After a national search, the School of Theatre and Dance is thrilled to announce the appointment of scenic, projection and lighting designer Tony Hardin as its new director. Hardin most recently served as associate professor and chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Kentucky. "We are thrilled to welcome Tony Hardin to Kent State as the new director of the School of Theatre and Dance," said Diane Petrella, dean of the College of the Arts. "Tony brings outstanding experience as an administrator, theatre educator and professional designer that will benefit our ...

During the Spring 2022 semester, Visual Communication Design students in the Glyphix Design Research Lab have been working on an intergenerational research project combining storytelling and design.   For the Stories Connecting Generations project, young adult VCD students were paired with one older adult. The two individuals engaged in weekly conversations virtually for up to eight weeks. Through their conversations, life stories, memories and wisdom were shared. In some cases, even friendships were formed.   Through listening and reflecting on these conversatio...

For weeks, the Kent State community donated medical supplies to a project organized by university alumna and current graduate student Lydia Lisowsky, ’21, for the people of Ukraine. And on April 30, 2022, the project came to fruition when 150 students donated hours of their time to help Lisowsky pack the supplies and prepare them for transport to Ukraine.   Lisowsky said she is grateful for the help of the Kent State community. “Because of them, we were able to not only reach, but surpass, our goal of 3,000 kits and make 3,172 kits to send to Ukraine to aid the civili...

After 20 years as a faculty member and eight years as director of the School of Theatre and Dance, Eric van Baars will retire from Kent State University this summer. Whether as School of Theatre and Dance director, Porthouse Theatre executive producer, faculty member, actor, director, choreographer, or commencement announcer, Eric's leadership, mentorship, and friendship has helped define the excellence and collegiality of the School of Theatre and Dance. We will miss him and congratulate him on this new chapter. An alumnus of Kent State University's M.F.A. in Acting program, ...

Morgan Bowers, a senior Honors College student from Whitehouse, Ohio, is nearing the end of “pitching” a perfect game. As an economics major with a minor in data analytics, Morgan will graduate a year early in the spring of 2022, having only attended Kent State University for three years to earn her undergraduate business degree. While the race to graduate early is becoming more commonplace in the higher education community, what makes Morgan stand out is that she has navigated this educational path while also fielding the position of pitcher on the Kent State’s Division I women’s softball ...

In the late 1980s, the Ohio state legislature recognized the value in fostering arts and culture and supporting artists and craftspeople. They acted on this belief by passing the Percent for Art law which went into effect July 1, 1990. This law provides funding for acquiring, commissioning and installing works of art in any new or renovated public building whose appropriation exceeds more than $4 million. Decades later, this law would come into play when the 2019-2020 Ohio state budget provided funding to create an innovation and research hub focused on advanced manufacturing. And so was born...