University Libraries

911�� course brings expertise from audio description pioneer

sbrown79 — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:26:32 +0000

911�� course brings expertise from audio description pioneer sbrown79 Tue, 10/20/2026 - 11:26

In This Story

For some, accessibility in the arts is a question of philosophy. 911�� adjunct professor Joel Snyder approaches the idea more literally.

Snyder is a pioneer in the niche industry of arts audio description—the process of translating the arts into spoken language, making theater, film, dance, and other art forms more accessible for people who are blind or have low vision.

Joel Snyder using a stenomask to audio describe a show. Photo provided.

Snyder has made that skill the center of a new audio description course in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA). 

He said 911�� stood out as the right place for the first-ever semester-long, for-credit audio description course in the United States because of the university’s existing commitment to accessible arts programming and its willingness to invest in the future of the field.

“I knew there was an interest at 911�� in making the arts events even more accessible,” Snyder said. “I’m thrilled that the university is forging ahead with courses like this."

For Snyder, the class is part of a broader vision for how accessibility should be understood on campuses and beyond: because audio description also enhances the experience of neurodivergent viewers. “It helps people on the autism spectrum, with ADHD, and it helps people who are learning a new language. Audio description builds literacy,” Snyder said.  
   
The course, CVPA 399 Audio Description for the Arts , connects students to a growing archive of audio description history and practice. Snyder donated more than 100 boxes of scripts, recordings, papers, and other materials to University Libraries in order to create a foundation for the Dr. Joel Snyder Audio Description Archive, a first-ever university-based collection of audio description historical materials and production elements. 

Snyder said he hopes the archive will be further digitized and made available to anybody around the world.

“These records provide a solid base to grow the primary source record on the development of audio description and thus accessibility from the last quarter of the 20th century to the present,” said Lynn Eaton, director, Special Collections Research Center. “Dr. Snyder’s donated collection will help current and future historians and researchers with essential documentation of his work and others in helping to make arts more broadly available.” 

There are nine students in the course, including three students who tune in from North Carolina, Texas, and Missouri respectively.

For Betsy Yancey, who has worked as the audience services manager at 911��’s Center for the Arts (CFA) for 24 years, the course offers a direct connection between the classroom and her day-to-day work.

Betsy Yancey (left) with her former student employees at the Center for the Arts.

“Part of my job is to coordinate access services for our performances—audio description, ASL interpretation, and captioning,” Yancey said. “I’m taking this course because I want to know more about [access services] and potentially be a backup in case our regular audio describer, Ermyn King, is unavailable.”

Her work at CFA includes coordinating with audio describers weeks before a performance, sharing scripts and rehearsal materials, and ensuring patrons can access show information in advance through large-print and screen-reader-friendly materials.

This season, more than 20 CFA performances include audio description, spanning productions in the School of Theater, School of Dance, and School of Music, as well as the professional artists series.

Yancey said she hopes the course encourages students and art professionals to think about accessibility as part of the creative process and not something added at the end.

“It would be great if all of our performing and visual arts departments as well as the companies that we present create the audio description script as they're working on their art because they know the [creator’s] intent,” Yancey said.  

“That's something that the audio describer may not know depending on how much access they've been given to the materials.”

She also sees opportunities for 911�� to expand audio description into digital spaces, including Mason Arts Amplified, the university’s digital arts platform.

"We have a college-wide commitment to making the arts accessible to more people, and Joel Snyder is one of the true founders of a key element of this mission, audio description,” said CVPA Dean Rick Davis. “His passion for this mission is stronger than ever after more than four decades of pioneering research and practice, and we're honored to have him with us."

Marybeth Haneline at the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage audio describing CrazySexyCool: The TLC Musical. Photo provided.

Marybeth Haneline, who is auditing the course through 911��’s Senior Citizen Tuition Wavier program, brings another perspective to the course.

She is now in her third season as a volunteer with the Metropolitan Washington Ear audio description program, a program Snyder spearheaded in the 1980s. Haneline, who has audio described dozens of shows, said the class will allow her to apply what she’s learning to live performance. 

For her final project, Haneline plans to audio describe Frida: A Self Portrait at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., where she is also currently enrolled in the Salon Series, an interactive, behind-the-scenes program.

Haneline plans to use the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System, a comprehensive movement framework, to audio describe the show.

“It's really the perfect show for this project,” said Haneline. “The solo performer is trained in the Suzuki Method and there are these movement pieces that provide space for me to develop a script and do something useful.”

Snyder hopes students leave the course with practical skills they can use in professional settings.

“I hope they build the skillset of writing, voicing, and audio editing descriptions for professional work,” Snyder said. “Audio describers, the writers, and the voice talents are in great demand.”

He also hopes audio description continues to expand across 911��, including in visual art spaces. 

“If there's an art exhibit on campus, there should be audio descriptions of those images available,” Snyder said.

As the course gains momentum after several semesters of planning, Snyder sees 911�� as part of a much larger shift—one that treats access as a creative and educational responsibility.

Topics

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

University Libraries announces Samaine Lockwood is 2026 Fenwick Fellow

lclarkg — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 15:44:18 +0000

University Libraries announces Samaine Lockwood is 2026 Fenwick Fellow lclarkg Tue, 01/27/2026 - 10:44

University Libraries has named Samaine Lockwood, associate professor of English, the 2026 Fenwick Fellow.

Lockwood’s research project, Tituba Indian: The History of an American Cultural Figure, will further her work on a monograph of this title. Tituba Indian was the first person accused of practicing witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, and she was an enslaved woman of color.

Samaine Lockwood, associate professor of English and 2026 Fenwick Fellow. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

The Salem witch trials have been a popular subject for literary re-creation since the early 19th century. Lockwood's book will provide the first comprehensive account of this literary history by focusing on the role Tituba Indian has played within this body of literature and examining the cultural work that women of color are called on to perform in relation to theories of democracy, citizenship, and belonging.

Lockwood taught the English Honors seminar The Witches of American Literature in fall 2024, which explored representations of the witch in American culture from the Civil War to the 21st century, particularly in the long shadow of the Salem Witch Trials.

“The witch is a powerful and enduring cultural figure in large part because women continue to struggle with multiple and intersecting forms of structural discrimination, and the culture at large continues to grapple with questions of what is permissible in terms of womanhood and women's freedom,” Lockwood said.

The witch, according to Lockwood, is frequently cast as a figure of rebellion against existing power structures.

The course came about as a result of the research Lockwood was conducting on how Tituba Indian was represented in U.S. culture from 1820 to present.

“Tituba is an important figure through which to think about gender, race, and civic belonging as they coalesce in America,” said Lockwood. “Her presence in cultural representations of Salem witchcraft complicate the often white-dominant narrative about witches in the U.S. and women of color in New England history.”

Lockwood has gone on to develop and teach other courses based on this research, including a graduate-level course designed to introduce graduate students, many of whom are public school teachers, to new approaches for teaching Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, which continues to form part of the public school curriculum.

Lockwood’s fellowship will include an immersive trip to Salem, Massachusetts, as well as the purchase of key works to enhance the University Libraries’ collections, supporting research and relevant courses for students.

Lockwood will present on the outcomes of this project at a future Fenwick Fellow Lecture.

Learn about University Libraries

Topics

University Libraries

English Department

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Faculty and Staff News

CEHD and University Libraries are building a tool to improve navigating education research

sholla4 — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 19:32:40 +0000

CEHD and University Libraries are building a tool to improve navigating education research sholla4 Thu, 08/28/2025 - 15:32

The widening gap between research and practice represents exactly the type of grand challenge that 911��'s Grand Challenge Initiative seeks to tackle through cross-disciplinary innovation.

Faculty across the College of Education and Human Development, working with University Libraries, are exploring AI-powered ways to bridge that gap—exemplifying the Initiative's dual focus on advancing 21st-century education for all and driving responsible digital innovation in service of the public good.

Seth Hunter. Photo provided.

Seth Hunter, associate professor of education leadership and policy and senior fellow of EdPolicyForward: 911��’s Center for Education Policy, collaborated with the University Libraries to receive seed funding from EBSCO—a library database service—to develop a tool that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to help practitioners in education find and interpret evidence-based practices and research that can be implemented to improve student outcomes.

Before coming to 911��, Hunter worked in state and local education agencies, where “research in educational studies in K-12 was available, but not being used to support important decisions at district and state levels. The disconnect between research and practice and policymaking was fascinating to me.”

This wasn't exclusive to education agencies; the same patterns appeared in local school districts as well. Beth Davis, PhD Education ’23, and postdoctoral fellow in EdPolicyForward, noted that she saw this gap in action.

“When I worked at a high school in Maryland, there were so many challenges that I knew there were better ways to do things than what we were doing, but I also didn’t feel like we had the time to figure out what those things might be,” she said.

Beth Davis. Photo provided.

As Davis pointed out, an efficient and effective search takes time, even for the most seasoned researcher. Combing through search results, sorting books from articles from reviews, tracking new keywords and phrases: It can be a challenging, and time-consuming, effort just to find the articles you need. And that doesn’t account for the time required to read and interpret the content once found.

As AI grew in its capabilities, Hunter saw an opportunity to leverage this new technology to perhaps bridge that research/practice gap.

“We’re looking at bespoke AI tools that are out there already to help practitioners find and translate research in ways that would enable school improvement for student benefit while meeting federal and state policy guidelines,” explained Hunter.

Early results show promise. In a pilot endeavor within the Education Leadership MEd program, the students asked to search for articles using AI-powered tools found the process much easier than traditional search methods, and they reported that the AI helped them understand the research through its ability to succinctly summarize the contents in more accessible language.

“It could streamline the process of making evidence-based practices and research easier to find and therefore implement,” said Davis.

Christopher Lowder. Photo provided.

As the primary provider for access to scholarly research, University Libraries is central to this project. Hunter recruited the expertise of Christopher Lowder, education subject librarian, to assist them in developing the tool.

“Having computers go through information quickly is not new,” said Lowder, “but now we’re thinking about how this new generation of AI can make the research content understandable to the average user. It’s almost like translation, or decoding.” For example: Can the AI alert the user if the study meets the standards set forth by federal and state Departments of Education?

For Hunter, bringing the public back to university libraries is a secondary benefit of the project. “I think university library systems are such a huge value-add for the public good,” said Hunter. “Libraries set universities apart from many other knowledge organizations.”

Hunter also notes that a tool like this supports fiscal responsibility. With evidence-based practices, leadership can be confident they are putting resources behind an initiative that has been empirically tested and verified. "We want to enable better decision-making so leaders can be better stewards of public resources that can improve students’ lives.”

As one of the top 20 universities for innovation in the United States and a leader in AI innovation in Virginia, 911�� is working to advance research for the campus community and beyond. Multidisciplinary teams like this are, for Hunter, a core tenet of this, and necessary to the development of bold solutions to the grand challenges of our generation.

“We have these permeable boundaries within units and across colleges,” said Hunter. “I mean, this team illustrates that: We have CEHD faculty, we have a librarian, we’ll be working with computer scientists...we are encouraged to engage in transdisciplinary research and that feeds innovation.”

Lowder agreed. “911�� encourages us to try things in new and different ways and to include different voices within the conversation, and our leadership genuinely believes that our work can do good not just for the university but also for the wider community. I believe it’s a public good for information to be findable, understandable, and accessible.”

Topics

Research

College of Education and Human Development

University Libraries

Artificial Intelligence

GCI-Grand Challenge Initiative

EdPolicyForward

Grand Challenge Initiative

Explore 911��’s Grand Challenge Initiative addressing the greatest threats to humanity’s ability to live a peaceful, healthy, prosperous, and just existence.

Learn more about the College of Education and Human Development

911�� student composers create original pieces in this ongoing collaboration between School of Music and Special Collections

sbrown79 — Wed, 28 May 2025 17:12:08 +0000

911�� student composers create original pieces in this ongoing collaboration between School of Music and Special Collections sbrown79 Wed, 05/28/2025 - 13:12

911�� music professor June Huang sees connections between musical collaboration and peacebuilding, and she and her students demonstrate those connections with The Spheres Project, a strings faculty and student collaborative space established in 2021.

The project aims to foster connection and conversation between different communities and the name emphasizes its constant state of evolution.

“I looked at how creativity is at the heart of peacebuilding and experimented with this concept with five of my string pedagogy students. We started exploring compositions of these concepts and having rehearsals,” said Huang, who is the director of strings and associate professor of violin in the Dewberry School of Music.

A string quartet including Professor June Huang (left). Photo by Emily Schneider/CVPA.

Huang earned her master’s certificate in contemporary dispute resolution from the Carter School of Peace and Conflict Resolution in spring 2023. She was part of the very first cohort, which focused on principles of conflict resolution as they pertain to our domestic front.

“I started to draw connections between music and the peace building concepts I was learning about in class. Studying conflict resolution inspired me to listen with curiosity, not assumptions, which helps parties appreciate different perspectives and discover solutions,” said Huang.

The group’s most recent event, Spheres of Engagement was a collaboration between project, Dewberry School director of composition Andrea Reinkemeyer, and the University Libraries’ Special Collection Research Center (SCRC), where the students sourced images on which to base their compositions.

“Classical music tends to be grounded in tradition, so our interpretation of a piece of music is essentially imitation. On this project, we worked with new compositions that had never been performed before,” said Huang.

“The writing in some of these student compositions was not idiomatic, so the project challenged us to create musical interpretations and explore a wide range of possibilities. The connection between curiosity and creativity was a significant component for both composers and performers in this project,” she said.

Abigail Onstott is a junior composition major and one of the students who presented their original works for written for electronics or a string quartet at the Spheres of Engagement performance in April. Onstott’s composition was based on soldier-medic Gustav Klemp’s World War I archive collection.

“Getting to look through all the archives was the coolest thing ever for me because one of the areas I really like to focus on with music is culture, history, and politics, so this project was right up my alley,” said Onstott.

The students learned how to search through the collections as well as how to properly handle the archival materials from Mieko Palazzo, SCRC’s research services coordinator, and Cindy Badilla-Meléndez, 911��’s music and media librarian.

The string quartet presents Onstott's composition. Photo by Emily Schneider/CVPA.

The center also assisted Onstott in translating Klem’s letters from his native language, German, to English.

“Klemp was also a painter, so a lot of the things in the collection were actually artwork that he had done while he was overseas. As a composer that really fascinated me because it's not easy to work off of a physical artwork, but it's something that definitely helped with inspiration,” said Onstott.

Senior Stellan Hinz took an alternative path in the creative process, composing a fixed media piece using only electronics and human voices. Hinz gravitated toward a collection of letters that were sent to C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb.

“I wanted to explore compositionally using the human voice as the musical material. I got my roommates and some friends together to record a bunch of these letters and then chopped up the audio in order to bring voice to these letters,” said Hinz, a music composition major.

“You could see the progression of how people communicated [from the years 1809, 1978-2012], because there were some handwritten letters, some from a typewriter. It was from a very early stage of the world that we are now living in now where we're all connected and able to communicate all the time,” said Hinz, who plays the saxophone in 911��’s Wind Symphony.

Another goal of this collaboration was to teach the students about the business side of composition. Students worked with their individual applied composition instructors to write project proposals, said Reinkemeyer, an associate professor in the Dewberry School.

“We tried to make the process very similar to applying for a grant,” said Reinkemeyer.

“The student composers loved working on this project, and I hope we get the work with The Spheres Project again soon,” Reinkemeyer said. “Our goal is to have events like this one every semester if we can. Music can interact with every discipline in surprising ways—data sonification, astrophysicists, biology. It's a really enriching place for connection.”

In This Story

Dr. Andrea Reinkemeyer

Prof. June Huang

Prof. Cindy Badilla-Meléndez

Topics

Dewberry School of Music

dewberry composition

Special Collections Research Center

Patriot Pop Quiz: A ‘cool’ new campus

lclarkg — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 19:50:23 +0000

Patriot Pop Quiz: A ‘cool’ new campus lclarkg Wed, 09/11/2024 - 15:50

Think you know a lot about 911��? Let’s find out if we can stump you with this Patriot Pop Quiz.

Question:

The Fairfax Campus officially opened 60 years ago on Sept. 14, 1964. It consisted of four small buildings, named North, South, East, and West. What amenity did these buildings offer, unlike any other college in the Washington, D.C., area at the time?

911�� College, fall 1964. 911�� photograph collection, #R0120, Special Collections Research Center, 911�� Libraries

Answer:

When the Fairfax Campus opened its doors in September 1964, it was the only college in the capital region with buildings that were fully air-conditioned.

Though the temperatures were comfortable inside, some amenities still needed to be added to the campus buildings. Food service was not available at first, but efforts were quickly made to address that. During the first week of classes, vending machines were hastily set up in a study hall. 911�� would later set up a dining hall, the Ordinary, in the South Building (now called Krug Hall). The Ordinary was open until the University Union, now known as Student Union Building I, was built in 1974.

911�� College students purchasing food items in the Ordinary, fall of 1964. Doug Nelms photograph collection, #R0152, Special Collections Research Center, 911�� Libraries

When the Fairfax Campus first opened, it welcomed 356 registered students, and the faculty included seven full-time and 18 part-time instructors. The first buildings still form the original quad as Finley, Krug, East, and West.

Students walk across a plank placed over a puddle between the East and South (today known as Krug) buildings during the fall of 1964.

Richard Sparks photograph collection, #C0521, Special Collections Research Center, 911�� Libraries

Discover more of the university's history

Topics

Patriot Pop Quiz

Around Mason (E-Files)

Special Collections Research Center

University Libraries

Dean Vinzé cuts ribbon at 911��’s new Viet Nam exhibition

Greg Johnson — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 16:06:55 +0000

Dean Vinzé cuts ribbon at 911��’s new Viet Nam exhibition Greg Johnson Mon, 04/15/2024 - 12:06

To mark the beginning of a broader academic connection between 911�� and leading universities in Viet Nam, the Costello College of Business at 911�� and University Libraries officially opened a special exhibition in partnership with the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and received their donation of rare books to Mason's collection. The exhibition, displayed in Fenwick Library’s Special Collections Research Center through August 15 consists of treasured cultural artifacts.

Costello College Dean Vinzé and special guests cut ribbon at new Viet Nam exhibition on Mason's Fairfax Campus. Photo by Jeffrey Porovich/Costello College of Business

On the morning of Tuesday, March 26, in Fenwick Library’s Reading Room, the ceremony commenced with a dancer performing the traditional lotus dance—the lotus being the national flower of Viet Nam. Following her performance, several women demonstrated the traditional costumes of Viet Nam from various regions and eras.

Attendees toured the Viet Nam exhibit in Mason's

Special Collections and Archives.

Photo by Jeffrey Porovich/Costello College of Business

JK Aier, senior associate dean of academic affairs and global engagement at the Costello College of Business, welcomed the guests to the ceremony. Among the dignitaries from the Viet Nam delegation were Honorable Madam Vu Thi Bich Ngoc, the foreign minister’s spouse; Honorable Madam Nguyen Thuy Hong, deputy chief of mission of Viet Nam Embassy; and Honorable Madam Tran Thi Bich Van, ambassador’s spouse.

Mason leaders in attendance included Ajay Vinzé, dean of the Costello College of Business; Anne Osterman, dean of University Libraries and university librarian; and Krista Uhrig, director of international enrollment partnerships in the Global Education Office. Also attending and instrumental in making the event possible were Anil Sharma, CEO of 22nd Century Technologies Inc; Sean Lam, president of Cross Border Ventures LLC and member of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce; and Cindy Shao, president of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce.

“I am delighted to be here with you today as it marks the start and acceleration of a strong partnership between 911�� and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam,” said Dean Vinzé, as he thanked the Viet Nam dignitaries for the gift. “The exhibition we will soon officially open, and the wonderful book donation will allow Mason faculty and students to get better acquainted with Viet Nam and strengthen our relationship.”

Dean Vinzé welcomed Honorable Madam Vu Thi Bich Ngoc to the stand for her keynote remarks on behalf of the embassy, as she expressed her gratitude and her excitement for the partnership that will empower students to learn more about Viet Nam and its rich history. Mason currently has 114 students enrolled from Viet Nam, with many more students of Vietnamese heritage. The exhibit continues the university’s tradition of celebrating and educating about different cultures within its diverse student body.

After the gift exchange between the embassy guests and deans, the crowd proceeded to the Special Collections Research Center for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. There, they toured the exhibit, viewing and learning about the displayed artifacts. Housed within the largest and most diverse public university in Virginia, the Costello College of Business continues to build new partnerships that have impact spanning across the world.

Topics

Costello College of Business News

Special Collections Research Center

University Libraries

Campus News

Strategic Direction

Learn more about the Special Collections Research Center

Learn more about the Costello College of Business

In This Story

Ajay Vinzé

JK Aier

Intergenerational conversation brings together OLLI members and Mason students

lclarkg — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 14:24:57 +0000

Intergenerational conversation brings together OLLI members and Mason students lclarkg Wed, 04/10/2024 - 10:24

Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at 911�� and students from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution explored their lived experiences and had the opportunity to talk about their feelings, opinions, and thoughts regarding the current events surrounding Israel and Palestine.

The Dialogue and Difference Project aims to promote cultural, political, and social understanding through the process of community dialogue participation. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

The March 20 event was organized by OLLI, the Carter School, and the University Libraries, which provided informational resources for the event. Carter School’s Dialogue and Difference Project was used to facilitate the conversation.

OLLI is a Mason affiliate organization that offers intellectual and cultural experiences in a welcoming atmosphere to Northern Virginia residents in their retirement years. OLLI Mason Executive Director Jennifer Disano called the event a major success and a model for future intergenerational conversations across Mason’s campuses and beyond.

“Not only did this event create a meaningful intergenerational dialogue, but it also provided a real-world opportunity for student facilitators to practice their skills,” said Anne Osterman, Dean of Libraries.

The Dialogue and Difference Project team offers student-led group facilitation to encourage and facilitate meaningful discussions, leading to better understanding between individuals and groups.

OLLI member Pat Bangs said, the event “was a unique and valuable opportunity for OLLI members and students to discuss issues that are important to us, in a setting that allowed passionate, conflicting opinions to be voiced in a respectful manner. I was reminded of the diversity of this generation and have great hope for their future contributions."

OLLI member Richard Crawford seconded the value of the event, saying he gained insight into how social media influences students’ understanding. “I was impressed with their analytical approach to conflict resolution,” he said. “What [the students] may lack in experience is offset with their critical thinking and intelligence.”

Event participants voiced enthusiasm for planning and participating in future intergenerational conversations, recognizing their value and significance.

Learn more about the Carter School

Check out the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Mason

Topics

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

University Libraries

Campus News

Nobel laureate James M. Buchanan’s papers are now accessible to scholars

ckearney — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 18:09:33 +0000

Nobel laureate James M. Buchanan’s papers are now accessible to scholars ckearney Wed, 07/12/2023 - 14:09

Located in 911��’s Special Collections Research Center in Fenwick Library, this collection consists of the papers of the Nobel Prize-winning economist James M. Buchanan and documents his career and research from the mid-20th century through the early 2000s. There are also materials chronicling his time at Mason’s Center for Study of Public Choice.

The work of organizing, describing, and rehousing (i.e., processing) the Buchanan papers was made possible by a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant. Helmed by project archivist Rebecca Thayer, she and her students processed the 270 linear foot collection from spring of 2021 through May 2023.

“The SCRC wishes to thank Thayer for her excellent work guiding the project, as well as her student assistants Rachel Barton, Vilma Chicas Garcia, and Colin McDonald,” said SCRC Director Lynn Eaton. “The University Libraries would also like to thank the College of Humanities and Social Sciences for their support.”

We expect strong researcher interest in the collection. The guide to the collection, or finding aid, for the Buchanan collection is found here.

All reference inquiries should be directed to speccoll@gmu.edu. A celebration of the collection’s opening is being planned for Fall 2023.

Topics

Special Collections Research Center

University Libraries

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

National Endowment for the Humanities

Research

Graduate student connects studies with Mason’s history

ckearney — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 13:26:41 +0000

Graduate student connects studies with Mason’s history ckearney Thu, 12/08/2022 - 08:26

For almost 10 years, Melissa Cannarozzi has worked as the production coordinator and digital collections manager in 911��’s Office of University Branding. She has spent half that time taking classes part-time and working on a master of arts in history with a concentration in applied digital history, which she will receive this month.

Melissa Cannarozzi with her exhibit. Photo by Creative Services

For an internship class, Cannarozzi curated the exhibit, Past, Present, Future: Mason’s Core Remains Constant, which is currently installed on the ground floor of Horizon Hall on the Fairfax Campus. The exhibit celebrates Mason’s first 50 years as an independent university using photographs from the University Libraries’ Broadside Photograph Collection to illustrate student life on campus then and now.

To create the exhibit, Cannarozzi said she looked at more than 55,000 black and white images captured by Mason students working for the Broadside student newspaper from 1973 to 2001.

“I was trying to create something that would appeal to current students,” said Cannarozzi of the planning. “I was surprised so many Mason alumni showed up at the opening [of the exhibit] and actually knew people in the photos. I’m glad people are able to connect with the exhibit.”

What is your best memory of Mason?

I thoroughly enjoyed the Department of History and Art History Brown Bags that I have attended. During the pandemic lockdown, I spent hours learning about the extended family of 911�� IV, 911��’s namesake, by transcribing and annotating sections of an account book and am proud to be included in the digital history component that can be found at the University Libraries through the Center for Mason Legacies. But my favorite memory was the after-hours, behind-the-scenes visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture with Robinson Professor Spencer Crew’s Museum Studies class.

How have you grown while at Mason?

It wasn’t always easy balancing working full-time and taking classes but the history program challenged me to think differently and approach problems in a more analytical manner. Along the way, my writing skills improved significantly. Two diverse internships, one creating a secondary exhibit for the 50th anniversary of 911�� that appeared in the hallway of the lower level of Horizon Hall and featured photos from a digital collection of images from Broadside, Mason’s student newspaper from 1969 to 2014, and the other was working for R2 Studios, the podcasting division of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, enriched my experience and helped me grow immensely.

What is your best piece of advice for incoming students?

Meet with you advisor regularly to plan for classes. Use the resources the university has to offer, whether it is connections to jobs through professors or a free subscription to LinkedIn Learning.

What’s next for you?

I love working at Mason! I’m looking forward to forging a path of new opportunities in the office. I can’t wait to fill up my weekends with daytrips.

Topics

Students

Faculty and Staff News

Graduation

Masonat50

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

University Libraries

The Center for the Arts Offers "The Pirates of Penzance" Audiences an Immersive Journey into the World of Gilbert & Sullivan

Laura Mertens — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 17:48:31 +0000

The Center for the Arts Offers "The Pirates of Penzance" Audiences an Immersive Journey into the World of Gilbert & Sullivan Laura Mertens Tue, 11/01/2022 - 13:48

911�� Libraries Special Collections Research Center

Audience members attending Virginia Opera’s production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance on November 12 or 13 can begin their journey with the opera before the curtain even rises through a November 11-16 exhibit of authentic Gilbert & Sullivan memorabilia and discussions about the operetta.

Sheet Music for The Pirates of Penzance Galop features Richard Temple as the original Pirate King. Courtesy of David and Ann Stone.

The experience will begin as soon as individuals enter the main lobby of the Center for the Arts, where they will encounter an extensive display of authentic Gilbert & Sullivan memorabilia from 911�� Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center. 911�� benefactor David Stone has spent years gathering a treasure trove of items related to the wildly popular duo of English playwright and humorist W.S. Gilbert and English composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, who created 14 comic operettas together. In 2014, Stone and his wife Ann gifted part of their extraordinary collection—including original manuscripts, posters, photographs, letters, and many other items—to 911�� Libraries. The David and Annabelle Stone Gilbert and Sullivan collection, now housed in the in Fenwick Library, currently contains more than 200 items and donations will be ongoing through 2026.

Photograph of Marion Hood in The Pirates of Penzance (1880/1881). Courtesy of David and Ann Stone.

In 2017, the University held a series of events to celebrate the creative genius of Gilbert & Sullivan. With great enthusiasm, the collection was exhibited and appreciated on both the Fairfax and SciTech campuses, and a catalog of the works was also created. Since that time, the collection has not been on view to the public. Now, dozens of items related to The Pirates of Penzance operetta will be on display in the Center for the Arts, presenting a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the lives and works of this Victorian-era team, considered the forefathers of modern musical theater.

In addition to the exhibit, there will also be pre-performance discussions prior to both performances, featuring Virginia Opera Resident Scholar, Joshua Borths, in Monson Grand Tier on the third level of the Center for the Arts. The discussions will commence 45 minutes prior to the start of the performances, exploring insights about the music and production. A post-performance discussion led by Borths and featuring members of the cast and creative team will also follow the November 13 matinee.

The Gilbert & Sullivan exhibit and The Pirates of Penzance discussions are perfect supplements to Virginia Opera’s production, allowing audience members to become completely immersed in the world of Gilbert & Sullivan and fully appreciate the performance.

Topics

Special Collections Research Center

University Libraries

911�� course brings expertise from audio description pioneer

In This Story

Topics

University Libraries announces Samaine Lockwood is 2026 Fenwick Fellow

Read More Like This

Topics

CEHD and University Libraries are building a tool to improve navigating education research

Topics

Grand Challenge Initiative

Related news

911�� student composers create original pieces in this ongoing collaboration between School of Music and Special Collections

In This Story

Topics

Patriot Pop Quiz: A ‘cool’ new campus

Question:

Answer:

Related News

Topics

Dean Vinzé cuts ribbon at 911��’s new Viet Nam exhibition

Topics

More Stories from the Costello College of Business

In This Story

Intergenerational conversation brings together OLLI members and Mason students

Read More Like This

Topics

Nobel laureate James M. Buchanan’s papers are now accessible to scholars

Topics

Graduate student connects studies with Mason’s history

Read more Graduation stories

Topics

The Center for the Arts Offers "The Pirates of Penzance" Audiences an Immersive Journey into the World of Gilbert & Sullivan

Topics

University Libraries

911���� course brings expertise from audio description pioneer

In This Story

Topics

University Libraries announces Samaine Lockwood is 2026 Fenwick Fellow

Read More Like This

Topics

CEHD and University Libraries are building a tool to improve navigating education research

Topics

Grand Challenge Initiative

Related news

911���� student composers create original pieces in this ongoing collaboration between School of Music and Special Collections

In This Story

Topics

Patriot Pop Quiz: A ‘cool’ new campus

Question:

Answer:

Related News

Topics

Dean Vinzé cuts ribbon at 911����’s new Viet Nam exhibition

Topics

More Stories from the Costello College of Business

In This Story

Intergenerational conversation brings together OLLI members and Mason students

Read More Like This

Topics

Nobel laureate James M. Buchanan’s papers are now accessible to scholars

Topics

Graduate student connects studies with Mason’s history

Read more Graduation stories

Topics

The Center for the Arts Offers "The Pirates of Penzance" Audiences an Immersive Journey into the World of Gilbert & Sullivan

Topics

911�� course brings expertise from audio description pioneer

911�� student composers create original pieces in this ongoing collaboration between School of Music and Special Collections

Dean Vinzé cuts ribbon at 911��’s new Viet Nam exhibition