by Rebecca Zisch

In just five short years, Nevada State College has accumulated an accomplished faculty of over 60 professors with varied and noteworthy scholarship and real life experiences. In addition to diversity, NSC has also successfully attracted faculty that bring to life a college-wide precept that a higher education should be much more than just lectures and assignments. Classroom innovation, personal attention and academic inspiration are not just ideologies at Nevada State College; this is everyday practice.

Students studying Statistical Methods in the Psychology department are likely to find themselves asked to take turns trying to make free throws with a basketball so that Assistant Professor Tony Scinta, Ph.D. can demonstrate course concepts. This is something he says he couldn’t do at a larger college. “I believe in trying to get students involved and having discussion… you could try to fake those things in a lecture hall of 200 people, but it actually happens in a class of 20 students.”

Assistant Professor Daniel Grassian, Ph.D. finds that students in his English classes really respond to creative approaches to literary analysis and essay writing. “I’ve taught at more established universities where students seem to be there because they think they have to be… [at NSC] students are up for the challenge… they are here to learn and take an active role in their education.” That action may be enacting a mock trial of classic literary character Sister Carrie, of Theodore Dreiser’s novel of the same name or being inspired to research and write papers that are worthy of a Masters level course.

Scinta, who serves as Department Chair of Social Sciences, also praises the technology available in the Nevada State College classrooms. “You see the warehouse [at the Dawson campus] and you might not know what to expect, but we have really good classrooms… I never feel limited at all teaching here.” These classrooms with audio/visual elements and wireless internet, allow him to bring laptops to class so students can research topics and share information with each other in real time.

As an Assistant Professor of History, Peter La Chapelle, Ph.D. uses the technology in NSC classrooms to help overcome many students’ previous encounters with the subject “as a series of names, dates and battles.” To do so, he often takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of history, using music, film and resources available on the internet, like historic archived newspapers, to “bring students into the discussion and show connections between the past and the present.” La Chapelle has played early 20th century gospel music to demonstrate issues of slavery and reconstruction; he’s also shown Charlie Chaplin’s classic film “Modern Times,” to illustrate themes of industrialization.

Many of Nevada State College’s faculty members have interesting professional experience outside of their academic careers. For example, Vu Duong, M.D., a popular Lecturer of Biology, had a military career before becoming a doctor and is currently a practicing Ophthalmologist at the Westfield Eye Center in Las Vegas. As an undergraduate at Penn State, Duong was strongly encouraged to pursue a career in medicine and he says, “I do reciprocate to my own students what I received from faculty [in college].” Some recent graduates Duong encouraged are now headed toward careers as veterinarians, physicians’ assistants and scientific researchers in post-graduate programs at the University of Colorado, University of Massachusetts, Boston, and other universities.

As a former journalist, La Chapelle found himself in a position to help revitalize NSC’s student newspaper, The Scorpion’s Tale. He now teaches a journalism course and advises the newspaper staff. He also sought funding so that the editorial staff could be paid for the first time.

Junior Matt Morris, an English major, has taken several classes from La Chapelle because as a professor he is able to “reconcile the social sciences with the humanities and show that [students] don’t have to sacrifice one approach for the other… they can be combined.” Morris even credits LaChapelle’s interdisciplinary approach to teaching history and journalism in his decision to become a lawyer. “I wrote a story for the [Scorpion’s Tale] about the ACLU and I was able to use things I’d learned to bring different ideas together.” He plans on beginning law school in 2009.

Currently, Dr. Scinta is working closely with Senior Kerwin Sands as he plans and executes an independent research project in preparation for graduate school next fall. Sands developed the idea to test the effects of misinformation on the recollection of memories based on material that was covered in one of Scinta’s classes. “He makes the classes so much fun… I get excited about just coming to school… and now I want to be a professor and do research which is basically about his influence on me.”

Scinta’s own enthusiasm for research is contagious to his students. Like his research assessing responses people have to being questioned about their relationships titled, “Automatic and Self-Reported Attitudes in Romantic Relationships.” Social psychology of this nature shows students that academic work can be applicable to their lives rather than remote. Scinta’s knowledge of research methods and ethics “has been an invaluable resource” says Sands, who is focusing on finishing his project and choosing a Ph.D. program to attend.

A lot of Nevada State College students can find inspiration for their future careers through the work and publications that their professors are currently pursuing outside of the classroom.

As a practicing physician, Dr. Duong has been traveling with teams of doctors to third-world countries to provide medical treatment since 2003. He has been to Haiti four times and will return again in the spring of 2008. Next year will also mark his third trip to Vietnam, where his fluency in the language is especially helpful. And he is also planning his first trip to the Philippines in 2008. During these stays, Duong and other doctors have been collecting data on ocular diseases which he is compiling and plans to publish soon. His other recent research about cataract surgery and other ophthalmological topics has appeared in the Journal of Cataract Refractive Surgery and the American Journal of Ophtalmology.

La Chapelle’s personal interest in American popular music has led him to much of his historical scholarship, including a recent web article on History News Network, “Is Country Music Inherently Conservative?” and the well-reviewed book Proud to be an Okie: Cultural Politics, Country Music, and Migration to Southern California. Published by the University of California Press, Proud to be an Okie explores country music as it grew politically and culturally in southern California through the 20th century, from Woody Guthrie to Merle Haggard. La Chapelle uses some of these ideas in his own teaching, but the book will also be used as a textbook for a course in the History Department at UCLA.

Grassian, who is also the Chair of the Humanities Department, is looking forward to having his new book published. Writing the Future of Black America: Literature of the Hip Hop Generation is set to be published in 2008 by the University of South Carolina Press. His scholarship has focused on Generation X writing, including authors like Sherman Alexie and Erika Lopez. So, Grassian has been able to use these ideas to interest students in emerging literary voices that might not normally be included in syllabi. “I always try to bring in something modern at the end of a survey course.”

Recent NSC graduate Chelsea Adams, who enjoyed courses with both Dr. Grassian and Dr. La Chapelle sums up a common feeling students have about the faculty at Nevada State College. “I enjoyed the brilliant faculty members, emphasis on active learning techniques, diverse course offerings and personalized attention I received at NSC. The small class sizes enabled me to participate in engaging academic discussions that enhanced an already superb liberal arts education.”

And Scinta sees these same positive attributes of education at Nevada State College as the next step in faculty scholarship. “There are so many opportunities for the faculty to assess the effectiveness of the many improvements, techniques and programs that we’re creating in the classroom and publish what we find… Teaching always comes first here, but scholarship about the teaching here will only increase our national reputation.”