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Arts & Humanities

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Department Chair
Conor Roddy
Contact Information

Office Phone

Main: 231-777-0324

Campus Email

melissa.davis@muskegoncc.edu

Office Location:

1021

Office Hours

Mon - Thurs: 8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Fri:

Overview of Arts & Humanities

The Arts and Humanities Department at Muskegon Community College fosters an environment where students explore and develop their artistic and intellectual passions through disciplines such as art, dance, theater, music, humanities, philosophy, and media.

Theater and Music

Annual Student Art and Design Exhibition

Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition

This exhibition runs through the middle of May to the middle of September and features the best student artwork produced in all of our art courses from the previous academic year. Every year an art professional from outside of the college is hired to jury the place and honorable mention awards and one piece is selected to be the president’s purchase award and becomes a part of the college’s permanent collection. A presentation of the awards and a free public reception is held in June for students in the exhibition and their family and friends.

60th Annual Student Art Exhibit Winners

PRESIDENT’S PURCHASE AWARD for the MCC Art Collection
(chosen by the college): $300

FIRST PLACE: $400

SECOND PLACE: $300

THIRD PLACE: $200

$100 HONORABLE MENTIONS

All-time MCC Theater Main Stage Productions

1926
Who Kissed Barbara? (first Drama Club “Shouts and Murmurs” production)

1934
Berkeley Square

1935
The Black Flamingo

1936
Roof Rising

1937
The Supreme Gift
Huckleberry Finn

1938
Mr. Prim Passes Away

1939
Room Service
Gold in the Hills
A Painting for the Duchess

1940
Double Door
The Valiant
Farewell to Love

1941
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Tovarich

1942
Mr. and Mrs. North

1946
Kiss and Tell

1947
The Great Big Doorstep (Note: an alumnus has questioned this date)

1948
The Late Christopher Bean
Out of the Frying Pan

1949
Guest on the House
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Papa Is All

1950
The Winslow Boy
The Glass Menagerie

1951
The Bald Soprano

1952
The Stage Door
Father of the Bride

1953
My Sister Eileen
Laura

1954
My Three Angels
The Male Animal

1962 – (beginning of the “Rouge Pot Players”)
Dial M for Murder

1963
The Mouse That Roared
Don Juan in Hell

1964
Becket

1965-66
Animal Farm
Five Finger Exercise

1966-67
The Fantasticks
Roshomon

1967-68
Period of Adjustment
Medea

1968-69
The Future is in Eggs and the Leather
J.B. (Note: beginning of the Overbrook Players)
Carmen
Summertree

1969-70
Camino Real
The School for Scandal
John Brown’s Body (Reader’s Theater)
The Children’s Hour
The Lion in Winter

1970-71
The Private Ear & Black Comedy
Brecht on Brecht (read’s Theater)
The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
The Roar of the Greasepaint

1971-72
West Side Story (with Muskegon Civic Opera Association)
Land of the Dragon
Free At Last (Reader’s Theater)
An Enemy of the People
A Perfect Gentleman
Big Time Buck White (a student production)

1972-73
Hansel and Gretel
Brown Pelican
Death of a Salesman
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

1973-74
Ali Bab and the Forty Thieves
Here’s Love
Bus Stop
Jabberwock
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?

1974-75
Pinocchio
Waiting for Godot
Your Own Thing
And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little
A Thousand Clowns
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert I

1975-76
6 Rms Riv Vu
Tom Sawyer
Of Mice and Men
John and Abigail
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert II
Two for the Seesaw (a student production)

1976-77
Hedda Gabler
Ah, Wilderness
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert III

1977-78
Look Back in Anger
Bern Yesterday
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert IV
Magic Forest (a student production)

1978-79
The School for Scandal
The Roar of the Greasepaint
J.B.
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert V
Hay Fever

1979-80
There Goes the Bride
Hay Fever
Things That Go Bump in the Night
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert VI
Student One Acts

1980-81
Everything in the Garden
Royal Gambit
Geography of a Horse Dreamer
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert VII

1981-82
The Rainmaker
Dusa, Fish, Stas & Vi
Match Point and Stations
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert VIII

1982-83
A Doll’s House
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Candide
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert IX
Variety Show

1983-84
Splendor in the Grass
1984
Working
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert X
Dances and Dialogues

1984-85
Blithe Spirit
Commencement Swim
The Lion in Winter
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XI

1985-86
Little Murders
Pippin
All My Sons
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XII

1986-87
Ladyhouse Blues
Angel Street
Side by Side by Sondheim
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XIII

1987-88
Antigone
Baby with the Bathwater
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XIV
Student One Acts

1988-89
Charley’s Aunt
Between Daylight and Boonville
The Dining Room
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XV
Student Once Acts

1989-90 (Note: beginning of the Center for Theater)
A Hatful of Rain
The Imaginary Invalid
Move Over Mrs. Markham
Showcase of Students Acting Scenes and Dance Pieces

1990-91
And They Dance Real Slow in Jackson
The Glass Menagerie
Is There Life after High School?
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XVI

1991-92
Talking With
Macbeth
What the Butler Saw
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XVII
Student One Acts

1992-93
On the Verge
Much Ado about Nothing
No Exit
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XVIII
Student One Acts

1993-94
King Lear (Reader’s Theater)
Hair
Amber Waves
Student One Acts
The Crucible
An Act of Imagination

1994-95
The Taming of the Shrew (Reader’s Theater)
Light Up the Sky
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XIX

1995-96
The Gifts of the Magi
Festival of Short Plays
Romeo & Juliet

1996-97
Greetings
Tru
Studio Onstage I

1997-98
Tartuffe
A Streetcar Named Desire
Days of Romance, Nights of Love
Studio on Stage II

1998-99
Reel Love
A Christmas Carol
Studio on Stage III

1999-2000
King Lear
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XX
Arsenic and Old Lace

2000-01
As Bees in Honey Down
Snoopy
The Rimers of Eldritch
Studio on Stage IV
Escanaba in Da Moonlight

2001-02
Cut
Krapp’s Last Tape
Long Day’s Journey into Night
The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It
Overbrook Dance Theater in Concert XXI
Studio on Stage V

2002-03
Laramie Project
The Hobbit
Clouds
Studio on Stage VI
Escanaba in Da Moonlight

2003-04
Working
Medieval Shepherds Mystery Play
Dancing at Lughnasa
Dance Concert XXII
Solos on Stage
Take Ten

2004-05
Gross Indecency: The Three Trails of Oscar Wilde
Love Letters (library fundraiser)
Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol
The Comedy of Errors
Studio on Stage VII

2005-06
Frankenstein
Proof
Dance Concert XXIII
The Quiltmaker’s Gift
Studio on Stage VIII

2006-07
A Taste of the Tempest
Return to the Forbidden Planet
A Christmas Carol (one-man Reader’s Theater)
Our Town
Don Juan in Hell (80-year celebration)
Studio on Stage IX

2007-08
‘Night Mother (with Muskegon Community Health)
Lysistrata
Santaland & Season’s Greetings
Dance Concert XXIV
How I Learned to Drive
The Fantasticks

2008-09
Antigone
Shooting Stars
Scapino
Studio on Stage X

2009-10
Into the Woods
It’s a Wonderful Life: Radio Show
The Importance of Being Earnest
Dance Concert XXV
Studio on Stage XI

2010-11
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Story Theatre
The Vagina Monologues
The Pillowman
Studio on Stage XII

2011-12
An Enemy of the People
Dog See God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead
Urinetown
Dance Concert XXVI
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (a student production)
Studio on Stage XIII

2012-13
The Adding Machine
The Laramie Project
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
MCC Dance Dance Company
Studio on Stage XIV

2013-14
Tartuffe
War of the Worlds (radio play)
Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Clybourne Park
Dance Concert XXVII
Studio on Stage XV

2014-15
Death of a Salesman
A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
Muskegon Dance Company Concert
Studio on Stage

2015-16
Big Love
Once Upon a Time….Stories of the Season
The Glass Menagerie
Dance Concert XXVIII
Studio on Stage XVI

2016-17
Avenue Q
Once Upon a Time…Stories of the Season
Taming of the Shrew
Dance Company Concert
Studio on Stage XVII

2017-18
Metamorphoses
Boiling Point! Water, Politics, and Power
The Diviners
Dance Concert XXIX
Studio on Stage XVIII

2018-19
Animal Farm
Home for the HOLI-DAZED
Spring Awakening, the Musical
Dance Company Concert
Studio on Stage XIX

Areas of Study

Art
Dance
Theater
Music
Humanities
Philosophy
Media

Related Degrees

Associate in Science and Arts (ASA)

MI Transfer Degree

Broadcasting and Multimedia/Performance (ASA)

MI Transfer Degree
Cropped image of artist woman's hand drawing an oil color on canvas by paint brush at the modern art studio.

Art MI Transfer Pathway

MI Transfer Degree

Faculty & Staff

Erin Hoffman
Faculty

MY BACKGROUND

  • Hometown: Bettendorf, Iowa
  • Professional Experience: 2014: Awards Juror, “West Michigan Student Showcase,”Bette Clark Cannon Gallery, Muskegon, Michigan
    2013: Paper Presentation “Wrangling the Curriculum Phantom: Making Something Out of Things,” FATE Conference PostHaus, Savannah Georgia
    2012: Awards Juror, “5th Annual Northwest Ohio Community Art Exhibition,” Bowling Green State University Fine Arts Center Galleries, Bowling Green, Ohio
    2011: Awards Juror, “Changes of Seasons Exhibition,” White River Gallery and Nuveen Center, Montague, Michigan
    2009: “Exploring Issues of American Identity, Artwork by Erin Hoffman,” Artists Lecture, Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, Michigan, and Awards Juror, Lakeland Artists Biannual Exhibition, Grand Haven Community Center, Grand Haven, Michigan
    2008-2007: FT Instructor of Art, 2-d design and Beginning Drawing, First Year Program, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio
    2007: Adjunct Professor, Beginning Intaglio, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
  • Academic Degrees: BFA-University of Northern Iowa, MFA-University of Georgia,
  • Classes Taught: 2-d Form and Surface, Painting 1 and 2, Drawing, Drawing For Graphic Design, Figure Drawing, Art Appreciation, Contemporary Art History, Professional Practices in Art

MORE ABOUT ME

  • Travelled Internationally to Canada, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, Belize, Guatemala, Italy, India
  • Regularly exhibit artwork nationally
  • Make artwork in home printmaking studio
  • Like to garden
Daniel Meyers
Faculty - Department Chair/Faculty - Music Director

MY BACKGROUND

  • Hometown: Manistee, Michigan
  • Professional Experience: Former solo trumpet with the University of Michigan Marching Band, Basketball and Hockey Bands and later Graduate Assistant Conductor with the band and conductor of the U of M Hockey Band, Fanfare Band and co-founder of The Women’s Basketball Band. As soloist he soloed at regularly with the bands including the Bluebonnet Bowl and NFL Super Bowl XVI. As Graduate Assistant Conductor he regularly conducted the U of M Marching Band including performances at the Rose Bowl. He spent Eighteen years as Professor of Music and Chair of Arts and Humanities at West Shore Community College, Scottville, Michigan and maintains a role as Music Director at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Ludington, MI. He has studied conducting with Elizabeth Green, H. Robert Reynolds, Carl St. Clair, Jerry Junkin and Donald Lewsader and trumpet performance with Clifford Lilliya, Ramone Parcells and Donald Green. He has been named to “Who’s Who Among American Teachers” five times. Mr. Meyers is active as a guest conductor, lecturer, clinician, adjudicator, music arranger and performer throughout the state of Michigan. He is married to Melissa D. Meyers director of orchestra and chair of the music department at the Grand Haven Public Schools, Grand Haven, MI. The Meyers’ reside in Norton Shores with their daughters Danielle, Ariana and Elaina.
  • Academic Degrees: Bachelor of Music Education – Conducting Emphasis – University of Michigan, Master of Arts Humanities – Music Emphasis – Central Michigan University,
  • Classes Taught: Conductor/Music Director – Wind Ensemble, Jayhawk Sound Classes: Conducting, Introduction to Music Theory, Professional Practices in the Music Business, Introduction to Humanities

MORE ABOUT ME

  • My Father and my wife are my role models and my daughters who are my inspiration!
  • Traveling to Germany, Vienna and Salzburg to stand in the house where Mozart was born and hear my Wife’s orchestra perform throughout Europe after a successful Carnegie Hall debut
  • Instructing students at MCC who just simply ‘love’ to make music!
  • Read the book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci”
  • Always be truthful to yourself, your fellow humans and your earth!
Nicholas Palmer
Faculty

MY BACKGROUND

  • Hometown: Flint, MI
  • High School: L.M. Powers
  • Professional Experience: Church musician, freelance composer, keyboardist, conductor
  • Academic Degrees: BA University of Chicago, MA University of Chicago
  • Classes Taught: College Singers, Collegiates Choir, Music Theory, Introduction to the Humanities

MORE ABOUT ME

  • I have five cats.
  • I love dark chocolate.
  • Cooking and baking are favorite pastimes.
  • I’m learning Polish.
  • I learned how to make authentic pączki recently
Conor Roddy
Faculty

MY BACKGROUND

  • Hometown: Dublin, Ireland
  • Professional Experience: Before coming to Michigan, I taught philosophy in Maine, Texas, and Hawaii. Before coming to the United States, I taught English in Europe and Asia.
  • Academic Degrees: BA, Trinity College, Dublin, MA, The University of Hawaii at Manoa, PhD, The University of Texas at Austin
  • Classes Taught: All philosophy classes

MORE ABOUT ME

  • I’ve been a vegetarian since I was a kid.
  • I love the music of Beethoven.
  • My favorite definition of philosophy is David Hills’ to the effect that it is “the ungainly attempt to tackle questions that come naturally to children, using methods that come naturally to lawyers.”
Les Rorick
Director - Center for Theater/Faculty

MY BACKGROUND

  • Hometown: Fullerton, CA
  • High School: Buena Park High School, Buena Park, CA
  • Professional Experience: Instructor — Lake Michigan College; Teaching Artist — CircEsteem, Olive Tree Arts Network, American Theater Company; Instructor — University of Virginia; Actor & Director — Chicago and Los Angeles (various theatre companies)
  • Academic Degrees: B.A. Biblical & Theological Studies, Biola University, M.F.A. in Acting, University of Virginia
  • Classes Taught: TH-102 Acting; TH-101 Theater Appreciation; TH-121 Intro to Tech Theater; TH-204 Improvisation for Actors

MORE ABOUT ME

  • The creative arts, education, sharing stories, farming, and retreat are my greatest interests.
  • You may find me hiking or sitting around a campfire playing guitar.
  • In 2015, my friend published a book chronicling a 3,000 mile bike trip he and I took from California to New York.
  • “First Beat” was the name of my Improvised Musical Theatre troupe in Chicago.
  • A quote that challenges me is: “May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.” — Rilke
Andy Wible
Faculty

MY BACKGROUND

  • Hometown: North Manchester, IN
  • Professional Experience: Editor of two books: Golf and Philosophy and Queer Philosophy. Numerous other publications
  • Academic Degrees: BA in Philosophy at Hanover College, MA in Philosophy at Ohio University, PhD in Philosophy at Wayne State
  • Classes Taught: Biomedical Ethics, Business Ethics, Introduction to Philosophy, Environmental Ethics, Logic, LGBTQ Studies

MORE ABOUT ME

  • Loves to play golf
  • Trying to learn guitar
  • Fulbright summer trip to Southern Africa
  • Likes to travel.
Allyson Paris
Faculty

Matthew Childers
Arts and Humanities

Mike Council
Purchasing and Financial Services Manager

Patrick Holmes
Adjunct Faculty

Donna Kaveloski
Adjunct Faculty

Christopher Belland
Adjunct Faculty

Cheri Eberly
Adjunct Faculty

Christopher Shields
Adjunct Faculty

Gabrielle Schaub
Adjunct Faculty

Sherrie Styx
Adjunct Faculty

  • Main:  
Christopher Lubbers
Adjunct Faculty

Victoria McCarthy
Adjunct Faculty

Jon Mills
Adjunct Faculty 

ABOUT

Jon Mills joined MCC’s Office of Marketing and Communications in 2022 after 27 years as a reporter and photojournalist. Most of his prior experience was with Grand Rapids ABC affiliate WZZM 13. He serves as producer, writer, videographer and editor of video content to raise awareness of MCC and keep students engaged in learning.

Mills earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Spring Arbor University. He shares his love for television production with students as an adjunct instructor teaching MCC’s television production and video editing courses.

He lives near Montague with his wife, Kendra, who is a photographer for Grand Valley State University. They have a son and daughter who attend Reeths-Puffer schools.

Jacqueline Robinson
Adjunct Faculty

Janna Rosenkranz
Adjunct Faculty

Department Facilities

Art & Music Building

Overbrook Art Gallery
Theatre class

Overbrook Theater
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