Fall class registration for traditional program begins later this month

While spring is around the corner, registration for the fall 2017 semester is coming soon for the traditional program.

While students are enjoying spring break this week, they will find themselves busy once they return to campus with not just classes but some important events in the coming weeks.

Advising and registration for the fall 2017 semester in the traditional program will begin later this month. Registration for juniors and seniors is scheduled for the week of March 20-24. The following week, March 27-31, will be registration for freshmen and sophomores.

In February, students were encouraged to participate in “The Registration Games,” a process that allowed them to check with the Business Office, Office of Financial Aid and the Registrar to make sure that they are ready to register for classes once registration begins. Students who participated in the “Registration Games” on Feb. 7 and 8 will received priority housing consideration. Those who completed the process after Feb. 8 will receive housing consideration on a first-come first-serve basis.

As part of the registration process, students are strongly encouraged to meet with their academic advisors to create a class schedule as well as visit the Business Office to make sure their are no holds on their account prior to submitting their registration form to the Registrar’s Office.

Registration is just the first of series of significant events on campus in the coming months. In April, students will recognized for their academic achievements during the annual Honors Convocation, which will be on Wednesday, April 26.

Also on April 26, seniors will have the opportunity to participate in the Lantern Festival. This long-held Tusculum College tradition allows seniors to chose an underclassmen to whom to “pass their light of leadership.” Seniors are also able to present a Lantern Award to professors who have had a significant impact on their Pioneer experience at Tusculum.

Spring commencement ceremonies will be on Saturday, May 6.

A note to parents from the President

 

 

Biology professor Melissa Keller teaches in one of the new classrooms inside the Meen Center for Science and Math.

 

On Monday, January 10, our first classes were held in the new Ronald H. and Verna June Meen Center for Science and Math. The opening of the Meen Center for Science and Math has created a strong sense of anticipation and excitement particularly for the students, faculty and staff who are the first to experience this 100,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility. Returning students couldn’t wait to see the new building and faculty began settling into their new spaces a week earlier. This is just the beginning.

The Meen Center for Science and Math is a four-story structure of approximately 100,000 square feet. Interiors include wings for biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, environmental science, and nursing, both BSN and MSN programs. There are laboratory spaces and research areas for both faculty and students. The ground floor features the environmental science wing with a loading dock, as well as large general classroom spaces and classrooms equipped for distance learning programs. A large lecture hall is included on the ground floor.

Tusculum has a reputation for producing science graduates that have gone on to great success within their respective fields. Now, with the completion of the Ronald H. and Verna June Meen Center for Science and Mathematics, we expect enrollment in these programs to expand.

The Meen Center will impact students in the areas of math, science, computer science, biology, chemistry, environmental science and nursing for generations to come. This is an extremely historic event for an institution founded in 1794 by two Presbyterian ministers, who had the desire and foresight to bring education and religion to the area south of the Ohio River.  Verna June and Ron Meen’s legacy will live in perpetuity through the lives of the countless number of people who pass through these doors, graduate and serve communities throughout the United States and the world.

Nancy B. Moody, PhD

President

 

While there was snow on the ground in the first week that the Meen Center was open, trees are beginning to bloom now and landscaping around the new facility will get underway as the weather continues to improve.

 

 

The Malpass Brothers to bring their traditional country sound to the stage March 16 at Tusculum

The Malpass Brothers will bring their brand of traditional country music to the stage at Tusculum College on Thursday, March 16. The performance will begin at 7 p.m. in the Annie Hogan Byrd Auditorium on campus. (Photos © Chris Charles)

Traditional country music up-and-comers, the Malpass Brothers, will bring their unique sound to the stage at Tusculum College on Thursday, March 16.

The siblings and their band will perform at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building on the Tusculum campus. The concert is part of Tusculum Arts Outreach’s Acts, Arts, Academia 2016-17 performance and lecture series.

“These guys just don’t just sound retro, they are retro,” has been said of the Malpass Brothers, and it is an apt description of siblings Christopher and Taylor.  As youngsters, the brothers soaked up the music of their grandfather’s record collection, and today they promote the music of the classic country artists they treasure while writing new songs and making their own mark in the lineage of a rich American cultural heritage.

With sincerity, honesty and an utter ease on stage beyond their years, the brothers’ smooth vocal blend and talented musicianship reflect their respect of the legends who have paved the way, such as the Louvin Brothers, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins and Hank Williams, Sr. Add some good-humored quips between the siblings, and the Malpass Brothers take their audiences on a fun and engaging time-traveling musical journey.

“My brother Taylor and I do the type of music we do because this music speaks to us, and speaks to the souls of its listeners,” says Christopher Malpass. “For us, traditional country music is the ‘real deal’ – every song portrays life’s joys, heartaches, problems and happiness. It comes from the heart, and has depth and truth. Nothing is sugar coated. Our goal, really, is to see this music be revived, to help ensure it doesn’t fade away. It is so encouraging to have young people come to our shows with a new interest in our ‘old music.’ Being able to introduce what we love to another generation feels like a great accomplishment for us. We want this music to be around for our children’s children.”

The Malpass Brothers have toured with the late Don Helms, who was the former steel guitarist for Hank Williams. The siblings opened for the legendary Merle Haggard on multiple tours and appeared on stages from the Ryman Auditorium to Merlefest to “Larry’s Country Diner” television program.

Their video for “Memory That Bad” made CMT Pure Country’s Top Ten, and their most recent recording, the self-titled “Malpass Brothers” was produced by bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson. The brothers are also the focus of a film now in production showcasing a performance and their lives in their hometown of Goldsboro, N.C.

Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors 60 and over and $5 for children 12 years of age and under. For more information or to reserve tickets, please call 423-798-1620 or email jhollowell@tusculum.edu.

 

 

Early Christian oral transmission of gospel stories focus of concluding session of Theologian lecture series

Dr. Travis Williams

The oral transmission of stories about Jesus by early Christians was explored in the final session of the Theologian-in-Residence lecture series at Tusculum College on Tuesday.

Each Tuesday during February, Dr. Travis Williams, associate professor of religion at Tusculum College, has led an exploration of “Jesus in Early Christian Memory: Remember, Reconstructing and Rehearsing the Past.” The college sponsors the lecture series with support from Ron Smith.

As he began his lecture, Dr. Williams noted that the amount of change that may have taken place in the oral transmission of the words and deeds of Jesus among the early Christians prior to the written gospel accounts is a core point of contention between the apologists and critics of the Biblical text.

Critics point to the distortion that occurs as information is passed along human channels. The critics perception of the transmission process can be described as a chain, he continued, and they say that because each link in the Jesus tradition is connected to and dependent on the preceding links, any link that becomes distorted then the remainder are irreparably affected.

However, Dr. Williams said, a problem with this position is that oral tradition encompasses more than just an individual-to-individual sharing of information.

Scholar Rafael Rodriguez has been a leading proponent of a different understanding of oral tradition, proposing that oral tradition involves multiple lines of transmission, he continued.

Dr. Williams noted that the letters of the apostle Paul include evidence of the circulation of the oral Jesus tradition within early Christian communities. Paul makes reference to speaking to the apostles who were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life in his letters, he explained, as well as his own passing of “what he had received” to the early churches as well as mentioning other traveling Christians who visited the churches.

Instead of a chain as the critics envision the oral transmission, it can be pictured as more like a net with multiple lines of transmission through a number of individuals that provide for self-correction, Dr. Williams said.

Another problem with the view of an individual-to-individual transmission of the stories, Dr. Williams said, is that it does not take into account the multiple ways that the stories of Jesus were shared.           The actions and teachings of Jesus became part of the oral tradition that was frequently recited within the community through storytelling and performance.

In contrast to the critics, the apologists of the gospels say that the stories were not changed significantly through oral transmission, Dr. Williams said. The apologists point to the importance the oral tradition played in the social identity of the early Christians and because of that they would have taken special care to preserve the accuracy of the Jesus stories.

One Jesus scholar, Birger Gerhardsson, theorized that the oral transmission of the Jesus tradition was similar to the way sacred tradition was preserved among Jewish rabbinic disciples in that Jesus would have had his followers to memorize his teachings.

However, a major issue with this memorization theory is the large number of variations in the parallel portions of the gospels, which point against the exact memorization of Jesus’ teachings by his disciples, Dr. Williams continued.

In looking at how the Jesus stories were transmitted, Dr. Williams said, the gospels cannot be approached as just written texts detached from the oral tradition from which they were dependent and out of which context they were derived.

“If we think about the roots of the gospel, the oral tradition is all the different ways the stories, the life and reputation of Jesus were transmitted, all the ways the stories of Jesus were committed and preserved in the collective memory of his later followers,” Dr. Williams said.

In addition to the verbal telling of the stories and performances, he continued, the early Christians preserved the life and influence of Jesus through rituals such as the Lord’s Supper, ceremonies such as baptism, bodily practices such as fasting and prayer and calendar observance (Sunday as the Lord’s Day).

The written gospels draw from and repeat words, concepts and stories that were part of the oral tradition, which still presenting them in unique ways for their specific audiences, Dr. Williams said.

“The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John present different pictures of Jesus,” he said. “They are one-time actualizations of the story of Jesus. If the authors had a different audience, they might tell it again differently.”

“When the gospel authors wrote down the accounts, they used the language, concepts and stories that form part of the larger tradition context,” he also said. “Modern Christians have no access to the vast majority of this ancient Jesus tradition, which circulated within the early church.”

The differences found and even the existence of multiple gospels show that there was great variation in how the story of Jesus could be told, Dr. Williams said. The earliest Christians treated the story of Jesus as happening in the past, but malleable and inspiring enough to address and be shaped by the changing circumstances, which the early church experienced, he added.

While the written gospels were originally understood as expressions of the larger  Jesus tradition, that tradition faded over time and these four expressions came to viewed as the totality of the tradition, he said.

However, the change to the written form was needed to help preserve the tradition, Dr. Williams said, noting the work of German scholars Jan and Adelia Assman who developed a theory that a collective memory of the past cannot survive across generational divides without a change in the media in which it is preserved and transmitted, he said.

In summary, Dr. Williams said that the memory and transmission of the Jesus tradition had five important ingredients. First, he said, memories of the words and deeds of Jesus were formed throughout his ministry by those who were eyewitnesses, which include some distortion caused by the memory process and social environment influences.

Secondly, the life of Jesus was memorialized in by his followers in a variety of ways (oral performances, rituals, ceremonies, etc.), he continued, and then was transmitted by Christian missionaries around the ancient world, a process which helped offset some of the deficiencies of memory while still allowing for change and adaptation.

Fourthly, the Jesus story was adapted to fit new and evolving circumstances of early Christian communities as time passed and situations changed, he said. And lastly, different expressions of the larger Jesus tradition were written down in an attempt to transform the communicative memory into a more durable form.

“The memories of Jesus were formed by eyewitnesses but influenced by communities,” he said. “They were grounded in the past but reconstructed in the present, stable through the repetition but malleable from social change and representative of tradition but reflecting singular performance.”

Tusculum President Dr. Nancy Moody announces retirement

Dr. Nancy B. Moody, the first female to serve as president of Tusculum College, will retire at the end of 2017.

Dr. Moody submitted her letter of intent to the Tusculum Board of Trustees during their February meeting. She will continue to serve until December 31. She has served as president of Tusculum College since 2009.

Dr. Kenneth A. Bowman, chair of the board and 1970 alumnus of the college, said that a presidential search committee is being formed and will be chaired by Dr. Greg Nelson, a Tusculum College trustee. The Board will also be interviewing search firms for possible use in the search for a new president.

In her letter, Dr. Moody stated, “I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve as the 27th president, and first female president, of this historic institution. In the last 7.5 years, the most memorable events for me have been the relationships that I have had the good fortune of developing with students, the Board of Trustees, alumni, members of the local community, faculty and staff, and particularly with donors, most notably Verna June Meen.

“Verna June came to love Tusculum and her interactions at events with members of the Board and others.  She expressed on more than one occasion, how proud she was to have provided support to Tusculum College for the Meen Center for Science and Math and for two endowments, one to fund scholarships and one to fund an endowed professorship in Chemistry.”

Dr. Bowman said, “It was eight years ago that Dr. Moody began the interview process for the presidency at Tusculum College.  During her tenure, she has led the college into a new era of growth and expansion, in terms of bricks and mortar, academic programs and fiscal responsibility.”

He added that one of the highlights of her term has been the construction of the Meen Center, the larger of the two academic building constructed in approximately 50 years on the Tusculum campus. The Thomas G. Garland Library renovation was the first in 2008. Dr. Moody shepherded the state-of-the-art 100,000-square foot Meen Center project every step of the way, from the initial approval to the funding and finally to overseeing the construction of this state-of-the-art facility which was occupied by students and faculty last month.

Dr. Nancy B. Moody

He added, since assuming the college presidency as the first female in Tusculum’s history to hold the position, Dr. Moody has faced several challenges.

“During her first full year at Tusculum College, we had a very successful review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Since that time, we have added new academic programs including criminal justice, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing, an MBA program, the first associate degree program with more academic programs slated to begin this fall including a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management, a bachelor’s degree in talent development and a Master of Accountancy degree, all of which have been or will be reviewed and approved by SACSCOC.  We have also added new athletic programs in men’s and women’s lacrosse, track and field and STUNT, which will begin this fall.”

He continued, “Dr. Moody has embraced the opportunity to encourage faculty, staff, students and volunteers to push Tusculum College forward through creative teaching and learning into the world of online programming for dual enrollment, distance education and fully online programs.”

She has secured a total of $49.8 million in Community Facilities direct loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the construction of the new science and math facility, as well as for the construction of two new apartment-style residence halls. The lower 40-year, fixed-rate interest rates on these loans significantly lowered what the college pays in debt service, making the new construction and renovation possible while also improving the college’s overall finances.

Dr. Moody also led the efforts that secured a $3.875 million gift for the naming of the Meen Center and two $1.5 million endowments to support faculty and students. She has successfully sought new gifts, donors and partnership in order to ensure the success of the new and existing programs. Working with donors, foundations and government agencies, she has encouraged the investment of millions of dollars into Tusculum College’s growth.

Dr. Bowman added that during her tenure, cash increased from $1.3 million to $3.7 million, long-term investments increased from $12.5 million to $27.7 million, capital assets increased from $58.9 million to $71.8 million and the college’s endowment increased from $14 million to $18.6 million.

The college’s Board of Trustees recognized Dr. Moody’s contributions to Tusculum by presenting her with the inaugural Founder’s Award in February 2013. The Founders’ Award, named in memory of Rev. Samuel Doak, Rev. Samuel Witherspoon Doak and Rev. Hezekiah Balch, is presented by the Tusculum College Board of Trustees to recognize those who with integrity, tenacity, commitment, ingenuity and drive have moved Tusculum College forward in serving its students, its community and the world at large.

Among other significant accomplishments, Dr. Moody was instrumental in obtaining a $264,000 grant from the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation for a simulation laboratory for use in the nursing and related programs by students and staff and area community partners. The simulation lab is used to produce highly-qualified BSN graduates skilled at clinical decision-making, who will provide safe, competent and improved health care for future generations of Tennesseans.

Partnerships with other institutions are at an all-time high. Tusculum College has arranged articulation and affiliation agreements with regional community colleges and professional schools to both increase enrollment in the bachelor’s degree programs and afford expedited graduate school opportunities for alumni of Tusculum College.

“She has engaged with alumni and friends of the College, encouraging their continued interest and support in the institution. She has reminded all of the Tusculum community what it means to be a Tusculum Pioneer,” said Dr. Bowman.

Prior to joining Tusculum College, Dr. Moody was president of Lincoln Memorial University for seven years.  Under her leadership, LMU’s enrollment increased by 90 percent.  The university also initiated the Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and expanded the Caylor School of Nursing to include a master of science in nursing degree program with family nurse practitioner and nurse anesthesia concentrations.  Other programs initiated under her leadership included a master’s degree program preparing physician’s assistants and a doctorate of education degree.

A registered nurse, Dr. Moody began her academic career as a nursing instructor for Lincoln Memorial University in 1974 and advanced to hold several academic leadership positions there – including dean of the School of Nursing and Allied Health.  associate professor and department chair in the College of Nursing at East Tennessee State University, as the executive director of the Tennessee Center for Nursing, as assistant professor of nursing in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Prior to joining Tusculum College, Dr. Moody was president of Lincoln Memorial University for seven years.  Under her leadership, LMU’s enrollment increased by 90 percent.  The university also initiated the Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and expanded the Caylor School of Nursing to include a master of science in nursing degree program with family nurse practitioner and nurse anesthesia concentrations.  Other programs initiated under her leadership included a master’s degree program preparing physician’s assistants and a doctorate of education degree.

She is the newly-elected chair of the Board of Trustees of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and has served as chair of the NCAA DII South Atlantic Conference, and an advisory board member for the Northeast Tennessee College and Career Readiness Consortium funded through an Investing in Innovation (i3) grant funded by the U. S. Department of Education and awarded to the Niswonger Foundation.

Dr. Moody received her associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in nursing from Eastern Kentucky University and earned a master of science in nursing from the Texas Women’s University Institute of Health Sciences-Houston Center in 1978.  She also received a doctorate in nursing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Nursing.

During her career, Dr. Moody has been recognized by all three of her alma maters, Eastern Kentucky University, Texas Woman’s University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, where she received the Chancellor’s Alumni Excellence Award.

She is married to Tom Moody, a self-employed public accountant. She and Tom are proud parents of two adult children, daughter, Mykel, and son, Adam.

 

 

Pioneer Fishing Club takes top spot in Southeastern tournament

The Tusculum College Fishing Club took first place in this weekend’s YETI FLW College Fishing Southeastern Conference event at Lake Guntersville.

Tusculum took the top spot with a slim 3-ounce margin over runner-up, the University of Georgia and in the process topped the largest field ever assembled for a college bass fishing tournament at 248 teams.

According to tournament officials, the new participation record eclipses the previous mark of 214 teams set last season at the Bassmaster College Series Southern Regional at Lake Martin. The previous FLW record was set and later matched in 2016 at the FLW College Fishing Open on Kentucky Lake in April and the Southeastern Conference qualifier at Lake Chickamauga in September.

For its win at Guntersville, the Tusculum team of Nick Hatfield, a senior business administration major from Greeneville, and Cory Neece, a junior environmental science major from Bristol, earned a spot in the 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship. The top 24 teams qualified for the championship from this event: the top 10 plus one additional team for every 10 teams over 100 that participated.

According to Neece, the keys to the team’s success were staying shallow around grass and accommodating for windy, post-frontal conditions.

“We found a lot of fish in practice, but the wind and the mud washed a lot of areas out because it was so bad out there today,” he says. “We had a couple of areas that were protected, and that’s where we caught our fish.”

He added. “You had to fish them real slow and had to pick the area apart to get them to bite, and really we were making multiple casts in the same spot. You know the fish are there. It’s just getting them to bite.”

As a result team being among the top 10 qualifiers in the tournament, the Fishing Club program received a donation of $2,000 from Fishing League Worldwide. The money will be put into the Tusculum Fishing Club program.

The Pioneer Fishing Club is sponsored by Dr. Jason Jones, assistant professor of physical education. Anyone interested in the club should email nickhatfield.nh@gmail.com.

 

Nick Hatfield and Corey Neece of Tusculum College

 

Vicary visits campus after doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology

Glen Vicary ’10 recently graduated with his doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Louisville. Pictured with him is Dr. Jesse Roman, Glen’s mentor during his graduate studies.

Dr. Glenn Vicary ’10 was back on campus in late January to visit with President Nancy B. Moody, Golf Coach Bob Dibble and Dr. Debra McGinn.

 

Vicary was in town visiting former classmates after recently completing his Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Louisville. Dr. Vicary also holds a master’s degree in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Louisville. He graduated from Tusculum with a Bachelor of Arts in biology and chemistry with a business focus.

 

He is a pulmonary remodeling disease scientist, pharmacologist and consultant trained in clinical research. While at Tusculum he was also a member of the successful men’s golf team. Dr. Vicary has been published in numerous scientific journals, including “Annals of American Thoracic Society,” “Respiratory Research,” “Thoracic Cancer” and “American Journal of Medical Sciences.” He has also presented at several conferences including the American Thoracic Society and Research!Louisville.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

’80s

Sam (Marie) Trapp ’81 of Nashville, TN, is teaching at Trevecca University as an adjunct professor. She is also teaching a First Communion class of second graders on Sunday and RCIC (Rite of Christian Initiation for Children) of second to fifth graders on Thursday at St. Stephen Catholic Community in Mount Juliet. Sam is also serving as a one-on-one mathematics tutor in Mount Juliet and Nashville schools.

 

’90s

Rodney “Chip” Walker, Jr. ’94 has been named to new head football coach at Newnan (Ga.) High School. Walker’s coaching resume’ is loaded with success as he compiled a 127-20-1 record including three state titles at Sandy Creek High School.

 

’00s

Stephanie Ryan Sessum ’03 has been named CEO of MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) Community Credit Union in Nashville, TN. Sessum has worked for the MPD Community Credit Union for nine years.

 

Leslie England ’09 has been promoted to senior vice president of retail banking at TnBank. A 15-year banking industry veteran, Leslie most recently served as vice president of retail banking and has been instrumental in increasing retail deposits at the financial institution. She joined TnBank  in 2013.

 

’10s

Tammy Combs ’12 has been named the new branch manager at the TVA Credit Union in Morristown, TN.

 

 

 

Kayla Marie (Jaynes) Hale ’10 and Philip Eugene Jennings, Jr. were married January 9, 2017, in Greeneville, TN.

 

 

 

 

Lois A. Teague ’41 of Greeneville, TN, passed away February 10, 2017. Ms. Teague taught in the Greene County and Greeneville school systems and worked for the Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C. She retired from The Austin Company in Greeneville. Ms. Teague was a member of Asbury United Methodist Church, where she was a member of the Susanna Wesley Sunday school class and the Bobbie Pierce Study Group. Her survivors include brother and Tusculum alumnus Dr. Dale A Teague ’51.

 

William “Bill” H. Hurst ’65 of Blountville, TN, passed away February 13, 2017. After graduating from Tusculum, Mr. Hurst went to work for Inter-Mountain Telephone in Greeneville. He retired in 2004 from Embarq after 40 years of service in the telecommunications industry. One of his favorite activities each year was making Christmas gifts for all the employees of the phone company. He also looked forward to his monthly luncheon with his former employees, “The Faithful Few.” Mr. Hurst and his family had resided on Boone Lake since 1985, and he was known for his love for his neighbors and his willingness to help them if a need arose.  He was an avid woodworker.

 

Robert J. Berryhill ’70 of Mosheim, TN, passed away January 31, 2017. Mr. Berryhill was retired from BASF and C-E Minerals. He was a member of St. Paul Presbyterian Church. Mr. Berryhill was an avid antique collector and part-time operator of Bank & Ellison Antique. He was also a history buff, enjoyed reading history books, loved flowers and dogs and looked forward to trips to flea markets.

Discussion continues about a new approach to the academic study of Jesus’ life during lecture series

The discussion of a new approach to the academic study of the gospels continued during the third session of the Theologian-in-Residence lecture series at Tusculum College, which is being led by Dr. Travis Williams.

Exploration of a different approach to the academic study of the life of Jesus continued on Tuesday during the third session of the Theologian-in-Residence lecture series at Tusculum College.

The topic of this year’s series is “Jesus in Early Christian Memory: Remember, Reconstructing and Rehearsing the Past.” Dr. Travis Williams, associate professor of religion at Tusculum, is the featured speaker of the series, which is sponsored by the college with support from Ron Smith.

In the second session of the series, Dr. Williams had introduced an approach to the scholarly study of Jesus’ life that incorporates recent research on memory and a variety of academic disciplines. As a historian, he said, studying the Bible through the lens of such disciplines as sociology and literature is not an attempt to downplay the text, but rather an effort to ascribe value to the Scriptures.

“As a valuable book, we want to bring all the approaches we can to study it,” he said. “We want to bring these disciplines to bear on the text to better understand it because it is important.” Theologians can then take this academic research and determine what it means on a spiritual level, he added.

This approach using a variety of academic disciplines and memory research is in contrast to the approach that has been used by a majority of scholars in their study of the gospels, which has sought to discover the “historic Jesus” by trying to peel away layers of interpretation and tradition to find the factual Jesus.

Building on his previous presentation that noted recent research into the memory process, Dr. Williams explored other aspects of memory that have been the subject of recent academic study – the impact of social environment on memory and eyewitness testimony.

As recent research has found, when an individual remembers an experience or event, it is not the process of retrieving the memory as from a filing cabinet as was previously thought, he noted, but the brain reconstructs the memory from various areas of the brain and this reconstruction is distorted by nature as it is influenced by a person’s current circumstances

In addition to being influenced by the present, an individual’s memories are influenced by his or her social group and environment. The trailblazer in research into the social dimension of memory was French scholar Maurice Halbwachs, who theorized that people’s recollections of the past are based on social environment. These include a person’s current circumstances, group affiliations, cultural environment and prior traditions.

Dr. Williams also discussed eyewitness testimony and recent research that has found people’s recollections can be malleable, influenced by such things as an individual’s bias or the passage of time.

Most scholars do not believe that the gospels were written by eyewitnesses or those who may have heard stories first-hand from eyewitnesses. “Historians look at plausibility in history,” he said, “and most scholars agree that the gospel authors most likely were not eyewitnesses, but this does not mean that the gospels are not based on eyewitness testimony.”

Looking through the perspective of social memory can bring a better understanding of Jesus by looking at how the circumstances of the later Christians who preserved the Jesus tradition may have impacted which memories were preserved and how he was remembered, Dr. Williams continued.

Reconstruction of memories does have constraints, he said, as the present does have an influence by memory is rooted in the past.

While historians cannot recreate the past or test it like a scientist, they can look at the imprint of the past, what is plausible, as they study the gospels, he noted, adding that is why historians are cautious in saying what they think Jesus is like.

The first step in this process would be to look at the circumstances of those who were transmitting the memories, look at how the memory process itself could have affected the recollections and then study the social context of those individual and how that could affect their perception of what they saw.

For example, he said, the question of the literacy of Jesus is a topic of debate. While some have debated this on theological grounds, others have debated the answer looking at historic evidence.

In looking at the context of the time, recent research has found that literacy was rare in the Palestine region during the time of Jesus (around three percent of the population), he said, and early Christianity was criticized for its uneducated leaders.

The memory process allows both representations of Jesus as either literate or illiterate to occur, Dr. Williams continued.  “In both cases, we have to explain the evidence as best we can,” he said. “The memory approach is an attempt to value the gospels. Instead of treating the stories found in the gospels as reciprocal parts of the real Jesus, the memory approach says all text is valuable. It is grounded in explaining sources instead of choosing between them for authenticity. What did the historical Jesus have to do to get them to remember him this way?”

In the concluding session of the series on Tuesday, Feb. 28, Dr. Williams’ focus will be the transmission of oral tradition within early Christian communities with particular attention given to the malleability and persistence of the Jesus tradition as it passed between people. The lecture will begin at 10 a.m. in the Chalmers Conference Center in the Niswonger Commons on the Tusculum College campus. Reservations are requested. Please call 423-636-7304 to make a reservation or email eestes@tusculum.edu.

Black History Month speaker tackles politics

Dr. Daryl Carter was the keynote speaker at Tusculum College in February as part of the college’s celebration of Black History Month.

Dr. Carter, associate professor of history at East Tennessee State University, o spoke to a gathering of teachers, students and staff members about the topic of African-Americans and Politics in the 21st century.

“A lot of things are changing. The economy is changing, the way we live, the way we work, the way we connect,” said Dr. Carter. “We forget we are all human beings, and become consumed with trivial, we want someone else to feel our pain.”
Some of the focus of Dr. Carter’s speech was about the subject of former President Barack Obama and newly-elected President Donald Trump. He provided his opinions of both sides of each candidate and explained the differences and similarities of the duo. Dr. Carter gave clear insight of the problems and issues Americans have been facing since the year 2004.

Dr. Carter’s made the point that he was there to educate and make his audience ask themselves tough questions. He wanted to cast a critical eye on our society as it is now and on the people who hold enormous power in the United States.

“It’s time we reconsider what it means to be American,” said Dr. Carter. “It starts at home; teaching what is a fact to our kids is important.”

 

 

By Haley Klages, senior journalism and professional writing major from Franklin

 

Tusculum Band Program to present winter concert on Tuesday, Feb. 28

Sacred music, hymns and gospel will be featured genres during the Tusculum College Band’s winter concert on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building. The local community is invited to the performance, which will feature the Concert Band, Jazz Band and Handbell Choir.

A mixture of familiar songs and some soon-to-become favorites will be performed by the Concert Band, including “Just a Closer Walk With Thee,” “Amazing Grace,” “Princeton Variations,” “On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss” and “Variations on an Ancient Hymn.”

A gospel flavor will be found in the performance of the Jazz Band, whose repertoire will include “Down by the Riverside,” “Gospel John,” “Time to Testify,” “Gospel” and “I Will Follow Him.”
A beautiful arrangement of “The Prayer” and a unique interpretation of “I’ll Fly Away,” will highlight the performance by the Handbell Choir, which will also be performing “Keep Your Lamps (Trimmed and Burning)” and “Siyahamba.”

The band program began in 2010 with the formation of a pep band and has grown to include a Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Handbell Choir and various small ensembles. The Band Program hosts three concerts each year, a Christmas performance and programs in the winter and the spring. In addition, each of the major groups as well as small ensembles have performed in community events such as the Greeneville Christmas Parade, the Old Oak Festival and the Laughlin Hospital Foundation’s Derby Days event.

 

Sacred and gospel music will be featured in the Winter Concert of the Tusculum College Band Program on Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the auditorium of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building.

Tusculum Board of Trustees encourage unity and diversity through resolution

The Tusculum College Board of Trustees approved a Resolution of Unity at their meeting held Saturday, Feb. 18, on the college’s Greeneville campus. This was the 688th meeting of the Board of Trustees.

The resolution, signed by Board of Trustees Chair Kenneth A. Bowman, Secretary Mark Williams and President Nancy Moody, addressed “recent national actions taken to promote national safety and security which have resulted in concern for members of the Tusculum College community due to the impact on individuals and the uncertainty at hand.”

Dr. Bowman, a 1970 graduate of Tusculum, stated that the college’s practice of diversity and inclusion have enriched the college’s ability to achieve the mission to provide “a liberal arts education in a Judeo-Christian and civic arts environment, with pathways for career preparation, personal development and civic engagement;” and “the attainment of each of the elements of our mission is enhanced by the contributions of each member of our Tusculum community, our students, staff, faculty, alumni, board members, donors and others within the broader community. He added that each member of the Tusculum community enriches the ‘Tusculum Experience,’ and the loss of any member of our community is seen as a thread pulled from the college’s rich tapestry.”

The resolution encouraged every member of the Tusculum Community to look to the civic arts tradition in daily interactions and that each individual take personal responsibility for preserving this inclusive environment where respectful exchange and the exploration of ideas not only contribute to knowledge, but also to social, physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth and development.

Dr. Jason Pierce, vice president of academic affairs, reported to the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee that there are more than a dozen approved search committees, many for positions tied to new programs approved by the Board at the October meeting.

New programs beginning this fall include the Master of Accountancy, pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

Graduates of the Master of Accountancy program have multiple career options including, but not limited to, forensic accounting, public accounting, auditing and compliance accounting, government accounting, and tax and payroll accounting.  According to Dr. Michael Dillon, dean of the School of Business and associate professor of business, earning a graduate degree in accounting is a common practice for those seeking attainment of a Certified Public Accounting license.

“The Tusculum College Master of Accountancy program was developed to provide students with a deeper and broader accounting education that prepares them for advanced career opportunities and preparation for the new set of CPA exams effective spring 2017,” said Dr. Dillon. “The Master of Accountancy program will be led by faculty that are highly qualified academically, but who also bring their extensive real world experience to the classroom.”

Also beginning this fall will be the Master of Arts degree in education: talent development and the Bachelor of Arts degree in talent development. The master’s program will be offered through the Graduate and Professional Studies program, while the bachelor’s degree program will be offered in both traditional and adult student programs.

According to Dr. Tricia Hunsader, dean of the school of education, career opportunities for persons holding this degree include corporate trainers, project managers, strategic planners, team developers, process analysts and performance improvement consultants, all of which are needed by a wide variety of organizations.

“The curriculum addresses the major segments of the talent development field by focusing on concepts, models, skills and methods. Courses are designed so that theoretical foundations are complemented with practice and application that enable students to build skills and competence,” said Dr. Hunsader.

The master’s degree program will be exclusively offered in a fully-online format. The master’s level talent development program is designed to lead students to develop training materials and programs based upon curricular and instructional design best practices, assess organizational needs for enhancing performance, apply adult learning theory and the Instructional System Design model into practice for organizational learning needs, as well as evaluate learning and impact of learning and develop team behaviors and leadership.

The bachelor’s degree program will be offered in two formats, one a fully online program and the other a hybrid program composed of a combination of online coursework and in class instruction.

Other new programs include a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management and new majors in chemistry, environmental studies, environmental science and information technology.

Board members also heard a report on current and anticipated enrollment numbers. In the enrollment report, it stated that new students for spring 2017 included 42 in the residential program and 134 in the Graduate and Professional Studies program.

For the residential program, admissions representatives are currently reviewing 1,799 applications which add been received as of Feb. 8, in anticipation of an incoming fall class of approximately 425 new students.

“Tusculum College’s residential program continues to grow for a number of reasons,” said Dr. Nancy B. Moody president of Tusculum College. “Our unique Civic Arts focus takes the liberal arts a step further in a nationally recognized approach to educating individuals of integrity and ideals. Additionally a wide range of majors – from museum studies to nursing – are combined with service learning and travel opportunities to create a completely unique environment.”

Two faculty promotions were approved including Dr. Peter Noll, who was promoted to the rank of associate professor of public history and museum studies, and Dr. Travis Williams, who was promoted to the rank of associate professor of religion.

The Board also approved May 2017 graduates pending satisfactory completion of programs of student and certification by the Registrar.

The next meeting of the Tusculum College Board of Trustees will be May 2017.

 

Second Theologian-in-Residence session explores new method for scholastic study of the gospels

Dr. Travis Williams explored recent memory research and how it provides parameters for a different scholastic method for study of the gospels during the second session of the annual Theologian-in-Residence lecture series.

Insights from recent research into the memory process and how they can be used in the scholastic approach to discover the “historic Jesus” were explored Tuesday during the second session of the Theologian-in-Residence series at Tusculum College.

“Jesus in Early Christian Memory: Remember, Reconstructing and Rehearsing the Past,” is the focus of this year’s series, being presented by Dr. Travis Williams, assistant professor of religion at Tusculum College. In its 26th year, the series is sponsored by Tusculum College with support from Ron Smith.

Critics of the authenticity of the gospels and the apologists who defend the factual nature of the gospels agree that there has been some distortion of the gospels in their transmission, but how much distortion is the issue that divides the two groups, according to Dr. Williams.

“The foundation of the majority of the scholarly research on the historic Jesus has been based on the assumption that something has been changed,” he said. “The goal is to separate the factual material from the layers of interpretation to find the raw fact.”

As an example of recent academic research, Dr. Williams noted the work of the Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars that began meeting in the 1980s and became well known in the 1990s with the goal of trying to determine which sayings and deeds of Jesus recorded in the gospels are authentic and making this general public aware of these scholarly studies.

The problem with the Jesus Seminar and the majority of other recent academic research into the historic Jesus is the method used in the effort to find the factual Jesus, Dr. Williams said.

“I would suggest that their scholarly search for the factual Jesus is misguided,” he continued. “If they are searching for authentic memories of Jesus, undiluted memories without any layers of interpretation, I would argue that they are going to be searching in vain. Those memories don’t exist.”

In the older view of memory, the brain is seen as storing memories in a singular place, analogous to a filing cabinet, he explained, with memory as a passive intellectual recall of factual details from the past. If this idea is applied to the Jesus stories, it would be that the disciples would have filed their memories of Jesus away and then recalled them as they told others.

However, Dr. Williams said, recent research into the memory process has shown that memory is by its nature distorted. This research has shown that the storage and retrieval of memories is a complex process in which an individual must reconstruct a memory from various sensory areas of the brain and is altered each time a person remembers as the memory is perceived in relation to a person’s current circumstances.

These insights into memory help provide two benefits in the scholarly analysis of the Jesus stories, he continued.

One is that it helps people avoid simplistic debates about the authenticity of memory in the gospels. “If distortion of memories of Jesus is the criteria that is used, then nothing qualifies as authentic, because no memory provides an uninterpreted view of the past,” Dr. Williams said. “If there are no undistorted memories, the foundation for both sides falls apart.”

While distortion has a negative connotation, there are positive benefits to distortion, he said.

Telescopes use a distortion of light to allow people to see planets, stars and other heavenly bodies that cannot be seen with a naked eye. Likewise, memories help people reconstruct a past that cannot be physically revisited, Dr. Williams explained, because memory distorts the distance between the present and the past and allows people to see what would otherwise be unrecoverable.

Secondly, distortion provides new ways to understand the variability of memories, Dr. Williams said, in relation to memory’s adaptive function to provide guidance in how to react in new situations.

“The early Christians were comfortable with the variations in the Jesus stories,” Dr. Williams said, giving as an example the debate amongst early Christians of whether the Jewish law should be observed or not, which is recounted in the book of Acts and Paul’s letters to the early church. This debate took place prior to the writing of the gospels, and a passage from Mark is written in such a way to support the view that the Jewish law should not have to be observed by Christians while that wording is not found in Matthew’s gospel, which most scholars agree is targeted toward a Jewish audience.

However, once the written form of the gospels replaced the oral form, much of this adaptive function was lost as the memory of Jesus became cemented in permanent forms,  he said.

In the next session of the series on Tuesday, Feb. 21, Dr. Williams will continue the exploration of this new approach to the Jesus stories with a discussion of another facet of memory, the impact of social environment on the construction of memories. The session will include an examination of the role of eyewitnesses in the formation and dissemination of the early Jesus tradition. The lecture will begin at 10 a.m. in the Chalmers Conference Center in the Niswonger Commons on the Tusculum College campus. Reservations are requested. Please call 423-636-7304 to make a reservation or email eestes@tusculum.edu.