USCB Psychology Students Take First Place at the South Carolina Psychological Association Quiz Bowl



The winning USCB Quiz Bowl Team

 Charleston, SC – University of South Carolina Beaufort psychology students took first place at the annual Quiz Bowl competition at the South Carolina Psychological Association’s 2011 Academic Day, held at the College of Charleston.

USCB bested eight other teams during the two-hour, seven round competition: Coker College, USC, Clemson University, College of Charleston, Newberry College, The Citadel, Furman University, and Lander University.

Second place went to Furman, and third place was awarded to College of Charleston.

The USCB team was coached by Assistant Professor, Brandon Cosley, Ph.D  with assistance from faculty member Linda Wilson, Ph.D.

USCB’s Department of Social Science Chair, Charles Spirrison, Ph.D is thrilled about the victory.  “These students are among our best and brightest.  I am very excited for them.  They have represented themselves, their classmates and professors, and USCB remarkably well.  It is a true pleasure to be associated with them and their educations.” 

USCB Quiz Bowl team members included: Justin Barber, Brittany Cheek, Jenny Dolin, Ian Evans, and Joely Tweel.   All of these students are also members of the USCB Psychology Club. Kate Torborg, Director of Student Life, was thrilled to hear of the student organization’s success. “I am unbelievably proud of this special group of students.”

According to Psychology Club Treasurer, Tweel, “We were like one mind to the power of five. I don't think that we could have won if we had been missing any one of our members. We knew each other well enough to have a sense of when to defer to each other.  It was a glorious example of social psych at its best.  And we had incredible coaches. We definitely could not have done so well without their tireless efforts.  Our success proves that we have as good of professors at USCB as you would find at any college anywhere.”

Dolin, Vice-President, concurred.  “All of us on the team kept talking about the differences between our school, USCB, and the other larger universities. We decided that we had an edge over the other schools, like Clemson and USC, because we all knew each other and were comfortable.  We know our professors and they know us. It's  a different dynamic that you cannot find at a bigger university, a  place where you might just be a number. At USCB, it's the complete  opposite. Professors know you and are interested in your life and  invest in your future. It's wonderful. And that's the reason why we did  so well yesterday. Our preparation was impeccable and it was entirely  a team effort, one that I'm proud to have been a part of.”

Assistant Psychology Professor, Jennifer Beaudry, Ph.D celebrated the win with her students.  “The entire team is a shining example of dedication, intelligence, and teamwork. Not only do they make the psychology program proud, but all of USCB.” 

About South Carolina Psychological Association Academic Day
Over the past 17 years, South Carolina Psychologi­cal Association has hosted hundreds of students, professors, and other psychology professionals and leaders at their Academic Day events.  The 2011 Academic Day included well known and recognized speakers, and breakout sessions for both students and profes­sionals. For more information, please contact Rachel at 803.252.7128.

MEDIA CONTACT:                                                                                                              

Candace Brasseur
USCB Public Information Director
843-208-8030 
brasse@uscb.edu

Five USCB students to participate in Hemingway Symposium

Dr. Carl Eby, Meredith Holmes, Patti Robinson, Ashley Waisanen,Stefny, Ankney, and Jordan Dallas 

Columbia, SC – On November 11,  five students from the University of South Carolina Beaufort will participate in a daylong event, entitled A Symposium Celebrating Ten Years of The Speiser & Easterling-Hallman Collection of Ernest Hemingway.  This event will take place at the University of South Carolina and is sponsored by the Irvin Department of Rare Books & Special Collections and the Hollings Special Collections Library.

The event will consist of seminar-style research presentations by undergraduate students from USCB, Coastal Carolina University, Columbia College, USC-Columbia, and Erskine College.  Each participant will present an original work of research on some aspect of Ernest Hemingway’s literary career.

The main public program is scheduled to take place at 3:30 p.m. and will feature two distinguished speakers on Hemingway.  This event will be followed by a reception and exhibition opening.

This event was open to all undergraduate students in both the University of South Carolina system and any other college or university in the state of South Carolina.  The application process consisted of a written abstract reviewed by four judges and only a select few were invited to attend.  Many students applied from throughout the state, but only eleven were selected to present their research.

Chair of the English Department at USCB, Carl Eby, Ph.D., presented the students in his Hemingway class the opportunity to apply for this event at the beginning of this semester.  The USCB students chosen to present research by USC are all English majors: Meredith Holmes (senior), Ashley Waisanen (junior), Jordan Dallas (junior), Patti Robinson (senior) and Stefny Ankney (senior).

With regards to his students’ contributing to the event, Eby stated “These students are doing some very sophisticated scholarship, including work with unpublished manuscript material, and it is wonderful to have an event like this for them to present their work.”

For these students, participating in this event is a prestigious accomplishment.  The presentation of their individual research represents the culmination of their hard work.  Many of the participants from USCB plan to attend graduate school in the future.  Events like this showcase the scholarly commitment and dedication of the student-  definitely of great value to the majority of graduate schools.  

 
Drafted by:  Stefny Ankney, Social Media Intern

MEDIA CONTACT:

Candace Brasseur
USCB Public Information Director
843-208-8030
brasse@uscb.edu

USCB Center for the Arts presents the Nutcracker

USCB celebrates inaugural induction for International English Honor Society

Newly inducted ƩTΔ member, Alyse Bingham, accompanied by her mother, father, and sister

November 8, 2011

Bluffton, SC – On October 27^th University of South Carolina Beaufort celebrated the inaugural induction of twenty English majors into Sigma Tau Delta (ƩTΔ), the International English Honor Society.  The local chapter, Alpha Sigma Sigma (ΑΣΣ) is sponsored by Assistant Professor, Dr. Lauren Hoffer.

As an honor society, ƩTΔ has strict qualifications for membership.  The students who were inducted each have a 3.0 GPA or higher, completed 3 semesters of college coursework and rank in the top 35% of their class.

Hoffer has been employed with USCB for just over a year.  She started at USCB as a Visiting Assistant Professor and was hired as a permanent faculty member in the spring semester of 2011.  Her first goal at USCB was to establish ƩTΔ. 

Hoffer stated “I had such wonderful personal and professional experiences as a member of Sigma Tau Delta during my own undergraduate career that I was very eager to make the same opportunities available to students here at USCB.  Members of ƩTΔ are able to participate in the promotion of literary interests at the campus, community, and international levels and also have many outlets to present their own work and gain professional experience.  I couldn’t be more pleased with the amazing group of founding members we’ve just inducted.”

USCB English Department Faculty and newly inducted ƩTΔ member, Kate Brown

The Induction Ceremony for ƩTΔ was facilitated by Hoffer, English Department Chair Carl Eby, Assistant Professor of English Robert Kilgore and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Harvey Varnet. 

After the ceremony, ƩTΔ members held their first election.  ƩTΔ’s founding officers are as follows:  President Ashley Williams, Vice-President Mercedes McClam, Secretary Patti Robinson, Treasurer Dave Helmer, Historian Samantha Phillips, and Public Relations Officer Stefny Ankney.

"I'm both excited and honored to be USCB's first ƩTΔ President. Literacy is something that too often people take for granted, and I'm happy to be a part of something where we get to share our joy of reading with the community, and to remind people how lucky we are to have the ability” Williams said.  “Our group is wonderful; I know we will set the bar high for future members."

One of the goals for ƩTΔ, both internationally and locally, is to promote literacy.  “The USCB chapter of ƩTΔ will become active community members by promoting literacy in the area,” stated Robinson.  “We have several ideas that we are currently working on, and plan to put them in motion as soon as possible.”

 Drafted by:  Stefny Ankney, USCB Social Media Intern and ƩTΔ Public Relations Officer

 About Sigma Tau Delta

Sigma Tau Delta is the International English Honor Society. A member of the Association of College Honor Societies, it was founded in 1924 at Dakota Wesleyan University.  With nearly 800 active chapters located in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean, there are more than 1,000 Faculty Sponsors, and approximately 8,500 members inducted annually.  Sigma Tau Delta is by far the largest—and most active—honors organization in the field.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Candace Brasseur
USCB Public Information Director
843-208-8030
brasse@uscb.edu

USCB Hosts Roundtable discussion on Biblical History



Dr. Carl Eby, Chair of the English Department of USCB







Students viewing the exhibition for the 400^th anniversary of the King James Bible after the discussion.





 

Bluffton, SC – On October 24^th the University of South Carolina Beaufort  hosted a roundtable discussion entitled The King James Bible in Context:  Art, Language, & Literature, focused on the history of the King James Bible.  This discussion, which was open to USCB students and the public, was inspired by The English Bible:  An exhibition for the 400^th anniversary of the King James Bible, which is currently on display in the USCB Library.

The discussion about the history of the King James Bible was facilitated by the Chair of the English Department, Carl Eby PhD, Professor of English, Robert Kilgore PhD, and Professor of Art History, Lisa Victoria Ciresi PhD.

Eby started the discussion by asking, “Why are we celebrating the 400^th anniversary of this book?” since few other books receive this sort of recognition.  “We celebrate the anniversary of this book,” he answered, “because the language of the King James Bible is woven into the fabric of our daily speech.”

The King James Bible was translated into English during the same era when William Shakespeare was writing his famous plays.  Eby explained that one of the reasons the Bible is so much easier than Shakespeare to understand is that “the Bible has an 8000 word vocabulary and was written to be understood by the masses, whereas there are 34,000 different words in Shakespeare’s works.”

Kilgore stated that it is important to know “how we read or understand the bible.”  In the past, the bible was not meant to be read straight through, cover to cover.  Different passages reference other passages in the text. “Early modern readers of the Bible often read in these cross-referencing kinds of ways, and this method of reading in some ways resembles what people do today with the Internet” explained Kilgore.

“There is a long and rich history of illustrating the bible” said Dr. Lisa Victoria Ciresi.  Ciresi discussed some of the prints included in the 1611 King James Bible, noting that the images, motifs, and symbolism hark back to earlier traditions, and although their significance eludes many of us today, the images are based on scripture from both the Old and New Testaments and would have been more familiar to the audience back then.

Drafted by:  Stefny Ankney, Social Media Intern

MEDIA CONTACT:                                                                                                              

Candace Brasseur

USCB Public Information Director

843-208-8030 

brasse@uscb.edu

USCB to kick off 2011 Festival Series

November 1, 2011

Beaufort, SC- On November 6^th the University of South Carolina Beaufort Festival Series will open for its 33^rd season, consisting of five concerts at the USCB Center for the Arts, running through April of 2012.  For the full schedule and exact dates please visit www.uscb.edu/festivalseries.  New and returning performers will be welcomed by Artistic Director and cellist, Edward Allen.

This season offers internationally renowned artists who will be performing works from a great variety of composers, such as Mozart, Beethoven, Boccherini, Richard Strauss, Schumann, Dvorak, Kreisler and many more.  Music will be performed by artists such as:  Violinists Jesse Mills, Kyung Sun Lee and Yehonatan Berick; pianists Jeewon Park, Gilles Vonsattel and Rieko Aizawa; soprano Hyunah Yu; and the Brooklyn Rider, string quartet.

The Brooklyn Rider quartet is scheduled to perform in February 2012.  This string quartet is well known for bringing a contemporary and fresh approach to their performances in chamber music.  National Public Radio states that they are “recreating the 300 – year old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21^st century ensamble.”

USCB Chamber Music Series is a not for profit program as ticket sales do not cover expenses.  The series depends on Friends of the Festival and donations.  Friends of the Festival will be hosting three receptions throughout the season. 

Doors at the November 6^th concert will be opening at 4:00pm, with the concert beginning at 5:00pm. Tickets start at $40 and can be purchased by calling Staci Breton at 208-8246.   Tickets can also be purchased at the door.

About USCB Festival Series

USCB Festival Series was founded in 1979 by USCB professor Mary Whisonant.  Over the years the USCB Festival Series has presented many world renowned artists.  In 1983, USCB Performing Arts Center opened and became the venue for these performances.  Harriet Keyserling assumed directorship after Professor Whisonant’s retirement.  Edward Arron is the current 2011 Series Artistic Director and Host.

Drafted by Stefny Ankney – USCB Social Media Intern

MEDIA CONTACT:                                                                                                              

Candace Brasseur

USCB Public Information Director

843-208-8030 

brasse@uscb.edu