba. Mathis and Adjra participated in a wide array of educational sessions to strengthen their efforts to enhance the experiences of students living on campus. Mathis was recognized as a top five presenter at the conference. Her presentation focused on creating strategies for intentional visibility and engagement within a residential community as hall directors. Attendees left the session with a framework to create their own visibility plan to implement within their own residence halls.

For more information regarding forensics, visit forensics.truman.edu or follow @trumanforensicsunion on Instagram.