SOU College of Arts and Sciences – Faculty Focus Get to know our faculty a bit better.
Communication
Master of Two Worlds: An Instagram from Erik Palmer
ZAP! POW! KABAM! VROOOM! Erik Palmer may look like an ordinary fellow, but then so does Clark Kent. A comic book and sci-fi enthusiast long before such obsessions carried cultural cachet, Palmer started honing his superpowers as a child. Soon, he could shapeshift and see through disciplinary walls. His hero’s journey was about to begin.
Jane Picknell Gets Down to the Business of Writing
Jane Picknell is a no-nonsense Girl Friday with an eclectic resumé and a mean slam dunk. She knows how to get the job done, whether it be as American Red Cross health and safety education director, SOU career development advisor, student services coordinator, or in her current role as University Seminar (USEM) instructor. What Picknell loves most about her position as a USEM instructor is the opportunity to craft courses about socially relevant topics close to her heart. This year, she’s chosen Food for Thought and Attention on Athletics.
James Donlon: A Conversation with Space and Time
The New York Times describes James Donlon’s work as “an extraordinary blend of skill and lunacy.” Other accolades include “a one-man Cirque du Soleil,” “a brilliant and sensitive performer,” “a master of his craft,” “poetic, wildly funny, and deeply engaging,” and “a consummate artist, whose work inspires a source of wonder, joy, and inspiration.” The secret to Donlon’s internationally renowned mastery of physical theatre? It’s simple. He still remembers how to play.
David Bithell: The Music of Making Art
Don’t let his baby face fool you. With an oeuvre rivaling even the most prolific of veteran creatives, David Bithell has performed his nearly fifty experimental theatre works, instrumental compositions, and structured music improvisations at ninety-five events around the globe. That includes venues in Belgium, Lithuania, France, and South Korea as well as stateside in New York City, Brooklyn, Boston, Princeton, Providence, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Miami, Austin, Dallas, San Francisco, Berkeley, and San Diego.
Through the Looking Glass with Documentarian Robert Clift
What does a forgetful kid who’s notorious for losing retainers and jackets grow up to become? Well, naturally, an award-winning documentarian. Now Robert Clift never forgets what he records—and neither does his audience. Producer, director, videographer, editor, and writer Clift has just added one more title to his list of vocations: assistant professor of communication and emerging & digital arts at Southern Oregon University.
Jackie Apodaca Lights up the Stage
She acts, she directs, she writes, she teaches … occasionally, she chases tornadoes. Whether she’s on stage, off stage, or writing for Back Stage, you’ll want to catch Jackie Apodaca in action. Her extensive theatre and film acting credits include lead roles in two feature films and six shorts as well as portraying dozens of leading women in productions at National Theatre Conservatory, Shakespeare Santa Barbara, Genesis West, and The Uprising Theatre Company.
Adriana Gordillo’s Strange New Worlds
Adriana Gordillo knows something about magic. She understands the secrets of pedagogical alchemy that bring a language to life for students. Gordillo realizes that without culture, language would be flat characters on a page, and without language, there would be no culture. She infuses her language curriculum with cultural artifacts that create a context for new words, concretizing abstract concepts by sharing films, music, literature, and art that are breathing examples of the Spanish language.
Kyle Haden Wins a Starring Role in the Classroom
Thirty plays. Three films. Twenty-three years of combined professional and teaching experience. One more reason SOU’s nationally acclaimed theatre arts program just got even more prestigious. Veteran actor/director Kyle Haden has participated in historically groundbreaking projects such as Suzan Lori-Parks’s 365 Days/365 Plays for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. His performance in the Arizona Theatre Company’s A Raisin in the Sun was so memorable, audience members still come up to rave about the production years later.