Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Was L. Frank Baum, the author of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” a Bradfordian? Did Bradford’s oil boom of the 1870s and ‘80s inspire Baum’s vivid imagination? Many people think so. One Pitt-Bradford professor claims to have the answers and will share them in a presentation titled “Case Closed: L. Frank Baum in Bradford,” at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 in the Mukaiyama University Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons. The event is sponsored by Pitt-Bradford’s Friends of Hanley Library and is free. For decades, scores of Bradfordians have debated whether Baum lived and worked in their northwestern Pennsylvania town before he published his iconic work. Some speculate that he wrote for -- even founded – The Bradford Era. But was Baum really in Bradford circa 1879, starting or writing for a newspaper, before he went on to produce America’s greatest fairy tale? Tim Ziaukas, professor of public relations, claims to have tracked down the evidence. He published his results this summer ...

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has promoted two members of the faculty to the rank of full professor. Dr. Kevin A. Ewert has been promoted to professor of theater, and Tim Ziaukas has been promoted to professor of public relations. “Achieving the rank of full professor is a major goal for many faculty members,” said Dr. Steven Hardin, vice president and dean of academic affairs. “We’re very happy that Tim and Kevin have achieved this important goal. The university is proud to recognize their significant accomplishments through the awarding of this promotion.” Ewert teaches theater and is the director of the theater program. In addition to teaching and directing the student production each semester, he is an accomplished Shakespeare scholar, most recently co-editing “The Routledge Companion to Actors’ Shakespeare” last year with John Russell Brown, former associate director of the Royal National Theatre in London and the editor of the “Oxford Illustrated Histor...

University of Pittsburgh at Bradford faculty member Tim Ziaukas traveled to a national conference to present a paper that explores using the 1939 film version of “The Wizard of Oz” as a tool to introduce students to concepts of visual communications. Ziaukas, associate professor of public relations, presented “Because, Because, Because, Because, Because: ‘The Wizard of Oz’ as Visual Literary Primer” at the Visual Communications Conference in Portland, Ore. Ziaukas uses “The Wizard of Oz” in his visual communications class to introduce basic concepts of color theory, “sacred geometry” and more. “Nearly everyone has seen it,” Ziaukas said, “so they all know that visual text very well.” Ziaukas said he is able to talk about some of the imagery in the movie without having to show them the film again.” “It’s a good place to begin because most of the students know the film so well,” he said. There are interesting reasons why the se...

The Source, the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s student newspaper has earned a first-place award in the American Scholastic Press Association national competition. This is the second year in a row that the newspaper has been awarded first place. The Source received a second-place honor in 2008. The association judges critiqued editions from the fall term. “Another first-place award is evidence that the staff of writers and photographers has committed itself to journalism excellence,” said Alex Davis, Source editor for the 2009-10 academic year. Tim Ziaukus, associate professor of public relations and faculty adviser, said, “The Source staff members have been working especially hard for the past few semesters, and this recognition underscores their efforts and their ongoing improvements.” In addition to Davis, a public relations major from Emporium, members of the editorial staff are managing editor Lesley Bickford, a public relatio...

Tim Ziaukas, associate professor of public relations in the Department of Communications and the Arts at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, published the lead essay in the current issue of Western Pennsylvania History. The essay, titled “Still Scary After All These Years: Mr. Yuk Nears 40,” was co-authored with Christopher McCarrick, associate professor of English at Clarion University. “The piece is a look at the public relations and marketing campaign that the Pittsburgh Poison Center developed in the early 1970s to replace the skull-and-crossbones, the traditional symbol for poison,” Ziaukas said. The Jolly Roger was confusing Pittsburgh kids who associated the image with the city’s ball team, The Pittsburgh Pirates. Thus, the medical and marketing professionals developed Mr. Yuk, a variation of the ubiquitous ’70s icon, the Smiley Face. “The article is a biography of a national icon,” Ziaukas said. “As Chris and I found out, Mr. Yuk is sti...