15.04.2014  Visit of professor from School of Music at Appalachian State University

On 14-25 April, Susan Mills, the professor from the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University (North Carolina, the US), visits to Novgorod State to explore opportunities for student teaching in Russia. Dr. Mills will visit schools and work with the methods and pedagogy instructors at NovSU to develop an understanding of the music education at the K-12 level.

The visit is organized within a framework of Memorandum of Agreement between our Universities. It is expected that, in the fall of 2014,  professor from NovSU Department of Music will visit Appalachian for two weeks to observe some classes and learn the Reich College of Education/Hayes School of Music ropes for international student teaching.  This is a well-defined start that will open up a wonderful possible capstone experience for the lucky student teachers. 

Dr. Mills is the Music Education Coordinator in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian.  Her career is focused on the development of music education that is relevant, balanced, and inclusive of both the classical and folk music traditions. In 2010, Dr. Mills was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for her work with the Freedom and Folk Song traditions in South Africa, where she lectured and conducted research and community service in partnership with the University of Zululand and the University of the Free State. She is a 2007 recipient of the Digital Sound Archives/Appalachian Music Fellowship of Berea College.  Dr. Mills is an active clinician and guest conductor for multicultural music in many classrooms and choirs and school districts choral festivals.  Her previous teaching experience includes two years as Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida and six years as Music Education Coordinator and Associate Chair of Performing Arts at Frostburg State University, in addition to seven years as a K-8 general and choral music teacher in Winter Park, Florida. As a music ethnologist, she has studied and collected folk music from Azerbaijan, the British Isles, Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Hungary, Ghana, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Southern Appalachia, and the U.S. Gulf Coast. 

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