December 2013

Transylvania student heads to Denmark to study issues surrounding sex trafficking

Posted on December 22, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Prostitution and sex trafficking might not be topics we expect to be the focus of a bright young college student. But Bria Parker ’15 is heading to Denmark to learn about policy issues addressing those troublesome social issues, which are universal and timeless—and, unfortunately, commonly in the news. Parker has received a prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study “Prostitution and the Sex Trade in Europe” at the Denmark Institute for International Study, beginning in January. Gilman Scholarships, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, are awarded solely to Pell Grant recipients—academic achievers with financial need. The goal of the scholarship is to diversify the candidates who study and intern abroad and to focus study in countries that are less traveled. Recipients of the grant are required to complete a service component when they return to campus, and Parker hopes to reach out to the Lexington community. Why Denmark? A visit to Transylvania’s annual Study Abroad Fair put Parker across the table from a representative of the Denmark Institute, who described its curricular offerings in sociology and gender studies. It was a eureka moment for Parker and, as Kathryn Simon, director of study abroad at Transylvania, recalls, a logical outcome of a local inspiration: “[Parker] attended the Kentucky Collegiate Leadership Conference last winter where she heard a speaker talk about prostitution and the sex trade. This piqued her interest in wanting to learn

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Transylvania coaches choose to celebrate holidays with local schoolchildren

Posted on December 19, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Co-workers often get together this time of year for libations and secret Santa gifts. But members of the Transylvania University athletics program decided to do something different. About 20 coaches and staff members got off the season’s sidelines and took a van ride up North Limestone to visit Arlington Elementary students. “I had so much fun reading the Christmas books with the kids,” head women’s lacrosse coach Haley Marvine said. “Children around the holidays are always so excited. It was a really fun day.” The students reacted enthusiastically not only to the stories but also to the coaches’ participation in their physical education classes, which kept the track and cross-country coaches hopping (er, jumping rope, that is). Transylvania athletes and athletic staff have taken a more active role in the community all year. For example, the women’s basketball team donated door receipts from the Besuden Classic toward a $1,000 gift to God’s Pantry, and members of the volleyball team have been reading to elementary school children for two months. “This is something we will do again,” said cheer and dance head coach Tora Carter, who helped coordinate the Arlington visit. “Everyone really enjoyed interacting with the teachers and students. Being able to give back at this time of year is special.” Arlington’s Family Resource Center Director Linda Prater worked with Carter to make the event possible, as did Karen Anderson, coordinator of Transylvania’s community service and civic engagement office.

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Transylvania University gallery exhibition displays trashy art

Posted on December 17, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Over a thousand yards of tattered garden hose, two years of dusty lint, hundreds of water bottles and dozens of old laundry detergent bottles will litter Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery come January. And no one is picking up. American artists David Edgar, Suzanne Proulx, Michelle Stitzlein and David Wilson will show together for the first time in “Trashformed,” an exhibition that demonstrates what can happen when artists intercept the waste stream of American life and transform it into artwork rich with meaning. Works range from David Wilson’s elegant wall “drawings” created from repurposed garden hose to a warren of bunnies by Suzanne Proulx, who collected years of household “dust bunnies” for this installation of playful life-sized rabbits. David Edgar’s colorful hanging lamps are constructed from finely cut and reassembled laundry detergent bottles. The end product is crisp and clean, hardly what one would imagine from “trash.” Ohio artist Michelle Stitzlein, who like the other artists is a self-proclaimed trash hound, often retrieves art materials from neighborhood garbage cans. Stitzlein’s “Dumpster dives” result in finely detailed and ordered sculptures, such as her Moth Series, where each moth is imbued with thousands of objects and can measure up to 12 feet wide. And her newest work, from the Fynbos Series, will premiere in Morlan’s “Trashformed” exhibition. “Trashformed” opens Wednesday, Jan. 15, and closes after the Lexington Gallery Hop on Friday, Feb. 21, 5-8 p.m. Regular gallery hours are weekdays noon to

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Ben Sollee to perform at Transylvania Feb. 15

Posted on December 13, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Planning a special Valentine’s weekend with your significant other? Don’t miss this opportunity to share the joy of a local performance by international music star and Lexington native Ben Sollee on Feb. 15 at Transylvania University’s Haggin Auditorium, sponsored by the Student Activities Board. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $5 for Transylvania students, faculty and staff. They can be purchased online at www.tinyurl.com/TUBenSollee. The doors will open at 8 p.m. and the concert will begin at 8:30 with a performance by the Dreamin’ Rovers, a Transylvania student band that includes Ryan Anderson, Luke Gnadinger, Dan Marnatti, Alex Schmitt and Mason Williams. Ben Sollee—cellist, singer-songwriter and composer—will then offer his rare mix of genre-bending music, which moves easily from personal ballads to environmental protest songs. NPR’s “All Things Considered” called “Learning to Bend,” Sollee’s debut album, “an inspired collection of acoustic, folk and jazz-flavored songs, filled with hope and the earnest belief that the world is good.” Sollee regularly collaborates with a number of recognized artists, including Bela Fleck, Daniel Martin Moore and Jim James of My Morning Jacket. Writing about Sollee’s latest album, “Half-Made Man,” noted Kentucky author Silas House says, “The songs give us the many facets of a human being who is acutely aware of the world around him and his own faults. The album is novelistic in its scope and theme as we travel with the narrator who reveals everything about himself as a

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Transylvania students shine at annual Yale institute for bioethics

Posted on December 10, 2013July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Should humans use animals to grow new ears? Should we attempt to revive extinct species like the passenger pigeon or the wooly mammoth? How shall we care for our aging human population? What ethical and philosophical challenges are raised by such questions? These are examples of the heady issues confronting participants in the annual Summer Institute offered by Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. Transylvania has awarded Lydia Lissanu ’15 of Somerset, a sociology major with a biology minor, a full scholarship to the program, which brings together undergraduate and graduate students from around the world for two months each summer. Because of the success of previous Transylvania participants, Yale has reserved a spot for a Transylvania student since 2009. Transylvania selects the student from a pool of applicants and covers the enrollment fee. “I feel really blessed,” said Lissanu of being chosen for the Yale seminar. “It’s an honor. I hope that I can make the school proud when I’m there.” Participation in the program will afford Lissanu, who is on a pre-med, pre-public health track with plans to pursue a career in global health, the opportunity to study with an esteemed group of professors from Yale and other institutions. She was drawn to the program’s interdisciplinary focus, which is similar to the approach of several of her Transylvania courses. “She was really an extraordinary candidate,” said Jack Furlong, a Transylvania philosophy professor who’s on the selection committee.

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