Newsletters
March 2011
Jakob Dylan to Receive Honorary Doctor of Letters
Idaho State University will award an honorary Doctor of Letters to Mr. Jakob Dylan at its Spring 2011 Commencement ceremonies. This will mark the first honorary degree conferred through the newly formed College of Arts & Letters.
Dylan is a two-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter. He is the lead singer and songwriter for The Wallflowers. Formed in 1990, the Los Angeles-based band has sold over seven million records worldwide. In addition, Dylan has also released two critically acclaimed solo albums.
Dylan’s music is widely recognized as being about “significant themes,” often highlighting struggles of the human spirit, disillusionment, and the value of perseverance and hard work. In addition, he is recognized as a wordsmith whose songs--filled with vivid imagery and eloquent language--distinguish him from his contemporaries. Music critic Anthony DeCurtis notes, “Dylan writes like a poet.” Commenting on Dylan’s songwriting, USA Today offers, “Lyrically, Dylan is less of a traditionalist, drawing more inspiration from poet W.H. Auden than Buddy Holly. ‘I don't think I've ever worked with the lexicon of rock 'n' roll lyrics, repeating a chorus over and over,’ he [Dylan] says. ‘I gravitate toward something else. I wouldn't necessarily call it poetry, but I love the sound of language, the cadence, the way words lock together.’”
Dylan gained national attention with The Wallflowers’ sophomore release Bringing Down the Horse and its numerous radio-friendly singles, including “Sixth Avenue Heartache,” “One Headlight,” and “The Difference,” each of which earned Grammy nominations. The Wallflowers have released six albums to date: The Wallflowers (1992), Bringing Down the Horse (1996), (Breach) (2000), Red Letter Days (2002), Rebel, Sweetheart (2005), and 2009’s Collected, a compilation of some of the band’s most popular songs. The band’s music has also appeared in numerous films and television shows (Godzilla: The Movie, Zoolander, American Wedding, I Am Sam, The Guardian, CSI, and NCIS).
In addition to his success with The Wallflowers, Dylan also has an accomplished solo career. He released his first solo album, Seeing Things, with Columbia Records in 2008. The album, produced by Grammy Award-winning Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Linkin Park), was a largely acoustic album, featuring Dylan on vocals and guitar, accompanied by minimal instrumentation (brush drums, stand up bass, and sparse harmonizing vocals). PopMatters’ Ron Hart explains that the album puts “Dylan’s voice up front with very minimal musical accompaniment so as to keep the lyrics the main focal point. And lyrically, this is clearly Jakob’s strongest material to date.” Songs deal with a variety of weighty themes including the nature of evil, a soldier’s perspective of war, the futility of work, and the determination to succeed in the face of obstacles. Dylan explains, “I think the concept of war is timeless. There's physical war and there's emotional war and the imagery is boundless. I come to it not from a political perspective but as a human concern.” The album is, according to Scott Gold (LA Times), “probably his best work, certainly his most graceful, with a range of imagery—of grown-up love and grasshoppers on a country road, but also of darkness and war—achieved only by gifted storytellers."
In 2010 Dylan released Women + Country, his second solo album, produced by Grammy Award-winning and Oscar Award-winning producer T Bone Burnett (Elvis Costello, Elton John & Leon Russell, B.B. King, Robert Plant & Alison Kruass, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, and Crazy Heart). This album features rich instrumentation, including tribal drums, pedal steel, horns, and mandolin, along with the harmonies of Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. The album explores themes including fighting the principled fight and persevering in the face of adversity. American Songwriter explains, “Like the rest of Dylan’s catalog, the songs on Women + Country are exceptionally well crafted… All told, Women + Country is Dylan’s most accomplished work to date . . . and will set the bar for all future endeavors.” Randy Lewis, LA Times Music Critic, named Women + Country the Top Album of 2010. He explains, “Songwriting can be viewed as a sort of alchemy, a process through which a musician creates something rare and valuable -- whether personally, artistically or commercially -- out of the base materials of everyday life. Jakob Dylan’s Women and Country is a glittering example.”
Nancy J. Legge, Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, initiated the nomination for Dylan to receive the honorary degree. Legge has assisted Dylan’s team in managing his websites for more than a decade. In addition, she has used Dylan’s work to illustrate concepts in several courses she teaches and has presented and published several papers about Dylan’s ideas. Dylan’s work, she explains, “is important because it is both intellectual and artistic. His songs are often deeply philosophical, exploring important issues about the human condition. His work adds to the conversations that have been going on between thinkers for centuries. Furthermore, Dylan’s use of language is masterful and clearly inspired by great poets. Using the vehicle of songs to express his ideas makes them accessible to everyone. All of these factors contribute to the recognition that Dylan himself is a wise and gifted poet and songwriter whose work teaches and inspires.”.
Dylan will receive his honorary Doctor of Letters at the Spring Commencement ceremonies on May 7, 2011. Dylan responded to the news, “I am truly honored to be awarded a Doctor of Letters. To have my songwriting recognized by higher education is a thrill to me. I look forward to celebrating this day with all the students and educators at Idaho State University.” Idaho State, and especially the College of Arts & Letters, is proud to have this connection to Mr. Dylan. We look forward to developing our relationship with such a distinguished artist.
Learn more about Jakob Dylan:
NPR Concert and Interview Footage
Staci Jensen-Hart (Dept. of Sociology, Social Work & Criminal Justice) Receives Major Contract
Assistant Professor Staci Jensen-Hart, Director of the Social Work Program, recently received a major contract award from the State of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) to implement a program to train child welfare workers throughout the state. Dr. D J Williams of the Department of Sociology, Social Work & Criminal Justice will assist with the project.
As Principal Investigator on the contract, Jensen-Hart will implement and evaluate a new model which tightly links current research, theory, and practice utilizing Adult Learning Theory to train child welfare workers throughout the state. Adult Learning Theory integrates the importance of continuing professional development with key motivational principles (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) from Self Determination Theory.
A major component of the contract involves hiring four Child Welfare Trainers who will be based in DHW Regional Offices. These trainers will work with the ISU Social Work Program to mentor new workers in developing best practice skills and to provide direct clinical consultation on child welfare issues. They will also provide continuing education professional development opportunities for experienced child welfare workers and supervisors.
Student Selected for Costume Design Competition in Prague
Joyce Mix, a senior Theatre and Dance student who specializes in costume design, is one of a select group of student designers chosen for this year’s Prague Quadrennial Performance and Design competition in Prague, Czech Republic. The Quadrennial is an international exhibition which is held only every four years in Prague. The competition invites artists from more than seventy-six countries on five continents and sees over 30,000 visitors during the ten-day exhibition.
Last year, Mix spotted a flyer in the costume shop announcing the competition and submitted her costume design project from her theatre Stage Costume Design class. “I saw the flyer and figured what the heck: it’s worth a try,” she recalls. After the initial electronic submission of her work, Mix was notified she had been chosen to compete in the semi-final competition at last spring’s United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT) conference. She was given a concept and one hour to design a cohesive combination of costumes, lights, and scenery. Mix placed first at the conference and was notified on April 10, 2010 that she had been selected to compete at the International Prague Quadrennial. “I am really excited and thrilled to be part of an elite group of designers,” Mix said. “I’m looking forward to this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The Prague Quadrennial will be held this summer, June 14-June 24. Mix is working on fundraising so she can participate in the international competition.
Jack Owens, Dept. of History, Retires after 35 Years
After thirty-five years as a History faculty member at ISU, Professor J.B. “Jack” Owens retired from his full-time position in January. Over the years, Owens invested extraordinary energy and enthusiasm in developing programs across the campus and connecting ISU with research projects around the world. A specialist on the history of Spain in the era from 1400 to 1700, his own scholarship to date amounts to nearly sixty refereed articles and book chapters and two monographs in both Spanish and English.
Owens was recognized twice as ISU outstanding researcher, and in 2002 he received the Distinguished Researcher Award. He garnered prestigious fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities (2003) and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (2004). His record of external grants includes over $1.7 million from the National Science Foundation, a level unprecedented for a historian. He embraced at an early stage the use of digital technology for teaching and research; the March 1995 issue of ISU Computing News included his article, “Teaching on the Internet.” His work to incorporate geospatial technologies into historical research has resulted in international recognition and the successful development of ISU’s M.A. program in Historical Resources Management.
Owens continues to work with ISU in his new role as research professor, based on the ISU Meridian campus. He remains Director of the NSF-funded SOCNET project -- a multi-national, multi-disciplinary effort to study complex social networks in the first global age (1400-1800) and to incorporate computational techniques to develop historical narratives.
Accreditation Renewed for Music Degrees
Faculty members in the Department of Music recently received news that accreditation has been renewed for all of the department’s music degrees, which are accredited through the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). Accreditation renewal is evaluated every ten years. The Commission on Accreditation found no deficiencies in the ISU music program and noted only the need for an updated Strategic Plan.
ISU offers several music degrees as part of the School of Performing Arts. There are professional degrees in music performance (BM) and music education (BME), as well as liberal arts degrees in music (BA, BS). There is also a graduate program in music education offered jointly through the College of Education.
An NASM evaluation team came to Pocatello in February 2010, for a two-day visit. For the previous two years the music faculty worked on an extensive self-study that was sent to the evaluators. After receiving the Visitors Report music faculty were given the opportunity to write an Optional Response. In its final report, the Commission commended ISU “for thoroughness of its Optional Response.”
The Commission also commented on the Piano Preparatory Program, which is supervised by Dr. Kori Bond, Professor of Piano. In this program ISU piano students gain experience as teachers for precollege students and community members. The Commission noted that this program “meets the NASM criteria for Non-Degree-Granting Programs for the Community, and therefore will be listed in the NASM publications.” The Piano Preparatory Program recently celebrated its tenth anniversary.
ISU Spanish Students and Instructors Achieve 100% Pass Rate on Medical Interpretation Exam
In December 2010, ten Idaho State University Spanish students and three instructors from the Department of Languages & Literatures participated in a Spanish Medical Interpretation Qualification course and exam. The course instructor, Mr. Chris Dimmick, reported that this was the first time that every single participant in a certification class passed the qualification exam on the first try.
This is a tremendous achievement for Idaho State University, especially considering Dimmick was first contracted over eight years ago by the State of Idaho to certify medical Spanish interpreters. He has since trained and tested hundreds of participants at health care facilities and universities throughout Idaho and in neighboring states.
Dimmick was invited to Pocatello by Dr. Cathleen Tarp of the Department of Languages & Literatures to administer the course and exam to students
in her upper division Spanish Medical Interpretation and Translation course and to interested students in the PA program. The following is a list
of students newly qualified as Spanish Medical Interpreters: Stetson Albertson, Kim Anglesey, Daniel Barney, Jon Michael Bonnesen, Michael Browne,
Gregory Fenchel Jr., Thomas Huffaker, Bryce Rhodehouse, Veronica Sandoval, and Tanner Mitton. Three instructors in the Department of Languages &
Literatures -- Sandra Dillon, Marta Robredo, and Sarah McCurry -- also join the ranks of qualified interpreters.
