| OCR Text |
Show The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Tuesday, October 22. 1991 Eight Pecdple Feature Jackson Newell recognized as Prof, of the year Newell awarded by Counsel for Advancement and Support of Education D. By Jeffrey Jonsson Chronicle Feature Writer What Newell is doing now is getting back to the things he loves best, and that is teaching and recently recognized as the Professor of the Year by the Council for "watching students grow." Formerly the University of Utah dean of liberal education, from 1974 to 1990, Newell has gone back to the study of educational administration Education, wants to be known for describes his award as "humbling." L. Jackson Newell, who was Advancement and Support of his current work. "I'd like to be known for what I'm doing now, not what I've done in the past," Newell said. which was his first field. He "Nobody knows better than I, since I served as dean of liberal education for so long, and have been all over the state trying to encourage improvements in undergraduate education, how many deserving mountain climbing, and says the experiences are nothing less than Newell said. "I truly feel I am fortunate to represent a very large inspirational. Newell was on the U. Presidential Search Committee, and sees good things in new U. President Arthur K. people there are for such awards," cadre of extremely gifted, committed faculty." If there is anyone who should understand the function of a university, it is Newell. He has been studying university administration and higher education for twenty years. As dean of liberal education, Newell was responsible for developing the U.'s liberal education department into what it is today. Newell, originally from Dayton, Ohio, spent time in his youth at his . College, in California, admits only ten freshman and ten sophomores each year. It is actually a functioning cattle and alfalfa ranch, which the students and faculty operate themselves. Newell 's experiences on the mm mm mm coupled with hard physical labor." "I suppose Deep Springs has had quite an impact on my educational philosophy, because not only did I experience it as an undergraduate student, but I went back and taught there shortly after I got my masters degree, so I experienced it from both sides of the desk," Newell said. Newell is an outdoorsman, interested in nature and the world around us, as well as photography and mountain climbing. Last summer, he and a colleague and their sons climbed the Grand Teton in western Wyoming. His wife Linda, a biographer, and four Jackson Newell, University of Utah professor for 17 years and recent recipient of the Professor of the Year award. L. Chandra Graham Chronicle Feature Writer The Repertory Dance Theatre of the University of Utah has the distinguished honor of performing at the Harbourfront Theatre Complex in Toronto, Canada, during their current four week tour of New York and Canada. RDT departed on Oct. 14 to perform the world premiere "Maid of the Mist and the Thunderbeings" in Rochester, Geneseo, Oneonta, and Buffalo. "Maid" is a rendition of the ancient Iroquois legend of the Maid of the Mist. The outstanding choreographers involved in the project include professional artists Raoul of the American Indian Dance Theatre, and Alejandro Ronceria, director of the Nagual Dance Theatre. Dr. Louis Ballard, acclaimed for symphony scores and chamber ensembles, composed the work. Trujillo, children are all avid writers as well as scholars. Newell stays close to his family through activities such as completing By or "Maid" landmarks the first time that a major contemporary dance and musical score have been created entirely by Native American professionals. "Maid" was conceived when Tonawanda Seneca Chief Corbett Sundown told the traditional legend to playwright Bruce Kig. Classical music, folk arts, and modern dance blend in "Maid" to reflect the modern culture and beliefs of the Iroquois peoples and the parallels with those of their progenitors. RDT will perform in the Rockwell Hall Auditorium in Buffalo, presented by the Buffalo State College Performing Arts Center. It is the fourth year of performance at Rockwell for RDT and the acclaim and patronage they receive from the local arts committees has become an annual tradition. The national art arena has also been attracted to RDT and "The Maid of the Mist and the Thunderbeings" in particular. The project has been awarded two major grants. The Lila Wallace Readers' Digest Art Partners said. Out of the candidates the search committee interviewed, "there wasn't one who knew as much about undergraduate education as Arthur Smith," he added. Newell says that there is a dichotomy between teaching and research at a large university like the bad. The whole notion of academic freedom is that this is the one place where every idea may be expressed, and it is the debate itself which winnows the truth from the falsehood." "To have a movement on campus which says certain speakers can not be heard, certain words can not be spoken, certain ideas can not be considered, seems to me to be the university community shooting itself in the foot. We can't do that kind of thing and be what we ought to be," Newell said. Newell's philosophy on teaching and writing are intertwined. "I try to write what I know, and teach what I'm learning. I think that so much of what keeps teaching alive and keeps it exciting is when everyone in the classroom, the instructor as well as the which says certain speakers cannot be heard, certain words cannot be spoken, certain ideas cannot be considered, seems to me to be the university community shooting itself in the foot, " L. Jackson Newell, professor of education, said. ranch have influenced him throughout his academic career. He characterizes Deep Springs College as having an "intense liberal arts curriculum RDT really understands how best to balance research with undergraduate education," Newell grandparents cattle ranch in the Rocky Mountain foothills of U. "The root of it is, is that faculty Colorado. In addition, he spent his first years of college at most members at a university, unlike probably the smallest institute of higher learning in the "To have a movement on campus United States. Deep Springs V Utah's Smith. "He ideas, then the last thing in the world it ought to do is to try and enforce certain ideas, internally, which it believes are good, and suppress ideas which it believes are faculty members at a college, are responsible for generating new knowledge, as well as conveying it. I wouldn't explain away or apologize for that part of it, although I think it is true that sometimes a university goes overboard, and expects faculty to be better scholars than they are teachers." Newell says the ideal, and his philosophy, is for the two aspects to go hand in hand. "Smith understands the twin responsibilities of a university, and he understands the way in which the two teaching and research can be mutually reinforcing," Newell said. "I'm optimistic that the undergraduate experience at the U. will improve significantly." When asked about the political correctness controversy in education, Newell said, "If the university is to be an open forum for students, are all forging ahead into new territory together, and the instructor in a sense is a guide, having had more experience in that territory." Newell sums up leaving the deanship of liberal education by quoting what Thoreau said when he left Walden Pond. '"I leave for just as good a reason as I went there. I have several more lives to lead.' The other thing I wanted to go on to when I turned 50 was to do this, full time teaching." Right now, Newell's courses include History and Philosophy of Administration in Education, the History of Higher Education, and Ethics Educational in Administration. Newell says that teaching is a wonderful profession. . "I'd recommend teaching to anyone who loves freedom, who loves ideas, and who loves watching people grow, and you don't mind being constantly challenged yourself, because teaching is a situation where you can never rest, then it's a wonderful life." tour four-wee-k Program awarded $190,000 to the project. The Meet the Composer ComposerChoreographer, funded by the Ford Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, donated $25,000 to the combined efforts of RDT, the choreographers and the composer. Robert Redford, a member of RDT 's National Advisory of the National Board, has been recognized as co-cha- ir Steering Committee. His support for "Maid" is enthusiastic. "This bold new work celebrates a vital, and often misrepresented, thread of our American cultural fabric," Redford said. isn't the only attraction on the RDT Merce program. Cunningham's "Septet," set to music by Eric Satie, is hailed as a program in which Cunningham But "Maid" used "a wholly intuitive procedure" and will be presented alongside "Maid." Laura Dean's "Sky Light" will also be featured. Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times hailed "Sky Light" as "a masterpiece of the genre...that can lead an audience to explode with its own energy.. .wow." It has been dubbed the audience favorite of RDT's masters concert. The RDT performances in New York will alternate between the "Septet'VSky Light'V'Maid" program and the company's presentation of American modern dance classics titled "Then... the Early Years." "Then" includes works by Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Michio Ito, Helen Tamiris, and Charles Weidman. New York isn't the only locale who will be treated to these special RDT performances. On Nov. 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre, RDT will perform "Maid of the Mist and the Thunderbeings" and Doris Humphrey's 1951 "Night Spell." Nationally recognized dance writer and critic Marcia Siegel noted that Humphrey "believed unknown and the were mind rational safety of the ordered indispensable to reflected in the be will this the creation of art." Certainly that both the wild and dream-lik- e " " - The Repertory Dance Theatre will be performing "Maid of the Mist and the Thunderbeings" Nov. 15 and 16 at Capitol Theatre. RDT performance. Salt Lake City and the U. can't wait until the Repertory Dance Theatre comes home with "Maid of the Mist" and their other lauded performance favorites. Nov. 15 is too many days away. Hopefully the New York and Canadian audiences will let them return. For more information on performances and tickets, call S or the RDT office at 355-ART- 561-670- 2. |
