EMDA Faculty

Associate Professor
PhD, University of California, Berkeley; BA, University of California, San Diego

Professor Bithell teaches courses in interdisciplinary arts and technology, including digital audio and music composition, robotic art, and programming for artists. As an interdisciplinary composer, artist, and performer exploring the connections between visual art, music, theater, and performance, Bithell utilizes new technologies and real-time interactive environments to bring the precision and structure of contemporary music and audio practices together with an understanding of performance, narrative, and humor drawn from recent theater, live cinema, and performance art. His works have been presented at major venues in the United States, Europe, and Asia and been supported by grants and commissions from Meet the Composer Commissioning Music / USA, the American Composerʼs Forum, the Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology, and the President’s Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Fund at SOU.

Office: Art Building 109
Phone: 541.552.7033
E-Mail: bithelld@sou.edu

Student Success Coordinator
MA, Psychology, San Diego State University; BS, Psychology, University of Illinois

As the Student Success Coordinator for the Oregon Center of the Arts, Karen assists students with their transition to the university, advises on the general education courses needed, aligns student’s career goals with their academic majors, and helps create academic plans to plan for graduation. She can help navigate the general education requirements for SOU, answer general questions about the major, and guide students to resources to help them to be successful. Karen has lived in Ashland for over 20 years. She spends much of her free time with the Curtain Climbers, a local Aerial Dance Company.

Office (M,W,F): Art Building 118
Phone: 541.552.6735
E-Mail: boldak@sou.edu

Assistant Professor

Andrew Gay teaches creative entrepreneurship and digital cinema. He has written, directed and produced both fiction and documentary films. His research in Lean Screenwriting applies start-up principles to contemporary film production, and he has recently instructed a Virtual Reality film class.

Office: Britt 243
Phone: 541.552.6669
E-Mail: gaya@sou.edu

Instructor
PhD, Duke University, 1993; BA, The College of Wooster, 1986

Warren Hedges received his PhD from Duke University in 1993, where his dissertation focused on gender and literary realism. In addition to his academic work, he also helped run his family’s telecommunications company for two decades. Dr. Hedges started at SOU in the English Department in 1996, and later helped create SOU’s major in Emerging Media and Digital Arts. He currently teaches courses about topics such as digital imagery, Virtual Reality, transmedia storytelling, and creating convincing, internally consistent alternate worlds in genres such as science fiction and fantasy.

Office: Art Building 120
Phone: 541.552.8519
E-Mail: hedges@sou.edu

Director of the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University
BME and Certificate, Flute, Florida State University, MME and Master’s, Educational Administration, Florida State University, PhD in Opera Production/Music Education, Florida State University

Dr. Humphrey has served in leadership and consulting roles at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Metropolitan Opera, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Opera, Corcoran Museum of Art, Museum of Performance & Design, California Center for the Arts in Escondido, and Washington Bach Consort.

Office: Music Building 142
Phone: 541.552.6522
E-Mail: humphred2@sou.edu

Office and Building Manager for Creative Arts

Rachel is the Office and Building manager for Creative Arts. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Business Administration at Southern Oregon University.

EMDA Professor
MFA, University of Cincinnati, 1996; BFA, University of Oregon, 1993; BA, Yale University, 1988

Professor Inada teaches courses in 2D and 3D animation, comics and picture books, and digital design at Southern Oregon University. His animated work has won awards at the Atlanta Film Festival, Riverrun International Film Festival, Berkeley Video Festival, Rochester International Film Festival, and Film Fest New Haven, and has been seen at the Tribeca Film Festival, San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, and Ausstellungsraum Klingetal in Basel Switzerland, among other venues.

Office: Art Building 107
Phone: 541.552.6058
E-Mail: minada@sou.edu

Instructor

Randolph has worked extensively as a developer, designer, animator, and production artist since 2004. He is currently the Digital Content Manager at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) where he develops and designs eCommerce interfaces and content for OSF Ashland. Prior to joining OSF, he worked as a Multimedia Design Engineer at Lockheed Martin. Randolph has taught several EMDA courses over the years including The Art of Data, Responsive Web Design, and Motion Graphics.

Office: Art Building 120
Phone: 541.552.8325
E-Mail: jonesr2@sou.edu

Professor
MFA, University of New Mexico; BFA, University of Oregon

Professor Leppmann teaches courses in photography, video, and installation.  Her photo-based work and installations address ideas of place, identity and the mutable discipline of photography.  Leppmann’s work has been shown in numerous one-person and group exhibitions in the United States and Mexico.  She has been awarded Individual Artist Fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council, Indiana Arts Commission, and the N.E.A./Arts Midwest; and exhibition support from the Minnesota State Arts Board.  Professor Leppmann worked in Iceland with support from a Senior Scholar Award from the Fulbright Program and the American-Scandinavian Foundation. She has completed Artist Residencies at The McDowell Colony, the Bemis Foundation, Albion College and The Ohio State University.

Office: Art Building 117
Phone: 541.552.6565
E-Mail: leppmane@sou.edu

Instructor
BFA, Theatre Arts, Directing Concentration, Southern Oregon University

Nick has had a wide variety of professional experience in traditional and emerging media fields for 2 decades. This included working as an off-broadway stage manager, years as a freelance web developer and 4 years as the production manager for the TIME Magazine website in New York. He has taught EMDA 201 – Digital Image Foundations, EMDA 203 – Digital Interactive Foundations, EMDA 204 Digital Audio Foundations and EMDA 350 – Projects in Digital Media. Nick loves working with young people, sharing his broad experience and helping them connect with their life’s passion.

Office: Art Building 117
Phone: 541.552.6690
E-Mail: oredsonn@sou.edu

Assistant Professor

Erik Palmer teaches social media and visual communication. His latest research explores the impact of social photography on the practice of professional media photography.

Office: Britt 242
Phone: 541.552.6880
E-Mail: palmere@sou.edu

Art Department Chair
MFA, Rhode Island School of Design, 2006; BFA, New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University, 1999

Professor Strangfeld teaches courses in Ceramics, Spatial Studies, and Art Foundations at SOU. She is a ceramic sculptor whose work has been exhibited at Pottery Northwest, Red Lodge Clay Center, Wayne State University, and Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum.

Office: Art Building 114
Phone: 541.552.6385
E-Mail: strangfer@sou.edu

Instructor
BS Art and Graphic Design, Southern Oregon University

Sasha is a freelance graphic designer and adjunct professor teaching Graphic Design Methods in the Emerging Media Digital Arts. Bringing real-world graphic design issues into the classroom she focuses on creative problem solving, technique, and how personality affects the designer. She is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in Teaching at Southern Oregon University. When Sasha isn’t working on client projects or homework you will most likely find her painting or enjoying coffee with friends.

Office: Art Building 115
Phone: 541.552.6690
E-Mail: timens@sou.edu

Instructor

An alumnus of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA., Gwenne has earned national and international awards for her creative direction in advertising and design, first on Madison Avenue in New York and, later, in San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Her company, Rock, Paper, Scissors Branding, provides digital marketing services.

Office: Art Building 120
E-Mail: wilcoxg@sou.edu