Denison University’s Board of Trustees awarded tenure to three members of the faculty who will be promoted to associate professor in the fall of 2024: Cristina Caldari, in biology; Justin Coleman, in studio art; and Philip Rudd, in music.
Caldari joined Denison in 2017. A physiologist, she enjoys teaching topics related to human physiology and health and disease. “Understanding how life works gives us an owner’s manual to our bodies,” she says. “By teaching students about how their bodies work and what needs to be done to maximize their health, I am giving them the tools to take control of their future.”
Many of Caldari’s students want to go on to be health professionals. She hopes that her courses will create a paradigm shift in health care so that “prevention of disease is valued over intervention.” Caldari holds a bachelor of science from the Universidad de Puerto Rico, and a master of science and doctorate from the University of Florida.
Coleman, who stylizes his name as JSTN CLMN, joined Denison in 2018. A practicing artist working in sculpture and ceramics, he offers an interdisciplinary approach to studio practice. “By learning how to work with clay and ceramics to create art, students develop the ability to understand the parameters of a material process and then apply that knowledge to express their ideas,” he says. “This learning process encourages students to creatively problem solve in two ways: first, with materials and processes in making ceramic objects, and second, to use their skills and knowledge of the process to communicate their thoughts and ideas.”
CLMN holds a bachelor of fine arts and a master of fine arts from the Rhode Island School of Design. His work has been shown in multiple galleries and exhibitions, including the Occupy Museums Debtfair installation at the 2017 Whitney Biennial. He most recently exhibited a solo exhibition in the spring of 2024 at Missouri Southern State University. He was featured in the National Council for the Education of the Ceramics Arts annual invitational, and his ceramic work was profiled in the book Contemporary Black American Ceramics Artist, released in 2022.
Rudd, who joined Denison in 2017 as director of orchestral activities, is a wide-ranging and experienced musician. He is active as a conductor, violinist, clinician, and adjudicator, and was most recently named a semi-finalist at the OCCO International Conducting Competition in Portugal. “I am extremely proud of the amazing musical experiences we have had in the orchestra over the past several years,” he says. “It is most gratifying to see students working together in a self-sustaining culture of collaboration and encouragement, creating a community that is a key part of the university experience for students across campus.”
Rudd holds a bachelor of music education degree from Millikin University, a master of music degree in orchestral conducting from Illinois State University, and a doctor of musical arts in orchestral conducting from the University of Iowa. His DMA dissertation research examined the influence of gender and class politics on the development of late-Victorian English women’s orchestras. Recent scholarship examining the intersection of aesthetic philosophy and musical practice was presented at the 2022 College Orchestra Directors Association National Conference. He currently serves as Northeast Regional President of CODA.