Fall 2011 - Claflin University

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Newsletter
Fall 2011
Volume 11 No. 1
By Dr. Peggy S. Ratliff, Dean
Claflin University
Dr. Henry N. Tisdale, President
The World Needs Visionaries
On behalf of the School of
Humanities and Social Sciences, I
welcome the Class of 2015 to the
Claflin Family. Additionally, I
welcome new faculty and staff to the
University.
We are delighted to have in our
Dr. Peggy Ratliff School several new faculty and staff
members whom you will learn more
about later in this newsletter.
We have numerous exciting programs planned for you
during this academic year including art exhibitions, musical
concerts, theatre productions, religious programs, the
Pedagogy Conference, cultural and education programs
and many more.
On October 20th , the campus-wide Lyceum Program
Series presented Pulitzer Prize Winner Isabel Wilkerson,
author of The Warmth of Other Suns. This program was
well attended. Ms. Wilkerson spoke elegantly about parts
of her novel, and her research.
Our students continue to do well. One of our art
students, Ms. Jasmyne Barber won first place for her plein
air landscape painting in the Amateur painters division at
the Orangeburg County Fair Art Exhibition. Several student
panels along with Dr. Mitali Wong will present their research
at the College Language Association Convention in March
of 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Additionally, our Art Faculty members’ works were
exhibited at the Governor’s School of the Arts in October
and the early part of November.
For further information on these and other happenings
in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, see other
sections of this Newsletter.
By Mandakini Hiremath
We develop the whole person
Is college necessary for all?
We have heard the statement “All I really need to know
I learned in kindergarten.” However, I hope we take it with
a pinch of salt. The well-known fact is learning never ends.
One is never too young to start learning and never too old to
stop learning. If you remember, we were introduced in 2007
to a great-grandmother who believes it’s never too late to
earn a college degree—or two. Nola Ochs, 98, could have
rested on her laurels after earning a bachelor’s degree in
2007 and becoming the oldest college graduate. Instead,
Ochs went back to Fort Hays State University in Hays,
Kansas, and completed a master’s degree in liberal studies
in May 2010. And she isn’t finished with college yet: she has
enrolled in fall classes and is working towards a second
master’s, this time in history.
We must remember that “learning” and “education” are
different words with different meanings, though frequently
used interchangeably. Webster defines “learning” as
“acquiring skills”; knowledge arises in the mind of an individual
when that person interacts with an idea or experience.
“Educate” is defined as “to develop the knowledge, skill, or
character of...” Thus, from these definitions, it’s clear that
the purpose of education is to develop the knowledge, skill,
and character of students. The central task of education is
to implant a will and facility for learning; it should produce
not learned but learning people. As Eric Hoffer states, “The
truly human society is a learning society where grandparents,
parents, and children are students together.”
Repelled by the rising cost of tuition and tempted by the
appealing thought of immediately generating an income right
after receiving a high school diploma, you might have debated
whether or not going to college is important. However, as
See COLLEGE FOR ALL?, page 18
This newsletter is available on the website: http://www.claflin.edu/Academic/HSS-Newsletter.html

Page 2
The School of Humanities and
Social Sciences Newsletter
Dean
Dr. Peggy S. Ratliff
Compiler
Mandakini Hiremath
Editors
Linda R. Hill
Mandakini Hiremath
Design and Layout
Mandakini Hiremath
Special Thanks to
Dr. Peggy S. Ratliff, dean of the school
of Humanities and Social Sciences, for
giving me the opportunity to produce the
newsletter.
Ms. Linda R. Hill, assistant professor of
English, for agreeing to work with me
as an editor.
Members of the School and Department
Chairs for their contributions.
Dr. Henry N. Tisdale, president, and
Dr. Vermelle J. Johnson, interim vice
president for academic affairs, for encouragement.
Finally, I sincerely appreciate all the
compliments from administrators, coworkers,
students, and friends on the
previous issues of the newsletter and the
columns that are printed in The Times
and Democrat. These encouraging
words are a source of motivation.
************************************
The School of Humanities and
Social Sciences publishes its
newsletter periodically. Please
bring your stories to the compiler,
Mrs. Hiremath, in the Writing Center,
GTK, room 228, ext. 5422. Your
stories should be typed using
Microsoft word.
You may e-mail attachments to
mhiremath@claflin.edu.
By Dr. Lori Hicks
By Mandakini Hiremath
I would like to extend a note of gratitude
to Dr. Louise B. Pollans, French professor,
for agreeing to work with me on such a short
notice as co-editor for this edition of the
newsletter.
Ms. Linda R. Hill, asst. professor of
English, has undertaken excessive
commitments to meet the deadline set for the
newsletter. I wish her the best of luck on her
tasks and hope for her return to resume the
duties at her convenience.
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Dr. Hicks makes her
Carnegie Hall Debut
Dr. Lori Hicks
Saying thank you
Dr. Lori Hicks made her
Carnegie Hall Debut on Sunday,
November 13, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.
Dr. Hicks was the featured soprano
soloist with MidAmerica
Productions and the New England
Symphonic Ensemble as they
performed Robert Ray’s Gospel
Mass, conducted by Kevin
McBeth. Dr. Hicks will also be
featured in the role of Bess along
with the Claflin University Concert
Choir in the Brevard Philharmonic
concert production of Gershwin’s
Porgy and Bess, May of 2012.
Dr. Louise B. Pollans

Page 3 Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
By Mandakini Hiremath
Welcome and the best of luck
The beginning of each new academic year is filled with
new aspirations, promises and challenges. We are delighted
to welcome the following faculty members to the School
of Humanities and Social Sciences and look forward to
working with them to accomplish the Claflin University
mission.
Dr. Sujung Cho joins us as a staff accompanist and
instructor of piano in the Department of Music. A native of
Seoul, South Korea, she obtained the Bachelor of Music
from Ewha Womans
University, Seoul South Korea.
She earned the Masters of
Music and Doctorate of Music
Arts from the University of
Cincinnati, College-
Conservatory of Music,
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Talking about her academic
special achievements, Dr. Cho
said that she recently finished
her dissertation on
Dr. Sujung Cho
“Performance Challenges and
Their Possible Solutions: Franz
Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B-
flat Major, D. 960" and has appeared in renowned national
and international music festivals and competitions as a piano
soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist. She
has performed in many solo and chamber recitals in the
United States, Germany, China, and Korea.
When asked why she chose Claflin and what she plans
to accomplish, Dr. Cho responded, “I have four mentors
who have given me profound influences for my life and
music. Among these four, two are black pianists who are
internationally acclaimed American leading pianists. I had
the highest quality of music education from them. When I
was interviewed at Claflin, I thought this school might be
the perfect place to share what I learned from these
teachers.”
Dr. Cho added, “I want to promote a high quality of
concerts and recital series through local and national
venues. Claflin University will be the center and our
students will be the important part of this project.”
Dr. Eunjung Choi joins us as an assistant professor
of Piano and coordinator of Keyboard Studies in the
Department of Music. A
native of Seoul, South
Korea, Dr. Choi earned her
Doctorate of Musical Arts in
piano pedagogy from the
University of South Carolina,
Master of Music in piano and
organ performance from
Ball State University, and
Bachelor of Music in piano
performance from Dongduk
Women’s University, South
Dr. Eunjung Choi
Korea. Prior to joining
Claflin University, she taught
at Georgia College &
Georgia State University.
Giving an account of her academic special
achievements, Dr. Choi said that she has presented
numerous workshops and presentations to regional,
national, and international music organizations in the U.S.
and South Korea. Most recently, she gave her lecturerecital
at the 2011 College Music Society International
Conference in Seoul, South Korea.
When asked why she chose Claflin and what she plans
to accomplish, Dr. Choi responded, “Claflin University
offered me a great opportunity to develop a keyboard
program which is one of the most important parts of music
studies.”
Dr. Choi added, “I plan to build our keyboard program
stronger in the music department, to assist students to
develop piano skills in performing and to continue research
in my areas of piano and piano pedagogy field.”
Mr. William (Bill) Clark from Atlanta, Georgia, joins
us as an instructor in the Department of Mass
Communications. He earned his Master’s Degree in mass
media from Temple University. Before coming to Claflin
See NEW MEMBERS, page 4

Page 4
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
NEW MEMBERS -- continued from page 3
University, Mr. Clark taught
broadcasting at Clark Atlanta
University, Georgia State
University, Shorter University,
and the Art Institute of Atlanta.
Mr. Clark has over 20 years of
experience in broadcasting. He
was an announcer, programmer
and producer, having worked at
radio stations including WCLK
in Atlanta, WRTI in Philadelphia,
Mr. William Clark
WXAG in Athens, Georgia
Public Broadcasting and WFXA
Foxie100 in Augusta.
Mr. Clark cites the founding of WSTU at Clark Atlanta
University as one of his major accomplishments. He
continues to be active as a coordinator for the Black
College Radio Conference, the International Soul Music
Summit, and various community events.
Mr. Clark serves as president of his own media
company, the Clark Media Group, coordinating media
production, and special events for the Atlanta Jazz Festival,
Centennial Olympic Park, and the city of Lithonia. He
was president of the southeastern chapter of the National
Black Programmers Coalition, and active as a University
of Georgia Alum.
When asked why he chose Claflin and what he plans
to accomplish, Mr. Clark responded, “I chose Claflin
University for the opportunity to continue my work with
broadcasting and students, and to be part of a growing
institution and Mass Communications Department.”
He added, “While currently teaching audio production
classes, I am working to establish an internet radio station
here at Claflin University. I plan to continue mentoring
communications students by developing an internet radio
station, and by helping students to develop into industry
professionals.”
Mr. Clark is married, has three daughters and is a huge
jazz fan.
Mr. Vincent B. Davis joins us as an assistant
professor of Voice and Opera in the Department of Music.
He earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Kentucky
State University, Master of Music from Bowling Green
State University, and currently he is finishing his Doctorate
of Musical Arts at University
of Kentucky’s School of
Music.
Before coming to Claflin
University, Mr. Davis worked
as a lecturer of Voice at Wright
State University, Dayton Ohio
(2003-2010). Talking about
his accomplishments, Mr.
Davis says that audiences of
North America, Germany, and
Mr. Vincent B. Davis Italy have embraced his fullbodied
lyric tenor in concert,
opera, and oratorio. Mr. Davis made his operatic debut
with the Theatre am Gœterplatz in Bremen Germany as
Robbins in Porgy and Bess, a role he recently performed
in Dayton Opera’s 2010 season and 50th Anniversary
production. Thereafter, he made appearances with the
Alte Oper of Frankfurt Germany. Highlights of previous
seasons include extensive recitals and concerts throughout
Italy.
Mr. Davis has also made appearances in Michigan,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New York, Atlanta, and
Indianapolis. His oratorio credits include Dubois’ Seven
Last Words of Christ, Handel’s Messiah, and Haydn’s
Creation. He also performed as tenor soloist in
Schubert’s Mass in A flat and Handel’s Messiah with
the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Upcoming
performances include Belmonte in Mozart’s Die
Antfürubg aus dem Serail in Consuma, Italy, and the
role of St. Nicolas in Benjamin Britten’s St. Nicolas
cantata with the Yellow Springs chamber orchestra.
When asked why he chose Claflin and what he plans
to accomplish, Mr. Davis responded, “I came to Claflin
University to contribute as a faculty member in Voice and
Opera and to help this immensely talented group of
students in their quest to become professional singers.”
Dr. Kim D. Green joins us from Alabama State
University as an assistant professor of English in the
Department of English and Foreign Languages. Before
coming to Claflin University, she worked as an assistant
professor of English in the Department of Humanities. She
earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Education from
Claflin University in 2004 and her Ph.D. in English from
See NEW MEMBERS, page 5

Page 5 Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Dr. Kim D. Green
Emory University in
2010. Dr. Green has coauthored
an article with
Professor Frances S.
Foster for the Blackwell
Companion to African
American Literature:
“Ports of Call, Pulpits of
Consultation: Rethinking
the Origins of African
American Literature.”
Her research and teaching interests include African American
and African Canadian literatures.
When asked why she chose Claflin and what she plans
to accomplish, Dr. Green responded, “I have an investment
in Claflin University because it is the institution at which I
was cultivated, and I am committed to helping perpetuate
the university’s traditions of excellence and service.” She
added, “I hope to inspire confidence in Claflin’s students,
motivate them to pursue their aspirations, and encourage
them to reciprocate the gifts they have received.”
A native of Seoul, Korea, Dr. Hyejung Ju joins us as
an assistant professor in the
Department of Mass
Communications. She
earned her Doctorate from
the University of Oklahoma,
Norman, Oklahoma, in
December 2010, Master of
Arts in Mass
Communications from
Dr. Hyejung Ju
NEW MEMBERS -- continued from page 4
Sogang University, Seoul,
Korea in 2002, and Bachelor
of Arts in Mass
Communication from Dongguk University, Seoul, Korea in
1999.
Dr. Ju has a substantial list of publications: Lee, S. &
Ju, H. (2011). The meaning of Korean TV dramas in
Japanese fandom: Re-emerging sentiment of
“Asianness” and in Kim, D. K. & Kim, M. S. (Eds.).
Hallyu: Influence of Korean popular culture in Asia and
Beyond (pp. 273-303). Seoul: Seoul National University
Press. Also
Lee, S. & Ju, H. (2010). Korean television dramas in Japan:
Imagining “East Asianness” and consuming “Nostalgia.”
Asian Women, 26, 77-105. Hsieh, E., Ju, H., & Kong,
H. (2010). “Dimensions of Trust: The Tensions and
Challenges in Provider-Interpreter Trust.” Qualitative
Health Research, 20, 170-181. Ju, H. (2009).
“Technology and social sensibility in South Korea: A case
of Korean mobile phone advertising.” Communication,
Culture & Critique, 2, 201-220.
Dr. Ju won an Outstanding Graduate Student Award,
Dept. of Communication from the College of Arts and
Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, in 2010, and
in 2009, she received the Emerging Diversity Scholar
Award, National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID),
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
When asked why she chose Claflin and what she plans
to accomplish, Dr. Ju responded, “When I visited Claflin
University for my job interview, I felt warm welcoming
from all the members at Claflin. This feeling made me select
Claflin University for my professional journey as a teacher
and a scholar.” She added, “I’d love to learn the unique
and rich culture at Claflin. I hope to inspire my students to
see the globalizing worldview as well as a broad scope of
knowledge about media and culture.”
Mr. Tyrone Singleton, a native
of Edgefield, South Carolina, joins
us as an instructor and director of
Band in the Department of Music.
He earned his Bachelor of Science
in music education in May 1980 and
Master of Music from Vander
Cook School of Music in Chicago,
Illinois, in 1996.
Mr. Singleton
Before coming to Claflin
University, Mr. Singleton has taught
band in a number of high schools
and middle schools, including District Three in Orangeburg
County. Over the years Mr. Singleton’s bands have
received superior and excellent ratings on the concert and
marching band levels. Mr. Singleton hosted the South
Carolina Band Directors’ Association 1A/3A, Lower State
Marching Band Championship in 2007and 2008.
Mr. Singleton performed as clarinetist with the Middle
Georgia Symphony Orchestra in Macon Georgia, The
Beaufort County Orchestra, The Beaufort Low Country
See NEW MEMBERS, page 17

Page 6
By Mr. Winston Kennedy, Chair
Mr. Winston Kennedy
The Death of Crispus Attucks in 1770
First to die at America’s beginning
Department of Art
The Department of Art is
growing and improving greatly in
teaching and student learning in the
visual arts. I believe that we are
working effectively on reclaiming
Claflin University’s artistic
patrimony as a center for the study
of the visual arts in the Midlands.
The recent creative and intellectual
work of the faculty, staff and
students attests to
this progress. We
are rightfully proud
of what we have
accomplished as
faculty members.
Mr. Winston
Kennedy delivered
a lecture concerning
the “Image of Black
Men in Fine Arts
and Popular Prints”
at the Annual
Meeting of the National Association of Artists at Historically
Black Colleges and Universities on Friday, June 24, 2011
at the Telfair Museum in Savannah, GA. The presentation
focused on a number of artists and printmakers who
created a new, revised and normal visual image of the
African American male. The images were created at a time
when most images made by racist white Americans and
Europeans showed blacks as subordinate to the dominant
culture. The artists discussed in this study attempted to
challenge the predominantly negative representations
circulating in American culture by offering alternative and
The Hunted Slaves, by
Richard Ansdell, 1861.
(The moment that the male
turns and begins to kill
the Mastiffs sent in to find
them. This is the moment
in freedom’s struggle
mentioned by Frantz
Fanon.)
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
positive images of their subjects. Prints depicting positive
masculine images of African American men are difficult to
find in various historical repositories. The images presented
evolved from this research. They represent literally and
figuratively a process of pulling the images of African
American male subjects from the negative shadows of the
American imagination. These graphic works represent the
efforts of various artists including African American,
European, and Euro-Americans to recreate positive and
representative images of black males. This research critiques
and demonstrates that a number of artists and artisans
created images that went beyond the stereotypical and
derogatory construction of African American male images
so prevalent during the last three centuries of American visual
history.
Dr. Kodilinye Igwe has not only been able to
successfully teach a full-time class load but also has provided
students with extra learning activities. In the School of
Humanities and Social Sciences he took part in scholarly
research activities and was involved in the Art Department’s
student recruitment activities. Additionally, he takes part in
Claflin University’s faculty committees. Dr. Igwe has
continued to be involved in scholarly activities associated
with the creative production of his sculptural and fabric
artworks.
The fall issue of the International Review of African
American Art features a three page illustrated article on our
painting instructor, Doris Colbert Kennedy. Her works,
inspired by cutting edge concepts of theoretical physics,
intuit the movements of sub-atomic particles, waves and
strings in works with such titles as “Conifold Transition in
Calabi Yau Space,” “Gluinoscape” and “Emergent
Complexities”. The article, “The Quantum Mechanical
Tethered Spin, oil on canvas
48"x60" 2011

Page 7
ART -- continued from page 6
Phase Space III
oil on canvas
30"x40" 2011
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Claflin University’s Joey Hilton wins statewide
Graphic Design Award
August 17, 2011
By Lee Tant
Claflin University Digital Lab Assistant Joey Hilton
emerged as the top choice from more than a thousand
graphic designers to win the South Carolina Music Awards
2011 Graphic Designer of the Year award.
“It feels great to have something to show for my years
of hard work,” said Hilton, who won the award in late July
at a Columbia ceremony. “It’s only going to go uphill from
here. This like my version of a Grammy or Oscar.”
The S.C. Music Awards
is held annually to recognize
the state’s best in music,
modeling, design and
media. The event was
sponsored by Niche
Carolina Magazine and
One Love Group.
Hilton won the award
by winning over the hearts
and minds of online voters.
He garnered the most votes
among 1,500 submissions.
Voters took in account the
designer’s overall body of
work over the past year.
Hilton finished third in
2010.
Mr. Joey Hilton
Paintbrush” is written by a physicist, for IRAAA’s special
issue on art and science.
Additionally, Ms. Kennedy currently has artwork that
was juried into the First Biennial Regional Juried Art
Exhibition presented by the University of Maryland,
University College at College Park, MD. The painting is
illustrated on the left.
A former student at the University, Hilton came to Claflin
in January to work in the Department of Art.
“Mr. Hilton has been a remarkable addition to our
esteemed art faculty. We congratulate him on this
tremendous achievement and look forward to his
mentoring and preparing our students to accomplish similar
feats,” said Winston Kennedy, chair of the University
Department of Art.
Hilton said coming back to Claflin has been a wonderful
experience. “I am looking forward to helping students
pursue their passions,” he said.
Hilton has long displayed an affinity for the arts. He
started drawing in second grade. At Claflin, Hilton was
introduced to graphic design. His natural talent coupled
with the entrepreneurial spirit present in many Claflin
students led to numerous opportunities for the Manning,
S.C. native.
He began creating graphic designs for churches, local
businesses and web pages, among others. Hilton’s designs
aim to be “anything that’s different and will push the limit.”
His favorite artwork is the “Self Made Man” by Bobbie
Carlyle.
Prior to Claflin, he was an event coordinator for the
Technical College of the Lowcountry in Beaufort. In his
spare time, Hilton enjoys writing, producing and playing
basketball.``

Page 8
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
2011 Orangeburg County Fair Art Exhibition,
Art majors win honors
Jasmyne Barber, a native of Montgomery, Maryland, took home
the blue ribbon in the Orangeburg County Fair’s amateur art
competition in early October.
There is currently an outstanding exhibition
by Stanley Greaves being held at the Arthur
Rose Museum. Stanley Greaves is an artist
and scholar. He is also a prolific reader who
interprets, analyzes, paints and writes elegantly
about man’s engagement with his psyche and
the order of things in the known universe. Mr.
Greaves has traveled from the “ tenement
yards” of Georgetown, Guyana and to his later
engaging dialogues with Martin Carter, the
famous Guyanese poet. He has gestated these
ideas and much of his subject matter in places
such as St. Kitts, Washington, DC, London,
England and Barbados. He has pulled these
painted images out of the shadows of his
Jungian dreams. Surely, this exhibition reflects
Stanley Greaves’ visualizations of his
“Memories, Dreams, Reflections.”
Three students from the Painting I class of Ms. Doris
Kennedy, adjunct in the Art Department, entered their
works in the Orangeburg County Fair. They were
Jasmyne Barber, Nicole Jackson and Crystal McBride.
Ms. Jasmyne Barber won First Place for her “plein air”
landscape. Ms. Barber also won Honorable Mention
for her still-life painting
which made use of
classical Renaissance
techniques of
chiaroscuro, grisaille and
glazing. Miss McBride
used a similar technique
in her landscape
submission. Miss
Jackson’s work was a
still-life using an alla prima
technique.
Stanley Greaves: Artist/Scholar
Exhibition: October 5 – December 10, 2011
Ground Birds, Acrylics,
Stanley Greaves
Honorable Mention
Still-life painting

Page 9
By Dr. Melisa Pearson
Dr. Melissa B. Pearson, Assistant
Professor of English and Director of
the University Literacy Center, Claflin
University, recently graduated from the
HERS Bryn Mawr Summer Institute,
held June 19 - July 3 at Bryn Mawr
College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Melissa Pearson The Summer Institute, a 36-year
partnership between Bryn Mawr
College and Higher Education Resource Services (HERS)
is the premier residential professional development program
dedicated to advancing women leaders in higher education
administration.
Responding to the current environment for higher
education globally, the Summer Institute had a special focus
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Dr. Melissa Berry Pearson Completes
the 2011 HERS Bryn Mawr Summer Institute
this year on “Women Leaders Today: Accepting the
Challenge of Re-inventing Higher Education.” Over 33
senior officers from colleges and universities, national
organizations, and accrediting associations – many HERS
alumnae or board members – served as faculty.
Dr. Pearson has been at Claflin University since August,
2007, serving as an assistant professor of English and faculty
administrator. She was previously director of the Jonathan
Jasper Wright Institute for the Study of Southern African
American History, Culture and Policy. Her recent
achievements include her successful defense of a dissertation
entitled “To Change the Individual and to Liberate the
Collective: The First-Year Experience, First-Year
Composition and the Service Paradigm at Claflin University,
A Private HBCU.”
Visual Unity and Diversity Exhibition
An Exhibition by faculty and staff artists from the Department
of Art of Claflin University held in The Lipscomb Gallery , The
South Carolina Governor’s School of the Arts and Humanities,
15 University Street, Greenville, SC 2960 from October 3 –
November 14, 2011
The Visual Unity and Diversity exhibition represented a
variety of images and media from the alumni artists of the
Department of Art at Claflin University. Some of the artists
represented are Floyd Gordon ‘81, Emory Duncan ‘03,
Brian Means ’98, Leo Twiggs ’56, Kizzy Staley Gibson
’03, James McFadden ’54, Nick Keith ’00, Harvey
Vanderhorst Jr. ’09, Calonie Johnson ’03, Cecil Williams
‘60 and many others.
The exhibition contains an early oil painting done in 1981
by one of the best known regional artists, Alvin Staley,
class of 1977. Mr. Staley has won many art prizes and
honors. He has represented Claflin University well in the
professional field of art. His wife, Bretta Staley, also a Claflin
graduate ‘77, has also made a remarkable name for herself
throughout the region.
The artworks of these alumni artists effectively represent
the memory and vision of Mrs. Mary Dunton, who
organized an art curriculum in the 1890’s. Claflin University
was the first institution in South Carolina to have an art
department. Mrs. Dunton’s vision for the visual arts, plus
the subsequent art program re-vitalization work by Professor
Arthur Rose, has made Claflin University an important center
for the study of the visual arts in South Carolina. In very
recent history, our current president has re-invigorated the
study of the visual arts and has approved this facility, the
Arthur Rose Museum, for the exhibition of artworks at Claflin
University.
This display of a rich and creative spirit speaks well to
their pioneering efforts in the visual arts at Claflin University.

Page 10
The English and Foreign Languages Department is off
to a good start. We are proud to welcome to the
Department and the Claflin Family Dr. Kim Greene, a Claflin
University alumna.
We hope you joined us in October for the Pedagogy
Conference, and please join us each month for our Brown
Bag series featuring various speakers on several different
topics of interest to the Claflin Family and community.
Also in October our Theatre Program presented “A
Soldier’s Story.” Several of our English majors are also
presenting their research at professional conferences.
Dr. Tiffany Adams’s faculty
accomplishments for the calendar
year of 2011 include three
conference presentations. She was a
presenter at the College English
Association in St. Petersburg, Florida
on April 1, 2011; she discussed her
paper “Inheriting Feminist Identity at
the Borderlands.” In April, she also
presented at the College Language
Association Conference in
Spartanburg, SC. Her paper was titled “Rhythms and
Relations in the Barrio.” Her final presentation for 2011
was given at the UNCF/Mellon Conference in Atlanta the
weekend of Oct. 7th. She discussed her on-going research
as a facilitator on the “Emphasizing the Global Context of
Scholarship” panel. Dr. Adams also was selected to
participate in three faculty seminars this year. Two were
sponsored by New York University and the University of
New Mexico, respectively. Her third seminar was an
international excursion to Bahia, Brazil sponsored by the
UNCF/Mellon Foundation. Dr. Adams has a forthcoming
pedagogical article to appear late this fall in the National
Collegiate Honors Council monograph.
Dr. Dennis F. Bormann, member of the English and
Foreign Language Department at Claflin
University, published a novella, Airboat
in August 2011 with Main Street Rag
Publishing Company. Thomas E.
Kennedy, author of The Copenhagen
Quartet, says: “Dennis Bormann’s Airboat
is a timeless novel, by turns wistful,
dreamy, violent, tough, and all of it
beautifully written. Bormann is a writer
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Department of English and Foreign Languages
Dr. Tiffany Adams
Dr. D. F. Bormann
who delivers, and Airboat is a novel well worth reading.”
Gordon Weaver, author of four novels and ten short story
collections and recipient of the O’Henry Award, The Best
Short Stories honor, and two Pushcart Prizes also adds:
“Airboat is a fiction to reckon with. The writing is a most
effectively restrained lyricism, the narrative complicated but
coherent, the cast of characters rich presences that compel
the reader’s attention. The Florida milieu is brilliantly
rendered. This is a story about art, Native American
mysticism, and, profoundly, the darker depths of human
psychology. It is also a story of earned redemption.”
Dr. Bormann is also editing, along with fellow fiction
writer, Steve Taylor, an anthology of short stories based
on sports. The title Suicidally Beautiful comes from a
line in the James Wright poem “Autumn Begins in Martins
Ferry, Ohio,” which, as the poet contemplates the start of
football season, conjures the psychic complexity, the
grandeur, sacrifice, and delusion embodied in sports.
Therefore,/ “Their sons grow suicidally beautiful/At the
beginning of October,/And gallop terribly against each
other’s bodies.”
Dr. Gaynell Gavin gave a reading and conducted a
creative writing workshop at the Herbert Hoover National
Historic Site in West Branch, Iowa in
June 2011. Originally from the Midwest
and drawn to the HHNHS by its 80
acres of restored prairie, Dr. Gavin
discussed how writers find an attachment
to place and use it to inspire writing. She
Dr. Gaynell Gavin
served as an artist-in-residence at the
site for three weeks. Dr. Gavin’s work
has been published in many literary
journals and anthologies. Her creative nonfiction book
manuscript was selected as a competition finalist by Zone
3 Press in September 2011. Her essays have appeared in
recent issues of Bellevue Literary Review and Vermont
Literary Review. Forthcoming publications include an essay
in Big Muddy: A Journal of the Mississippi River Valley
and a short story in Suicidally Beautiful, a sports anthology
co-edited by Dr. Dennis Bormann, to be published by Main
Street Rag in December.
“We shall not grow wiser before we learn that
much that we have done was very foolish.”
F. A. Hayek

Page 11
By Mandakini Hiremath
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Let’s appreciate what we have and
say, “Thank you”
Whenever I come across a
handicapped, a disabled, or mentally
impaired person and notice people
viewing his abnormal behavior with
pitying eyes, I am reminded of a movie,
“The Children of a Lesser God”. This
1986 film tells the story of a speech
teacher at a school for deaf students who
falls in love with a deaf woman, Sarah
Norman, who also works there. I believe
these children are called ‘of a lesser God’ because they
are considered less fortunate. However, I am troubled by
the term ‘lesser God’. I fail to understand how the Almighty
God with an immeasurable treasure of wealth and riches,
the creator of the universe, a merciful heavenly father to
every creature that is born on this earth, could ever be
‘lesser’.
Life is a spiritual encounter. It is filled with blessings,
the love and grace of the Almighty God, the supreme power
of this universe. Life is presented both as a free gift and as
a reward merited by those who earn it. And God loves all,
though while enduring tough times, one may be tempted to
question, “Does God love everybody impartially?” Though
it is hard to count the ways of God’s love, the nature of
God’s love is mysteriously complicated. I have come to
believe that God’s love is balanced in His own way. It is
easy to tag an unfortunate child as of a lesser God by
looking at him superficially; however, I believe, each child
is compensated by the Heavenly Father’s blessings in a
chosen aspect of his life, which obviously bestows God’s
love.
Here is an inspiring story to help us appreciate and be
thankful for the Creator’s blessings of our life with all our
faculties intact, which we may easily take for granted.
Musical savant Derek Paravicini is gifted with a
computer-like memory, exceptional ability to instantly call
up any complex piece of music he’s ever heard and creative
abilities to transform effortlessly and seamlessly pieces after
just one hearing into the style of different musicians, like
jazz greats. Using karate chops and elbows, 3-year-old
Derek played one of the hymns the family had heard in
church that morning, since he couldn’t see the pianist using
his fingers. However, he had begun excitedly bashing the
keys with his elbows, palms and knuckles as well as fingers
to play a keyboard at 2. And soon he was playing nursery
rhymes and hymns. Derek had never met a piano teacher,
until he literally crashed into one during a visit with his parents
to a school for the blind. The music teacher Dr. Ockelford
was in the middle of a lesson. Derek literally pushed him off
the piano stool, and just started karate chopping the
keyboard in chaotic notes, but then suddenly the teacher
noticed out of all of that was coming “Don’t Cry For Me
Argentina.” “He’s brilliant. It’s like he’s got libraries of pieces
and styles in his head,” says Dr. Ockelford.
With his skillful fingers, the pianist mesmerizes his
audience with note perfect performances of works by
Paganini, Bach, Pachelbel and Rimsky-Korsakov. Making
his public debut in 1987, he has played at venues from
Ronnie Scott’s to Buckingham Palace and at the Barbican
with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. However, this genius
who is blessed with incredible ability is unable to count,
dress himself, or speak in proper sentences. Neither his
perfect fingers that dance on piano to capture his audiences’
hearts nor his incredible brain that helps him memorize every
complex piece after only one hearing helps him to button
his shirt or count the years of life he has lived or how long
he has been delightfully awing his audience. He is blind,
autistic, and severely handicapped, suffering mental
impairment.
Derek Paravicini, in his 30s, was born prematurely
weighing just 1lb 5 oz. Derek’s mother, Mary Ann, is the
sister of Andrew Parker Bowles, Duchess of Cornwall
Camilla’s first husband. He grew up in an upper class British
family; however, now he has to live in community housing
and needs round-the-clock supervision. Dr. Alan Ockelford,
who has trained Derek for 20 years, said, “He has one of
the most extraordinary minds of our time, unique in its
particular cocktail of extreme abilities and inabilities”. His
extraordinary ability has allowed him to memorize thousands
of classical, jazz and pop tunes - earning him the nickname
of the Human iPod.
To reemphasize, let’s consider the movie “The Children
of a Lesser God,” itself. Take a look at the real life of the
actress playing the lead character, a troubled young deaf
See BEING THANKFUL, page 12

Page 12
By Dr. Mitali Wong
woman working as a cleaner at a school for the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing in New England. Marlee Matlin won the
1986 Academy Award for Best Actress for the role. Aged
21 at the time, she is the youngest person to have received
an Oscar for Best Actress. Almost completely deaf in real
life since the early age of 18 months, Matlin has since gone
on to become an established film and television star and
remains active in charities for the deaf and hearing impaired
around the world. She is happily married to Kevin
Grandalski, a law enforcement officer, and has four children.
Thus, she too is gifted and blessed by the Almighty in a
special way.
It’s said, “Man looks before and after and pines for
what is not;” however, it’s time to change that saying to:
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Conference on English and Language Arts Pedagogy
Claflin University’s Tenth
Anniversary Conference on English
and Language Arts Pedagogy is a
success with students
According to senior English
Education major Mr. Isaiah Jones, the
tenth anniversary conference was his
favorite of the three conferences he
Dr. Mitali Wong has attended in three years. This
year’s conference was held on
October 26 and 27, 2011 with concurrent sessions. The
panels of undergraduate research and graduate students’
presentations from different universities and readings of
creative work proved great attractions. There were ten
sessions over two days, workshops, readings of poetry,
book-signing, the keynote address, and a dinner theater
performance on October 26 directed by Claflin alumnus
Mr. Clifton H. Anderson.
The keynote speaker and workshop presenter was
Professor Mark Cox, a well-known contemporary
American poet. Mr. Mark Cox teaches in the Department
of Creative Writing at UNC- Wilmington where he served
as founding chair. His honors include: a Whiting Writers’
Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award,
The Society of Midland Authors Poetry Prize, and
numerous fellowships. His books include Smoulder,1989;
Thirty-seven Years from the Stone, 1998; and Natural
Causes, 2004. Most
recently, he edited Jack
Myers’ posthumous poetry
collection The Memory of
Water (New Issues, 2011).
He also teaches in the
Vermont College MFA
Program.Some papers from
this conference and from
previous years will be among
the essays published in an
anthology edited by Dr. Don
Pardlow and Dr. Sharynn
Etheridge.
BEING THANKFUL -- continued from page 11
Prof. Mark Cox,
the keynote speaker
Dr. Zia Hasan was recognized at the conference for
his 10 years support to the English Pedagogy Conference.
Dr. Peggy S. Ratliff, dean of the School of Humanities and
Social Sciences, presented a plaque recognizing his
contribution.
Man looks before and after and graciously appreciates what
he has and says, “Thank you.” Our giving thanks is a spiritual
reaction to the benefits received. Developing a lifestyle of
gratitude is gratifying because I believe thankful people are
happy people. Thus, we should learn to count our blessings
and express our heartfelt thanks for all the wonderful things,
including the majestic gift of life, we receive from the God
Almighty not just on Thanksgiving Day but each day of our
life. I concur with the late Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, who
wrote, “Cultivate your blessings with a grateful heart. Then
watch them grow!”
May our Thanksgiving be filled with health and happiness
and peace and plenty.

Page 13
Spending the Spring 2011 semester at Hofstra University
as the fifth participant in the ongoing faculty exchange
created between the two institutions was bound to be a
personal delight and opportunity for professional “renewal”.
The campus’s one-hour commute via train into downtown
Manhattan made access to shopping, sightseeing, touring
and dining more than inviting. In addition, Hofstra has long
since recognized that
even in an arena
c o n s i d e r e d
“cosmopolitan”,
students, staff and faculty
of that university do not
always avail themselves
of the benefits of New
York life, and has created
a number of support
services to make
venturing into the city
more comfortable and
appealing. I was able to
attend (free of charge) a
Broadway showing of the
highly acclaimed musical
“Sister Act”, dine at the
infamous B.B. King Restaurant’s “Sunday Gospel Brunch”,
and take a bus tour of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s
Presidential Home and Library in Hyde Park as a part of
the commitment to exploring the area’s many activities.
Because the campus provided so many high quality
experiences in art, music, political and historical discussion;
there was no lack of intellectual and cultural stimulation to
be had even without venturing off campus. Surviving one of
the harshest winters on record became much less of a
problem as my housing was only yards away from my office.
But, it should be of no surprise that these options were
made available by a well-resourced university with the
commitment to community involvement as is Hofstra. The
part of the exchange experience that I was not expecting to
be so available was the interest with which my research
into issues and people involved in early school desegregation
was greeted. Not only did I give well received presentations
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Hofstra University Faculty Exchange
Opens research outreach for Claflin history professor
By Dr. Millicent Ellison Brown
Dr. Brown (second row, second from left) with
Hofstra faculty, students, and Hempstead community members
to the History Department, and the library during its Black
History Month celebration; I became an official consultant
to an emerging Hofstra University oral history project
throughout Long Island that introduced me to community
members willing to become involved in the collection of
narratives my research so sorely needs. The experience of
teaching my course on the Civil Rights Movement allowed
exchanges with students
having no familiarity with
the South and the legacy
of legal racial
discrimination; yet, we
gained a recognition of the
ways in which race and
discrimination permeate
the entire nation and affect
all aspects of American
life. This expanded all our
understanding of the
falsehood of a “Mason-
Dixon Line” that
supposedly situated all the
“good guys” up North and
the “bad guys” down
South. As a result of many
private and public discussions with university administrators,
Hofstra invited me to coordinate a three day symposium
“From Brown (1954) to Brown (1963) and Beyond: The
Challenges of Advancing Race Relations in Schools and
Society” from October 25-27, 2011.
This exchange offered a number of important discussions
that hopefully can be continued on Claflin’s campus,
including the insights gained by the two Honors program
students who participated: Marissa Cunningham and Nick
Gatling who served as incredibly effective ambassadors
from South Carolina. I encourage others to explore the
opportunity to spend time at Hofstra or other campuses
with which Claflin may development similar relationships,
and collectively help us to recognize the chance for growth
and exploration beyond just the personal delight of visiting
big cities!

Page 14 Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Department of Mass Communications
The Department of Mass
Communications faculty, staff
and students have been busy
during the past few months.
During the School of
Humanities and Social Sciences
Awards Ceremony on April 20,
2011, students were presented
Dr. Donna Gough
with the following awards:
Outstanding Television Student
- Kalina Harrison; Best Television Producer - Jasmine Scott;
Outstanding Journalism Student - Brittany Brown and
Jessica Taylor; Outstanding Public Relations Student -
Ashley Moore; Outstanding Web Design Student - Sharon
Hadden; Outstanding Sound Recording Student - Melody
Evans and Jonqwel Prioleau; Most Promising Media
Scholar - Cari Tindall; Most Promising Mass
Communications Student - Lydia Williams; Leadership and
Service - Steven Dial and Jeremiah Douglas; Overall
Achievement in Mass Communications - Brittany Rollins,
Kalina Harrison and Brittnay Glover; Freshman with highest
GPA - Jalyn M. Tresvant; Sophomore with highest GPA -
Candice M. Rice; Junior with highest GPA - Brittany N.
Brown; and, Senior with highest GPA - Cari Tindall.
The recipients of the 2011-2012 South Carolina
Broadcasters Association Foundation Scholarships were
Brittnay Glover, Aubrey Jackson, Brittany Lockhart, and
Brittany Rollins. Also, Kalen Robinson was inducted into
the Claflin University Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Rho, the
national broadcasting honor fraternity. The students received
scholarships in the amount of $2,000.
Students completing summer internships were Justin
Bradley, WSSB-FM in Orangeburg, SC; Ashley D. Davis,
Cecil Williams Photography in Orangeburg, SC; Brittany
Brown, Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)
at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in
Champaign, Illinois; Mamie Davis at the University of
California-Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA; Tiarra Myrick
at WPDE Channel 6 News Station in Florence , SC &
Myrtle Beach, SC.; Brittnay Glover, WIS, Columbia, SC;
Colin Nelson at the Saint Louis Science Center in St. Louis
MO; Philana Payton at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign in Champaign, IL; Toni Marie Talley at Arnold
NYC in New York, NY; Faith Thompson at WSSB-FM
in Orangeburg, SC; Jessica Taylor at the Claflin University
Office of Communications and Marketing in Orangeburg,
SC; India Hill, at Cliché Magazine; and, Solomon D. Young
at the Claflin University Office of Communications and
Marketing in Orangeburg, SC.
Mass Communications majors serve Claflin University
in leadership positions all over campus. The new 2011-
2012 Pre-Alumni Council Board members include Mass
Communications majors, Aubrey Jackson as Vice President
and Solomon Young as Parliamentarian. The Freshmen
Class provided new talent as well. Ashleigh Harriott was
elected the Freshmen Class Vice President, and Sierra
Youngblood was elected as the Freshmen Class Secretary.
Justin Ludd will serve on the Student Activities Board.
Program Graduates:
Mass Communications Program graduates were busy
as well. Candice Mack is an Advertising Account
Representative for The Times and Democrat newspaper
in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and is applying for grad
school, College of Charleston, to get her Master’s degree
in Public Administration. Candice Mack is from Ladson,
South Carolina and is also engaged to be married.
Steven Dial has been hired at WTLX- CBS TV Columbia,
South Carolina, as a general beat news reporter. WLTX is
an award-winning digital media center owned by the Gannett
Corporation and utilizes all the newest technology available
to distribute news, information and entertainment for both
digital broadcasting and the World Wide Web. Steven is
from Atlanta, Georgia.
Ashley Moore has been accepted in to the Media
Advertising Summer Institute at the Florida A&M University
(FAMU) School of Journalism and Graphic Communication
in Tallahassee, Florida. Kalen Robinson and Alan Brooks
have been accepted into the Media Advertising Summer
Institute at Howard University in Washington, DC. Both
programs are sponsored by The National Association of
Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF), the
National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters
(NABOB), and Personal Selling Principles (PSP), a
personnel and organizational development company based
in Maryland. Both programs are intense 10-day training
workshops for students who wish to go into media sales.
The NABEF and NABOB are providing funding for the
initiative. Alan Brooks is from Orangeburg, South Carolina;
See MASS COMM., page 15

Page 15
By Mandakini Hiremath
Kalen Robinson is from Columbia, South Carolina; and,
Ashley Moore is from Union City, Georgia.
1998 Mass Communications alum, Marco Felder,
recently won the Telly Award, which honors the very best
local, regional, and cable television
commercials and programs, as well as the
finest video and film productions, and work created for the
Web. The award was founded in 1978 by David E.
Carter. Entries are self-nominated with approximately
11,000 submissions per year as of 2010, and the awards
are judged by past award winners. The Department of
Mass Communications sent out our very biggest and best,
“Hooray!
Ariane Aramburo has been hired as reporter and as a
co-host for The Hampton roads Show with Kerri and
Cheryl for WAVY-TV 10/FOX 43 in Portsmouth, Virginia,
the Hampton Roads area. In her former position as the
weekday 10:00 pm news anchor at KQTV in St. Joseph,
Missouri, she was recognized by the Missouri
Broadcaster’s Association for breaking news coverage and
by the Kansas City Press Club. Ms. Aramburo graduated
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Dr. Caroletta A. Shuler earns second doctorate
We, the School of Humanities and
Social Sciences members, congratulate
Dr. Caroletta Alexis Shuler, Instructor
of History & Sociology, on earning her
second Doctor of Philosophy from
Capella University in Minneapolis,
Minnesota in Public Safety with a
specialization in Criminal Justice; Dr.
Shuler’s first doctorate was in
Educational Administration with a
Dr. Caroletta Shuler
specialization in Adult and Higher
Education Administration from the
University of South Dakota located in Vermillion, South
Dakota.
When asked the reason she pursued her second
doctorate and what she plans to do with it, Dr. Shuler
responded, “Criminal justice is a growing and changing field
of study. Due to this fact, it had become necessary to obtain
a terminal degree to become more advanced within the
field and to confirm myself as a criminologist.” And then
she added, “With this degree, I plan to publish more articles
within criminal justice peer-reviewed journals, teaching
undergraduate courses, and eventually, teaching graduate
courses within the field.”
Again, we congratulate Dr. Shuler and wish her the best
of luck on her future plans and achievements.
MASS COMM. -- continued from page 14
from Claflin with honors and a degree in Mass
Communications.
Faculty Activities:
The Department of Mass Communications has two new
faculty members this year. Mr. William Clark joins our
faculty as the audio production and convergence media
faculty. Dr. Hyejung Ju is the resident media scholar and
teaches media research techniques and media law courses.
Ms. Yolanda McCutchen had a busy summer. She
attended the T. Howard Foundation seminar on Business
Communication in the Workplace on June 2, 2011 in
Washington, DC. Then, Ms. Yolanda McCutchen and Mr.
Michael Fairwell participated in the Coverage in Context:
Media and the Middle East seminar through the New
York University Faculty Resource Network on June 13-
17, 2011 at New York University’s Washington Square
campus. Also, Ms. Yolanda McCutchen participated in the
Developing Syllabi for Journalism & Communication
Classes on August 3-7, 2011 at the National Association
of Black Journalists Convention in Philadelphia, PA.
Congratulations to all Mass Communications family
members on a job well done!
This newsletter is available on the website http://www.claflin.edu/Academic/HSS-Newsletter.html

Page 16 Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
By Dr. Christopher Curtis, Chair
Department of History and Sociology
The Department of History and
Sociology welcomed sixty-four new
freshmen and nine transfer students
into its four major programs this fall.
This year, for the first time, Politics
and Justice Studies (now in its third
year) was the most popular major
among these incoming students. We
Dr. Christopher Curtis have fifty students enrolled in our
Senior Capstone seminar who
anticipate graduating this academic year. Several students
completed summer internships or are currently involved in
internship opportunities: Maya Osborne worked this
summer at Families First, an Atlanta-based non-profit
focusing on foster families, Natia Marshall and Kathrin
Fischer served as interns at Rogers, Townshend, and
Thomas law firm in Columbia, Zekela McRae is starting a
year-long internship at the Social Security Administration
office in town, and Jolena Branch will be working this
semester in the Orangeburg Solicitor’s office. Mary Remy
participated in Leadership Alliance at Howard University
and Jasmine Benjamin spent the summer at Emory
University as a UNCF/Mellon fellow.
Faculty in the department continue to publish their
research in peer-reviewed academic journals and presses.
Most recently, Dr. Mohammed Yousuf published an article,
“India, Pakistan and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty,” in the Journal for South Asian and Middle
Eastern Studies. Dr. Millicent Brown is organizing a
conference on the Brown v. Board of Education decision
at Hofstra University. As part of the conference, she will
speak on a panel that will also feature Ed Rollins and
Howard Dean. Dr. Camelia Kantor spent three weeks in
Ann Arbor this summer as a fellow at the University of
Michigan’s Center for Russian, East European, and
Eurasian Studies (CREES).
Humanities and Social Sciences Festival
The Humanities and
the region to compete for
Social Sciences Festival
grants-in-aid sponsored by
has become a tradition of
departments in the School of
the School. Since
Humanities and Social
1987, except in 2010, we
Sciences.
have come together to
On this occasion the School
celebrate this festival, work
invited interested high school
hard and get ready to
seniors and juniors to compete
welcome high school
juniors and seniors who are
Developing the “Whole Person” Through
in one of the following areas:
Art, English, French, Spanish,
thinking about attending the Humanities and Social Sciences History and Sociology, Mass
college and are motivated
Communications, Music,
to make it through, along
Philosophy and Religion, or
with their parents, coaches, mentors and guides.
Speech/Theatre. Festival attendance is open to all interested
It is a delight to see how excited the students get when high school students who register. Seniors and juniors
the department chairs announce to them the awards they wishing to be considered for scholarships should provide
have received and when they realize they have financial
help to do the things they love and are good at.
On November 11, 2011, at 8:30 a.m., all the members
SAT or PSAT scores as well as GPA information.
of the School were enthusiastically ready to welcome
Claflin’s prospective students who came from throughout
See FESTIVAL, page 17

Page 17
NEW MEMBERS -continued
from page 5
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Philosophy and Religion Department
By Dr. Daniel Hembree, Chair
The Department of Philosophy and
Religion remains committed to the views,
values and guiding principles of Claflin
University by insuring that their graduates
are equipped with the necessary tools
and skills needed to navigate through the
world.
Four of our students graduated in
Dr. D. Hembree May 2011 and are now graduate
students in theological studies and law
school. Shatavia Wynn is a first year student at Yale
University School of Divinity enrolled in the Master of
Divinity program. Whitney Fuller is a first year student
enrolled in the JD Program at the Thomas M Cooley Law
School in Lansing, Michigan. Zachary Dillard is enrolled
as a first year Master of Divinity student at the Candler
Theater as performer and conductor, and The
Orangeburg Part Time Players. Mr. Singleton is
an active adjudicator and clinician in North and
South Carolina.
When asked why he chose Claflin and what
he plans to accomplish, Mr. Singleton responded,
“This is the best opportunity for me to help young
instrumental music majors to prepare them for
the real band world.” He added, “I plan to
increase the enrollment of instrumental music
education majors and non-music majors at Claflin
University.”
Mr. Singleton is a member of the South
Carolina Band directors Association, Music
Educator National conference, South Carolina
Music Education Association, and Kappa Kappa
Psi Band Fraternity.
He is married to Gayle A. Singleton.
School of Theology at Emory University and Donta Brown
has been accepted to the Gammon School of Theology at
the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. He
will enroll during the Spring Semester 2012. Tiffany Miller
who minored in Philosophy has enrolled in the MA in Public
Policy Program at the University of Maryland-College
Park. They join the list of recent alumni from our program
who have graduated with degrees in theology and law.
The list includes Ms. Lakisha Lockhart who graduated
this past June with the Master of Divinity Degree from
Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
We begin the 2011-2012 academic years with both
excitement and anticipation of meeting new students
enrolled in the philosophy and religion program. We are
also pleased to announce that Rev. Dr. Robin Dease is
continuing with the department this fall as a member of our
faculty. Rev. Dease is a Claflin University alumnus.
FESTIVAL -- continued
from page 16
Each department may award first, second, and thirdplace
certificates. All participants will receive a certificate
of participation. Each department represented at the
Festival receives funding to be awarded in grant-in-aid.
Each department will decide how this assistance is to be
distributed among those persons who excel in its various
competitions.
A grant-in-aid that is awarded to high school seniors
is different from money given directly to a student. The
University gives the recipient credit on his or her tuition
bill for the amount of the grant-in-aid. The student receives
no money or cash.
Thus far, the program has been quite satisfactory to
the students and successful for the School. There is a long
list who succeeded in attending Claflin University through
this festival, and we are proud to see Humanities students
successful, respected and honorable citizens of the
world.

Page 18
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
COLLEGE FOR All?-- continued from page 1
opposed to high-school graduates in
past generations, high school
graduates today are unable to obtain
the number of high-paying jobs that
were once available. The world has
been transformed from a
manufacturing-based economy to an
economy based on knowledge, and
Mandakini Hiremath the importance of a college education
today can be compared to the
importance of a high school education forty years ago. It
serves as the gateway to better options and more
opportunity.
There are additional reasons why it is important to go
to college. When students experience a post-secondary
education, they have the opportunity to read books and
listen to the lectures of top experts in their fields. This
stimulation encourages students to think, ask questions,
and explore new ideas, which allows for additional growth
and development and provides college graduates with an
edge in the job market over those who have not
experienced a higher education. It also provides them the
opportunity to gain valuable resources during their tenure,
such as internships, study abroad, job fairs, and career
development information. Really, the significant number
of opportunities available for college graduates cannot be
overlooked.
The global economy is becoming increasingly more
competitive; in order to give yourself the best chance for
a well-paying job, you must first understand the importance
of a college education. And even after you have started
your career, the importance of a college education has
not been exhausted. A college degree often provides for
greater promotion opportunities. A career is important.
Most of us have to work to make a living. Being a gainfully
employed member of society helps you to lead a life filled
with contentment. It helps in earning self-respect and
respect from others as well.
When I ponder the costs of higher education, time
and time again I remember a cartoon that pictured a grimfaced
student sitting in a guidance counselor’s office and
asking her, “Can I major in how to pay back my college
loans?” Paying off student loans is a haunting matter for
college graduates. Although college carries a heavy price
tag, finding a way to fund a higher education now can pay
off in a huge way in the years to come. As the cost of
tuition continues to rise, the number of available financial
aid options is also on the rise. There are numerous
organizations and corporations that offer college
scholarships; honors college programs also offer a free
ride to qualified undergraduate students. Most
scholarships are merit based, so this provides you with
another incentive to work hard and persevere in keeping
up your GPA in order to be eligible for them.
Obviously, you have accepted the challenges and
made the choice of matriculating at a four-year college.
Make the best of the opportunity to get your money’s
worth. Let education open for you numerous windows
of opportunity in the outside world. You are here to gain
the knowledge for putting your potential to maximum use.
Remember that education is not just what one needs to
know. The purpose of education is to enrich the body,
mind, and spirit as well as to help you to earn your daily
bread. Education is aimed at developing the whole person.
The 1st-century Roman poet Ovid said, “Learning
humanizes character and does not permit it to be cruel.”
I believe that Ovid reflects the true mission of the
humanities – to foster and nurture a spirit of inquiry which
points us to a world beyond what we can immediately
see and feel, looking both outside of ourselves and deep
within.
The fundamental purpose of education is to create
good human beings, though the supposed purpose of
education, as marketed by the education industry, is career
advancement, higher pay, and empowering a college
graduate’s job search. Education is vital to the healthy
growth and development of one’s personality. The end
of knowledge is wisdom; education is a fundamental
means to bringing about desired change in society. It
develops the whole person. The end of education is
character, which draws out the best in child and man by
helping develop his/her body, mind and spirit, thus leading
towards a prosperous future. Clearly, education plays a
vital role in giving human beings proper equipment to lead
a contented, respectful, graciously harmonious life.
The application here is from individual to universal.
By educating yourself, you are setting a great example
for your children and the generations to come. There is
no match to this kind of investment.
This newsletter is available on the website: http://www.claflin.edu/Academic/HSS-Newsletter.html

Page 19
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Remembering Dr. Julian Marshall Williams
By Mandakini Hiremath
The Claflin family, especially the members
of the School of Humanities and Social
Sciences, were shocked and deeply saddened
by the sudden and untimely death of Dr. Julian
M. Williams. He passed away on Wednesday,
July 6, 2011, after complications from minor
surgery.
Sudden loss causes us to look backward.
We recognize our own mortality, and we are
reminded that in the fleeting time we have on
this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or
status, or power, or fame - but rather, how
well we have loved and appreciated others.
Sadly, I browsed through my e-mail to check
the last time he and I had corresponded
electronically. The subject of Dr. Williams’
most recent message was ‘Good news.’ He
had written, “Mrs. Hiremath, I just found out
that my manuscript, “Latin American Newspaper Coverage
of the United States Civil Rights Movement,” has been
accepted for publication in the International Journal of
Business and Social Science. I hope that you will put this in
the newsletter. Thanks. -J. Williams”
Dr. Williams’ last visit to the Writing Center was in the
latter fortnight of May to say goodbye before going away for
summer vacation. Congratulating him on the ‘good news’, I
assured him that I certainly would put that in the next
newsletter. He seemed very excited to spend time with his
daughters, Michelle, 18 and Nicole, 14, and family, wife, mother,
brothers and a sister. He enjoyed talking about his daughters
and comparing his upbringing with that of today’s generation.
In another e-mail he wrote, “Mrs. Hiremath, I enjoyed reading
your columns. I especially enjoyed the one on respect. It seems
few families have time to sit at the dinner table each day.
People just grab what they want when they get home. When
I was growing up, I looked forward to talking with my family
each evening. We talked about a lot of things. Mom used to
teach us to use good manners. She said if a family member
used bad manners at the table, he or she was to be given a
warning. If he used bad manners again, he was to be “punished”
by doing something that now seems harmless, like singing a
song or doing a little dance. At the time, we were all quite shy
and didn’t like to get in front of anyone, including our siblings.
Singing was, to me, like getting a whipping (smile). -J.
Williams” Obviously, he was a family man. He loved and
respected his mother greatly.
He was an excellent communicator and good story teller.
His love and pride for his children was quite obvious. My last
words for him were, “Enjoy your time with your daughters.
See you in August.” Now, each day when I pass by the Mass
Dr. Julian M. Williams
May 28, 1953 – July, 6, 2011
Communications Department and realize
that Dr. Williams is not going to be with
us, the awareness of the uncertainty of life
flashes over and helplessly makes me
reflect on Sir Walter Scott’s words, “Like
the dew on the mountain, like the foam on
the river, like the bubbles on the fountain
thou art gone and forever...”. Death is so
final.
Dr. Julian Williams joined us as an
associate professor in the Department of
Mass Communications in the Fall, 2007.
Before joining Claflin University, he taught
at the University of Florida for 14 years,
earning a “Teacher of the Year”
designation from the students of the
program in 2005. He earned his Ph.D. in
mass communications with an emphasis
on international communications from
Indiana University in 1999.
I remember asking Dr. Williams in 2007, when I was
getting ready to write a column to welcome the new faculty
members, why he joined Claflin University, and what he
planned to accomplish here. Dr. Williams had answered, “I
chose Claflin largely because of a conversation that I had
with a friend of mine at a conference in San Antonio. He
was a Claflin graduate who was studying for a Ph.D. at Penn
State University. He was very excited about the high quality
of education at Claflin and told me that I would see it as a
school that was ‘going places.’ I have since heard glowing
reports about the institution. I am delighted to be a part of the
Claflin family.” He added, “As for what I plan to accomplish
at Claflin, my goal is to achieve excellence in teaching and
research.”
And so he did. He was one of the nation’s experts on the
media during the civil rights era, having written illuminating
articles about the experience of TV and radio stations and
photographers in Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina
during the 1950s and 1960s. He was elected to the board of
directors of the American Journalism Historians Association
in 2007, became a member of the Editorial Board of American
Journalism in 2008, and in recent years gave presentations
across the U.S. at conferences. Dr. Williams was admired
and appreciated by many not only for his academic expertise
but also for his candid nature and heartfelt laugh, which could
be heard from afar. He talked candidly with his colleagues,
making each one feel that he or she was the most important
person with whom he shared his thoughts. He was modest
and a man without guile. We are going to miss him very much.
May Dr. Julian M. Williams’s soul rest in peace. May
God bless the Williams family with strength to endure the
loss.

Page 20
Humanities and Social Sciences Newsletter
Dr. Julian M. Williams, you will be missed
An educator, scholar and a true gentleman
In July of this year, we lost a dear colleague, Dr. Julian
Williams, Associate Professor of Mass Communications.
Dr. Williams was a dedicated professional who was
very concerned about his students’ education and their
future careers. He worked very well with colleagues and
shared a cordial relationship with his students. Dr. Williams
was an educator, scholar and a true gentleman who will be
truly missed.
We celebrated the life of Dr. Julian Williams in a
memorial service held on October 14th in the James and
Dorothy Elmore Chapel..
By Dr. Peggy S. Ratliff, Dean
A man of warmth, strength, and laughter
Dr. Julian Williams was a treasure to the Claflin University
family. He was a very humble man who didn’t speak of his
many accomplishments. Dr. Williams instantly became a
vital part of the H.V. Manning Library family upon being
located in an office space on the third floor. He brought
warmth, strength, and laughter to our family. Whenever he
entered or exited the library, he always made time to speak
to the staff and students. He was intellectually gifted and
always had a stream of students craving his knowledge,
wisdom and insight. He loved his students and they loved
him in return. He was dedicated and passionate about his
roles as professor, advisor, colleague, mentor and friend.
Many nights, he was one of the last persons to leave the
building when we closed at midnight. On several occasions,
as I departed the library after a long day that drifted into
night, I’d observe that his office lights were on. Thinking
that he may have accidentally left them on, I’d return
upstairs, knock on his door, and lo and behold, there he
was with a smile, working on or completing a project or
assignment. He is greatly missed and will be remembered
always by the H.V. Manning Library staff. Dr. Williams’
influence will be long exhibited through the students he
helped mold.
By Ms. Marilyn Y. Gibbs, Library Director
and the H.V. Manning Library Staff
Julian Williams was one of the most sincere and kind
individuals. He was a scholar as well as a media practitioner.
He had several articles published concerning the view of
the American Civil Rights Movement from the Latin America
Perspective and had recently presented at the national
Broadcast Education Association in Las Vegas, Nevada on
a panel entitled, “Email is for Old People and Other Truths
from the Teaching Trenches.” However, he was far from
being considered “old.” In fact, he was fascinated by the
“new” media and the attraction that young people have for
technology. He even volunteered to teach our new media
convergence course in order to stay ahead of the technology
curve, so that he could assist students with the media
industries’ adoption and use of new technologies.
Dr. Williams brought a wealth of professional experience
to the classroom but his reach was much deeper. He truly
cared about students and wanted to see each and every
one succeed. Dr. Williams often spoke about his concerns
with making courses better and ways to give students more
professional opportunities. He always encouraged students
to do more and be more than they ever thought that they
could be. I was often humbled by the depth of his care and
wisdom. I will miss him greatly.
In honor of Dr. Julian Williams, we will move the
Department of Mass Communications and our programs
forward. We will do the best that we can to make him proud
of us. I believe, we will see him again. Our thoughts and
prayers are with his family.
By Dr. Donna Gough, Mass Comm. Dept.Chair
A great colleague and a popular professor
Professor Julian Marshall Williams was a great colleague
and a popular professor among his students in the
Department of Mass Communications. Williams had the
unique ability to merge his knowledge of the craft with an
academic knowledge of mass media to insure that students
would emerge from his tutelage prepared for any twentyfirst
century challenges encountered. Colleagues, friends,
and students were the richer for having dialogued with
Williams about his Civil Rights research agenda, especially
the Orangeburg Massacre of 1968. The Claflin University
family will miss Julian Marshall Williams; he left us too soon.
Dr. Sharynn Owens Etheridge, Asst. Prof. of English
This newsletter is available on the website http://www.claflin.edu/Academic/HSS-Newsletter.html