The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art—Alabama's only university art museum—is home to Auburn University's superb permanent collection of American and European art. The nearly 40,000 square foot building offers all the amenities of a modern art museum to thousands of visitors every year. Nestled high on a knoll overlooking a three-acre lake, the museum is located at Auburn's gateway and offers an inspiring introduction to one of America's most picturesque college towns—"Sweet Auburn, loveliest village on the plain."

Among the museum's many architectural features are exterior and interior finishes of the finest travertine stone, a vaulted rotunda visible from the surrounding area and a grand gallery with exhibition areas for decorative arts and small-scale sculpture. The museum gardens present a series of formal gardens that incorporate walking paths, water features and fountains. A number of areas within the gardens are designed for the exhibition of permanently installed, large-scale sculpture.

Faculty give talks and seminars on newspaper design, news writing, and film studies, at high schools, colleges, and in AU’s Distance Learning program. They also work with the city of Auburn to improve customer service, with the National Center for Asphalt Technology to create an Authorware tutorial, and with the university library to develop an interactive tutorial for the introduction to the library.

Students and the general public enjoy cinema through the Not Quite Cannes Film Series and to video production through the Auburn Film Society’s Student Video Contest and the annual Jay Sanders Film Festival. One faculty member’s activities reach even as far as the Olympic Winter Games 2002 where he participated as a media liaison at the Speed Skating venue.

The Real Alabama Project is a program promoting literacy, diversity and cultural understanding. The purpose of the project is to improve literacy among rural youth by providing opportunities in journalism education to rural high school students who have little or no journalistic opportunities in their schools. This project has been underway for more than a year and is in the process of establishing a rural community newspaper staffed by Auburn University and Notasulga and Loachapoka high school students under the supervision of AU faculty. The paper will serve the nearby cities of Notasulga and Loachapoka, both of which do not have newspapers that directly serve their residents, who are primarily lower-income workers and farmers. The project begins in these two communities and intends to reach out from its headquarters in Notasulga to other rural communities that do not have the benefits of a community newspaper. The project will also provide experience for students in broadcast journalism by helping them create documentary films with the same university and high school student structure, but involving different faculty and resources from the department and project sponsors.
“ Resurrecting The Notasulga Times was a complicated but enjoyable task. A project of this magnitude was something I had yet to experience in my time as a journalism student at Auburn University. I believe that the lessons learned by our class in building a real-life newspaper will serve as a valuable reference in my future as a journalist.”
– Jason Odom, AU Journalism Senior

Those sentiments are among the many positive responses from students involved in a project to start a community newspaper based in a rural
Alabama high school. Students in two Department of Communication and Journalism classes gained real world experience and more through their involvement in the launch of the Notasulga Times. The newspaper management and feature writing students of Associate Professor Nan Fairley worked throughout the fall 2004 semester on the project. As a result, the “new” Notasulga Times, produced by teams of high school and college students, was delivered to Notasulga High and the community of about 930 residents just before Christmas.
An American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) Partnership program grant sparked efforts to bring together Montgomery Advertiser resources, Auburn
University journalism students and Notasulga High School’s young journalists. The goal was to bring back a school newspaper, with the ASNE grant providing equipment and resources.
AU student mentors in Fairley’s classes worked with Notasulga Journalism Club members to establish a staff and work on stories and photos
featured in the first issue of the revived Notasulga Times. The feature writing students (Tigers) worked as writing coaches and partners with NHS students (CUBS). The newspaper management students created a blueprint for starting a community newspaper and then trained younger NHS students in areas ranging from design to advertising. Both classes worked on the final production phase alongside NHS staff leaders.
The semester-long project was marked by major challenges among them that there are no formal journalism classes at the rural high school in Macon County. All work at the school was done during after-school hours.
However, three factors helped overcome the obstacles: the genuine interest of Auburn journalism majors, who had worked to establish mentoring roles in the previous spring; the Montgomery Advertiser/ASNE grant; and the history of and interest in reviving the “first” Notasulga Times. The old newspaper, which served both the school and the community as one of the University of Alabama’s PACERS projects, died in 2002 with loss of funding and of the school’s former newspaper adviser. The circulation of this self-supporting newspaper had exceeded 1,500, and the community building “voice” was missed both by students and residents.
The December publication of the first issue of the “new” Times was celebrated by the university students and their younger partners at Notasulga High.
Perhaps more importantly, the residents were pleased. Approximately 2,000 copies were distributed at the school and in town at locations such as the barber shop and post office.
A “bonus” of the Notasulga project came when students in the newspaper management class produced a manual of journalism basics detailing their
experience. The 90-page guide, “Start the Press!” describes the students’ own formula for putting The Notasulga Times back in business in addition to their research on topics ranging from copy editing to circulation. In a February response, ASNE’s Senior Project Director Diana Mitsu Klos said, “ I just read "Start the Press!" cover to cover and am delighted. It's so impressive . The advice is practical and not preachy. What I love most about it is that it was written by college students for high school students.“ Once final revisions are made, “Start the Press!” will find a home on ASNE’s www.highschooljournalism.org site.

The department and its Public Relations Advisory Council also presented an exciting professional development opportunity for all public relations, marketing, and communications professionals in the East Alabama area.
Approximately 50 Communication professionals attended a free seminar entitled “WALKING THE WALK: Marketing and Communication’s (marcom) Role in Building, Growing and Sustaining Brands in the New Marketplace,” on Friday, Oct. 20, 2006.
The session explored the dynamics of the modern media marketplace that have created a new set of challenges for marketing communications professionals. Auburn alumnus Lee Gaither, a veteran television programming executive, and his colleague Alma Derricks, the founder and managing partner of REV http://www.rev.la/, disussed how new, interactive media platforms have impacted branding, marcom and public relations and offered strategies for (1) evolving marcom’s positioning within an organization, (2) collaborating effectively with sales, marketing, advertising and operations, and (3) building meaningful relationships with modern consumers.
Another professional development event is planned for the fall of 2007.

The on-campus speech and hearing clinic, supplemented by visits to other sites in the state and region, constitutes the main outreach service of the department of Communication Disorders. The services of the clinic include audiological evaluations, speech-language evaluations, treatment of clients in speech-language pathology, provision of hearing instruments, a comprehensive aural rehabilitation support program, universal infant hearing screening program at East Alabama Medical Center, and other screening and rehabilitation programs within the local community. Altogether, departmental faculty and staff test, diagnose, and treat thousands of patients every year.

Students of the department also provide clinical and other services throughout the southeastern region. Students assist in a number of medical institutions, such as Vanderbilt Medical Center, Emory University Hospital, and Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, and in schools, such as the local Lee County and Auburn City Schools.

The English Department publishes The Southern Humanities Review and participates in programs of the Auburn University Center for the Arts and Humanities and of the Auburn University Outreach Office. The Southern Humanities Review publishes fiction, poetry, critical essays, and book reviews on the arts, literature, philosophy, religion, and history. Like the English Department, it sponsors and co-sponsors readings, such as a recent poetry symposium with former Auburn poets at the Jules Collins Smith Museum.

The department's outreach programs begin locally and extend across the nation.The department houses the English Center, with a branch site in the main library, to assist undergraduate students with writing problems. Some of the department's many creative writers have founded the Sun Belt Reading Series, giving local poets a venue for reading, hearing, and discussing poetry. In January, the it hosted a state conference for college and university teachers of English, and a national conference on eighteenth-century studies. In alternate years, the Technical and Professional Communication Program hosts "April in Auburn," a conference for technical and professional writers, editors, and web developers, as well as for teachers and students.

Members of the faculty regularly read from their fiction or poetry and present papers at regional, national, and international conferences. Recently, for example, Assistant Professor Anya Riehl received the Agnes Strickland Prize for the best open session paper at the South-Central Renaissance Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, for the paper “The Tsar and the Queen: ‘You speak a language that I understand not.’” At the Southern Humanities Conference, a sponor of the Southern Humanities Review , the journal's co-editors, Dan Latimer and Margaret Kouidis, presented papers on Thomas Woolfe and on fictional treatments of 9/11 and its aftermath.

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures publishes the Bulletin of the Comediantes and the XVIII New Perspectives on the Eighteenth-Century, and it participates in programs of the Auburn University Center for the Arts and Humanities and of the Auburn University Outreach Office. Members of the department regularly present papers at regional, national, and international conferences in a variety of fields, such as literature, linguistics, teaching, outreach, cultural diversity etc. In addition, faculty members are actively using multi media resources in their classroom instruction and are developing online courses. They also advise schools in the area, are members of various symposia, editorial boards, and participate in discussions on current political debates.

Women's Studies

In 2003, Dr. Samia Spencer, Professor of French, organized an international conference on "Women and Politics in the World: A Global Perspective". The conference took place on November 21, 2002, at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center. The event attracted University wide support and enjoyed media coverage. In 2004, Dr. Spencer was instrumental in organizing the Women's Leadership Institute. The Women's Studies Program invites speakers and sponsors events of international scope on a regular basis. The public is very welcome to attend these events, as well as the conference on World Wide Politics.

Members of the history department present and organize seminars, workshops and other events in a variety of different historical fields. For example, Dr. Wayne Flynt gave talks on such diverse topics as “Women and Baptists,” “Confronting Poverty—Making Change,” and “Reforming the 1901 Alabama Constitution.” Dr. Kathryn Braund discussed “Indians in American History: Cultural Exchange and Conflict, 1500-1832” and other issues of Native American history, and Dr. Patience Essay lectured on “The Slave Forts and Castles of Ghana.” Other topics range from the Bartram Trail and other local history, over the Civil Rights movement, to international topics such as Vietnam, and Prague. The History department is also home for the Alabama Review: A Quarterly Journal of Alabama History.

In addition, some faculty members give advice on film and t.v. productions, are members of various symposia, and participate not only in discussions on historical topics but also in current political debates.

The Music Department sponsors and hosts a number of different events that bring more than 2400 students from middle and high schools to campus for special musical practices and performances. These events include

• Auburn University High School Honor Band
• Auburn University Summer Honor Band
• Auburn University Jazz and Show Choir Festival
• It’s Showtime
• The Alabama All-State Band Festival * District Solo and Ensemble Contests for Band and for Choir
• Young Voices Festival
• Invitational Choral Festival

The Music department is also very involved in bringing music into the state. The Spring Tour of the Auburn University Concert Choir and Singers and the Symphonic Band Tour visit different towns and schools throughout the state each year. Individual choirs and ensembles also give concerts, including the Faculty Brass Quintet, Horn Quartet, Percussion Ensemble, Vocal Chamber Ensemble

Other outreach activities include private lessons by faculty members, the Auburn Suzuki Academy (teaching preschoolers through senior high school students), clinics, workshops, and guest conducting. The facilities in Goodwin Hall are used for local recitals, the annual Music Olympics for students K-12, and the Choral Elder hostel for senior adults.

At this time, no information about outreach activities in Philosophy is available.

A Glossary of Political Economy Terms
Compiled by Dr. Paul Johnson, the Glossary is an extensive an authoritative compilation of information on an increasingly important topic. This web site is an important resource for the political economy course in the University Core Curriculum, and also is used in university courses world wide. http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/

Election Center
The Election Center is the preeminent institution in the United States dedicated promoting democracy by imparting the latest skills and technologies to elections administrators. Auburn political scientists constitute the largest component of the Center’s teaching staff. The Auburn coordinator is Dr. Christa Slaton, who also is Associate Dean for Educational Affairs in the College of Liberal Arts. www.electioncenter.org/

Teledemocracy Action News + Network
TAN+N is dedicated to the creative use of deliberative techniques and technologies that empower citizens to have genuine input into systems of governance around the world. This web site was developed and is maintained by Dr. Ted Becker, and international authority on the subject. https://fp.auburn.edu/tann/

Women’s Leadership Institute
The goal of the Women’s Leadership Institute is to sharpen the leadership skills of a new generation of women. The Director of the Institute is Ms. Kimberly Gill; the Executive Director is Dr. Paula Bobrowski, who also is Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development in the College of Liberal Arts. www.auburn.edu/outreach/womenleaders/

Faculty in psychology's three doctoral programs direct graduate students in military and government research, as well as in research in hospitals, counseling centers, and other treatment facilities. These activities directly benefit the people of Alabama and beyond by helping them solve problems in ways that improves the quality of their lives. Some of these facilities include Fort Benning Field Station of the Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (Ft Benning, GA), Center for Business and Economic Development at AUM (Montgomery, AL), and the Lee County Youth Development Center (Opelika, AL). Some of the services include psychological evaluations, counseling and therapy, education, and rehabilitation.

In 1999, the Auburn University Psychological Services Center (AUPSC), a part of the Department of Psychology, began an outreach initiative in our community. Under the direction of Dr. Polly Dunn, faculty-supervised graduate students began to provide free educational programs in applied psychology/health care to the Auburn-Opelika area. Some of the outreach activities include parenting and other workshops, presentations on college alcohol abuse, and a number of workshops that deal with stress, grief, eating disorders, school violence, and post-traumatic intervention after the events of 9/11/01.

In addition to these direct outreach activities, other activities benefit outreach in a more indirect way. For example, various types of research will lead to improved outreach activities, such as research into the physiological and behavioral responses that contribute to panic attacks, and the treatment (alleviation) of panic in patients suffering from anxiety disorders; research into parent-child interactions, and the development of a diagnostic testing procedure for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Since 2003, the department’s M.S. program in Applied Behavior Analysis in Developmental Disabilities has trained over 70 graduate students to deliver high-quality services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Through its graduate students and practicum coordinators, each year the program delivers approximately 20,000 hours of outreach services to four local service programs: (a) an early intervention preschool for children with autism, (b) a K-21 school and residential program for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities, (c) public school classrooms serving children with developmental and emotional/behavioral disorders, and (d) a foster-parent training program. The majority of the program’s graduates have remained in the state providing important behavioral services to historically under-served consumers.

Faculty in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work are involved in efforts to promote service learning on campus and require service learning as a method of cultivating cultural competence in 30% of their course offerings. Social Work faculty and students are involved in projects that serve the homeless, victims of Darfur, the elderly, and the United Way, and provide enrichment programs and leadership events for K-12 students in Alabama. Anthropology faculty and students have projects in archaeology at Fort Mitchell and Hickory Ground, an osteology project in the Tombigbee watershed and a citizen exchange project in India. Sociology faculty serve on local boards such as the Rape Counselors of East Alabama and the Domestic Violence Intervention Center and participate in information sharing between local and state agencies in the fields of crime, terrorism, and natural hazards. Please view the slideshow for more details.

The Theatre department gives performances for high school students (9th - 12th graders). During the 2001/2002 season, the Crucible was performed for two full houses of high school students, October 4 and October 11.