With a college as active and diverse as ours, filling 12 pages of newsletter twice a year is easy.  The hard part is deciding what will fit and what we have to leave out.  Each department could fill an entire newsletter; in fact, several of them publish their own.  Organizing each issue around a central theme – this issue we focus on international connections – helps narrow the content, but the theme is more than an editorial tool.

One aim of Expressions is to communicate what unifies our very different disciplines and to appeal to values and interests that our alumni and friends share as a result of their experiences in the arts and letters.  Each newsletter theme emphasizes these commonalities as well as shines the spotlight on the accomplishments of our alumni, students, and faculty.

All of the arts and letters discipline are grounded in cultural understanding.  Human expression transcends ethnic, national, and historic boundaries, but it also is contained within them.  We study what is common to all humankind, but the varieties of human expression also give rise to what separates and divides us.

To understand art, literature, music or rhetoric, for example, we must understand their cultural and historical contexts.  And understanding art, literature, music or rhetoric in turn helps us to understand cultural and historical contexts.  Far from being a purely academic exercise, this understanding is critical to our success in a shrinking and increasingly pluralistic world.

This issue, then, celebrates some astonishing ways in which our students are being shaped by international experiences and how our students, alumni and faculty are making global impacts of their own.  Unless you were so anxious to read my column that you skipped page 1, you already have read about the Concert Chorale’s summer tour of Italy.  You’ll also read about art and design students studying in Florence and work funded by our Asian Arts and Letters initiative.  Other stories feature international faculty, alumni living and working abroad, and faculty teaching and conducting research all over the world.

Enhancing our diversity and internationalization is a college priority, and we are working to increase opportunities for students, especially.  On page 3 Marie Murphree writes about the need for travel awards to support students who study abroad.  In addition to financial aid, you also can help students with international knowledge and connections.  Are you living abroad and could be a contact for students?  Could you help a student identify international internship opportunities?  Do you have experience working or traveling internationally and would be willing to talk to students about your experiences?  Do you have advice for students who want to study or work abroad?  If so, I would love to hear from you and put you in contact with people who could use your help.

I began this column by saying 12 pages were too few to hold all that we have to share with you.  Happily, this print publication is not the only way we have to communicate with our alumni and friends.  We recently launched two new online vehicles that I hope you will find useful and enjoyable.

• A new online version of Expressions will be updated the first of each month.  In addition to linking to an electronic version of the print newsletter, online Expressions will feature additional “bonus” content and current news.  You will find Expressions online at coal.missouristate.edu/expressions
• Facebook members can become “fans” of the College of Arts and Letters on Facebook page.  This page features a college news feed, event notifications, photo albums, and a means to contact other alumni “fans.”  Simply log in to your Facebook account and search for Missouri State University College of Arts and Letters.  You also will find on our page a link to the University’s Facebook page and other pages with ties to the college.  If you are not a Facebook member, you can learn more about this free social networking service at www.facebook.com.

Looking ahead to spring, the theme of the university’s Public Affairs Conference in April is “sustainability.”  Already this year there have been numerous events and speakers on campus bringing awareness and action to the campus.  The conference will be held April 21-24 and I invite you to visit the conference web site (publicaffairs.missouristate.edu/conference) for program information.  This would be a great time to visit campus.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Expressions.  Please do let us hear from you.  Wherever you are in the world, you are part of the College of Arts and Letters and important members of our community.  As always, I am thankful for your continuing interest and support.

Carey Adams
Dean