CMDA Research Expo
Join us for the 2026 CMDA Research Expo, where you can visit with our College researchers and learn more about their work. The Expo will highlight recent published and presented work from both students and faculty.
Schedule of Events
April 13, 2026 // LSU Baton Rouge Campus
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 a.m. | Coffee | MDA Building, Outside of Room 129 (Studio Theatre) |
| 8:45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. | Welcome - Dean Eric Lau & Associate Dean, Research Pamela Pike | MDA Building, Outside of Room 129 (Studio Theatre) |
| 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Keynote Presentation: Dr Charlene Ryan Anxiety in Performance: Beyond the Taboo |
MDA Building, Room 129 (Studio Theatre) |
| 10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | CMDA Provost's Fund and Matching Grants Lightning Talks I | MDA Building, Shaver Theatre |
| 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Faculty & Student Research Posters and Interactive Demonstrations | MDA Building Lobby |
| 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | CMDA Provost's Fund and Matching Grants Lightning Talks II | MDA Building, Shaver Theatre |
| 2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. | Faculty & Student Research Posters and Interactive Demonstrations | MDA Building Lobby |
2026 Keynote Speaker
Dr. Charlene Ryan
Charlene Ryan is a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University who specializes in elementary and early childhood music education. She has been in higher education for more than 20 years, with previous positions at the Berklee College of Music and McGill University. Dr. Ryan’s research focuses on music performance anxiety, with a particular interest in the experiences of developing musicians. Her work can be found in a wide range of journals, including Psychology of Music, Musicae Scientiae, Music and Science, International Journal of Music Education, Medical Problems of Performing Artists, Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Stress Management, and Journal of Music Teacher Education. Dr. Ryan has served on editorial boards for International Journal of Music Education, Frontiers in Psychology||Performance Science, and Canadian Music Educator (editor) and she is currently a board member for the Journal of Research in Music Education and Journal of Piano Research. Her works for young musicians, including picture book Hannabelle's Butterflies and chapter books Katherine Lost and Katherine’s Question, share her research on performance anxiety through fictional stories that speak to children and adolescents.
CMDA Provost's Fund and Matching Grants Lightning Talks
MDA Building, Shaver Theatre (10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.)
|
Rockford Sansom (Theatre)
Moody Research Grant, Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library |
The Elocutionists Son: LBJ and the Evolution of 20th-Century Public Voice |
| Jeong-Eun Lee (Music) PFIR Big Ideas (Arts & Humanities) & CMDA Matching Grant |
Indivisible: Expanding and Promoting the American Piano Trio Repertoire |
| Charlie Goodman (Music) PFIR Big Ideas (Arts & Humanities) |
Expanding the Repertoire for Solo Tuba |
| George Judy (Theatre), Tyler Kieffer (Theatre), & Brian Breen (Grace Notes Music) PFIR Big Ideas (Arts & Humanities) |
HEResteia: An Immersive Delta Blues remix of ancient Greek Tragedy |
| Christopher Trapani (Music) New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation |
Polyphonic Fender Rhodes 2026 |
| Rockford Sansom (Theatre), Shannon Walsh (Theatre), & Barrett Hilemen (Theatre Graduate Student) PFIR Big Ideas (Arts & Humanities) |
Stage & Screen in Louisiana: Past, Present, and Future |
MDA Building, Shaver Theatre (1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.)
| Sonya Cooke (Theatre) CMDA Book Completion Course Release |
Seven Pillars of Acting, 2nd edition (Routledge) |
| Kendra Wheeler (Music) PFIR Big Ideas (Arts & Humanities) & CMDA Matching Grant |
Beyond the Instrument |
| Faith Hall (Music) and Molly Austin (Music) CMDA Matching Grant |
Stress Management Music Therapy Intervention for Collegiate Music Majors' Anxiety and Depression: A Mixed-Methods Investigation |
| Andrew Parker (Music) PFIR Big Ideas (Arts & Humanities) |
Resonant Voices: New and Rediscovered Works for Oboe |
| Vanessa Uhlig (Theatre) and John Chua (Theatre) PFIR Big Ideas (Conference, Symposia, & Seminars) |
The New Economics of Hollywood: Challenges and Opportunities |
Poster & Audio Visual Presentations
Music & Dramatic Arts Building Lobby (11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
| David Dockan (Music faculty) & Rachael Sanguinetti (Immaculata University) | Repertoire/Genre Selection in Modern Band Classrooms |
| Jesse Allison (Music faculty), Brendan Harmon (Arts & Design faculty), & Carlos Roman (Music graduate student) | Welikia Soundscape Engine |
| Xiaoyuan Cao (Music graduate student) | Teaching Idioms through Excursions: Pedagogical Approaches for Piano Students |
| Mickey Hogan (Music undergraduate student) | - “Darling of LSU” (1935): Huey Long, Castro Carazo, and the lost songs of LSU - Exploring the French School of Flute Playing from 1860 to the Present: An Informed Performance of Pierre Sancan’s Sonatine (1946) |
| Kyla Kazuschyk (Theatre faculty) | Reimagining History through Queer Identity in The Courtship of Winifred Edwards |
| Brandon LaFleur (Music graduate student) | Exploring Isomorophic Keyboards |
| Jinnan Liu (Music graduate student) | - Visual Gateways to Piano Music: Measuring the Promotional Impact of Visual Carrierson
Contemporary Piano Compositions - Effects of Peer Tutoring Training Duration and Group Piano Level on Harmonization and Transposition Achievement and Student Perceptions in Undergraduate Non-Keyboard Music Students |
| Justin Tarver (Music graduate student) | The Effects of Music Performance Anxiety within Pre-collegiate Students |
| Yitong Wu (Music graduate student) | Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 27, No. 1, Andante: Combining Ternary Form and Fantasia Style |
| Sarah Walton (Theatre undergraduate student) | - An Interview with Vampirism—An Analysis of the Queer Experience through Vampire
Narrative - Creation Narratives of Embodiment and Monstrosity - Societal Decay, Aesthetics, and History |
Music & Dramatic Arts Building Lobby (2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.)
| Skyler Bluemel (Music graduate student) | Perceptions and Practices of Assessment Among Louisiana Secondary Choral Educators |
| Brett Boutwell & Blake Howe (Music faculty) | The Musician in Society |
| Kenneth H. Collins (Music graduate student) | Examining Feedback in Collegiate Marching Band Rehearsals: A Self-Study of Feedback Type, Level, and Reflective Practice |
| Nick Erickson (Theatre faculty) & Maria Kosma (Kinesiology faculty) | Reasons for Participating in the EDS-HEART Program: Holistic and Performative Within a Supportive Community |
| Latrice Greene (Music graduate student) | The Rationalization of Literature Selection Processes in American School Music |
| Faith Hall (Music faculty), Jason Bowers (Music faculty), & Vanessa Burke (IndustrialOrganizational Psychology faculty) | A Grounded Theory of Secondary Music Ensemble Directors’ Teaching Emotions |
| Megara Holmes (Theatre graduate student) | The Play That Goes Wrong Costume Design |
| Taleya Jordan (Music undergraduate student) | When the Story Changes the Song |
| Sarah Nansubuga (Theatre, graduate student) | Song, Dance, and Revolution: Brechtian theatrical tropes in Alex Mukulu’s 30 years of Bananas and Asiimwe Deborah Kaawe’s Appointment with GOD |
| Aleigh Papagno (Music graduate student) | Perfect Harmony: Healthy Habits for Music Teachers |
| Qi Zheng (Music graduate student) | Who Stays and Who Leaves? Exploring Elementary-Aged Student Retention and Motivation in Piano |