In 2023, Loyola Marymount University was selected as one of two university recipients of the Delphi Award by the Pullias Center for Higher Education at USC’s Rossier School of Education, in partnership with the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Six CFA non-tenure-track faculty received awards to support a variety of exciting creative projects and professional development opportunities from dance projects to art exhibitions.
Leon Wiebers, LMU Faculty Senate president and professor and chair of theatre arts, served on the award proposal team and is thrilled about the award and the opportunities it presents to NTT faculty. “Delphi grants for non-tenure track faculty are a significant milestone at LMU. This award money and the matching contributions from offices across campus enable these colleagues to engage in professional development in ways they have not been able to before. The committee that submitted the application is thrilled about this and continuing the decade-long work that helped achieve the award.”
Some of these grants have been used towards expenses relating to travel, event attendance, certain memberships or exploration courses, and research visits, all with the intention to give NTTF the opportunity and support to pursue a project or goal of their own. The award not only serves as an example of progress towards further supporting LMU non-tenure track faculty achievement but is an extension of how faculty success serves as student success as well.
Chris SooHoo
Studio Arts, Adjunct Lecturer
SooHoo used his funding to travel to New Orleans and participate in the annual “tit Rex” (pronounced T-Rex) Float Parade, where he designed a miniature float that was included in the parade. He was inspired to participate in this experience after being an artist in residence at the Aquarium Gallery in the Bywater during the summer of 2023. During this experience, SooHoo was able to connect with other local artists in the area who invited him to be in the parade, which is beloved part of the area’s Mardi Gras season.
Upon reflecting on this experience, SooHoo expressed his gratitude towards this opportunity, saying, “Thank you again for making this trip possible. It truly makes me continually grateful to be part of the LMU community and I look forward to sharing my experience and what I learned with my students this semester and in the future.”
Kristen Smiarowski
Dance, Clinical Associate Professor
Smiarowski, who also serves as the senior director of the Secondary Teacher Preparation Program in Dance at LMU, used her Delphi funding to enroll in a 50-hour online course titled “Qi Gong Fundamentals.” The course is the first module of the YOQI Qi Gong Flow Certification Program, which includes physical practice and history with master Qi Gong practitioner Marisa Cranfill. Qi Gong is an East Asian form of dance practice and movement that increases energy in the body and promotes good health.
As Smiarowski shared, “I often see elements of Qi Gong in teacher training programs for dance educators, yet the cultural debt is not always acknowledged. By going to the source and deepening my own knowledge of the history and culture of Qi Gong, I will be prepared to pass this information to my students who are training to be dance educators.”
Smiarowski also shared that Qi Gong emphasizes physical and mental well-being and health, which would further aid her students by integrating Qi Gong into her teachings at LMU while also gaining further cultural awareness of the practice. “This certification program will enable me to expand my experiential and intellectual study of Qi Gong and ground my teaching of the form in accurate physical, historical, and cultural research.”
Jill Nunes Jensen
Dance, Senior Lecturer
Jensen used her Delphi award to travel to San Francisco to experience show rehearsals with famed American artist, dancer, and choreographer Alonzo King while also having the opportunity to speak with his former ballet master and other dancers. Jensen, who is currently writing a book on King, used the experience as an informative and immersive source of inspiration to write her next chapter on King and his role as a visionary artist.
“In all of the years I’ve spent chronicling this artist, and as contingent faculty, I’ve never been able to have the support to be in the studio watching this artist create—and the rare occasions this has been possible have been self-supported,” shared Jensen.
Brian Moss
Studio Arts, Senior Lecturer
Brian Moss, a professor of studio arts at LMU, plans on using his funding to support the publication of his current book project that features his black and white photography work from the years between 1986 and 1992 in Philadelphia, before Moss moved to Los Angeles for graduate school at CalArts.
Additionally, with the advancement of digital technology, Moss was able to return to these images in a way he wasn’t able to before. “I am now critically re-evaluating this early work in relation to an evolved understanding of art and photography and after more than 25 years in the classroom. This past summer, I finally took the time to study over 300 rolls of film and was surprised at what I discovered. The images look different to my more experienced eyes; I even found overlooked shots that provide important context. The ultimate goal of this reassessment is a small edition hand-made prototype that will serve as the basis for a legacy publication.”
The Delphi funding will help support the beginning stages of this project with the hope and intention of eventually finding a publisher to further support the project.
Marisa De Silva
Music, Senior Lecturer and Applied Instructor
De Silva used her Delphi award to cover the cost of attendance to the American Society for the Alexander Technique Conference at the University of Utah. (The Alexander Technique is used as an exercise to improve voice and singing). She shared that this is the first year that the conference will be held in-person since the COVID-19 pandemic.
De Silva plans on using what she learns from the conference to apply it to her own pedagogy. “I will be teaching an Alexander Technique class to the CFA music majors in the fall and am very much looking forward to incorporating what I learned in the conference to better serve my teaching and pedagogy.”
Mayuri Bhandari
Dance, Lecturer
Bhandari used her Delphi grant to take a deeper dive into traditional folk dances from India, learning and engaging in teachings with renowned performers Moru Sapera and Shyamala Moorty. She will use the skills she learned from these professionals to incorporate new themes into her Bollywood Dance class and give students a unique perspective on the foundation of Indian folk dances.
“Traditional folk dances are celebrations of history – they are stories of survival for tribes of the desert expressed through fluid motions and lively rhythms,” said Bhandari. “This will enhance our students’ experience with a practice both physically rewarding and culturally enriching. It is common for traditional folk dances to be misrepresented and stereotyped in the West. Including this dance form in our course offerings will contribute to the DEIA goals of the dance department in broadening the options for our students.”
