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Haile Gerima, professor, John H. Johnson School
of Communications' Department of Radio, Television and Film and
award-winning independent filmmaker, has made a major splash in
prestigious film festivals throughout the world with his latest
film, “Teza.” In February, “Teza” won the Dioraphte Award
for films held in the highest regard by festival audiences at the
38th International Film Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Gerima’s
film also won four top awards at the 22nd Carthage International
Film Festival in Tunisia in October 2008, including Best Screenplay,
Best Music and Best Actor prizes and the Golden Prize for Cinematography.
At the 65th Venice International Film Festival, the oldest film
festival in the world, held in September 2008, Gerima walked away
with the Italian festival’s Special Jury Prize and Best Screenplay
Prize for “Teza.”
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Sonja Williams, associate professor and chair
of the John H. Johnson School of Communications’ Department of Radio,
Television and Film, is the recipient of a 2009 Gracie Award
from the American Women in Radio and Television. Williams served as
an executive producer of "Uncrowned Queens: Voices of African
American Women"— a documentary series
that aired on WNED public radio in Buffalo, New York. The series highlights
the accomplishments and viewpoints of African-American women who have
made an exceptional difference in their western New York communities.
This is Williams’ second Gracie Award; the first was awarded in the
mid-1990s for her production of "A Woman’s Touch,"
a documentary that examined the role of African-American women in
radio. In addition, Williams has written and produced numerous award-winning
documentaries for National Public Radio and the Smithsonian Institution.
File Photo Rochelle Ford, Ph.D., associate dean of Research
and Academic Affairs in the John H. Johnson School of Communications,
was tapped as the new host for the PRSA podcast series, “PRSA Diversity
Today.” Ford is an award-winning scholar who also has published
work on diversity and public relations pedagogy. She writes the
column “Diversity Dimensions” for Public Relations Tactics and is
the winner of the 2008 D. Parke Gibson Multiculturalism Award.
The Department of Theatre Arts received a grant
from the Broadway League to take students majoring in Theatre Arts
Administration to New York City. The students will engage in workshops
and discussions and meet with executives from all aspects of production,
gaining insights on how each area works individually as well as
collectively to ensure a high-quality production from development
to opening night and beyond.
Sandra G. Shannon, Ph.D., professor
in the Department of English, will deliver the keynote address at
the 70th anniversary conference of the College English Association,
which will take place in Pittsburgh, Pa. from March 26 to 28. Given
the conference location is the birthplace of the late playwright
August Wilson, organizers see the conference as an opportunity to
honor the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. The title of Shannon's
address is “Wish You Were Here: August Wilson in the Age of
Obama.”
Photo by Ceasar William Lawson, M.D., Ph.D., is president-elect of the Washington
Psychiatric Society, which represents psychiatrists in D.C., suburban
Maryland and Northern Virginia. It is one of the largest chapters
in the American Psychiatric Association. In addition, Dr. Lawson’s
abstract, “Bipolar Disorder Outside of Mental Health Settings,”
was chosen for a workshop at the Office of Minority Health’s Third
National Leadership Summit on Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities
in Health 2009. |
