Tracy Halcomb, professor and internship coordinator of communication, spent the week of Nov. 4-9 in Los Angeles for the Television Academy Foundation Faculty Seminar as one of 25 Faculty Seminar Fellows selected from colleges nationwide. The seminar provided attendees the opportunity to meet top executives in television development, production and programming.

During the winter break in Dec., Associate Professor Chris Balaschak participated in an international symposium on photography and capitalism hosted by the National Institute for Art History and the University of Paris, Pantheon-Sorbonne. He presented a paper on the work of African-American photographer and filmmaker Robert van Lierop during the Mozambique War of Independence during the early 1970s.

On Feb. 7 at the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum on Flagler College’s campus, novelist Alissa Nutting will do a reading as part of the Writers-In-Residence series. The title of her newest book is “Made for Love: A Novel.” The event is free.

On Feb. 5 at the Lewis Auditorium on Flagler College’s campus, Paul Stebbins, a founding member of FixUS, an initiative of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, will present to the public as part of the Forum on Government and Public Policy series. The title of his lecture is “Trillion Dollar Deficits: How the National Debt Symbolizes Our Broken Political System.” The event is free.

On Saturday, Jan. 19, Flagler College baseball will celebrate the college's 50th anniversary with an alumni baseball game. The game starts at 1 p.m. at Drysdale Field and the public is invited to come out and enjoy.

On Jan. 31, Marcus DuBois King, Ph.D., and Elizabeth A. Andrews, J.D., will continue the conversation surrounding this year’s theme on “Cultural Resilience and Contemporary America” through two presentations: “Climate Justice: Sea Level Rise and Sinking States” and “Sea Level Rise: Policy Challenges for Coastal Communities.” The event is free and open to the public.

Flagler College’s Youth Ministry program has received a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. to begin a new program called “The Missing Voices Project” that will look for new ways to reach young people who are on the margins of society, culture and even the church.

On Jan. 27 at the Lewis Auditorium on Flagler College’s campus, Gary P. Zola, Rabbi, Ph.D., and Executive Director at The Jacob Rader Marcus Center, will present as part of the Cecile and Gene Usdin, Judeo-Christian Lecture Series. The title of his lecture is “Great Voices, Civil Rights, and American Jews.” The event is free and open to the public.

Jason Tetlak, ’00, took his interactive art to new heights by setting the world record for the largest 3D mural. The painting is 90 feet wide by 22 feet tall, totaling 1930 square feet in area. The mural features the faces of the Beastie Boys, including the band’s lyrics “No Sleep Til Brooklyn,” a clever reference to the site of the mural: a neighborhood in Jacksonville called Brooklyn. With a pair of 3D glasses, the image comes to life for viewers.

On Jan. 24 at the Lewis Auditorium on Flagler College’s campus, Political Editor for NBC News, Carrie Dann, will present to the public as part of the Forum on Government and Public Policy series. The title of her lecture is “The Great Reshuffle: How Trump Remade the American Electorate.” The event is free.

On Jan. 18 the group exhibition “Heroic in its ordinariness” will open with a reception at the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum from 5 – 8 p.m. The exhibit is curated by Staci Bu Shea with Crisp-Ellert Director Julie Dickover. It features work from Elizabeth Atterbury, Beverly Buchanan, Taraneh Fazeli, Feminist Health Care Research Group, Carolyn Lazard, Redeem Pettaway, Falke Pisano and Sasha Wortzel. The exhibit runs through Feb. 21.

Flagler College Enactus started Harvesting Hope, a project to benefit boys in partnership with St. Johns Youth Academy, a correctional institute for adolescent males. Enactus is a student-led national organization that promotes entrepreneurship and community-based programs.

The first local showing of the award-winning documentary, “Cracking Aces: A Woman’s Place at the Table” will take place during the St. Augustine Film Festival’s screening of it on Friday, Jan. 18 at 1:45 p.m. and at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19. Tracy Halcomb, communication professor at Flagler College and a producer on the film, will be in attendance.

Flagler professor heads gopher tortoise study with national research reserve

On Saturday, Dec. 15, Flagler College handed out diplomas to 153 seniors, including 43 locals from St. Johns County, in the college’s gymnasium. Flagler College’s Public Administration (PAD) Program graduated 16 in the college’s Lewis Auditorium, including eight locals.

Flagler College held its fall commencement ceremony at the Flagler College Gymnasium on Saturday, Dec. 15, for approximately 153 graduating seniors. Sixteen students also graduated from Flagler College’s Public Administration (PAD) Program at 4 p.m. in the college’s Lewis Auditorium.

by Jayda Barnes, '20 Flagler alumna Emily Wright, ’16, saw a spotlight on Dr. Joanna Krajewski, assistant professor of strategic communication, and saw an opportunity to connect with her alma mater. She was developing a summer program at Georgia Institute of Technology. Wright’s office, the Center for Education Integration Science Math Computing (CEISMC), hosts many summer programs at Georgia Tech, including Pursuing Urban Sustainability at Home, or PUSH. This year, PUSH’s topic was about water and science communication, an area of expertise for Krajewski, who spent time doing research on water sustainability, water poverty and climate change before her time at Flagler.

by Jayda Barnes, '20 Flagler College’s Model UN team attended the 29th annual Southern Regional Model United Nations (SRMUN) conference Nov. 15-17. The team won Best Delegation in United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and overall Honorable Delegation.

Flagler College is one of 27 NCAA Division II member institutions to be honored as part of the Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence for achieving a four-year Academic Success Rates of 90 percent or higher. This is the eighth year of the program.

Flagler College will hold its fall commencement ceremony Saturday, Dec. 15, for graduating seniors. Approximately 153 students will receive diplomas at the Flagler College Gymnasium.