Reynolds College Blog

“America Votes” Conversation Series scheduled for Nov. 9

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Missouri State University’s Department of Political Science and Philosophy will host “America Votes: Unpacking the midterm election results” at 4 p.m. Nov. 9 in Glass Hall 101.

Part of the department’s “Conversation Series,” the event is free and open to the public.

Guest speakers Matthew Continetti and Bernard Fraga will discuss the results of America’s 2026 midterm elections. Continetti is the Director of Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Fraga is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Emory University.

The discussion will adopt a “talk show” format, said Dr. Gabriel Ondetti, interim head and Clif and Gail Smart Professor of Political Science. Ondetti will serve as event moderator.

Since its initiation in 2023, the Conversation Series has explored crucial issues in contemporary American politics, Ondetti said.

“We seek speakers with diverse perspectives, but the events are not intended as debates in which one person wins and the other loses,” he noted. “Rather, they examine different arguments in a reasoned, fact-based and respectful way.”

“The point is to model the kind of political discussion we think is important in a democratic society.”

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Theatre students to read Declaration of Independence on Carrington lawn Nov. 10

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Students in the Fall 2026 Advanced Voice and Movement class (THE 326) will give a public reading of the Declaration of Independence at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 10 on the lawn west of Carrington Hall.

Assistant Professor Karen Sabo teaches the class.

The event is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored by Missouri State’s Department of Theatre and Dance, Public Affairs Office and the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities.

Mark your calendar

History is “someone else’s now”

Sabo is a self-confessed history junkie, especially early American history. “As a theater person, I realize all that history was just someone else’s now,” she said.

She included the Declaration of Independence assignment to commemorate the document’s 250th anniversary.

“I love being able to vote, and I never miss an election,” Sabo said. “And I want to teach my students to have the same excitement and interest in democracy.”

Because she is only the second generation in her family to be born in the United States, Sabo said she was raised to appreciate living in a democracy.

“I grew up in Albany, New York, [and] both my parents at some point worked for the state government,” she explained. “So that was most of what we talked about at dinner every night. It was government, legislation, politicians, how things worked. And it’s just always been on my radar.”

Woman standing in front of classroom smiling
Assistant Professor Karen Sabo takes roll in her Advanced Voice and Movement class.

Declaration a “high stakes moment”

Consequently, Sabo is as fascinated by the Signers’ courage as she is their vision. Both are qualities student actors must understand and embody in their performances.

“Something we deal with as actors is finding the highest stakes possible in a situation,” Sabo said. “One of the most famous things Benjamin Franklin ever said was, ‘we must now all hang together or we will hang separately.’ This was a life and death situation. They could have all been tried for treason and hanged, and that would have been the end of their lives.”

A public reading of the Declaration, such as what the students will perform, captures the sensory experience of that high stakes moment.

“We hope to make it accessible to those passing by, like the town criers that would have read out the document in their communities when it was first written,” said junior BFA Acting for the Stage and Screen major Kathryn Williams. “Our performance, in a way, is a display of how common citizens back then would have received the Declaration.” [Read more…] about Theatre students to read Declaration of Independence on Carrington lawn Nov. 10

Heather Walters wins outstanding achievement honors in writing and teaching

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Missouri State University’s Heather Walters recently received two outstanding achievement awards from the National Communication Association.

A senior instructor in the Department of Communication, Media, Journalism and Film, Walters won the association’s Outstanding Teaching Award. She has taught at Missouri State for 27 years.

Moreover, her book, “Understanding the Ethical Concerns of Generative AI: A Practical Guide,” won the Communication Ethics Division’s Book of the Year Award.

“It is always so rewarding to know that the long hours you put into typing ideas, editing and revising had some notable impact on others,” Walters said.

Teaching style uses current events and case studies

Walters developed and currently teaches the department’s AI and Human Communication (COM 310) course. She also teaches Ethical Issues in Communication (COM 313), Media Law & Ethics (MED 581) and Public Relations Theory and Research Methods (COM 219). In addition, she teaches ethical communication and coaches the speech and debate team at Greenwood Laboratory School.

Her teaching style, she said, is “current event and case study intensive.”

“Integrating current event discussion in the classroom helps students translate theory into practice,” she said. “[It helps them] understand why what they are learning in the classroom matters for their everyday life.”

To facilitate learning, Walters created a set of online activities that complement her textbook.

“There are not many of those resources available in this specific discipline,” she said. “I think [the Association] found my teaching style innovative and reflective of sincere effort to bring a discipline like ethics—which is often stereotyped as ‘ancient’—to life for students.”

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Revamped public sociology class embraces community engagement

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When Associate Professor Dr. Lyle Q. Foster learned about the Engaged Civic Learning and Economic Mobility Project, he immediately saw an opportunity to apply its concepts in the classroom.

Specifically, Foster had his eye on revisiting Public Sociology and Community Studies (SOC 398), a course offered through the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology.

“I felt it was time for a revamp of the course, and some of the [project] criteria really interested me,” Foster said. “Community sociology is such a passion for me. The opportunity to blend it with entrepreneurship—a personal passion—seemed ideal.”

The project is a faculty and staff cohort initiative run by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) American Democracy Project.

Foster applied to the project, was accepted and began training in March. The training, which ended in June, included a one-week conference and several virtual sessions with cohort members.

From there, Foster was eager to implement its objectives into his community-facing classes “as soon as possible.”

Community-engaged learning focuses on economic mobility

Previous public sociology courses have always used community partnerships, Foster said. Key to the revised course, however, is the concept of economic mobility.

The goal of economic mobility is already built into the role of the community partners, Foster said. The revised course, however, allows students to also learn about its importance. For them to achieve this, Foster specifically sought businesses “where the students could potentially see themselves as customers.”

Foster also wanted students to work with businesses that are entrepreneurial in nature but have only a few employees. Doing so, he explained, allows the students to directly engage and work with the store owner/entrepreneur.

Moreover, he sought businesses willing to work with university students and listen to their ideas. The results, he noted, are community partners invested in the planning and evaluation of the course.

“Community-engaged learning encourages a still more active role for the community…in the curriculum design and the student engagement experience, which is quite exciting,” Foster said. “There is a different level of curiosity and engagement with this approach.” [Read more…] about Revamped public sociology class embraces community engagement

“In the Footsteps of Titans and Gods:” Missouri State students experience Greece

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The Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (RCASH) produced several successful Education Abroad programs for the 2025-26 year. Two of those programs—Ecuador and Italy—have already been featured in RCASH News. We conclude our coverage of these programs by heading to Greece.

Thirteen students and two faculty from Missouri State University helped launch the inaugural Education Abroad experience in Greece May 11-22, 2026.

The students were Nadia Adamson, Teagan Allison, Alia Barker, Katherine Bracy, Cal Bussen, Michaela Dickey, Sylvie Edwards, Loren Halmick, Ava Hurley, Scout Hutchinson, Sav Jordan, Julie Kate Moylan and Gabrielle Stonehouse.

Faculty members Dr. William Harwood and Nikki Ferry led the interdisciplinary program, “In the Footsteps of Titans and Gods: An Immersive Exploration of Philosophy and Theatre in Greece.”

When they applied for the Education Abroad Faculty Fellows inaugural cohort, Harwood and Ferry each selected Greece as their destination. The happy coincidence created an opportunity for them to collaborate.

“[We] were very excited to explore how our two disciplines, philosophy and theatre, intersected while imparting our love of the country of Greece to our students,” Ferry said.

Harwood is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Philosophy. Ferry is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance.

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