News Around Webster: Belo, Ćosić, Whitlock, Nelson

Recent professional news for Webster University faculty members include:

Dani Belo, visiting assistant professor of international relations at Webster University in St. Louis, co-authored a policy piece titled The Russia-West Standoff: ‘Locked into War’ for The Institute for Peace and Diplomacy. The piece focuses on four conflict escalation scenarios in Eastern Europe as well as paths toward de-escalation and resolution.

“Neither Russia nor the United States are willing to make substantial concessions, locking them into a path-dependent outcome that will result in increased regional instability, deeper divisions within NATO and an uncertain future for Ukraine,” says the article, which also ranks four distinct conflict scenarios.

Zlatko Ćosić, adjunct faculty member and alumnus of Webster’s School of Communications, will present three screenings/performances of his video project “Fire Ecologies,” a unique musical and visual experience that explores American landscapes through the lens of climate change. Ćosić combines his video with composition by Christopher Stark, with live performance by Unheard-of Ensemble at three locations in Texas in February:

• Texas State University in San Marcos, Feb. 17-18
• Agarita Collaboration in San Antonio, Feb. 19
• San Antonio College, Feb. 22

Evangeline Rose Whitlock, assistant professor of stage management in the Sargent Conservatory, published an essay in the collection Off Headset: Essays on Stage Management Work, Life, and Career, released Jan. 27. Off Headset is a collection of chapters containing essays by a richly diverse group of stage management professionals and educators covering the challenges stage managers face on the job, in their lives, and in their careers.

Whitlock’s essay, "Moment of Pause - Tech, 09.26.20," is featured as the afterword. “I wrote the essay while sitting in the back of the theatre during Canfield Drive, marveling at all that transpired in the previous six months of both my life and our larger world, and when I was invited to submit a piece this was my natural first choice,” said Whitlock.

Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts senior Maggie Nelson (BFA ’22) is this year’s recipient of the Richard Hay Undergraduate Scene Design Award, part of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology’s (USITT) Young Designs, Managers, & Technicians Awards. The awards were established to bring recognition and support to young designers, managers, and technicians at the beginning of their careers. Winners will be honored at USITT22 in Baltimore, March 2-5.

Nelson's most recent work has been at Hope Summer Repertory Theatre’s 2021 outdoor season as scenic designer for “A Year with Frog and Toad” and “The Importance of Being Earnest.” She is currently pursuing a BFA in scenic design with a second emphasis in Scenic Art.