New faculty members join new students at UVU

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The upcoming fall semester will not only welcome new students to campus, but also new members of the faculty. Dr. Lisa Hall will be the newest professor in the theater department, Reed Criddle will be joining the music department and Dr. Nathan Gorelick will become a part of the English department.  All three have experienced prestigious academic careers thus far and will be a promising addition to the university.

Dr. Hall received her bachelor’s degree in Drama Performance from San Francisco State University. She then went on to earn an master’s in Playwriting from Boston University and a doctorate in Theatre History and Criticism from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Hall?s article, “?She watches us watching her?: The Theatre of Maternity and the Performance of Maternal Failure in O?Neill?s Long Day’s Journey Into Night” was recently published in Essays and Scripts on How Mothers Are Portrayed in the Theater: A Neglected Frontier of Feminist Scholarship.

When asked about what made her consider working at UVU, Hall talked about the university’s recent development.

“I was excited about the rapid growth of the university and the professional focus of the Theatre Arts Department,” she said. Starting in the fall, Dr. Hall will be teaching an Introduction to Theater class for non-majors, as well as a section of Introduction to Writing for Stage and Screen, Theatre History and Literature I and a section of Script Analysis I.

Originally from Northern California, Dr. Hall has never lived in Utah, but is excited to settle in this area.

“[I] have lived nearby in Colorado for a number of years. I’m excited to be moving to such a beautiful state. I would have been sad to leave the mountains behind,” she remarked when asked about her move to Utah. She not only looks forward to becoming involved in other projects and organizations on campus, but also to the hiking and camping available here.

The newest addition to the music department is conductor Reed Criddle, who was recently appointed Director of Choral Studies. Criddle earned his Masters of Music from the Eastman School of Music, in addition to both bachelor’s and masters degrees in Music (Vocal Performance), Chinese and East Asian Studies from Stanford University. He is currently completing his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting at the University of Michigan.

During Criddle’s time at Eastman, he founded and spent time providing instruction for a conducting course at the nearby Eastman Community Music School, and was awarded the Certificate in Community and College Teaching for his efforts. In the past, Criddle has conducted the University of Michigan Men?s Glee Club, the University of Michigan Orpheus Singers, the Eastman Repertory Singers and several other collegiate ensembles.

Criddle is also a published scholar, having published several articles covering everything from ethnomusicology to new choral compositions in academic publications such as Choral Journal and Asian Music.

Beginning this fall, Criddle will be conducting both the select mixed-voiced UVU Chamber Choir and the large mixed-voice UVU Masterworks Chorale, as well as the new UVU Women?s Choir.

Nathan Gorelick comes to UVU’s English department from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he earned his PH.D. in Comparative Literature. His areas of specialty are 18th century British literature and critical theory, with an emphasis in psychoanalytic criticism.

Dr. Gorelick did his undergraduate work in sociology at New York University and worked as the Program Director of the Brooklyn Debate Resource Center, an organization that helps mentor students to succeed academically and personally.  Beginning this fall, he will be teaching 18th century British literature (English 3640), Critical Introduction to Literature (English 2600) and composition courses.

UVU is lucky to have these new faculty members and UVU Review hereby welcomes them and encourages you to do the same.