Page 44 - Academic Report FINAL VERSION WEB

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Department of Media, Culture,
& the Arts
The Department of Media, Culture, and the Arts
(MCA) sponsors a variety of creative, academic and
cultural activities each semester. MCA offers pro-
grams in art, music, film, language, creative writing,
and communication.
Throughout the 2018-2019 academic year the
modern language faculty sponsored the Interdisci-
plinary Film Series, showing foreign-language films
each semester that intersect with a variety of disci-
plines across campus. The film shown for the spring
semester was The Name of the Rose. As well, modern
language professors Wengier and Crump hosted and
directed an annual development workshop at MGA
for high school foreign language teachers in February.
More than forty local high school teachers attended
the event.
The faculty in MCA serve as advisors and coordi-
nators for MGA’s student media. The student news-
paper produced and published six physical issues of
The Statement and four online editions. The on-cam-
pus streaming video station, KnighTVision, produced
monthly editions of KTV News. Students created a
12-minute accreditation video for the School of Edu-
cation and Behavioral Sciences. Student editors also
published the 22nd edition of The Fall Line Review,
MGA’s fine arts magazine that features the work of
more than thirty-five MGA students from across all
campuses. Student media also sponsored the 2nd
annual Knight at the Oscars ceremony, honoring the
final projects of NMAC students. More information on
student media, along with electronic editions of their
work, can be found here: https://mgaeditor.wixsite.
com/studentmedia.
In April 2019, art faculty selected the best student year.
artwork from MGA’s spring art classes for a show at
the Peacock Gallery on the Cochran campus. The
show featured artwork from more than 20 students
and was judged by Mercer University art faculty mem-
ber Luke Buffenmyer. Winning artwork can be found
on the walls outside the President’s office in the Ad-
ministration building on the Macon campus.
The art faculty also spearheaded the annual Mid-
dle Georgia State University Arts Festival. This year’s
theme was “The Color of Fear” and featured a series
of “colorful” horror movie showings and discussions
and a talk by author and MGA staff member Andy Da-
vidson. He talked about his novel In the Valley of the
Sun and signed books for audience members.
New Media and Communication faculty led stu-
dents in several community-oriented production ac-
tivities in the spring of 2019. In conjunction with the
School of Education and Behavioral Sciences, NMAC
majors made short documentaries about community
40 mga.edu | finding greatness
members in Middle Georgia to demonstrate how we
are flourishing as a community. The documentaries
were presented as part of the THRIVE Summit host-
ed by MGA in conjunction with Community Founda-
tion of Central Georgia and the United Way of Central
Georgia.
NMAC majors also volunteered to provide video
production for the the NAIA Opening Round Macon
Bracket hosted by MGA and Luther Williams Field.
Led by media professor Rebecca Edwards, students
produced the live video feed of the tournament,
which was viewed by thousands of college baseball
fans from all over the United States.
As well, the students in the Contemporary Musi-
cianship B.A. program continue to flourish. These stu-
dents gather twice a month for The 16-25 Collective, a
time for creative musical minds to explore new ideas
and plan strategies for their careers. They also invite
guest speakers: their January meeting featured spe-
cial guest Wayne Jones, a member of the board of
directors of the Georgia Arts Network, the state’s of-
ficial arts advocacy and service organization; and the
director of the Arts Connection in Tifton.
Music students have performed in a wide vari-
ety of venues this year. In the fall the MGA band per-
formed at home football games in Cochran. The jazz
ensemble performed at the Jazz Association of Ma-
con’s 15th Annual “Jazz and Arts on Riverdale” event.
In spring 2019, the MGA Chamber Singers performed
with Wesleyan College Choirs twice for their spring
concert. One concert took place on the Macon cam-
pus, the other on the Wesleyan Campus. These are
just a few of the performances from throughout the
Finally, MCA, along with the Department of En-
glish, co-sponsor the Middle Georgia State Univer-
sity Undergraduate Conference. This spring the un-
dergraduate conference saw more than 100 students
from across many majors participate, sharing their
creative and critical work with faculty, students and
staff. The conference also sponsored four keynote
speakers dedicated to the theme of madness and cul-
ture.