DIGITAL media Faculty
Dr. Michael AustinDEPARTMENT OF MUSICDr. Michael Austin is an Assistant Professor of Music and the Director of Audio Technology for Graduate and Undergraduate programs at Missouri Western State University. SpecialtiesMusic Composition and Theory, Sound Synthesis, Composition for Mixed Media, and Interactive Audio Applications |
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Alan ArrivéeDEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICAION STUDIES AND THEATREAlan Arrivée is a filmmaker and writer currently living in Kansas City, Missouri. His short film “Silent Radio” which he both wrote and directed was recently awarded Best Foreign Film and Best Cinematography at The European Independent Film Festival 2007 in Paris. It also received the 2007 Long Island International Film Expo's Best Actor award (Eric Winzenried) and its Triple Play Award for Best Technical Integration (Cinematography, Original Score and Art Direction), and the Best Short Subject Award at the Ellensburg Film Festival. It has been the Official Selection this past year of over twenty film festivals, including Staten Island and Breckenridge. Alan will receive story credit on the upcoming feature film “The Road to Empire,” directed by Michael Sibay. His plays have been performed in Chicago, Los Angeles and at various universities, and his short play “The Original I.Q. Tester” was a finalist for the 2007 Heideman Award. He received both his B.S. in Communication/Theatre and his MFA in Writing for the Screen + Stage at Northwestern University. He serves yearly on the Jury of The European Independent Film Festival in Paris where he also teaches workshops on writing and filmmaking. He is currently Assistant Professor of Theatre & Cinema and Director of Theatre & Cinema at Missouri Western State University. SpecialtiesScreenwriting and Narrative Production |
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Dr. Robert BerglandDEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FOREIGN LANGUAGES, AND JOURNALISMDr. Bob Bergland is professor of journalism and integrated media at Missouri Western State University, where he advises the newspaper and teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in print and convergent journalism. He has given numerous presentations and has published articles in the area of convergent journalism and is the editor of the new online journal, Journalism Innovation. Bergland, who attended Millikin University as an undergraduate and Purdue University as a graduate student, has worked for five newspapers, most recently the Grand Forks Herald in 2006. SpecialtiesConvergent Journalism |
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Dr. Kevin BrownDEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICAION STUDIES AND THEATREDr. Kevin Brown is an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Cinema in the department of Communication Studies, Theatre, and Cinema. He has published many works, including "Auslander's Robot" and "The Auslander Test: Or, 'Of Bots and Humans" in the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, "Spectacle as Resistance: Performing Tree Ordination in Thailand" in the Journal of Religion and Theatre, "Dancing into the Heart of Darkness" in Puppetry International, and "European Theatre and Performance" in the Encyclopedia of World Popular Culture. Kevin has been a producer, director, actor, and designer for over 16 years. Before graduate school, Kevin worked for cutting edge media companies for over ten years, including Paramount Movies and Television, Media Lab, MatchLogic, and NetLibrary. SpecialtiesTheatre and Video |
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Dr. Matt GilmourDEPARTMENT OF MUSICDr. Matt Gilmour received his DMA degree in composition with additional concentrations in conducting and history from the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri at Kansas City. He continued post-doctoral study with the renowned Italian composer Luciano Berio in Rome, Italy and the United States. He has been on the Western faculty since 1969. His teaching areas have included Musicianship courses, Music History, Composition, and Computer Music Applications. He has been active in the development of technology for teaching and the BS Music Technology Concentration degree. He has stimulated and been involved with bringing and teaching the study of world music to Western. He now considers himself a Sound Designer, expanding on the conceptual base of music composition. Dr Gilmour also is Chair of the Department of Music. SpecialtiesSound Designer and Music Composition |
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Peter HrisoDEPARTMENT OF ARTPeter Hriso is an Assistant Professor at Missouri Western State University (MWSU) in the Department of Art. He teaches animation and interactive design with responsibilities focused between the graduate and undergraduate curriculum. He also is the Digital Media coordinator, responsible for working with the graduate faculty for recruitment, marketing, curriculum, scheduling and budgeting. Peter received his B.S. degree from The University of Southern Indiana with an emphasis in fine art. Peter received his M.F.A. from The Ohio State University with an emphasis in Computer Graphics and Animation. Prior to teaching, Peter worked in animation and interactive production being involved in all areas of digital media including visualization, multimedia, and web development. His job titles have varied from animator, project manager, multimedia programmer and web developer. His main role has always been to bridge the gap between design and technology. He has worked with industrial, corporate and education clients including: Compaq, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, VW, Delphia, Siemens, and QWEST. Specialties3D Animation, Motion Graphics and Interactive Design |
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Dr. Kennth RosenauerDEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FOREIGN LANGUAGES, AND JOURNALISMDr. Ken Rosenauer is a professor of journalism at Western and teaches undergraduate journalism and team teaches in the Digital Media program. He received a B.A. in English from Missouri Western State University, an M.A. from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has taught at Missouri Western since 1979, serving as EFLJ department chair from 2001 to 2007. He taught previously at Tarrant County Junior College in Fort Worth, Texas, and Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. Ken has advised both newspaper and yearbook and is currently adviser of Griffon Today, the online student community portal at Western. He also has worked at the St. Joseph News-Press and the Savannah (Mo.) Reporter in addition to doing freelance writing and editing. SpecialtiesInteractive Media, Photography, Copy Editing, and Reporting |
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Geo SippDEPARTMENT OF ARTGeo Sipp is an Associate Professor of Art, teaching courses in Illustration, Drawing, Painting and Printmaking. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Florida and his Master of Fine Arts degree from Clemson University; he has been at Missouri Western since 2001. Prior to his teaching at Western, Geo was a commercial illustrator, maintaining studios in New York and Atlanta. He counts as his advertising clients BBDO, Ogilvie & Mather, Wells, Rich & Greene and J. Walter Thompson where he created storyboards for numerous television commercials and advertising campaigns. Among his editorial clients are: ABC Sports, American Express, Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, BellSouth, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Metropolitan Opera, The New York Times, Time Incorporated, Sony Music and St. Martin’s Press. SpecialtiesStoryboarding and Sequential Narrative |
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Neil LawleyDEPARTMENT OF ARTNeil Lawley is an Assistant Professor of Art at Missouri Western State University, teaching classes in 3-D Design, Sculpture, electronics, and digital fabrication. He and his wife have traveled around the world, and lived in Japan for almost four years. Lawley’s personal work is focused on the interrelatedness of things across cultures, languages, and objects. He strives to make visible the connections that are made in the mind. Lawley is currently investigating connections with interactive electronic objects and using 3D modeling and printing to inform his sculptures. SpecialtiesDesign, Sculpture, Electronics, and Digital Fabrication |
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Kelly WittenbergDEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES, THEATRE & CINEMAKelly Wittenberg is an Assistant Professor at Missouri Western State University (MWSU) in the Department of Communication Studies, Theatre and Cinema. Appointed as graduate faculty, she also collaborates with colleagues from the Art, Journalism, and Music departments to teach interdisciplinary courses for the Master of Applied Arts degree in Digital Media. She has taught a wide range of courses in film production, digital video, and interdisciplinary media, including screenwriting, cinematography, and nonlinear editing using both Final Cut Pro and Avid systems. Kelly began her academic career as a studio art major with an emphasis on photography, which fueled a lifelong passion for communication through the means of visual language. Never satisfied to stay put in one medium, her work continues to cross disciplines ranging from short films, video art installations and traditional photographs, to small hand-illustrated book objects and 'zines. Her work has been encouraged by such varied organizations as the Savannah College of Art and Design, the Saint Louis International Film Festival, the Association for Independent Film and Video, and the Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon. Kelly received the Bachelor of Art degree in Art from the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Master of Fine Arts degree in Film from Syracuse University. SpecialtiesDigital Video and Cinematography |
