LAKELAND, Fla. (Nov 15, 2005) — Florida Southern College faculty members pursue extracurricular academic activities year-round, giving presentations, publishing articles, and attending conferences. The following summarizes their recent activities and recognitions.

Dr. Alexander M. Bruce, associate professor of English, presented his paper, “Who needs a prince?: Re-Evaluating Girls’ Reactions to Disney’s Fairy Tale Films” at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society. A longer version of the paper, which grew out of student research in his honors course, will appear in “Children’s Folklore Review.” He also presented his paper, “‘Frodo wouldn’t have got far without Sam’: Tolkien’s Contributions to the Epic Tradition in ‘Lord of the Rings,’” at the meeting of the Southeastern Medieval Association. This paper explores Tolkien’s presentation of the epic hero as two heroes – Frodo and Sam – who offer a balance of Christian and Germanic virtues.

Dr. John T. Crow, associate professor of English, presented his paper, “Brain-Based Grammar: Why Johnny Can’t Parse,” at the Florida College English Association conference in Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 3. The paper explores why traditional grammar instruction does little to support the ability to write and concludes with suggestions for grammar instruction based on existing knowledge of natural language.

Dr. Keith L. Huneycutt, professor of English, presented his paper, “The Florida Correspondence of the Brown Family, 1835-1850, and the Question of Regional Identity Presentation,” at the Florida College English Association (FCEA) conference in Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 3-4. The paper compares Corinna and Ellen Brown’s detailed descriptions of the physical world and astute observations of the social and political life of Florida from 1835-1850 in their private correspondence, with their failure to identify with Florida in their published and unpublished fiction. Huneycutt was also elected as vice president of the FCEA and conference chair for 2006.

Dr. Annette Kelly, professor of nursing, was a panelist at the From Cruzan to Schiavo – Bioethical Issues Conference, Oct. 28. Kelly responded to a presentation by William Colby, author of “The Long Goodbye” and the attorney representing the Cruzan family in their landmark Supreme Court case. The conference was sponsored by The Central Florida Partnership to Improve End-of-Life Care, a coalition of more than 25 organizations and individuals committed to educating the public about improving end-of-life care in their community.

Dr. Rebecca Saulsbury, assistant professor of English, has written six articles on 19th century African American writers to be published in “The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature” (Greenwood, 2005): “Henry ‘Box’ Brown,” “Hannah Crafts,” “Elizabeth Keckley,” “Maria W. Stewart,” “Frank J. Webb” and “Harriet E. Wilson.” Saulsbury also presented her paper, “Political Dress: Dress Reform, Cross-Dressing, and Performative Suffrage in ‘Fettered for Life’” at the Midwest Modern Language Association conference in Milwaukee, Wis., Nov. 10-13. The paper explores female dress as a factor in women’s subjugation – from restrictive dress that magnifies vulnerability to cross-dressing as a way to gain emancipation – in Lillie Devereaux Blake’s 1874 novel, “Fettered for Life.”

Dr. Claudia S. Slate, professor of English, presented “Using African American Women’s Literature to Teach the Emmett Till Story” at The Murder of Emmett Till and the Struggle for Civil Rights Conference in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Sept. 15-17.

Dr. John L. Stancil, associate professor of accounting, has written a book review on “Balanced Scorecard Diagnostics: Maintaining Maximum Performance,” by Paul Niven, to be published in the May 2006 issue of “Issues in Accounting Education.” The American Accounting Association, the world’s leading academic accounting organization, publishes the journal. An article on his Outstanding CPA in Public Service Award, awarded in 2005 by the Florida Institute of CPAs, is in the current issue of “Florida CPA Today Magazine.”

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 25 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U. S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelors and by the Princeton Review as a “Best Southeastern College.” Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.