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Upcoming Athenaeum Press projects continue unique trend

by Cwalina

The changing face of a 100-year-old church in Pawleys Island, a sustainability project on energy types and a CD of songs about Brookgreen Gardens — these are the 2015-2016 projects of the Athenaeum Press at Coastal Carolina University.

The press is in its fourth year at CCU. Dan Ennis, dean of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, first proposed the idea of the press in hopes that it would help transform the learning experience for students as they develop and publish projects that create community engagement. The Athenaeum Press is unlike other university presses, according to Patricia O’Connor, CCU’s media executive-in-residence and the director of the press since it was established in 2012.

“Our projects are student-run from start to finish,” she says. “Students take a lead in the research, writing, conception, design, production and promotion of every project.”

Athenaeum Press projects also emphasize quality over quantity. The enterprise does not have an onsite printing facility. It focuses on editorial content and design, publishing a small number of original, professional-quality works that strive to tell a story in innovative ways.

The press often develops projects in multiple forms of media. “My Life with Mickey,” for example, a memoir about author Mickey Spillane as told by his wife Jane, is both a book and 2-CD set audiobook. “Gullah: The Voice of an Island” is a CD box set and a digital publication. Two press projects have involved collaborations with the Horry County Museum that include public exhibits and lectures.

“I act as the customer,” O’Connor said. “I tell [the students] whether or not I’d be interested, or if it’s different in exciting and new ways. I push them to do the best work that I know they can.”

O’Connor says she learns something new every day from the students. She believes in what the press contributes to the community and its students. Involvement in press projects provides a distinguishing factor on a resume and provides an edge for the students involved.

“It’s a wonderful experience to watch students learn how to come together through agreements and disagreements to produce something that’s great. They’re learning valuable life skills while making something that’s truly professional quality and could be highlighted in a resume.”

Press projects have usually been under the direction of humanities students, but with the growth of the enterprise, it has welcomed students from other colleges, such as marine biology students from the College of Science.

In the past, students have worked on two press projects a year, but the workload has increased to three for this year. The press invites submissions annually from a wide audience. It considers proposals from an array of initiators, from nonprofit organizations to community members. The projects are selected by an executive committee based on four factors: innovation, suitability for multimedia development, growth potential and concentration on experiential studThe second is about sustainability and the environment. The students are looking into three types of energy: wind, offshore drilling and woody biomass. The project will be developed in the spring.

One of the new proposals is about the changing face of the Holy Cross Faith Memorial Church in Pawleys Island. What used to be a predominantly African American church now has a 95 percent white congregation, which is believed to mirror demographic shifts in the Pawleys Island community. What form the project takes is still unknown.

The second is about sustainability and the environment. The students are looking into three types of energy: wind, offshore drilling and woody biomass. The project will be developed in the spring.

The last involves Ron Daise, vice president of creative education at Brookgreen Gardens and Gullah culture preservationist. The press intends to produce a CD of songs that Daise has composed about Brookgreen Gardens. Students of Matt White, assistant professor in the Department of Music, will perform and record the songs for the CD. The songs represent an array of genres, from jazz to classical. Titles include “Rain in the Gardens” and “I Just Think of You.”

Maria Finkenbiner, senior graphic design major, will do the design for the project. She has been inspired by the trip that the press took to Brookgreen Gardens and believes that a relaxed, nature-emphasized look is what would represent the area best. She has enjoyed being able to work on the project thus far.

“I really feel like my talents are being put to use,” Finkenbiner said. “I get to do what I actually want to do in a place that feels like home.”

Jenifer Butler, a graduate assistant working on the Pawleys Island project, agrees.

“It’s the environment that makes the press unique,” Butler said. “It would be impossible not to come out of the experience better than how you were going into it. The environment is inviting, it offers new experiences and allows for personal growth.”

Finkenbiner has also been helping the press on one of its other projects, transforming “A War on Two Fronts” into a traveling exhibit. The project, originating with the research of history professor Maggi Morehouse, examines a range of topics relating to the African-American experience during World War II, including Jim Crow laws, integration into the military and the Civil Rights movement. The project is on display at the Horry County Museum and is being made into a traveling exhibit so that it can be easily presented at conferences and libraries. Making the exhibit travel-sized has proved to be a challenge, as the original is very large in size.

To market its products, staff members attend between six and eight conferences and book festivals per year and have been invited to Heritage Days events at the legendary Gullah-based Penn Center in St. Helena Island, S.C., for the third year in a row.

“There’s no better feeling than to watch the intense pride that overcomes the students when the publication is finished and in their hands,” O’Connor said.

For more information or to view past press projects, visit http://theathenaeumpress.com.

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