Topics: Immersive Learning, College of Communication Information and Media, College of Sciences and Humanities

April 8, 2010

Four new immersive learning seminars at Ball State's Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry will examine the "hidden treasures" of Hoosier, culture, create multimedia productions and produce a documentary on black baseball in Indiana. Leading the seminars are four new Virginia Ball Center Fellows for the 2010-11 academic year:

  • Terry Heifetz, instructor of telecommunications
  • Mark Groover, associate professor of anthropology
  • Chadwick Menning, interim chairperson of the Department of Sociology, associate professor of sociology
  •  Geri Strecker, assistant professor of English

Fall 2010

  • Hidden Treasures: An Arts Multimedia Storytelling Project — Terry Heifetz and his students will research the "hidden treasures" in the Indiana arts scene to write and produce feature stories and multimedia productions on artists and art-related topics for the Indiana Arts Commission, the Indy Arts Magazine and the seminar's other regional partners such as Arts Place and Indiana Public Radio.
  • Freedom Remembered: An Interdisciplinary Study of Longtown Settlement — Mark Groover and his students will research the history, culture and descendants of the Longtown settlement, a freedmen's community located in Darke County, Ohio. The students will document the rich and diverse history of the settlement, and its remnant landscape, archeology and architecture to produce a Ken Burns-type film for their community partner, the Union Literary Institute Preservation Society.

Spring 2011

  • Sexual Assault Protection Program: An Interactive Educational Experience — Chadwick Menning and his students will draw on the disciplines of sociology, psychology and theater, as well as the practices of martial arts and the policies of victim services to create a self-protection program for the university and the community. Students will produce a set of interactive multimedia productions that address the fears, risks and decision-making process for both gay and straight populations. The seminar's community partners include Cornerstone Center for the Arts and A Better Way.
  •  Black Baseball in Indiana: A Documentary Film and Essay Collection — Geri Strecker and her students will conduct original biographical, historical and statistical research on African-Americans from Indiana who played professional baseball before and during the era of the Negro Leagues, up to 1964. The primary product will be a Ken Burns-type documentary that will provide profiles of major figures, key teams and major events. The students will also generate short biographical essays on Indiana born players to be published in a book. The seminar's community sponsors include the Negro Leagues' Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research, the Indiana Historical Society, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Marion Public Library and the Conner Prairie Interactive History Park.

By Kenzie Grob