Notables

Michael Bump, professor of music, served as host/coordinator for the Percussive Arts Society’s annual International Conference at the Austin Convention Center, Oct. 31-Nov. 4 in Austin, Texas. Along with two colleagues from the Eastman and Northwestern Schools of Music, Bump organized concerts and presentations that focused on the centennial celebration of twentieth  century composer, John Cage. While at this year’s conference, Bump was also elected chairman of the society’s New Music & Research Committee. With an international membership of more than 10,000, the Percussive Arts Society serves as the field’s premiere professional organization. Approximately 6,000 artists, composers, educators and students were in attendance at this year’s conference.    

Jerrold Hirsch, professor of history
, chaired a session, “Constructing and Constructed History,” and presented a paper “‘My Fancy Is Restricted by Records’: ‘Scientific’ History,’ U. B. Phillips, and Black Lore,” at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society in New Orleans, La.

Three English Department students presented at the annual meeting of the Missouri Folklore Society, Nov. 1-3 in Defiance, Mo. Julianne Meyers presented on ethnobiology as a discipline, while Rachel Spillars reported on the vernacular architecture of a Jefferson City neighborhood and graduate student Holly Fling shared the results of her research into the history of her family’s homeplace. Three faculty members also participated. Betsy Delmonico discussed an early 20th century drama written by Mary Alicia Owen, based on her research among the Indians living near St. Joseph. Adam Davis discussed folk medical practices of college students, and Barb Price chaired a session on “Folktales and the Written Word.”

Members of Truman’s local chapter of the American Association of University Professors attended a recent regional workshop of the Assembly of State Conferences of AAUP, “The Faculty Voice in Missouri, A Regional ASC Workshop,” which took place Nov. 10 at Washington University in St. Louis. The Missouri Conference president, David Robinson, professor of history, was one of the organizers of this event attended by about 50 faculty members from many public and private universities in the state. Speakers were national leaders of AAUP, including AAUP President Rudy Fichtenbaum and Howard Bunis, chair of AAUP’s Collective Bargaining Congress. In addition to Robinson, Truman’s chapter was also represented by Kathryn Brammall, professor of history and managing editor of Sixteenth Century Journal, and Betty McLane-Iles, professor of French and vice-president of Truman’s AAUP chapter.
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