Brian Arnold '09
Bluefield, WV
Brian Arnold, a screenwriter living in Los Angeles, is proof that your degree from CU can be a foundation for achieving your dreams. As a Communication Arts graduate, Brian worked in telecommunications and broadcast journalism before taking a chance with screenwriting. “I knew I wouldn’t be happy until I gave writing a real shot,” Brian says. And while his degree wasn’t in film study, he says the electives he took at Concord gave him practical production experience that has helped him in his current career. “I got to make live TV. I got to make my own short films. I got to study screenwriting and film. And, more than that, my time at Concord helped me grow into a more mature, professional person ready to give the real world a shot.”
Alumni
Dr. Germain Badang
Assistant Professor of Languages
Educated in Cameroon, a country in central West Africa, Spain, and in the United States, Dr. Badang comes to Concord University with extensive knowledge of several languages, a past steeped in multicultural experiences, and dedication to teaching. His goal is to use his knowledge to “challenge [his students] so that they can discover in themselves what they never thought they were able to do.” Dr. Badang says he strives for excellence in every student and cultivates a sense of community in his classroom, “where students express their solidarity and support each other’s efforts.” Currently, Dr. Badang is working with his students to create a Language Club on campus.
Faculty
Dr. Thomas McKenna
Interim Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Professor Mc Kenna is an interdisciplinary scholar in the history of philosophy, religion, and the arts. He is a poet and has edited the short run journal Holler: A Journal of Poetry and Prose, now part of the permanent collection of the West Virginia Culture Center in Charleston, West Virginia. As a professor, Dr. McKenna says his goal is to help students understand that the answers to life’s big questions vary, but that it is important to understand everyone else’s answers to better grasp the rich diversity of our world our place in it. Whether it be Language, Literature, History, Philosophy, or Religion, the Department of Humanities will prepare you for success in any field you choose by teaching you how to listen more carefully, to read with greater understanding, and how to write more effectively, all while acquiring a better understanding of the language, literature, history, philosophy and religion of the wider world. "We live in a rich and diverse world. The more we know about the people in it, what they think about it, and why they think so, the better we’ll do…no matter what we choose to do for a living.”
Faculty