Commencement Program - Denison University

All the world is a stage and when Professor of Theatre Jon Farris
speaks, whether he is in a classroom, on the boards in Ace Morgan
or even on a putting green, his language and the inflections in
his voice reveal him as an actor. Since 1981, the year he joined
the Denison faculty as associate professor and chair of the
Department of Theatre and Cinema, he has taught thousands of
students about the subtleties of the English language and how to
take words off a page and use them melodically. He was promoted
to professor in 1986 and became the first recipient of the Jonathan
R. Reynolds Distinguished Professorship in Theatre in 1994.
Farris began acting in high school in West Lafayette, Ind.,
and chose Harding University (Searcy, Ark.) to continue his high
school football career. A broken arm during his freshman year
cut short his athletic aspirations, but opened up new possibilities
for him as he did therapy on damaged nerves in his arm by learning
to play the guitar and banjo. He completed a B.A. with a major
in English and speech and went on to the University of Wisconsin
where he earned a master’s degree in theatre in 1967. While there
he toured with the Wisconsin Idea Theatre telling the history of
the state through folklore and folk music, playing the banjo and
singing. He completed a Ph.D. in dramatic literature at Tufts
University in 1970 and taught acting and directing at Case
Western Reserve University, University of Massachusetts, Indiana
RETIRING FACULTY
JON ROGERS FARRIS
Jonathan R. Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Professor Emeritus of Theatre
As faculty members retire from years of service to Denison, most
of them are feted and sure to be sorely missed by the department
in which they have served for many years. In Joan Novak’s case,
she has shared her talents with the departments of Religion and
Women’s Studies and has played a pivotal role in building the
ethics programs in those areas. And she treasures the warm
relationship she has shared with both departments.
Professor Novak joined Denison’s faculty in 1979 as an
assistant professor in the Religion department, after having
taught at Merrimack College (N. Andover, Mass.) and Concordia
College (Moorhead, Minn.) She earned a bachelor of science
degree with honors and distinction in zoology and chemistry from
the University of Nebraska in 1965, and completed a doctorate
at the University of Iowa in 1976 with the dissertation “Science:
Dilemma and Opportunity for Christian Ethics, Jacob Bronowski,
a case study.”
She has continued to do research on bioethics and medical
ethics, AIDS, feminist theology and spirituality, particularly
relating to the formulation of Christian symbols, during her
teaching career. According to Religion Department Chair David
Woodyard, her introductory course “Ethics, Society and the Moral
Self,” along with courses in institutional ethics, biomedical ethics
and Christian ethics, broadened the base of courses offered and
helped to grow the Religion department from three majors a year
JOAN M. NOVAK
Associate Professor Emerita of Religion and Women’s Studies
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University and Dartmouth College before coming to Denison
where he has been committed to teaching students the value of
a liberal education. Over the years Farris has toughened the
requirements for majors and attracted a group of students who
were willing to work hard to achieve the kind of theatre
productions he demands. Currently about 50 students are theatre
majors and the department has grown to five faculty.
Along with directing more than 20 productions at Denison,
Farris has appeared here in “Candide,” “Poor Murderer,” “The
Wedding Feast,” “Taking Sides,” and two plays by prominent
playwright Donald Freed, “Secret Honor” and most recently,
“Ivan Ilych.” Farris also has performed at the Utah Shakespearean
Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare
Festival, Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse and
TheatreWorks in Connecticut. He also has performed “Nixon’s
Nixon” at Contemporary American Theatre Company in
Columbus, along with “Sleuth,” “The Importance of Being
Earnest” and “A Tuna Christmas.” He played the title role in
“King Lear” for Ohio State University’s Theatre Department.
Farris plans to do “a lot of acting” in the future, but reflects, “I
think this probably has been the best job in the country for me.
I had enough need to be a teacher that I would not have been
happy only being an actor.”
in 1979 to between 15 and 20 today. In 1980, with the inclusion
of Minority/Women’s Studies as part of the graduation
requirement, Novak assumed an active role in the Women’s
Studies department as well, teaching her students to be selfcritical,
to analyze, to do independent thinking and reasoning
rather than relying on institutions to do that for them. She was
named associate professor in 1985.
Professor Novak also has devoted herself to service to the
college community and has served on the University, Academic
Affairs and Judicial Councils as well as the Personnel Committee
and as adviser to the Phi Society. Her concern with social justice
issues has led her to be a long-time supporter of student special
interest organizations such as Rape Survivor Advocates and
Outlook. She has incorporated issues of race, class and gender
both in her academic work and in the life of the Denison
community.
Her years of teaching and learning will not end with her
retirement, for she has already planned to take a course in
astronomy here next year as well as to do volunteer work in
tutoring reading and in the field of medical ethics. She plans to
put aside enough hours to retrain for another 100-mile-a-day
“century ride” on her bike – a feat she accomplished a few years
ago – and to spend some quality time spoiling her two cats, Gabriel
Michael Mandela and Miriam Mary Marie.