Tue Feb 18
The journal Rhetoric of Health & Medicine is one of two journals awarded the 2019 Best New Journal by the Council of Editors of Learned Journals. Founded and co-edited by Dr. Lisa Melonçon and Writing and Rhetoric Professor Blake Scott, the journal seeks to bring together humanities and social scientific research traditions to allow scholars…
Wed Feb 12
Positive Parenting Fables, the animated short films with a modern twist on the classic fable, have won several awards from the Southern Shorts Awards. The short, which comprises a series of seven brief fables, is the result of a collaboration funded by the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Arts & Wellness Innovation Awards. This grant awards two…
Mon Feb 10
The film industry in Florida — the only state in the southeast that doesn’t provide incentives for filmmakers — soon may be back on the upswing, thanks to new proposed legislation that may resume a tax-incentive program that ended four years ago. In anticipation of that day, UCF in collaboration with the Love Your Shorts…
Thu Feb 6
Contemporary American painter Will Cotton will be at UCF on February 26 to give a lecture and a Q&A session. Cotton is known for his photo-realist depictions of landscapes as sugary confections, as seen in Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album packaging and California Gurls music video. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the…
Thu Feb 6
Accelerated B.A./M.A. History student Andrew Kishuni is working on an honors in the major thesis on flu pandemics. His guest column in the Orlando Sentinel, “Coronavirus an example of societal impact on epidemics,” discusses the current Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in the long history of pandemics and utilizes the research his has done on his thesis…
Wed Feb 5
“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history,” wrote Carter G. Woodson, who’s known as the father of black history. In 1926, Woodson created Negro History Week, a predecessor of Black History Month. With its Africana Studies minor and several…
Tue Feb 4
UCF alum Mike Diaz ’06 ’10MFA was selected from a pool of more than 1,500 applicants to be one of only six to participate in the esteemed CBS 2019-2020 Writers Mentoring Program. The eight-month mentoring program pairs writers with CBS executive mentors. The mentors then help the writers develop a new piece of material. “I…
Mon Feb 3
Six alumni, three current students and one faculty member from the School of Visual Arts and Design are finalists for the 2020 ArtFields competition. The eight candidates are in the running for a variety of awards totaling over $145,000 in prize money during the April 24-May 2, 2020 art competition and festival in Lake City,…
Mon Feb 3
Orlando Sentinel arts writer Matt Palm profiled retiring studio art professor Walter Gaudnek. “After 50 years of teaching at the University of Central Florida, artist Walter Gaudnek will close the door on the classroom this spring. “I used to say they would have to carry me out,” he said. “But then I realized no, no,…
Tue Jan 28
UCF has been helping educate Florida’s prisoners since 2017 through a small program that has just received a financial boost to make some of its classes available online to people in prison, thus expanding its impact. “We are honored and overjoyed to receive funding from the Laughing Gull Foundation, a major supporter of higher education…
Tue Jan 28
Department of English faculty member Micah Dean Hicks has been named a 2020 NEA Creative Writing fellow, joining the likes of Anthony Doerr, Louise Erdrich, Tyehimba Jess, Jennifer Egan and English alumnus Jaroslav KalfaÅ â11. Hicks gained critical acclaim with his second novel, Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones, in 2019. The National Endowment for…
Tue Jan 28
Zora Neale Hurston, African-American literature author, filmmaker, and anthropologist is celebrated annually at the ZORA! Festival. As Hurston grew up in Eatonville, she included the community as the setting for many of her stories in the early 20th century. Here are some key events from CAH to attend – students, faculty and staff can attend…
Mon Jan 27
For 15 years, MFA students in UCF’s Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) program have gained professional experience as working artists at Orlando REP. Now, this partnership is expanding to include undergraduate students in the B.A. Theatre Studies program. From participating in professional development workshops to working as teaching artist assistants in the classroom, students enrolled…
Fri Jan 24
Two concurrent exhibits—one at UCF and one at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in Tampa—use photographs to explore themes of black community, friendship and resilience in the face of systemic violence and discrimination. The first exhibit, “Zora Neale Hurston’s âNative Village’: Historic Eatonville Remembered,” hosted on the first-floor gallery wall in UCF’s John C.…
Thu Jan 23
The 31st ACM Hypertext conference is coming to UCF in July 2020. Co-chaired by UCF faculty member Anastasia Salter and John Barber of University of Washington, Vancouver, the conference invites research on all aspects of the modern web. Topics include hypertext theory, social media, interactive narrative, hypermedia systems and applications. Last year’s conference, hosted in…
Wed Jan 22
It’s a “whole new world” for Cornelius Davis â13, returning to Orlando this month on the national Broadway tour of Disney’s Aladdin. The show opens January 22 at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, and some of the cast members are staging a benefit, “Songs From a Whole New World,” on Monday, Jan. 27.…
Tue Jan 21
Cyrus Zargar is the Endowed Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor in Islamic Studies, who is currently teaching Medieval Philosophy. The Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professorship was created from the donations of hundreds of members from Central Florida’s Islamic community, with the intent of promoting the understanding and appreciation of Islam and Muslim communities. These funds enabled Zargar to advance…
Fri Jan 17
Three students recently received scholarships from the Africana Studies program for the Fall 2019 and/or Spring 2020 semesters. Rachel Mungovan (pictured), received the UCF Africana Studies and Business Services Dining Stipend for Fall 2019-Spring 2020. The stipend is an all-access/seven-day dining meal plan stipend for the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters, valued at $3,960.…
Fri Jan 17
From conducting the University Chorus and Madrigal Singers to coaching private composition students, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, Dr. David Brunner, has impacted countless students throughout his 31 years at UCF. Recently, he was distinguished as the College Music Educator of the Year by the Florida Music Educators Association. Previously, Brunner was…
Fri Jan 10
The sixth annual UCF Celebrates the Arts returns to the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts April 7 – 19. The 10-day art event features work from UCF students, staff and faculty from the School of Visual Arts and Design, School of Performing Arts and Nicholson School of Communication and Media, as well as collaborations…