COLLEGE AND SEMINARY NEWS

Centre College has received the largest individual gift of non-property assets ever made to a Kentucky college or university, a commitment in excess of $18 million from the estate of Centre alumnus H.W. Stodghill, Jr., and his wife, Adele Stodghill.

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A new book published by the prestigious Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching lists Tusculum College as one of 12 colleges and universities nationwide “that place moral and civic development at the center of their educational programs.” The book introduces Tusculum College to readers as “a small liberal arts college in Tennessee” that emerged from an institution-threatening crisis after “its president and faculty decided (in 1989) to create an educational model that is centrally concerned with building better citizens.”

The book recounts the history of former President Dr. Robert Knott’s “side porch conversations” — weekly meetings between Dr. Knott and the Tusculum faculty on the side porch of the president’s house in the early 1990s. During those meetings, readings from Plato, Cicero, Aristotle and others were discussed and the challenge issued to apply their classic principles to a new undergraduate education model aimed at “building better citizens.”

Those early efforts led to a “Civic Arts Revolution” at the college and the distinctive Tusculum educational model described in the book.

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In its first year, the Belhaven College Center for the Arts has already become one of the most sought-after venues in the city of Jackson for performances, lectures and book readings.

Since its official opening August 2002, the Center for the Arts has been the site of many community arts performances in addition to numerous college events, including two world-class pianists and three concerts by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.

In fact, the MSO will hold all of its 2003-2004 Bravo Series performances in the Center for the Arts.

The facility, which was the home of Riverside Independent Methodist Church until Belhaven purchased the property last summer, fills a niche market in Jackson with its 800-seat Concert Hall.

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Kathleen M. O’Connor, professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, has received the Catholic Press Association’s top award in the category of scripture for her Lamentations and the Tears of the World (Orbis Books). The award recognizes excellence in scholarship, particularly in areas of interest to a Catholic readership.

August courses at the Lay Institute of Faith and Life include the Institute’s annual Summer Lay Scholars program and three opportunities for Bible study. All courses meet on the Columbia Seminary campus in Decatur.

This year Lay Scholars will consider the issue of “Faith and Beauty.” Lay Institute Director Rick Dietrich says, “The scholars will be looking at several aspects of the relationship between religious faith and beauty. What can the lay person learn from the way artists and theologians approach the topic?”

The Lay Institute will also offer a preview of the 2003-2004 Presbyterian Women’s Bible Study on nameless women of the Bible.

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Twenty-one high school teachers from Korea will be at Maryville College July 21 to August 15, improving their skills as teachers and their knowledge of the English language. The visit has become an annual tradition, which includes field trips to Smoky Mountain tourist sites.

The Appalachian Lecture Series at Maryville College will feature nationally acclaimed writers this year, beginning September 9 with author Robert Morgan’s lecture and presentation “The Voice of the Story.” Morgan is author of the best-selling novel Gap Creek, an Oprah book club selection in 2000, and was winner of the Southern Book Award for fiction. On October 7, Kentucky writer Silas House will present the second lecture. House began “finding his heritage”, the title of his presentation, while writing his latest novel, A Parchment of Leaves, which won the Award for Special Achievement from the Fellowship of Southern Writers and sold out of its first printing before it was even published. His first novel, Clay’s Quilt became a national bestseller. Author Mary Bozeman Hodges will conclude the series on Nov. 4 with her presentation, “Delights and Dangers in Using Appalachian Dialect.” She is an English teacher at Carson- Newman College who is described by Wilma Dykeman as a “storyteller in the best Southern Appalachian tradition.” All three lectures begin at 7 p.m. in Lawson Auditorium on the Maryville College campus. Cost is $30 for all three events or $12 per lecture. To purchase tickets, call 865-981-8257.

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Emerging Worship in Congregations and Homes is scheduled at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary October 16-17. For more information, call Laura March, 502-895-3411, ext. 470.