Troy University News

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Tom Davis
Troy Office of University Relations
334/670-3196
tomdavis@troy.edu

Office of University Relations
253 Adams Administration
Troy, AL 36082
(334) 670-3196
(334) 670-3274 (fax)

Troy State University students to participate in national research conference

   Two Troy State University students have been chosen to present papers at a prestigious national research conference later this month. Tangi Lockett and Izabel Szakal will participate in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) 2001, set for March 15-17 in Lexington, Ky.
   The TSU students will join undergraduates from more than 400 colleges and universities from throughout the United States at the conference, which is designed to highlight undergraduate research and scholarship in all fields. Lockett and Szakal, who are both art students, were selected from hundreds of applicants from major universities throughout the country, said Jerry Johnson, professor and chair of TSU's Department of Art and Design.
   "NCUR 2001 is a national juried research conference that is multi-disciplinary and crosses the gamut of fields of study," Johnson said. "The fact that Tangi and Izabel were chosen to participate is a marvelous accomplishment for them and sets a precedent for our other students. I'm so proud that they have taken the initiative to engage themselves on the national scene."
   Lockett, a senior from Fairfield, Ala. and a studio art major, will present the paper "Visions of Sakura Blossoms: Anime, Manga and American Pop Culture - What is the Connection?" She examines the animation and comic books - "anime" and "manga," respectively - of post-modern Japan and their impact on American culture.
   "Following World War II, Japan assimilated quickly with many aspects of Western culture, including popular art forms like the cartoon," she said. "Japan has made animation its own art form now, and is sending it back - in shows such as 'Speed Racer' in the 1970s and 'Pokemon' in the 1990s - to the United States," Lockett said. "Its influence can be felt throughout American pop culture, ranging from music videos and the 'rave' party scene to our own animation, as in Walt Disney's 'The Lion King.'"
   Szakal, a senior from Transylvania, Romania and an art history major, will present the paper "The Absurd Theater of Eugene Ionesco and the Communist Society." She examines the Romanian playwright's 1958 work "Rhinoceros," relying on her own experience of being raised in a communist society.
   "I think you have to live under communism to really feel it and have an understanding of it," Szakal said. "Ionesco takes the mask off communism and shows what it really was - an animal blind in all of its senses. The true oppression of the communist system is reflected in his work, and he does it in an artistic way, abolishing the established techniques of the theater," she said.