LMU debaters James Kilcup and Bobby Cashen get ready to rumble.

Lion fans looking to cheer on a winning team at Loyola Marymount University might cast their eyes to West Point this weekend, where the Debate Team has a shot at making American debate history.

Only Harvard University’s team has ever made it to the final, sudden-death rounds in each of the three major national debate tournaments. In part, that is because the competition is so tough, but a bigger factor is that each of the tournaments features a different style of debate, requiring different proficiencies.

The LMU team, made up of 20 undergraduate and graduate students, has a broad array of skill sets and just might do it, according to its faculty coach, Jay Busse, professor of communication studies.  “What I like to see is our students raise the bar,” said Busse.

And that has been happening this year, over and over again, as the team has competed in won or placed well in tournaments held in Africa and London, as well as a host of cities across the United States.

Most recently, James Kilcup, a graduate student in philosophy, and Bobby Cashen, a graduate student at the School of Education, finished second in cumulative speaker points at the national U.S. Universities Debating Championships at the University of Vermont April 1-3.

There were more than 400 competitors and individually, Kilcup finished third overall, and Cashen tenth.  Taking the top two spots were debaters from Harvard Law School. Earlier in March at Stanford, the LMU team won every round and finished 26-0.

The first leg of the debaters triple crown was at the National Debate Tournament at the University of Texas at the end of March, where an LMU team of Jack Ewing, a junior in communications studies, and James Mollison, a senior philosophy major, made it to the finals and finished ninth. As they had all year at the NDT tournaments, they debated the issue of immigration.

Cashen and Kilcup will be the competitors at West Point for the third and final leg, where 64 teams from across the country will meet in a three-day marathon under the auspices of the American Parliamentary Debate Association.  There, the topics will not be set in advance. The team will be given a topic as they take the stage and the home or government team will decide who takes pro and con.

For Kilcup, the attraction of debate stems from something that continues to bother him about his fellow students; no one wants to argue politics.

“What I notice is that people in class and socially, shut down quickly if politics comes up,” he said. “It is refreshing to find people who are curious, intelligent, well-informed and willing to engage in critical debates about these things without developing an animosity.”

Cashen, who was a college lacrosse player before an injury sidelined him, finds debate an outlet for his competitive nature.  ”I was able to fill that void with debate,” he said. “It is incredibly competitive and it is very difficult to win and to win consistently. I also had the qualifications in being interested in reading and critically engaging with the material.  Debate was an outlet for both.

Both Cashen and Kilcup may pursue legal careers after LMU. Busse calls debate a natural for that, but also for other professions, including sales and reporting. It develops your oral communication skills, ability to work in teams, writing skills, intelligence and logic. “Debating improves time-bound, problem-solving aptitudes,” he said. “You also have to be credible and sincere.”

The focus this week for the pair and their coaches is honing all those skills and getting ready to match Harvard’s record.

“I would love to be in the room when Harvard and Yale go back and they have to explain that they lost to Loyola Marymount and, it is acceptable,” said Busse. “It breaks down some of the prejudices and biases for other small schools. The more success we generate, it makes people more inclined to set aside their intellectual prejudices that you have to go to a Harvard, a Stanford, an Oxford a Cambridge to be able to understand the world’s problems.”

UPDATE:

LMU got within one victory of qualifying for the elimination rounds at West Point, but the team of Cashen and Kilcup lost to Rutgers by a razor-thin margin despite tying them on individual speaker and team speaker points.

The team finished 3-3, and amassed the most points among all teams that finished with a 3-3 record in the qualifying rounds of the tournament, which was held the weekend of April 22-23. For the year, the Cashen and Kilcup team went 34-4; an LMU record and among the best in the nation.

For the tournament, Kilcup ranked 17th overall in the individual rankings, out of 156 speakers. Most of the competitors had qualified by winning an APDA Tournament this season.

“The 3-3 outcome is frustrating  but not surprising,” said Busse, putting the result into a broader context. “When debating the best people, in an impromptu format, anything can happen.  There were 78 teams and 41 tournament winners in attendance.”

I measure every grief I meet

With analytic eyes;

I wonder if it weighs like mine,

Or has an easier size.

So did C.S. Lewis and Joan Didion, both famously and well.

Now, an LMU professor has published his take on death and loss. It is called simply: About Grief.

Six years ago, Ron Marasco, professor of theatre arts, and research assistant Brian Shuff had no inkling that a course they created to help young actors get at their emotions would blossom into a book they would co-author on this most universal of experiences.

In a mere 198 pages, it unpacks this most universal of events, evoking deep emotions as it takes the reader on a tour of the literature of loss while offering straightforward observations, stories from life (what Marasco calls “these gems”) and practical advice on coping with the death of a loved one.

The book tour included a half dozen signings and readings from New York to Arizona, as well as television interviews. They will did a book signing early in the year at the Borders in Century City. The experience opens up a new vein.

“When people talk about it they really bring very great self to the subject,” said Marasco. “There is an emotional depth that makes people more poetic than they would ever be.”

The Tempe, Ariz., reading was particularly poignant. Shuff was born there and his family came, including his grandparents, to hear the reading. Shuff, 25, is no stranger to loss. On his eighth birthday in 1993, his mother, Jill, died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Jill’s lifelong friend Terri came to the reading. She stood in line to get her copy signed. A cascade of emotions crested when Brian looked up and recognized her. It had been a dozen years since they had seen each other. They hugged and held on.

“I didn’t want to let go of her,” he recalled.“I don’t know what that was. She is a very strong connection to my mother that I don’t have anymore. She is her age, the age my mother would be now. It was an odd, weird feeling. I felt it was the closest I ever was going to get to my mother again.”

“About Grief” is full of stories like that.

The course, “Observing Grief,” was first taught in 2005. Brian’s father, psychologist David Shuff, spoke to the class, focusing on his expertise in helping patients cope with the immediate and long-term emotional responses to death.

“It was at that time that I began to talk about doing a book and collaborating with Brian,” said Marasco, who credits the supportive and innovative teaching practices at the College of Communication and Fine Arts with making possible both the course and the book.

The course’s main assignment was to interview someone who has suffered a major loss — someone the student didn’t already know. “I wanted them to have the experience of approaching a grieving person,” said Marasco.

The idea was to get beyond acting theory and books about exercises. Acting calls “for empathy, for understanding what someone else is going through,” said Shuff. “Talking to someone right in front of you makes it something concrete” and requires the student to be present and react.

Next up for Marasco is a course called “The Drama of Addiction,” which he taught this spring. As was true with “Observing Grief,” he uses plays, films, music and books to explore the literature and the reality of the material. Marasco explains that addiction is a common theme in many plays and novels, and also brings with it substantial drama due to its effects on people and their relationships.

Marasco freely tells folks that he stopped drinking 18 years ago. “A particular interest I want to explore in this course is looking at … what I would call low-grade addiction,” he said. “This is an addiction that rarely rises to the level of hardcore addictions, such as no DWI’s, medical cataclysms, etc., but is insidious in the way it zaps people’s creative and intellectual powers. It is not that bad things happen, it’s that good things don’t!”

Under the historic Right Place. Right Time. The Campaign for LMU, CFA has a goal of its own – raise $16 million. The funds will recruit and retain exceptional students and faculty; enrich student learning through innovative, life-altering academic opportunities; attract extraordinary visiting artists and lecturers; and create opportunities to educate students more deeply while addressing the needs of the larger community, said Busse.

The college, thus far, has received more than $14.6 million in contributions from alumni, parents, foundations, corporations and friends of the college, and is 92 percent of the way to the target with 13 months remaining. The campaign concludes at the end of LMU’s centennial celebration in May 2012.

“Your contribution as a donor to CFA is a crucial part of our success during this exciting time for Loyola Marymount University,” said Busse.

More than 79 percent of LMU students receive some form of financial aid. Increasing the pool of scholarship funds for both undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Communication and Fine Arts remains a top priority, said Busse.

“LMU strives to balance the costs of delivering a high-quality, private education with the mission to support a diverse and talented student body,” said Busse. “The cost of a college education continues to climb beyond the reach of many in our society, including children from lower- and middle-income families. Therefore, the need for scholarship assistance is more urgent than ever. In CFA, we offer a variety of ways for you to help us build our scholarship program, including endowed and annual scholarships.”

Donor support ensures that LMU can continue to educate ethical, talented and deserving students now and for future generations to come. “Your generosity, regardless of the size of your gift, will help put CFA closer to achieving its goals,” she said.

For additional information, contact Tara Flynn Frates, director of development for CFA, at TFRATES@LMU.EDU OR 310.338.3093. You can also support CFA programs with an online contribution.

The redesigned homepage for the College of Communication and Fine Arts

It showcases the college and the work of its departments, programs and the Laband Art Gallery. Each has its own set of web pages that can be accessed from the CFA homepage. The new website will provide a platform with the latest in technology, allowing CFA to present the work of students and faculty via slide shows, as well as audio and video presentations.

The six-month redesign was led by LMU’s Web, New Media and Design Office in close collaboration with CFA Dean Barbara Busse and faculty. The project incorporated market research, focus groups and surveys, as well as analysis of existing use, to understand the needs of CFA’s audience and its departments and programs.

The new design reflects the school’s vision and matches well with the university’s award-winning www.LMU.edu.

In addition to providing a foundation for audio/video content development, the site features new areas tailored to its various audiences: prospective students, alumni and current students. In conjunction with the redesign, CFA is developing a more significant presence in MYLMU to serve current students, faculty and staff.

“Bearing Witness: Daniel Heyman” features portraits drawn from life of former Abu Ghraib detainees. Heyman incorporates the subject’s words into his compositions to create a disturbing perspective on the collision of U.S. Forces and Iraqis. From 2005-2008, Heyman and writer Nick Flynn sat in on interviews with dozens of former Abu Ghraib Prison detainees in Turkey and Jordan. As the men opened up about atrocities they suffered, Heyman drew their portraits. His art interweaves bits of their testimony, provoking thought and reexamination of the war and its lasting impact.

Laband Director and Curator Carolyn Peter created the show and discussion series, which began with a panel Jan. 13 at the law school entitled “Torture in the Time of War – Legal Remedies and Ramifications.” It explored the legal issues stemming from the Abu Ghraib lawsuits, which are now in U.S. federal court, as well the experience of the detainees and their lawyers in working with Heyman, who was invited to the interviews of former Abu Ghraib inmates by their American attorney, Susan Burke.

Burke understood that “justice is slow and perhaps the ruling [in their lawsuit for damages against American contractors] will not be favorable,” said former co-counsel Rosemary Healy, who spoke at law school panel. “But Susan viewed the art as a way to get the stories back to the American public more quickly and in a way that is more accessible. They touch you in a way that the lawsuit never will.”

Also on the panel, with Peter and Healy were Law School Professor David Glazier, who teaches Foreign Relations Law, International Law and Law of War, and is a retired U.S. Navy Commander. Both called the collaboration of artists and attorneys powerful.

“The art exists not because the artist had the idea of doing but because the lawyers had the idea of bringing artists into their work and getting involved,” said Glazier.

Healy, who participated in many of the interviews at hotel rooms in Jordan and Turkey, pointed out that Heyman’s presence in the room during interviews with the lawyers had apparently made it easier for the victims to speak — some for the first time about their abuse, to believe that their stories would be heard and to feel that justice might eventually be done.

Calling the invitation to Heyman to take part in the detainee interviews, “thinking outside the box to achieve restorative justice,” Glazier prodded his audience of mostly law school students: “How do you as a lawyer do things that can help your client?

“Money [damages] is one way, but the brilliance to me of the lawyer’s approach here is the idea that this art, in telling these people’s story, makes them feel that some Americans actually might care and are going to hear their stories, … and that the lawyers have brought some sense of closure to these individuals…. This is a very imaginative approach to restorative justice.
This collaboration was a very, very exciting thing.”

The three panelists noted in particular that the paintings can inspire and provoke an audience.

“These paintings recall horrific things done to people in Iraq on our behalf. These are really atrocious acts,” Glazier said, adding that “many of you came to Loyola with the idea of dealing” with such issues, and as students of the law, we should address the possible remedies, including criminal prosecutions and civil suits.

Peter observed that while “the power of art to tell us things about our society and to act as a form of expression have been seen throughout history, this appears to be unique in terms of a collaboration between lawyers and artists.” Click here to view a video of the panel’s discussion.

In addition to the Iraq prisoner pieces, also on exhibit at the Laband are other Heyman portraits of what he terms “survivors” – former inmates of American prisons and immigrants. Those topics will be discussed during other panels in the discussion series.

The show opened Saturday, Jan. 15. There was a reception Jan. 20 at the Laband Gallery with a reading by Nick Flynn, the poet who also participated in the interviews. The show closes March 12, with a reception and conversation with Daniel Heyman at 3 p.m.

There are a series of other panels at both the law school and at the Laband Gallery. Click here for details, information on the show and slides of the art.

DIANE BENEDICT, chair of the Theatre Arts Program, played Eleanor of Aquitaine in the “Lion in Winter” this fall. The production ran in November and early December at the Long Beach Playhouse, an Equity-waiver theater.

WOJCIECH KOCYAN, pianist and instructor in the Music Department, played two concerts in Gliwice, Poland, for the Metropolitan Theater Night Festival. He played a chamber music performance with the Silesian String Quartet, and gave a solo piano recital. He also has made recent appearances in Mexico City with Sinfonia Vratislavia Chamber Orchestra.

DEBRA LINESCH, chair of the Marital and Family Therapy Department, and PAIGE ASAWA, associate clinical professor, presented papers at the American Art Therapy Association conference in Sacramento, Nov. 3-7, 2010. Linesch shared her work in counseling and intercultural training, as well as the use of art therapy as a clinical tool for helping immigrant families from Mexico. Asawa discussed her work with trauma as director of the Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic, a service outreach endeavor within the department.

JANE BRUCKER, professor of studio art, had exhibitions at the Marin Arts Gallery in San Rafael and the Cladwell Gallery of the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. Her work was reviewed in the Los Angeles Times and on KCRW.

DIANE MEYER, assistant professor of photography in studio arts, received a grant from the Santa Monica Artists Fellowship in July. She is among the artists in the current group show “Bike Culture” at the Sweeney Art Gallery at the University of California, Riverside.

SAERI CHO DOBSON, assistant professor of graphic design in studio arts, was exhibited at galleries in Seoul, South Korea, and at Jaus, an artist-run gallery in Los Angeles.

JUDITH ROYER, C.S.J., professor of theatre arts, reports on another award for “a show of hands,” a new play by Mark Marino. It was developed over the past two years by Royer, Marino, a team of LMU students, guest artists and alums as part of the Playwrights Center Stage Guest Writers Series. It selected as one of 10 finalists for the Nuestras Voces competition at Repertorio Espanol, where it received a staged reading Dec. 14th in New York. It has also been selected as one of two Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region VIII finalists for the David Mark Cohen Award, a national award for college theater.

For instance, check out the story on the dance competition in Washington, D.C., at the Kennedy Center. Previously, you would have relied on a few photos, some words and your own imagination to visualize the performance. Not anymore. Click on the video of CLOSE(r) – and you are watching it. You can get a similar experience with the narrated slide show that accompanies the story about the Kim Abeles exhibit at the Laband Art Gallery.

There is other news to highlight. Our Marital and Family Therapy Program is thriving with its Mexico Initiative, which includes a three-week workshop in Mexico and a clinical focus on ruptured families.

In a year that had many highlights, one of the key moments for me was accompanying our choruses to Italy, where they sang in famous churches in three cities and at St. Peter’ s Basilica. There is a wonderful slide show that captures some of these sacred settings and our time in Italy.

This year, there will be quite a few interesting stories to look forward to at CFA.  The debate team is doing great things. Our professors are producing wonderful creative and published work. These things will be featured on the new CFA website, which goes live in January.

Please make our pages a regular stopping place for your browsing and keep up with the exciting things our students, faculty and alumni are doing. You can do this by visiting our website at http://cfa.lmu.edu. We look forward to staying in touch with you!

Barbara Busse,
Dean

Mary Mastrovich Adams Scholarship recipients with foundation trustee Halsey Halls (center) at the award dinner Oct. 7 in University Hall. From left, Joseph Dhanens, Nathan Aderhold, Daniel Dangca, Ryan Peterson, Katie Rose Sanfilippo, Katie Brockert, Caryn Johnson, Amanda Sorensen.

The College of Communication and Fine Arts has received a $300,000 commitment from the Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation to support Loyola Marymount University choruses, music students and choral activities.

The pledge includes a gift this year of $100,000 as the first installment on the three-year commitment to endow scholarships and support the choral music program at LMU. The foundation is a longtime friend of CFA and provided significant support for the combined choruses summer tour to Italy that culminated in a performance at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. (A full report on the tour, with a photo slide show of the trip and concerts, is one of the featured reports in this newsletter.)

Barbara Busse, dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts, acknowledged the foundation’s generosity and role in the Italy tour in a personal letter sent in July to Halsey H. Halls, president of the Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation.

We are still glowing with pride over our Italian tour, said Busse, describing the trip as “absolutely spectacular” with the choruses “performing in some of the world’s most beautiful churches, with concerts and Masses of such beauty, I was breathless!” Busse thanked Halls personally during his visit to campus this fall to meet students who have benefited from the foundation’s generosity. She called the Adams-Mastrovich foundation support “instrumental in allowing us to continue to make incredible music for appreciative audiences.”

The foundation’s funding of LMU activities is nothing new. Mary Mastrovich Adams began her philanthropic relationship with LMU in the 1980s. The late Fr. Donald P. Merrifield, S.J., former LMU president, became her close friend and spiritual advisor in her final years. She died in 1993, at the age of 95. Mary Adams’ belief in students who “demonstrate promise” and her love of music have been hallmarks of the legacy she leaves at LMU, said Busse.

In the past several decades, Ms.Adams and her foundation have made contributions totaling $2.2 million to LMU, of which more than $1 million has been directed to CFA. These funds have created the Mary Mastrovich Adams Endowed Scholarship, the Adams-Mastrovich Fund for Choral Programs and the Adams-Mastrovich Endowed Choral Fund. This year’s $100,000 contribution was split among the three funds, with half of the money going to the scholarship endowment.

Since the 1981-82 academic year, 396 students have received a Mary Mastrovich Adams Endowed Scholarship. Recipients must “exhibit musical ability as well as commitment and dedication to the high standards for which the choral ensembles are known.” A majority of the recipients are music majors, but all recipients exhibit a common love of music and a talent for singing, said Busse. The grantees must maintain a 3.0 grade point average and have demonstrated financial need.

The choral endowment and separate fund for choral programs help support the 80-voice Concert Choir, the 25- to 35-voice Women’s Chorus and the advanced Consort Singers. Mary C. Breden, director of choral activities and chair of the Department of Music, guides the choral programs at LMU.

In addition to choral tours around the United States, concert performances are presented each semester in Sacred Heart Chapel. The highlights include the Gala Christmas Concert, the Spring Chorale and the annual Spring Tour.

A graduate student works on a piece of reflective art in one of her classes.

The Marital and Family Therapy program, which in recent years has focused on how Latino families are impacted by cross-border migration, has enrolled its first two students from Mexico—two Mexican psychotherapists.

The program’s attention to Latino mental health care is purposeful, said Barbara Busse, dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts, which includes the Department of Marital and Family therapy.

“Much of the clientele in public and private mental health environments in this region are Mexican, Mexican-American or Central American,” she said. “It is a growing population that needs professional services and their mental health is deeply affected by cross-border migration that ruptures families and complicates family life.”

“The real mission of the university and part of the historic, educational ethic of Catholic and Jesuit universities is  to encourage our students to reach out and help people who are marginalized,” Busse added. “And that is exactly what we are doing.”

The two-year, 60-unit program offers a Master of Arts degree in marital and family therapy. The  curriculum teaches art therapy as a primary diagnostic and treatment tool. Art therapy utilizes “art-making” – such as drawings by patients – to help them communicate psychological needs and traumas. Often, traumas are otherwise difficult to discuss or psychiatric difficulties are not apparent to patients, and the act of drawing or creating something out of clay, for example, allows the patient to express deep-seated issues, said Debra Linesch, department chair.

Art therapy students work with children at orphanage in San Miguel de Allende.

The department since 2004 has also run a three-week program in Mexico, where American students experience cultural immersion while supporting the work of an orphanage in San Miguel de Allende, near Leon. Mexican therapists can attend and earn a certificate in art therapy.

In 2010, there were “60 strong applicants” for the 20 spots in the master’s program, which requires a bachelor’s degree and significant course work in studio art, said Linesch said.  “A good number of them came to our program because they heard about the work we do in Mexico,” added Linesch.

The summer program was also the route to LMU for the two Mexican therapists. One of them was enrolled and “was so enchanted with it that she enrolled full-time to get the master’s degree,” said Linesch.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A SLIDESHOW OF THE STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM IN MEXICO

Gabriela Osorio, one of the Mexican therapists, calls art therapy “a very useful tool for working with families. When a problem is very traumatic, I have used art because it was the way I could most easily access” the therapeutic issue. In particular, art therapy permits the patients “to externalize their problem so that it is outside of them, so that it doesn’t belong to them,” Ororio said, then described therapy with an incest survivor who would not talk at all for the first 10 sessions. “We were just communicating through art,” using clay or with markers, she said.

The graduate program meets the educational requirements for licensing as marital and family therapist in the State of California. It began at Immaculate Heart College and moved to LMU in 1980.

This painting (shown above) is by Melly Trochez, a second-year graduate student in the Marital and Family Therapy Program. It is an example of how art offers a window into the psyche and also the artistic background of many of the students in the graduate program.

The painting is called “The Process.” Trochez writes: The painting has many interpretations.  The one most significant for me is the process of transforming my identity as an artist to that of an art therapist.

Before I started the program, I had some apprehension about the idea of change. It was important for me to begin this painting prior to starting the program as a way to externalize my anxiety and to facilitate this transition.  Once the program started, continuing to work on the painting helped me cope with further change.

The three figures fundamentally represent the three parts of the self, however they also reflect the different roles I have embraced. This is my personal narrative, a direct reflection of the conversations I continue to have about my process, but also about the therapeutic properties that the universal process of making art holds.  In the therapy program we hold and value the art process of our clients.

Other work and information about Trochez can be viewed at her website www.mellytrochez.com.