Denison’s student
bluegrass ensemble
(pictured here) has
Old-Time Music on the Hill been around since
2000, but now it’s
official: bluegrass
Denison’s rich bluegrass tradition finds is an academic
a permanent home in the music department concentration
at Denison. The
b y p a tr i c k k i r c h ne r students are (from
left) Will McLean
Andy CArlson CAlls it “being bitten by the bug.” adding a brand new program to its curriculum, co- ’10, Rob Flax ’10,
Casey Cook refers to it as “a healthy addiction.” Their directed by Carlson and Cook, beginning this fall: Hayes Griffin ’10,
students know it as “just getting that feeling.” a certified academic concentration in bluegrass Caroline Spence ’11,
tim black
No matter how you describe it, once you catch for music majors. Kayla Jerome ’10,
it, once it worms its way into your heart, there’s Unlike Western European classical music, blue- and Kurt Ebsary ’12.
no fighting the intoxicating power of bluegrass grass as a formal study is largely uncharted in the
music. And, man, that bluegrass bug has become world of academia. But a small handful of schools
12 an epidemic around the hill these days. It’s so d eniso n band
are pioneering a path to bring the old string magazin e spring 2010 13
infectious, that Denison’s music department is tradition out of the Appalachian foothills and into
Brain Scan
the halls of higher ed. With the unveiling of its blue-
grass program, Denison joins only two other schools
in the country—East Tennessee State University and EvEry yEar, mEmbErs of thE DEnison nErD Club, (that’s
South Plains College in Texas—to offer a certified cur- Neuroscience Education and Research at Denison), hold
riculum dedicated to the genre. a Brain Bee for local high school students. The winner
With programs like these leading the way, Carlson goes on to compete in the U.S. National Brain Bee. The
anticipates an upsurge in bluegrass education over the idea fits right in with the group’s mission: to study the
next decade and beyond, likening it to the boom in brain and nervous system and help others do the same.
jazz education programs throughout the 1970s. “We’re In keeping with the NERD mission, we thought we’d
seeing now that people are saying, ‘Hey, wait minute. offer a few Brain Bee prep questions supplied by Nestor
There’s this whole body of American folk music, blue- Matthews, associate professor of psychology and NERD
grass music, old-time music that’s worthy of studying adviser at Denison. So, how well do you know that organ
and needs to be preserved in the academic setting,’” he that keeps you going?
says. “So I think academia is perking up and listening.”
Denison started perking up when Carlson was hired 1. Which brain lobe is the last to be fully
in 1999. An accomplished violinist and state fiddle
myelinated during human development?
champion, he began playing as a boy, learning old-time
ditties from his grandfather, who, in turn, learned from 2. Nicotine stimulates which glands?
his father. You can hear that tradition in Carlson’s voice 3. Approximately what fraction of neu-
when he talks about it. It’s a part of him, and he brought rons generated in development survive
it with him to Denison. “This,” he says, “is a way for me into adulthood?
to pass on the gift that my family gave to me.” 4. What disease is associated with a build-
With his department’s support, Carlson launched the
up of the protein “tau” in neural cell bodies?
first student bluegrass ensemble in 2000, with only five or
six students. That number quickly doubled, then tripled. 5. What type of addiction is treated with
In 2008, the spring ensemble concert packed so many Naloxone or Buprenorphine?
bluegrass fans into Burke Recital Hall that the fire mar- (5) Opiates, like heroin or morphine
shal was called in to turn people away. (That fire marshal ANSWERS: (1) The frontal lobe; (2) Adrenal; (3) half; (4) Alzheimer’s;
was alumnus Mike Duncan ’82, a bluegrass buff who says
he normally didn’t work nights and only volunteered to
help with crowd control so he could see the show.)
It marked a defining moment for bluegrass at
Denison. Today, the advent of the academic concentra- Eulogy for College Days
tion marks another. Carlson and Cook now direct about
40 students each semester, spread over four or five To my undergraduate career:
separate bluegrass ensembles. The biannual concerts On May 16, I’ll bury you, for good.
have been moved to Swasey Chapel to accommodate
more spectators, but they still manage to fill to maxi- You showed me the awesome and terrible limits of the human body.
mum capacity. Participation in those performances is The all-nighter, followed by the all-dayer, followed by two hours of semi-
part of the concentration, which also encompasses three pointless meetings with other people thinking, “This is semi-pointless.”
other elements: two classroom-based cultural study You taught me to sleep through anything, even the party bumping inches
courses (History of American Folk Music and History away from my head, barely muffled by the tissue-paper-thin threshold
of Bluegrass), as well as a performance-based bluegrass called a wall. You taught me to survive for weeks on espresso-based bever-
workshop. Plus, Carlson and Cook host a bluegrass ages and the soup they serve at the student union.
festival on campus every year to expose the students to You revealed to me the frightening depths of human intellect. You taught
professionals playing in the field. me how to skim an entire novel in eighteenth-century Spanish in under an
“We’re so lucky to have these two professors at hour; how to craft a thesis during a dance break in the library bathroom;
Denison,” says Kayla Jerome ’10, a four-year ensemble how to write endless pages; how to write more endless pages and revise the From the Archives
member. “They’ve encouraged me so much in music endless pages previously written and subsequently destroyed by a profes-
that it’s also made me more confident as a person.” sor. And during finals week, when the computer lab smells like body odor In 1962, bowling was one of the most popular and challenge friends to a match play (a one-
And for Carlson, that’s what it all boils down to. “Sure, and desperation, you taught me that the printer will never cease to fail. But indoor sports and a favorite pastime of many on-one game) without having to leave campus.
it’s about developing people who come out more edu- no matter; I ran out of printing funds several months ago. Denisonians. So, when Slayter Union was built But, as the decades passed, so did the bowling
cated about American music,” he says. “But at the end of You left me questions that might never be answered. Why do people that year, the campus was all-a-buzz to see that trend. By the 1980s, Slayter’s lanes were being
the day, it’s not as much about that as it is about them answer their cell phones in the library and have long conversations at 10 standard bowling lanes were part of the third- used sparingly, mostly by local bowling leagues
getting up on stage at the end of the semester—and unreasonable decibel levels? Why do the lane lines in the pool randomly floor design. Fully equipped with gutters, ball like the Granville Women’s Monday League. So
what that has done for their confidence as individuals.” unleash themselves from the wall, entangling innocent lap swimmers? returns, pins, and customized Denison bowling after a number of student surveys, the decision
Why are Granville winters eternal, grey, and Whit’s-less?
balls like the one above, these lanes were used by was made in 1992 to remove the lanes and make
Fear not, college days. You shall have eternal life in my monthly student
students as well as the local recreational bowling way for a pub and space for gatherings and per-
loan bills, in my overusage of words such as “hegemonic” and “concomi-
tant” and “neoliberalism,” as my digestive system realigns itself after four leagues of Newark and Granville. For 40 cents a formances, now known as the Roost.
years of dining hall food. You shall live on. —Kim Lewis ’10 lane, students could practice their arm swings —Alison Beth Waldman ’10
14 d eniso n magazin e spring 2010 15
Lamps use less
energy than over- Keep the Make use of Change to
EnergyStar
freezer at
natural light Commitment to Climate
head lights—and
they make rooms
cozier, too.
5˚ and turn off your office flourescents.
CFL bulbs
(or LED)
Turn off
Denison University President Dale Knobel didn’t sign the American
College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment right away.
Instead, he opted to wait and put a few measures in place that would
ensure that Denison would be able to commit wholly to becoming
Have a couple
a more Earth friendly campus. Denison worked first to establish
a sustainability committee, hired the college’s first sustainability
and the coordinator, and created green initiatives on campus (like Trayless
of cold meals
Tuesdays in the dining halls to cut back on food waste) and installed
fridge at
37–40˚
motion sensors throughout buildings to automatically shut off lights
this summer— lights when rooms aren’t in use.
By Earth Day this year, Knobel felt Denison was ready, and he joined
the nearly 700 college and university presidents who have signed the
commitment since it was created in 2006. Still, he reminded faculty,
or cook out
staff, and students that he wasn’t in this alone. “It’s not my commit-
when leaving a room ment... that will allow our campus to become more sustainable,” he
said. “It will be our commitment.” To that end, here are a few tips to
to keep the
help the Denison community push toward sustainability, even by
taking small, simple steps. —Maureen Harmon
Caulk and
Set the power set-
insulate
areas—doors,
tings on your com-
puter to have your
house cool. Shop for local
windows, (and organic) food
monitor, hard drive,
baseboards— to support your farming neighbors and cut back on
and CPU “sleep”
where air energy spent in transporting food to you.
when not in use.
might leak.
And when you aren’t
using your computer,
Use a french press
for coffee vs. cell phone charger,
a heated pot. television, or other
(Your coffee will appliances and elec-
be stronger, too.)
tronics, turn them off Just FYI: Fans use Use reusable shop-
AND unplug them. less energy than ping bags and skip
that AC unit. the paper and plastic.
Or better, invest in
a powerstrip and
turn them all off
at once when you
head to bed.
Air dry
Set your thermostat a little warmer this your clothes Buy EnergyStar & Run the wash- Turn off the
summer and dress to compensate.
WaterSense labeled ing machine water while you
products. (with lukewarm brush your teeth, Keep the water
When washing dishes
or cold water) and take shorter showers.
For über Earth-lovers, you
heater at
and dishwasher 115°—that’s plenty
by hand, use a sink can even turn the shower off
Use the microwave only when full.
full of water instead of
instead of the oven.
while you scrub. hot for your shower.
running the tap.
16 d eniso n magazin e spring 2010 17
New Appointments Laurel Kennedy,
viC E p rEsiDE nt of
st uD En t af fai r s
Kim Coplin ’85,
as s oCiat E provost The Lost Boys
Kim Coplin has been selected to When the series finale of Lost ends on May 23,
a l i s o n b e t h w a l d man ’10 Kennedy came to Denison as a replace retiring associate provost fans of the popular television show will undoubt-
visiting lecturer in communica- Keith Boone, who held the position
edly go into mourning. Aaron Rosenthal ’06, Alex
This year has brought a lot of changes to the Denison tion in 1988. She was chosen for 23 years. Coplin holds a master’s
Green ’06, and Mike Berlin ’04, however, will prob-
administration due to a couple of retirements. After from more than 100 candidates from Johns Hopkins University and
piles of applications, meetings, and panels (where stu- in a national search to replace earned her Ph.D from The Ohio ably just pass out.
dents got to learn more about the final candidates and Sam Thios, who is retiring in State University. Coplin returned to The three former Mulberry House roommates
ask them questions), hiring committees have appointed May after 38 years at Denison. Denison in 1993 as an assistant pro- will be holding a LOST-A-THON to raise $100,000
familiar faces from various corners of campus to bring Kennedy earned her B.A. in communication arts fessor in physics and, in 2000, was promoted to associate for their favorite charities: The Christopher and
their expertise to Doane administration. Although our and film from the University of Wisconsin, an M.A. professor. In 2006, Coplin joined the provost’s office on Dana Reeve Foundation, Doctors Without Borders,
retiring administrative veterans have left big shoes to in communication policy from Ohio University, and a three-year appointment as a rotating associate provost. and The Nature Conservancy. The plan is to
fill, we’re sure that their successors are up for the chal- a Ph.D. in international communication from Ohio She is also an adviser to the Denison Christian Community watch all 121 Lost episodes back to back, setting a
lenge. Introducing ... University. After her lecturer role, she was soon student organization, and she served on the self-steering Guinness World Record for the most consecutive
appointed assistant professor in the communication committee of the Denison Self-Study for Accreditation hours of TV watched in a single sitting.
department, earning tenure and serving as chair of the in 2009. With Boone’s retirement, the provost’s office is
The event will be streamed live on the Web,
department for six years. One of her most influential seeing other changes—Coplin is joined by Susan Paun de
and has already attracted sponsors like Think
roles was as dean of first-year students, in which she García of Modern Languages and Toni King of the Black
transformed the first-year program. Kennedy is cur- Studies and Women’s Studies programs. The pair are Gum and ROCKSTAR energy drinks, whose caf-
rently the director of the John W. Alford Center for rotating associate provosts working to guide campus on feine-laced products will play a crucial role
Service Learning. issues of diversity and faculty development. in carrying the bleary-eyed trio through three
sleepless nights.
So where do you need to be to catch the trio in
hour 57? Head to Professor Thoms, a bar on 2nd
Brit Lit to Sci Fi?
locations that are situated to survive global warming Avenue in New York City. “They’re the biggest
fairly well. So I prognosticate what would happen if the Lost bar in the city,” says Rosenthal. “They’ve
only way to secure oil and water and other resources we been showing Lost on Tuesday nights for the
Back in 2007, kirk comBe, Denison professor of english anD scholar of satire need would be just to take them. If you’re not afraid to
past four years with a couple hundred people
and 17th and 18th century British literature, set out to write his first novel. use overwhelming pre-emptive military might, I think
who show up every week.” The Lost-addicts will
The result is 2084,which follows in the footsteps of George Orwell’s 1984 and this sort of scenario is plausible.
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, offering readers a very scary look watch the episodes from the second floor terrace
at what our future might hold. 2084 features some pretty scary technologies. How of the bar, so the spot will be ideal for the end-
did you come up with these ideas? ing Rosenthal has in mind. “We’d like to have it
How does your field of study tie in with a literary sci- The only thing I really made up is the concept of hack- culminate in a party.” —Alexander Gelfand
ence fiction novel? ing into TexArc’s Web system. All the other devices—
One of my main concerns as a scholar of early to the nanotechnology, the weaponry, and everything
modern British literature is satire. There’s one kind of else—are all either in existence or just about to be
satire that’s really come to the forefront recently called placed into existence, so that is very scary stuff. The
Menippean satire. I was getting ready to write a schol- book mentions the elevator to outer space—that’s
arly study on the subject, but a really good critic at the something that is actually on the drawing board. It’s
ly n n e b r o w s k e
University of Wisconsin at Madison named Howard been contemplated. It was really fun to zoom around
Weinbrat wrote a brilliant study on Menippean satire the Internet and find all these amazing technologies
and sort of pulled the rug out from underneath my and gadgets that are coming down the road really fall; seeing all the students on the hill; watching
project, so I thought, I’ll just write a novel. soon—if they’re not already here—and to construct a the games.”
Filling Big Red Shoes
world based on some of these things really being used After moving up the high school football
So what is Menippean satire? and misused. coaching ranks—earning two Ohio High School Football
It really attacks what might be considered the danger- Coach of the Year awards in the process—Hatem joined the
ous orthodoxy of the day, the status quo. For example, Many people knock science fiction for not being high J aCk h atEm bEgan his CoaChing CarEEr Early — Denison staff in 2005. He spent two years coaching defen-
in 1948 when Orwell wrote 1984, he was concerned literature. But you don’t buy it. Why? elementary school early. Thanks to a family tree that sive backs before becoming defensive coordinator in 2007.
with Stalinistic communism. He was a member of Science fiction often is not given its due for being includes a football coach for an uncle, Hatem felt the call After an extensive national search, Denison named Hatem
the communist party, a devoted Marxist, but he saw it the important literary form it is. Literary science fic- even before he could throw a full-sized ball. “I’ve been head coach in March, making him the 20th head coach in
going horribly wrong with Russia. Margaret Atwood, tion points out how human technology runs ahead of coaching football in one way or another since I was 10,” the 121-year history of Big Red football. He succeeds Nick
in The Handmaid’s Tale, is looking at religion and human intellect, human morality, and the human abil- Hatem says. “My uncle would pass off old equipment, and Fletcher, who coached the team from 2000 through 2009.
patriarchy run amuck. My book is really looking at the ity to deal with technology. Technology tends to run I would coach all the guys in the neighborhood.” With five seasons already under his belt, Hatem, 49, is ready
dangerous orthodoxy of our times, and I see that as a headlong out there, and we sort of follow up, picking up A native of Lancaster, Ohio, Hatem’s love of the game only to hit the ground running.
combination of corporatism and militarism. Politically, the pieces, trying to deal. It goes back to the very first strengthened after coaching the local kids. His father encour- “In some ways, as the defensive coordinator, I was
the book examines what it would be like if Europe and science fiction novel, which was Frankenstein, in which aged his interest by taking him to Denison football games to already a leader of the team and the coaching staff,” he
America had to square off over ideologies of legitimate a scientist creates this thing, and then thinks, ‘Oh God, watch the revered single wing teams of Keith Piper. explained. “At Denison, you’ll see a group of men who
culture and problems of the environment. We are two what have I done?’ “I was a huge Keith Piper fan growing up. I still remem- play with passion—passion that will show their love for
ber coming to Deeds Field on Saturday afternoons in the Denison football.” —Kurt Hickman
18 d eniso n magazin e spring 2010 19