The Robert E. Cook Honors College News

NEWS

Megan Bond Receives Prestigious Lambda Alpha Scholarship for Anthropology

Theresa Huber receives 2008 National Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Award for Sound Design

Jessica Sabol receives 2008 National Selection Teams Fellowship to compete in the dramaturgy category at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival

IUP Cook Honors College Junior Awarded Pickering Fellowship

A junior International Studies and Asian Studies major of the Robert E. Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania has been awarded the Pickering Fellowship.

“The fellowship will relieve a great amount of my financial burden, and it also helps me enter the specific career I've decided to pursue,” said Sarah Flewelling of Pittsfield, Maine. “I've wanted to enter the Foreign Service ever since I found out about it in high school.”

Flewelling became interested in foreign affairs while hosting a Japanese exchange student through her 4-H program and then spending a month with a host family Tokyo.

“The experiences I gained during those times were immense, and I think that living abroad, working for America, would be the culmination of those experiences,” she said. “I am excited to think that I might be able to help, even in a little way, shape foreign policy in America and represent America in other countries. It seems like an incredibly rewarding job.”

The Pickering Fellowship is offered by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation to undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in the Foreign Service. Awardees must show financial need and represent areas that the Foreign Service needs.

“Positions in the Foreign Service range from management positions to run the embassy to ambassadors, those who give visas and those who study the country to which they are assigned,” said Flewelling about the branch of the State Department that staffs embassies and provide services to American government. “While anyone can take the test to serve in the Foreign Service, the Pickering Fellowship assists applicants by giving them mentors and experience that will help them succeed in a Foreign Service career. The fellowship also pays all expenses (tuition, room, board, internship, books, fees, some travel) for the junior and senior years of college as well as the first year of graduate school.”

Fellows attend the Junior Year Institute between their junior and senior years, then complete an internship in Washington D.C. after their senior year, and an internship in an embassy abroad after their first year of graduate school. In return, each fellow must be accepted into and complete an approved graduate program, enter the Foreign Service, and perform at least 4.5 years in the Foreign Service.

Unrelated to the fellowship, Flewelling will be studying Japan in depth next year at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan. She will return to IUP for her senior year of studies, and then enroll in the requisite master’s degree program in International Studies.

“Officially, the influence of the fellowship would end when I enter the Foreign Service right after finishing my master's degree,” she said. “When we enter the Foreign Service, we will be in equal standing with others. Being a Pickering Fellow at that point does not distinguish us, but rather our service to America.”

“As a Foreign Service officer, I will have some say as to what embassies in the world I would like to go to, but the government calls the shots. I will never know where I'll be sent. Currently, there is a large presence of Foreign Service officers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, I am well aware that I might never even be assigned in Asia. It's a hazard of the job, but I think I would enjoy most any place I might get sent.”

Flewelling began making her plans to enter the field of Foreign Service while a student in high school and planned ahead to meet the fellowship requirements. She is completing coursework at IUP in International Studies and the Arabic language.

“As I am interested in international studies and trying to gain the best understanding of the world that I can, I am taking the courses required for the International Studies major,” she said. “However, I've found that courses related to Asian Studies give me great depth and insight into a particular region of the world in which I have great interest. It's not enough to understand politics of other countries. It's important to understand the history behind those politics, as well as the culture they belong to. Maintaining knowledge of current events is highly beneficial and was crucial to doing well on the written exam. I also feel that being an Arabic language student was helpful. Many of the fellows study or have interest in the Arabic language.”

A strong education in political science and guidance from IUP faculty brought Flewelling to the cusp of her chosen career.

“The quality of the classes I have taken specifically for my major have been astounding, far more than I expected,” she said. “I would not have been nearly as ready for discussion of political issues without the teachings of Dr. Alan Baumler and Dr. Steven Jackson. Their classes are informative and engaging.”

As required by the fellowship, Flewelling must take English composition, western civilization, U.S. political systems, principles of economics, U.S. history, modern non-western history, comparative politics, international trade or world finance or economic development, and geography.

“Becoming a Foreign Service Officer is not easy,” said Flewelling, who completed orientation in June in Washington, D.C. “One has to take two exams in order to get in, the assessment test and the oral test. Both are designed to only pick the best for the job, and both rely heavily on writing skills. The assessment test is simply a written test covering a very broad range of applicable topics. If you are in the top 50th percentile, then you are reviewed by a board and submitted to take the oral examination, which includes teamwork, difficult interviews, and a written essay. Very few make it on their first try. Aside from this, one also has to get security and medical clearances necessary for the job.”

Flewelling said her education and experience as a Cook Honors College student also prepared her for the arduous and selective interviewing process.

“The HC places such emphasis on critical thinking, a skill necessary to understanding political contexts and valuable during the interview process,” she said. “I actually mentioned that I was in the Honors College during the interview, and its emphasis on critical thinking. They emphatically agreed that it is a skill necessary to the Foreign Service.”

Foreign Service officers choose one of five tracks that include management, political, economic, consular, and public diplomacy.

“Management tends to deal with managing embassies, political with the implications of events and U.S. foreign policy, economic with the implications of economic events, consular with visas and Americans abroad, and public diplomacy with the representation of America abroad,” she said. “Overall, the political track is the hardest to get into as there are many people who want to get into it and the most difficult track in which to be promoted. From what I've learned at the Pickering Fellowship orientation, I think I would like to go into the public diplomacy track working with the country in which I am stationed to represent America. Over the years in high school and college I've worked with many international students. I hope that this fellowship will free up my time to work with even more.

Teens Aboard Niagara
“Teen fulfills vow made at age seven”
By Natalie-Mae Joan Schaefer

“Don’t Give Up the Ship,” they told us.

Trust me, I never did.

My dream of becoming a sailor began at when I was seven. My family took a summer expedition from Pittsburgh to Erie where we visited the Erie Maritime Museum.

That was 12 years ago and my parents finally decided I was old enough to take back the ship (or that 12 years of begging and pleading was enough for them to bear).

After earning money at my summer job at a feed and garden store, I saved all my earnings and prepared to set off to sea—or lake, as you would have it.
Before I left, I strutted about our little farm, chest puffed out further than a rooster’s, crowing about all I would do “on board.”

“Why when I get on board…” and “You just wait when I’m on board and you’re stuck here weeding tomatoes till your thumbs shrivel up…”
At the end of our trip from Pittsburgh to Erie, the whole family spilled out of the car in front of the museum to see me off.

I brought a duffle bag of clothes and toiletries to last the three weeks, along with the understanding that showers would be few and far between, that there was no mattresses, and that I would be the only person I knew.

Standing in front of the museum, it finally sunk in: I was going to learn what sailors were all about, and maybe even become one myself. The pictures I always drew, the books I always read led me to this: my first real adventure. While my sisters bumbled around the parking lot blinking back sleep and adjusting to the light, my dad folded up the map and my mom covered me with kisses, I vowed to make the trip a good one.

My first night “on board” went smoothly. I successfully put up my hammock after an ungraceful amount of time for someone as “salty” as I was to become.
That hammock and I became quite a pair after long, hard days, but on that first night if you had told me just that, I would have thrown a marlinespike at you. Apparently, there was a ‘nettle problem’ where one of the hammock’s strings twisted causing the hammock to tilt and me to tilt with it. So, I spent that first night on my back, sideways (go figure that out).

At first, things were tricky and overwhelming. Lines and ropes were everywhere, like bugs at home, and I didn’t want to touch them, not knowing which ones would bite or what to call them.

I was always standing in the way of one busy sailor or another and stepping on things I should not. Fortunately for me, the whole crew was willing to give advice that I was more than willing to take.

My first trip aloft on the network of ropes hanging down from above was like climbing trees at home. Putting my hands on the shrouds and my feet on the ratlines for the first time was an extremely exhilarating feeling. Granted, I climbed slowly and carefully, but I still felt like a real sailor with the wind in my face and the sails snapping around me.

From the first moment on the shrouds to the very last second on deck, those three weeks are a happy blur of sweat, sunburn, blisters and laughter. I grew stronger but not leaner, thanks to the talented galley, and I learned much more than I could have hoped when the adventure started.

Sailing around Lake Erie was exciting and different, but looking back now, what I miss the most are my shipmates. They truly are the greater part of the adventure. Everyone had such a striking personality, all unique and capable, willing to help and willing to teach. I will always remember the friends I made this summer, not only because they taught me the fundamentals of tall-ship sailing, but because they have shown me what true companionship means. They have also proven to me that sailing the wind is not only a unique experience but a heart-rendering art form. Most importantly they taught me how to appreciate its beauty. Life “on board” took time (and a few bumps on the head) to get used to, but I did it with their help. At the end of the summer, I went home again with my family, leaving behind a different home and a new family that I dearly miss.

By the end of the summer, orders were given and I knew what to do. Lines needed coiled and I could finish at the same time as everyone else. I could tie the knots and talk easily to tourists about our jobs and even use the notoriously colorful language of the sea. When the time came, I would have rather lived in the bilges than go back home, but my parents thought otherwise.

Memories of that summer will last forever, such as watching fireworks from the main topgallant yard, stowing the flying jib, and reefing the main topsail in boisterous knots of wind are made faster to me than a bowline.

Once you get a taste of the sea—or even just the Great Lakes—there is no going back. I guess that Oliver Perry was right. Once you’ve been onboard, you can never really “give up the ship.”

IUP to Receive $2.5 Million in Support of Robert E. Cook Honors College

Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) President Dr. Tony Atwater announced today that the university has received a $2.5 million gift from Robert E. Cook in support of the Robert E. Cook Honors College.

Cook, a 1964 graduate of IUP, previously presented the largest gift in university history to establish an honors college at IUP in 1993. Today's gift brings his total giving to the university to more than $10 million.

Cook's latest gift coincides with a five-year plan for institutional support for the Cook Honors College (CHC), the first endowed Honors College in the state of Pennsylvania, and a celebration of the Cook Honors College's 10th graduating class.

Part of the CHC approach is the encouragement and funding of CHC student exposure to the world beyond IUP and Western Pennsylvania, through study abroad, internships and other broadening experiences, Robert Cook said. "The CHC attracts students of modest means. Our student body struggles just to pay for their university experience at the CHC; many students have jobs, and there is little money for extras such as study abroad.

"With this gift, I hope to initiate full financial support for this extra effort, and to motivate others to pitch in."

IUP's Cook Honors College enrolls 100 freshmen annually in a residential, four-year program. The average SAT score has ranged from 1260 to 1320 since the first entering class in 1996. The CHC mission is to provide a first-class education to "blue-collar scholars" who have the ability but lack the funds, and sometimes the social confidence, to attend an Ivy.

Ten years of senior exit interviews provide both quantitative and qualitative evidence that CHC's four-semester interdisciplinary core curriculum is extraordinarily successful in teaching critical thinking. Critical thinking skills, combined with the excellent training and mentoring provided by IUP faculty, make CHC students highly competitive upon graduation.

"No one thinks it's unusual to give a scholarship to a student who can jump higher, hit harder, and run faster than others. I think a student who can match wits with Rousseau deserves a scholarship, too," Cook said. "It doesn't matter what he or she does after graduation. If you can master the thinking of Rousseau or Locke or Plato, you'll be a better businessperson, a better artist, or a better bureaucrat for that matter. And we're investing in these kids beyond what happens within the curriculum. We're going to expand on what we're doing."

CHC Director Janet Goebel attributes much of the students' success to the generous donations of Robert E. Cook and other supporters: "We are able to offer all students a chance to study abroad or intern through an 'achievement fund.' This is a life-transforming experience for college students of modest means, one which has allowed many of them such broadening possibilities as spending a junior year at Oxford, or interning with a the top organizations across the nation that may later become their employers. That extra confidence and external credential makes all the difference in their ability to compete in life and to achieve whatever goals they have set.

"For a relatively modest amount of money, the impact of our graduates on their endeavors and communities is tremendous. There is bang for the buck in the concept of the achievement fund."

"The Robert E. Cook Honors College, its students and its graduates continue to enjoy extraordinary success," said Atwater. "Dr. Janet Goebel, its director, and the IUP faculty of the Cook Honors College have created an outstanding learning environment that has enabled students to compete very well in the worldwide arena of academics, often exceeding greatly their own expectations. In addition to a now-proven academic curriculum, learning is greatly enabled by the fact that the IUP faculty actually teaches, and there is minimal teaching by graduate students."

"Dr. Goebel and the IUP faculty have done a marvelous job at defining, initiating and refining this way of teaching," said Robert Cook. "I think that having students argue modern morality with Voltaire, Rousseau and Descartes gives them an invaluable launch into adult life. For that earlier argument, the written and spoken word is the medium. Your peers judge you. Your faculty shows you how to do it, gently.”

IUP's Cook Honors College was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education and is one of the very few public university programs discussed in both editions of Donald Asher's Cool Colleges for the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different: http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=7869

Asher said: "There is something magical that is going on at Cook Honors College. It's like the tone you get by running your finger around the rim of fine crystal. A lot of wine glasses look like crystal, but then there is not that rich and satisfying tone. The Robert E. Cook Honors College is fine crystal, and a lot of places that look similar are just glass." http://www.donaldasher.com/books.php?pid=cc.book

IUP’s Cook Honors College Benefits from Record Surge in Late Applications During the Perfect Economic Storm

Indiana, PA March 27, 2009 -- Shrinking endowments at private schools and top universities have left the class of 2013 scrambling for admission to schools such as Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Robert E. Cook Honors College where administrators are seeing a record surge in late applications.

Families are facing the perfect financial storm: shrinking value of their savings, loss of equity in their homes, increases in tuition, threat of layoffs or job loss, and fewer opportunities to borrow for college. In the past merit scholarships were able to bridge the gap between family contribution and the cost of tuition, but that is not the case this year.

Schools previously known to offer large merit awards to students who are at the top of their class with superior standardized test scores have been offering slimmer packages. “They aren’t anywhere close to an offer large enough to make attendance an affordable option,” said IUP Cook Honors College Assistant Director Kevin Berezansky.

"We expected more late applicants, trusting that families would be calling in April and May,” said Berezansky, who said the economic downturn will continue to force students to consider more affordable options. “What we didn’t expect was this flood of late application interest from families of students who are only now looking into state schools with honors colleges.”

The IUP Cook Honors College is truly a public “Ivy”, with students earning a large number of national fellowships, as one measure of the quality of the education provided to academically superior students. The CHC accepts 100 incoming freshmen annually. There are only 15 seats open now, and the late applications are twice that received by this time last year. Berezansky attributes that to the class of 2013 who counted on merit-award based scholarships to offset the astronomical costs of prestigious private schools.

This trend is impacting schools across the nation, according to Don Asher, one of the nation’s foremost experts on colleges and careers. Asher is a national career consultant, business writer and the author of Cool Colleges for the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming and Just Plain Different.

“Elite schools have been quietly dropping their need-blind admission policies,” said Asher, “They are dropping qualified students who can’t afford to pay in favor of helping less qualified students who can afford to pay.”

David and Renee Alshouse decided to research other schools when they learned none of the presidential scholarships awarded to their daughter, Lauren, a high school senior from Lancaster, PA were in the price range as awards in previous years.

“She applied to five schools in the Philadelphia area and in Washington, D.C.,” David Alshouse said. “Every private school is in the $30,000 to $34,000 plus range. Every scholarship was significantly less than we expected. One was $15,000 less than it had been for another presidential scholar we knew who got it three years before. Over four years, that is a significant difference. So we have to ask if it is a good financial decision to take on that debt.”

The Cook Honors College is an attractive choice for students since many of the nation’s best schools have significantly higher tuition rates. IUP, like all of Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities, charges in-state residents $5,358 tuition for undergraduate classes. Out of state students who graduate with at least B average from high school pay a reduced tuition of $8,038 annually to attend IUP.

“You have to look at the quality of education at state universities with special programs, such as, IUP’s Cook Honors College.” Asher said. “A lot of late applicants are going to be families that have had conversations about not being able to afford the $200,000 tuition. The students are looking for affordable options, and they are still looking for that private school education. IUP’s Honors College is a tremendous opportunity for them. Even in a good economic year, it is a great option.”

Lauren Alshouse, who wants to major in languages and international studies, discovered IUP while researching Pennsylvania state universities. IUP has the degree programs she wants and the Cook Honors College is an affordable option for her family.

“You have to consider the state university,” said David Alshouse, who visited IUP with his wife and daughter. “We had no idea of what to expect coming out to IUP. What we found was that she could get a great education at IUP. Our daughter can go to IUP for four years for what it will cost to go one year at those other schools.”

Together, they decided IUP was a good choice. She submitted her application two weeks ago knowing the odds of being one of the final students selected.

Like the Alshouse family, many others are facing these same issues. “Otherwise affluent families who had reserved some money for college were caught in a bad situation if they planned on merit awards to make up the difference,” Berezansky said. “I have had several conversations with parents and students who were very disappointed by the offers from other prestigious schools forcing them to seek a more affordable but quality late option such as the Robert E. Cook Honors College.”

Late applicants can still pursue enrollment at IUP and the Cook Honors College. "Because the economic forces at play here are putting these families in a late scramble to find a suitable college option, I find great pleasure in telling them about our late application process," Berezansky said. "We will continue to accept and review applications throughout the months of April and May."

King's College, London Commends IUP Cook Honors College Student

March 20, 2009 -- A Cook Honors College student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) was one of only five US students honored in London as a distinguished student studying from abroad, announced King's College London on January 28, 2009.

Cook Honors College junior, Laura Heiman a history major from Beaver Falls, PA received the award and a check for £2,500 from the Principal of King's College at a January ceremony. Other student award recipients were from the University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley and George Washington University; Heiman is the only student chosen from a public university.

"I am honored and very excited to be receiving the King's Excellence Award for Study Abroad Students. King's College London is an institution that routinely draws some of the brightest students from around the world to its International Study Program. Having studied alongside these students I am humbled to be recognized for academic achievement," said Laura Heiman.

"One of the things that struck me about Laura was that she didn't know how bright she was. I assumed that she was going to be spending her summer at the Cambridge Summer School where we attempt to send the truly gifted freshmen. I said something to her that implied that assumption. She replied that she didn't think she was smart enough," recalled Dr. Lynn Botelho, Cambridge alumni and IUP History department and Cook Honors College faculty member. "Instead the summer after her freshman year, she worked as my research assistant and is now the lead research assistant my forthcoming 8 volume History of Old Age in England, 1500-1700, with Susannah Ottaway. The combination of her brains and lively sense of humour, her sharp mind and her work ethic, suggests that Laura can do anything she sets her mind to."

Read more about Laura's London experience on her blog.

IUP Cook Honors College students are eligible to apply for achievement funding. In order to broaden the experience base of CHC students, the CHC Achievement Fund was created and funded privately for the portion not routinely funded by IUP. For study abroad, students can often use their IUP tuition to pay for related academic costs, such as tuition, room and board so private funding must cover air fare and other expenses not covered by IUP and its agreements with international universities.

The Robert E. Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania provides primarily blue-collar scholars with the best features of a private liberal arts college and a mid-size state university. Graduates compete well vs. grads of top-ranked schools in admission to graduate schools and competing for prestigious fellowships such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, Truman, Gates-Cambridge, Udall, Goldwater and NSF. According to Don Asher, author of college guidebook Cool Colleges, the Cook Honors college succeeds for three reasons: residential community, unique curriculum based on critical thinking and the achievement fund which allows students expand their cultural experiences through study abroad and internships. Asher states, "It is about as close to a perfect educational institution as you can get in the real world. The curriculum really matters. The dividing line is students participating in their education. They learn to think better than students at other colleges."

Megan Bond Receives Prestigious Lambda Alpha Scholarship for Anthropology

(podcast)

"First in the nation" is not an unattainable title for many students at the Robert E. Cook Honors College. Megan Bond accepted her anthropology degree with the knowledge that, as the sole recipient of the National Lambda Alpha Charles Jenkins Scholarship, she is well on her way to emerging as one of the top minds in her field. The $5,000 scholarship is awarded to one graduating senior per year by Lambda Alpha, the only national honorary society for anthropology. Of all the students nominated by the organization's 165 chapters, Ms. Bond was selected as the candidate who most strikingly embodied Lambda Alpha's ideals. According to Megan, the scholarship is awarded to the student who has made the most "distinguished achievement by reason of noteworthy contribution in the advancement of the study of anthropology." She was nominated by IUP's Department of Anthropology in January, and what was billed to her as a "long shot" has now become a very notable reality.

As this year's scholarship winner, Megan will also be afforded the opportunity to publish an article-length manuscript of her original work in Lambda Alpha's journal. Her study focused on the process of adjustment for students from Bangalore, India who came to study at IUP.

"I did the study with the Indian students at IUP for my class in ethnographic research methods with Dr. Chaiken last fall," Megan explains. "I became interested in that population when I realized that I was surrounded by Indian international students around my home at Copper Beech. I saw that they formed an enclave for themselves in this neighborhood and decided to investigate the changes they were in the process of undergoing. I had the opportunity to use the skills I was learning in class and apply them in the community, discovering that human life is truly interesting everywhere you look."

Megan attributes much of her success to the many advantages that were available to her as an RECHC student. "I think that I got the award because of my experiences made possible by the enhancement fund," she says. "I had many plans and goals but little resources, and the enhancement fund provided me with the opportunity to achieve what I have. It helped me begin what I want to do for the rest of my life."

Megan's plans have literally taken her across the world. Many students in the Honors College take advantage of the Robert E. Cook Enhancement Fund, a blessing for students who, like Megan, want to reach beyond the pages of their textbooks to gain real-world experience in their fields. During her years at IUP, she participated in an ethnographic field school in Peru, a study abroad program in Valladolid, Spain, and the Anthropological Study Odyssey to Belize and Guatemala.

"I have found that experiences abroad not only prepared me to live in an increasingly global world, but they have helped me grow personally, intellectually, and professionally. I have only been traveling and working abroad for two years, but in that short period of time I have been able to live in different cultures and understand and apply what I have learned in anthropology classes. I never would have imagined that I could move overseas for months at a time, not knowing anyone or even really comprehending the language that is spoken there, and live and learn in the ways that I have. Professionally, my international experience has led to accomplishments both here an abroad. I have been able to complete independent research projects and present at a national conference. These addition to my education definitely contributed to my future and helped ensure that I would be admitted into graduate school," Megan says.

While many other undergraduates were doing their research through Google Scholar, Megan was quite literally up to her elbows in world cultures. This kind of experience is precisely what made her a strong candidate for the National Lambda Alpha Charles Jenkins Scholarship and what will sustain her through her doctoral studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology with a concentration in Medical Anthropology starting this fall.

"I want to investigate the sociocultural, behavioral, economic, and political factors related to food, nutrition, and health, especially in Latin America. I am interested in Applied Anthropology (my undergraduate concentration), with which I can take what is learned about food, nutrition, and health and develop possible solutions in attempt to ameliorate problems related to health and nutrition. As part of my education at SMU, I was also given a research assistantship and a teaching assistantship. I want to continue research, develop programs that promote positive change, and teach at the university level to introduce students to anthropology and the worldview that I think goes along with it."

Megan's auspicious beginning suggests that Dallas will serve as her launching pad for many international and academic adventures to come.

Theresa Huber, a senior theater major of the Robert E. Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania has received national recognition for her panache in sound design.

*Article addendum -- Huber wins KCACTF Award in Sound Design

It is not enough to merely complement a theater director’s approach for Theresa Huber, of Livonia, New York, who skillfully elevates the psychological aspects of theatrical performances to influence an audience. For her creativity and unique style, Huber has been awarded a 2008 National Fellowship to compete in the sound design category at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C. in April.

“I love the psychological aspect of sound design,” Huber explained. “A good designer is not just throwing some sound effects in or sound background music. A good designer is telling a story through their music and their sound. Every single sound you hear ought to be moving the story forward and engaging the audience or it shouldn't be in there. Watching the audience react whether consciously or subconsciously to my music and my sound effects and how they filled the room, you'd be surprised how powerful it really is and the dramatic effects it will have on a person.”

She was a sound designer in the IUP fall production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane.In the dark Irish comedy, the elderly and infirm matriarch, Mag, impedes the dreams and desires of her aging daughter who is forced to care for her.

Huber focused on amplifying the psychological elements to influence the audience.

“Take the death scene with Mag, if those few dying notes hadn't played as her body fell forward, there might have been a weaker element of fear in the audience,” said Huber, who was selected for the national competition for her outstanding achievement at regional festivals.

Only eight students in the nation are chosen to compete in each of eight categories including set, costume, light, sound and makeup design, stage management, directing and dramaturgy. The regional and national competitions are comprised primarily of graduate students.

The IUP production was one of only seven in its region, which includes all of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C., invited to perform at the Region II KCACTF at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in January.

“I initially went just to help get The Beauty Queen of Leenane up on its feet at the KCACTF Region II Festival,” she said. “I entered in a couple of sound designs into the design contest just to get some feedback from professionals and find out whether or not I actually have a shot of "making it" in the business as a sound designer. I am glad I went because not only did I win, I received some job offers as well as grad school offers. Most of all, I was told I was uniquely talented and had great potential in sound design from a professional, something no one else had told me before.”

Huber’s first major sound design was for Guys and Dolls followed by Hedda Gabler last spring. “She worked very effectively not only in creating a design that well supported the production values -- but working closely with the production's videographer and lighting designer,” said Barb Blackledge, chair of IUP’s theater and dance department.

“This spring, she has taken on the sound design for a very theatricalized production of Bertold Brecht's ThreePenny Opera which also involved her learning about sound re-enforcement technology,” Blackledge said. Her contribution to The Beauty Queen of Leenane has garnered her deserved recognition, according to Blackledge. “Theresa has won the regional awards in sound design and is going to the national festival largely based on her outstanding work in sound design for this production,” Blackledge said. “Theresa also only came to discovering sound design as her primary pursuit towards her future in theater professionally. In fact, beyond this national level honor, she has been pursued by at least five major graduate programs in sound design across the country and has already received full ride offers to prestigious grad schools in this area.” Huber said she was able to incorporate her own personal style with the director’s approach.

“In The Beauty Queen of Leenane, I learned that it's okay to take the director's vision and put a little bit of my take on it,” she said. “I didn't have to be a marionette or just a sound engineer. I could actually design my own aesthetic and it would be unique and successful while complementary to the director's approach. I became versatile in my work and also learned not to ignore my own personal style.”

She also blended technical skill and her theatrical vision to enhance the sound design. “Technical skills that I learned included recording live sound and turning it into something else,” she said. “For example, I recorded pickles, meat, and oil frying and turned it into the flesh-burning sequence used in the show. I also took decent recordings of old Irish music and digitally edited in the sounds of static and crackling. I equalized them properly to make it sound like a tiny radio. I also learned how to convert flash files into wave files which means I can take videos
and turn them into sound effects. Little tricks like this really make a difference to a sound designer who works under a strict time constraint.”

Her abilities extend beyond sound design as does her experience.

“I have done everything from acting to stage management,” she said. “Good theater artists ought to have a basic understanding of all areas and apply it to their concentration. Because I have a background in all of the areas, I can communicate well with others and understand where they are coming from. I take everything I learn from them and apply it. For example, sound designers and lighting designers work directly with each other to make sure their aesthetics will flow well in telling the story.”

Huber expects to learn new techniques from other talented sound designers at the national festival.

“I expect to learn a lot,” she said. “I know many special classes in tech and design are offered to us free of charge. I am also expecting to meet some extremely talented designers from across the country. It'll be nice to meet people as enthused about sound design as I am.”

As a sound designer, she contends that, “Sound design is kind of "the odd one out" in theatre. To be a truly great sound designer, you have to be good or at least decent at science, math, programming, electrics, art, music, and many more things. I feel like this has been the one concentration in theater that uniquely fit all of my talents. I get to make the audience react just like an actor does, but I am hidden behind my work.”

Huber, who will be a sound intern in the summer at the Texas Shakespeare Festival, plans to earn a master’s degree in fine arts. “I have been accepted to many grad schools including UCLA, Cal Arts, Ohio University, and Urbana-Champaign,” she said. “I haven't decided where I am going yet, but I will soon, and it will be for a MFA in sound design. I will probably do touring shows and maybe look into design for film. Maybe one day I will teach sound design as it is a growing field.”

IUP has afforded Huber opportunities she said were not available through other programs of collegiate study. “I think IUP was the right place for me because no other school would have given me sound design opportunities unless I had a vast knowledge in electrics and signal flow,” she said. “I have only been doing this for a year, and I was still given wonderful opportunities here in the main stage. That has made all the difference and I'm so thankful to the faculty for that.”

Jessica Sabol receives 2008 National Selection Teams Fellowship to compete in the dramaturgy category at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival

(podcast)

Ardent academic appreciation of theater has earned a sophomore theater and English major of the Robert E. Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania national recognition for her dramaturgy skill.

Jessica Sabol, of Morrisdale, PA, has been awarded a 2008 National Selection Teams Fellowship to compete in the dramaturgy category at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C. in April.

“I enjoy sharing my passion about the historical and critical side of a production with the company and audience to enhance their experience and further their learning,” Sabol explained. “Most of all, I hope to make them want to do the research themselves going back to the sources. Discovering correspondences in what you already know and what you are learning is a very rewarding feeling.”

Sabol has served as dramaturg for IUP productions including The Beauty Queen of Leenane, a contemporary Irish dark comedy, and Kindertransport, a play about children being saved from the Holocaust. She is the dramaturg for IUP’s current production of King Henry IV Part I

“As a dramaturg, I am typically in charge of much of the research and writing behind a theatrical production. This role, however, is different for every production, and I design my own process with each show I work on. In The Beauty Queen of Leenane, historical research beyond the basics was not necessary so I approached it emotively for both the company and the audience’s emotional response and understanding.

“I solely worked with history during Kindertransport, and for the department’s current production of King Henry IV Part I, I am working to bring the understanding between the true history of England to the theatrical history created by Shakespeare.”

In her role as dramaturg, she also helps company with any questions, builds a web site for reference and tries to inspire the artists involved to use the resources provided to further their own knowledge and research for the production. Sabol also uses a lobby display and program notes to further understanding, interest, and experience at the theater.

“I enjoy my dramaturgical work because it incorporates what I most enjoy about producing theatre—history and criticism behind a production or script,” she said. “When I was in high school, I was an actor and learned to love theatre by performing. Now, as an academic, I have grown to appreciate theatre more and more through dissecting scripts, choices, etc. and helping others to have a similar academic experience.” Sabol continues to evolve her dramaturgy skills by taking on the dramaturg role. “With Jessica's double major in English and theater and her exceptional writing skills, she has grown considerably in her dramaturgy skills despite only discovering last year that she had an interest in this area,” said Barb Blackledge, chair of IUP’s theater and dance department. “She did a masterful job in serving as dramaturg for our fall production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane. She was able to use this opportunity to exhibit her excellent work on this production at the festival as well as the competition exhibits there.”
The Beauty Queen of Leenane was one of only seven in IUP’s competition region, which includes all of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C., invited to perform at the Region II KCACTF at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in January.

“Honestly, the biggest enhancement of both my interest and skills was attending the regional KCACTF,” said Sabol, who was selected for the national competition for her outstanding achievement at regional festivals. “At the festival I was able to see others work, get feedback on my work, and attend sessions about dramaturgy. I found flaws in my work and got new ideas and approaches from these opportunities in Pittsburgh, and I have since worked to better my product as I work with King Henry IV Part I this spring.”

“To be invited on a Fellowship Scholarship to the National KCACTF is one of the most amazing opportunities I could hope for,” Sabol said. “It is really an honor to be selected, especially at the national level for my work. More than anything, I find it humbling because I never expected to go to festival as a sophomore. Most of the students at nationals are graduate level.” Sabol is most looking toward working with like minds interested in dramaturgy. “At the festival, I am very excited to participate in workshops with world-renowned artists in my field of interest.” she said. “In fact, I will be working with the dramaturg from the Arena Stage in Washington D.C. which is the theater that I would be most interested in pursuing an internship or job with. This festival gives me an opportunity to have a week of learning with individuals interested in dramaturgy, learn from professionals, and network on the national level. It is an absolutely priceless opportunity.”

In addition to her role as dramaturg for IUP productions, Sabol is the treasurer of the RECHC’s TOST and Turned, a student-run service-theater group. She directed a one-act production last year. She has also written two 10-minute shows the group will perform this spring.

“I hope to continue as a dramaturg throughout my undergraduate career, but I think it will be helpful to my understanding as a dramaturg, and, hopefully, a playwright, to direct and act, so I am hoping to work in those areas starting next semester,” she said. “I would also like to continue working on scripts, and hopefully have a successful ten minute or one-act staged in the theater department before I leave.

“I really enjoy playwrighting. I need to work more at it, when I find the time, but I would say that it is a larger passion to me than dramaturgy because it incorporates everything I do as a dramaturg into something I create. I love dramatic structure, and I think that a well-crafted script is one of the most beautiful forms of literature. A playwright gets to bring characters to life, and the playwright can only say what he or she wants to say through a character’s mouth. It’s tough, and I still haven’t ever got it right, but it is very rewarding.”