Since he was a teenager, Dr. Michael Waters has been writing poetry. Now an English professor at Monmouth University, his beloved craft is back in the spotlight. Waters is one of 173 artists, scientists, and scholars out of 3,000 applicants to be selected for a 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship. The distinction has been awarded for more than 90 years and recognizes individuals from the U.S. and Canada.
As part of the fellowship, which is set to begin in January 2018, Waters vows to use the $50,000 award to travel and craft poems that will “connect the old world in Eastern Europe to the new world.”
Waters is no stranger to recognition for his work. As a senior in college studying abroad in England, he won a national poetry competition and was invited to London to share his work with the Poetry Society. Waters became a published author at the age of 22, and has most recently released his poetry book, “Celestial Joyride,” in 2016.
Waters is expected to publish his next book, “Dean of Discipline,” in 2018.
Dr. David M. Tripold is an associate professor of music in the Music and Theatre Arts Department at Monmouth University. He received his doctorate in liturgical studies from Drew University and a Master of Music Degree in Sacred Music from Westminster Choir College of Rider University.
Tripold has taught at Monmouth University since 1997. His research focuses on the repertoire and cultural climate of 19th-century American church music. Since coming to Monmouth University, he has taught courses in music theory, music history, music appreciation, choral conducting, group voice, music education methods, ear training, and choir. Likewise, he has conducted or trained soloists and choirs for well over 100 concerts and musical theatre productions during his tenure at Monmouth.
His most recent publication is Sing to the Lord a New Song: Choirs in the Worship and Culture of the Dutch Reformed Church in America, 1785-1860, which was published in 2012 by Eerdmans Publishing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tripold is currently spearheading a project on worship and music of the Reformed Church in America 1865-1929. He is specifically fond of the independent studies that focus on American church music and culture.
“I am especially proud of The Global Understanding initiative, a vital and wide-reaching entity established at Monmouth University to connect people of different ethnic backgrounds, to breach invisible walls, and to counteract insular and unfounded points of view between people of differing ethnicities,” says Tripold. “Monmouth’s work in this regard has been groundbreaking and essential to a mission of bringing about social change through cooperation.”
One of his favorite Monmouth memories was the Music and Theatre Department’s trip to England to visit London, Oxford, Bath, and Stratford-upon-Avon.
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