November 2005

James Patterson’s article, “The J. R. Graves Synthesis:  American Individualism and Landmarkist Ecclesiology,” appeared in Tennessee Baptist History 7 (Fall 2005). 

Karen Miller’s article, “The Evolution of Financial Management, First Baptist Church, Lexington, Tennessee:  The First 100 Years (1842-1942),” also appeared in Tennessee Baptist History 7 (Fall 2005). 

Darin White was recently featured in an article published in the Southern Soccer Scene (Vol. 27, No. 10).  The article, entitled “Former BSC Star Making a Difference as a Coach,” highlighted Coach White’s integrity-first coaching philosophy. 

Stanley Warren performed Sacred Concerts in Clarksville and Jackson, TN with baritone Allen Henderson during Summer 2005.  November 3-5 he served as vocal judge and gave a master’s class for the Mississippi Music Teachers Association.  He gave a Christmas concert with harpist Carol McClure at the Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center in Huntingdon on November 13. 

Dottie Myatt served on a panel that addressed the assessment of teacher education units and NCATE standards at the fall conference of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in Nashville, TN.

Nancy Easley led a faculty in-service program for the faculty of Woodland Presbyterian School in Memphis, TN, on incorporating strategies that promote brain-based learning including multiple intelligences.

Linn Stranak reviewed two texts:  “Applied sports medicine for coaches” by Johnson, et al, and “Exercise physiology:  integrated from theory to practical application” by Kraemer and Fleck.  He was also a presenter at the TAHPERD (Tennessee Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance) State Convention at APSU November 10-12.  He was reappointed to the awards committee of this organization for the coming year.

Jan Wilms taught a 2-day technology workshop in July to a faculty group at Suan Sunandha in Bangkok, Thailand.

Chris Blair wrote an article entitled, “Digital Media and Arts Curriculum Development:  Defining Digital,” which was published in the International Digital Media and Arts Association Journal, Summer 2005.  Chris also serves on the Executive Committee of the International Digital Media ad Arts Association. 

Steve Beverly and Chris Blair presented papers for the Mass Communications panel at the 2005 Annual Tennessee Communication Association Conference at Volunteer State University in Gallatin, TN, September 23.  Steve presented a paper entitled, “The Life of Bill Cullen,” and Chris presented a paper entitled, “What Parents Don’t Know About Comic Books:  Frederic Wertham and the Censorship Battle over Comic Books in the 1950s.”  Steve Beverly also served as chair of the mass Communications panel. 

Congratulations to the Pew Grant recipients for Summer 2006:  Theresa Blakley (Social Work), Daryl Charles (Christian Studies), Kevin Cooney (History & Political Science), and Matt Lunsford (Mathematics). 

Kevin Cooney helped lead a short term mission trip to Iceland with the youth from his church. He also has a forthcoming peer reviewed article in Asian Perspective, entitled “Alternative Visions of Japanese Security:  The Role of Absolute and Relative Gains in the Making of Japanese Security Policy,” Vol. 29, No. 3, 2005.  Additionally, he published a book review of The Sacred and the Sovereign:  Religion and International Politics, Jon D. Carlson and Erik C. Owens, Ed., Washington, DC, Georgetown University Press, 2003, in Religion & Politics (Vol. XXII: No. 1 Fall 2005).  Over the summer he was quoted several times as an expert in Japanese politics in the Asia Times about the September 11, 2005 Japanese parliamentary election.  He presented a paper entitled “Natural Law, Human Rights, and International Relations:  Can Anything be Relative?,” at the Joy in the Truth Conference at the University of Notre Dame Center for Ethics and  Culture, Notre Dame, Indiana, September 29-October 1, 2005.  He also represented Union University at the Fifth Annual Lilly Fellows Program, “Secularity and Globalization: What comes after Modernity?” at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan November 10-12, 2005.

            Sandra Williams received the prestigious HONOR award from TAPHERD for long and outstanding service.  Student Chris Clermont received the James E. Ward Outstanding Major’s Award at the convention held November 10-12. 

            Phillip Ryan presented his dissertation research at the 26^th Annual Ethnography and Education Conference at Oxford University in September.  He chaired two sessions at the conference, and has been accepted as a member of the Ethnography and Education Association sponsored by Oxford University and the Open University. 

Gene Fant published “How to Jump-Start Your Department” in The Department Chair, and an essay, “It’s All Relative” was accepted for an upcoming issue of Mississippi Magazine.  He also participated in the Conclave on the Future of Baptist Higher Education held by the Association of Southern Baptist Colleges and Schools.  Additionally, he has been serving as a curriculum consultant for a new worldview academy being established by LifeShape, a division of Chic-fil-A’s WinShape charity.   He also gave two parenting workshops at Englewood Baptist Church.

Patty Hamilton had two poems, “Camouflage” and “Change,” accepted by the poetry journal Ibbetson Street.

David Malone presented a paper, "'You Said They Were Black': Reading for Racial Ideology in Flannery O'Connor" at the 2005 Midwest Modern Language Association Conference.  Catapult Magazine, an on-line journal of faith and culture, included one of his essays in a chapbook.  Another recent essay is available at .

Hadley Mozer had an article published in Studies in Romanticism, "'I WANT a hero': Advertising for an Epic Hero in Don Juan."  He also presented a paper, "The Harem Episode; or, Don Juan and the Female Reader Revisited," at the International Conference on Romanticism.

Gavin Richardson presented a lecture, "Roman Coinage: Politics and Propaganda," to the Phi Alpha Theta History Club at Lambuth University, and gave another lecture, "From Script to Print," at the University School of Jackson.

Bobby Rogers had a poem accepted by New Millennium Writings.  He’s also been awarded a fellowship at the prestigious Virginia Center for the Creative Arts for a second consecutive year.

Roger Stanley presented the paper "'Well Well Well': Lucinda Williams as Heir Apparent to the Tradition of Southern Voices" at the Gulf South History and Humanities Conference, as part of a panel entitled "The Blues, Faith, and Existence."

            Pam Sutton recently attended the 25th Annual Lilly Conference on College Teaching: “Teaching so Everyone Learns” at Miami University (OH).

Nancy Dayton’s short article "Keeping Produce Safe" appeared in the Fall issue of the Germantown Environmental Reporter. 

October 2005

Mary Anne Poe and Terry Blakley led two workshops at the C. S. Lewis Summer Institute in Oxford and Cambridge this past summer.  One was entitled, “Surprised by Grace:  The Anatomy of Trauma and Faith,” and the other was “Social Economic Justice.”  Hal Poe was the Program Director for the Institute. 

Haifei Li, Jin Du, Qinghua Zheng, and Wenbin Yuan presented a paper for a conference held in Hong Kong, China entitled, “The Research of Mining Association Rules Between Personality and Behavior of Learner Under Web-Based Learning Environment,” at the 4^th International Conference on Web-based Learning, July 31-August 3.

Nancy Easley spent 6 days in September in Chandragarh, India, using the techniques of Chronological Bible Storying.

Kenneth Newman and Ann Singleton presented “Reading in the Content Areas” for the Henderson County Schools system-wide in-service training on August 1, 2005.

Kenneth Newman presented “6-Trait Writing Assessment Training,” a 2-day training session for area-wide teachers, at the Dyersburg Professional Center on July 7 and July 8.  He also presented “The Internet in the English Classroom” for the Jackson-Madison County Secondary English Teachers in-service on August 4, 2005 and “Reading, Writing, and Children’s Literature” for the Beech Bluff Elementary School in-service on August 5, 2005.

Ann Singleton presented, “ADD:  Fact or Fiction” and “Our Hurried Children” for the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s Equip for Excellence training event in Nashville, Tennessee on August 27.  She also presented “The Big Ideas of Mathematics:  Making Connections and Making It Real, Part 1” for the faculty at Isaac Lane Technology Magnet Elementary School on September 19.

Dottie Myatt presented “Integrating Technology and Higher Order Thinking into Instruction” for the Jackson-Madison County Schools in-service for middle school and high school social studies teachers on August 4.

Terry Weaver and Rachel Walker, recent Union University graduate, had a presentation titled “Universal Design Applied to Community Recreation” accepted at the International Association of Special Education ’s conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.   

Carrie Whaley presented, “Book-making as a Building Block to Literacy” at the Shelby County Head Start pre-service training for over 600 Head Start teachers in Memphis, TN.

Julie Powell has been named the NAIA-SIDA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics-Sports Information Directors of America) President for the next two years.  She has been a member since 1995 and an officer on the executive board since 2000. 

Mark Dubis wrote “Bibliographical Guide to Evangelical Periodical Literature:  The Electronic Christian Periodical Index,” forthcoming in the Journal of Religious and Theological Information.  He was also invited to serve on the Committee for the Promotion of Greek of the National Committee for Latin and Greek, an organization sponsored by twelve national and regional classical organizations for the promotion of Latin and Greek. Mark also received an external grant from the American Classical League in order to participate in the American Classical League Institute, Albuquerque, NM June 24-26.

Three Social Work students and professor Terry Blakley won the national award for social policy once again this year.  Their project was “Tennessee Can’t Wait:  Professionalizing the Child Welfare System through Student Loan Repayment.”  Their letter to the Editor appeared in the Jackson Sun, which was followed up by an editorial about the idea.  They have been collaborating with the TN_NASW and have been in contact with legislators and Commissioner Miller about their idea. 

Gary Johnson, Linn Stranak, and Colby Jubenville have an article entitled “Understanding Small College Athletes:  Factors, Trends and Decision-Making Models That Influence Institutional Choice” that was accepted for publication in KAHPERD Journal for publication fall 2005.  Linn Stranak was chosen to review the 5^th edition of Munro’s book, Statistical Methods for Heath Care Research.”

Michele Atkins co-authored an article, “School Public Relations Programs:  Are They Worth the Investment?” in the Spring 2005 issue of Tennessee School Board Association Journal.

Nancy Easley presented a paper, “How Does Faith Influence Public Educational Practice in Today’s Pluralistic Society?” at the Christianity and the Academy regional meeting at University of Memphis on April 22.

Kenneth Newman supported our local schools as a speaker for Author’s Day Celebration at Rose Hill Middle School.

Gene Fant, Patty Hamilton, David Malone, Bobby Rogers, Roger Stanley and alum James Cherry read original works of poetry at the Jackson-Madison County Public Library’s celebration of National Poetry Month.

Gene Fant’s article “The Blind Man, the Idiot, and the Prig: Faulkner’s Disdain for the Reader” was released in Literature and the Writer (Amsterdam: Rodopi); his essay, “The Necessity of Mobility,” ran in the March 20^th edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.  He also was named as a contributing columnist with the West Tennessee Parent & Family magazine and provided commentary for articles in the Newport News (VA) Daily Press (on plagiarism), the Jackson Sun (on Southern accents), and The Chronicle of Higher Education (on mentorship by academic superstars).  He also guest lectured at Rose Hill Middle School for their Writers’ Week series and joined the SACS Action Plan Committee for Liberty Tech Magnet High School. 

Patty Hamilton’s poem “Poet” was awarded a prize by the journal Laughing Dog; two other poems were accepted for publication in Big Muddy and Ibbetson Street. She also presented a paper, “Lord Chesterfield’s Letters to His Son and the Problem of Reputation,” at the 2005 Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies conference.

Gavin Richardson attended the 40th International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University.

Bobby Rogers’ poem, “Paper Anniversary,” (previously published in The Southwest Review) received two recognitions: the editors of Poetrydaily.com selected it for email distribution to all their on-line subscribers and it has been nominated for the national Best New Poets 2005 prize.  He also had four poems accepted for publication in River City, Meridian, and The Greensboro Review. 

Pam Sutton presented a paper, “Teaching in the Hall: Crossing Discipline Lines to Create Learning Opportunities,” at the 2005 Conference on College Composition and Communication.  She also guest taught a unit on film at Madison Academic Magnet High School.

James Patterson delivered the commencement address at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Germantown, TN on May 13.

Psychology students Amanda McComb, Holly Graves, and Jullian Moreland presented “The Development of Self-Esteem and Attachment in Young Adulthood as a Function of Parental Bonding” at the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) Conference on April 7.  Jinni Leigh Blalack was the faculty advisor, and Teresa West attended the conference as well.

Joanne Stephenson and Teresa West have been selected for inclusion in the ninth edition of Who’s Who Among America’s Teacher 2005. 

Judy LeForge accompanied her Tennessee History and Government class on a field trip to the Nashville on April 6.  On April 13 Judy participated in the Tennessee Education Summit held at the Nashville Public Library.  During the Symposium on the History and Culture of the Black Belt on April 21-22 Professor LeForge presented a paper entitled “Alabama’s Colored Conventions and the Exodus Movement” at the University of West Alabama.  Her paper will be published by the Livingston Press of the University of West Alabama as part of the Proceedings of the First West Alabama Black Belt Symposium.

Jim Kirk took two teams of students to the Programming Competition at the Mid-South Computing Conference at Ole Miss on April 1.  Union’s senior team placed 5^th in the competition out of 18 teams from universities from across the Mid-South.

Bill Nance was selected for inclusion in the following publications:  Marquis’ Who’s Who in America; Marquis’ Who’s Who in Finance and Business; and Marquis’ Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. 

Bryan Dawson and five students attended the 35^th Biennial Convention of Kappa Mu Epsilon (mathematics honor society) in Kerrville, TX April 14-16.  Union student Jennifer Ellis presented her paper, “Primes and Primality Testing:  A Technological/Historical Perspective.”  Bryan Dawson served on the nominating committee, and student Willie George served on the auditing committee.  Bryan Dawson’s four-year term as Southeast Regional Director ended at the convention.  Bryan was also recently refereed a paper for the College Mathematics Journal.

David Gushee led the faculty workshop at Biola University on the theme, “Kingdom-Based Community.”  He also has a new book out entitled, Only Human:  Christian Reflections on the Journey Toward Wholeness (Jossey Bass).  David was the featured speaker in September at a Lecture-Artist Series at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University, plus he lectured to honors students and senior colloquium students on the topics, “Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust,” and  “Kingdom Ethics.” 

May 2005

 Phillip Ryan conducted a workshop entitled “Teacher Exploration: Making Professional Development Meaningful,” and presented a paper entitled “The Chicano Experience in the US,” at the Tennessee Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TNTESOL) Annual Convention, April 2004. In addition, Phillip assisted in the implementation of the second annual workshop for teaching foreign language in the elementary school (FLES) with the Tennessee Foreign Language Teachers Association (TFLTA) at Belmont where he presented information on second language acquisition for young learners, July 30, 2004. Phillip also conducted a session entitled “Chicano Language, Culture, and Identity: A Brief Introduction,” at the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Southeast Regional Conference (SETESOL) in Nashville, TN., September 30-October 2, 2004. Finally, he conducted a session entitled “Making Connections Between Theory & Practice: Age & Language Learning,” at the Tennessee Foreign Language Teachers Association conference in Nashville, TN., November 4-6, 2004.

Kina Mallard and Michele Atkins co-authored an article, “Changing Cultures – Expanded Expectations: Motivational Factors Influencing Scholarship at Small Universities,” in the journal Christian Higher Education, 3^rd Volume, Issue 4.

Ken Newman and Ann Singleton presented, “Empowering Students to Think Deeply, Discuss Engagingly, and Write Definitively in the University Classroom,” at the national Lilly Conference hosted by Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Sean Evans presented his paper "The Moderation Hypothesis in Local Southern Elections" at the Southern Political Science Association, January 6-8, 2005 in New Orleans, LA. 

Jim Patterson’s article "Boundary Maintenance in Evangelical Christian Higher Education: A Case Study of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities," was published in Christian Higher Education 4 (January-March 2005): 41-56.

Melissa Moore’s article, “The Books of Our Youth:  Why Children’s Books Belong in a College Library,” has been published in the Fall 2004 issue of Florida Educational Leadership.

Terry Weaver, Dottie Myatt, Ken Newman, Julie Glosson, and Carrie Whaley presented at the Life Lines for Teachers, a collaboration among six institutions of higher education, to provide professional development to local P-12 teachers. 

Ken Newman presented “Six-Trait Writing Training,” a two-day workshop, for the faculty of Highland Park Intermediate School.  He also presented “TCAP Writing” and “Reading Strategies” for the faculty of West Middle School.

Terry Blakley and Mary Anne Poe led a workshop in Capetown, South Africa in January on Transformational Group Work:  The Blessing Group Experience” at St. John’s Parish.

Naomi Larsen presented a workshop on February 4 to the Tennessee Baptist Association of Therapists, entitled “Suicide Survivor Grief and Christian Therapeutic Response.”

Gene Fant had two essays in the Baptist Press: “How To Read The Da Vinci Code” (which also ran in the TN Baptist & Reflector and the MO Baptist Word & Way) and “’You Teach Them,’ She Said, at Nazi Camp.”  He also reviewed Haven Kimmel’s novel The Solace of Leaving Early for the January meeting of the Friends of the Jackson-Madison County Public Library, taught the entire class of 2006 at Liberty Tech Magnet High School in Jackson a review of the TCAP Writing Assessment, and judged the student essays for the Jackson Rotary Club’s centenary scholarship competition.  He also has been nominated for inclusion in the 2005 editions of Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who Among American Teachers.

Patricia Hamilton and Pam Sutton have been nominated for the 2005 edition of Who’s Who Among American Teachers.

Bobby Rogers has had three poems accepted for publication in Image: the Journal of the Arts and Religion, The Literary Review, and Epoch.

Ray Van Neste’s article, “The Glaring Inadequacy of the ETS Doctrinal Statement,” recently appeared in The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 8:3 (Winter 2004): 74-81.

Kyle Hathcox and David Ward presented a paper, "Active Learning Using Audience Response Systems," at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Science Teachers Association in Franklin, TN.

Kevin Cooney and a British colleague have recently been publishing a monthly political analysis of American and European Affairs for the Japanese Institute for Global Communications (GLOCOM). The GLOCOM platform is directed at academics and policy makers within Japan and greater east Asia and is widely read.  The articles are often translated into Japanese and published in their Global Communications newsletter.  His recent articles are as follows:  #123:  New Bush II Administration: New Dawn for EU Relations and a Democratic Iraq; #118:  Iraq Elections Vital to Bush's World Vision; and #115:  Can the US and the EU Cooperate over Iraq?  The full text can be found at  http://www.glocom.org/special_topics/

Jan Wilms, Stephanie Edge, Jim Kirk, and Haifei Li attended the 3rd CCSC Mid-South Conference April 1-2 at Ole Miss. Jan Wilms gave a tutorial entitled “QuizMaster:  A Software-based Student Response System," and chaired over the systems paper session.

Keith Absher’s article (co-authored with Bruce Gordon and Tommie Singleton), “The Implementation of Corporate Internet Sites for Real Estate Brokerage Firms:  An Empirical Study in Alabama,” appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of Journal of Business, Industry and Economics. 

Roland Porter, Keith Absher, Don Christensen, Darin White, Joe Harrison and Scott Lawyer presented papers at the Alabama Academic of Science Eighty-second Annual Meeting at Birmingham Southern College.  Roland Porter presented “The intersection of rotating work shifts and family quality of life;” Keith Absher, Don Christensen, and Roland Porter presented “Super retailers:  The good, the bad, and the ugly;” Darin White presented “The impact of environmental forces on franchiser’s choice of persuasive strategy;” and Keith Absher, Joe Harrison and Scott Lawyer presented “Schools of business:  2005 and beyond.”

Chris Blair presented “Digital Media Curriculum Development” at the International Digital Media and Arts Association Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida on March 18.   He also was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of IDMAA.

The “highway speeds” research of Bryan Dawson and Troy Riggs is discussed in the April 2005 issue of Discover Magazine (page 27). 

Phillip Ryan presented his dissertation research at the 26^th Annual Ethnography in Education Forum at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Urban Education, February 26^th. 

Carrie Whaley presented a paper, “Meeting Preservice and Preschool Standards through Emergent Curriculum,” at the Oxford Round Table hosted by Oxford University in Oxford, England.  Dr. Whaley also presented “Phonemic Awareness/Phonics” for the faculty at Whitehall Elementary School in Jackson, Tennessee.

Anna Clifford co-presented “Does Andrew Jackson Live Here? A Technology Collaboration Effort between Preservice Teachers and Third-grade Students” at the Association for Childhood Education International Conference in Washington, D.C.

Melessia Mathis and Dottie Myatt presented “Life Lines for Educators” at the National Field Directors’ Forum in Chicago, Illinois.

Ralph Leverett presented “Team Approach to Case Management of Young Deaf Children” at the Mid-South Conference on Communicative Disorders.

Rosetta Mayfield presented “The Third Grade Reading Academy” to West Tennessee Teachers.

Nancy Easley presented “Teachers as Inventors” to the faculty of Stafford Elementary School in Memphis, Tennessee.

Ann Singleton presented “No Child Left Behind in Mathematics” to the faculty of Haywood Elementary School in Brownsville, Tennessee.

Kyle Hathcox recently served as a judge for the state of Tennessee in the National Energy Education Development Project.  The Tennessee state winners receive a trip to Washington to compete at the national level.

David Austill and Dr. Mehmet Kockakulah co-authored a research paper entitled, “Product Development and Cost Management Using Target Costing:  A Discussion and Case Analysis.”  This paper was presented at the American Accounting Association Midwest Regional Meeting at St. Louis on April 9.

Kevin Cooney presented a paper, entitled “Alternative Visions of Japanese Security:  The Role of Absolute and Relative Gains in the making of Japanese Security Policy,” at the International Studies Association’s Annual Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, on March 2.  He also chaired a panel on Future Studies on March 4.  In addition to this, he published a short piece for the Japanese Center for Global Communications on the life, legacy, and impact of Pope John Paul II on world affairs. 

Keith Bates, Stephen Carls, Judy LeForge, and Terry Lindley attended the Kentucky Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference at Murray State University on April 2.  Stephen served as a panel moderator/commentator. 

George Guthrie, who is on research leave this semester, served as a Senior Visiting Research Fellow in the Institute for Early Christianity in the Graeco-Roman World, Tyndale House in Cambridge, England, January 12 through April 8.  While there he did foundational research for a commentary on 2 Corinthians, finished several journal articles for publication, and presented a paper entitled "Echoes and Interpretation in Hebrews," to the New Testament Seminar, University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, Scotland.  He also recently published a review of "The Book Study Concordance of the Greek New Testament” in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society.

Barbara Perry has been selected as the recipient of the Outstanding Student Award in the Department of Leadership, College of Education at the University of Memphis. 

Mary Anne Poe published a case study in a book coming out in July, Decision Cases for Advanced Social Work Practice, published by Thomson-Brooks/Cole.

James Patterson, Randall Bush, Nancy Easley, Walton Padelford and student Adam Winters attended the “Faith and Reason in the Academy” Conference on April 22.  Randall presented “Sir Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes:  Science, Politics, and the New Atlantis;” James presented “The J.R. Graves Synthesis:  American Individualism and Landmarkist Ecclesiology;: and Nancy Easley presented “How Does Faith Influence Public Educational Practice in Today’s Pluralistic Society?”

Debbie Newell has been appointed for the twentieth consecutive year to serve on the Professional Development committee of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Kyle Hathcox and David Ward recently had a manuscript accepted for the national publication of the American Association of Physics Teachers, The Physics Teacher. Their article, "The Hammer Falls: A Fresh Look at the Pile Driver," provides teachers with instructions for constructing an experimental pile driver and illustrates several experiments that can be conducted with it.

2004 Faculty News

2003 Faculty News

2002 Faculty News

2001 Faculty News

2000 Faculty News