Meadows Welcomes 12 Full-Time, 5 Visiting New Faculty Members for 2024-25
Join us in welcoming 17 new faculty members to Meadows, in divisions ranging from art and advertising to dance and theatre, and learn more about these new members of our community.
Andrea Arterbery | Journalism, Associate Professor of Practice
Andrea Arterbery is transitioning from her previous faculty position to being full-time as an Associate Professor of Practice in the Division of Journalism this year. Arterbery, who has had a decade-long career covering hard news, fashion, beauty, and celebrity life, has been published in several top publications, including The New York Times, Women’s Wear Daily, TeenVogue.com, Cosmopolitan, ESSENCE and D Magazine. She will be teaching two Fashion Media courses this semester: Fashion Diversity and Fashion Journalism. “These courses explore topics I'm deeply passionate about,” explains Arterbery. “Promoting diversity in the fashion industry and equipping aspiring journalists with the tools to effectively cover this dynamic field.”
Learn more about Andrea Arterbery here.
Christie Bondade | Dance, Assistant Professor
Christie Bondade joins Meadows as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Dance, where she will teach dance history, community engagement and choreography. Prior to arriving at Meadows, Bondade served on faculty at the University of North Texas, Texas Woman's University, Collin College, Eastfield College, and Richland College, and currently serves on the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) Dance and Disability Committee, an organization aiming to make dance education and experiences more accessible. Her teaching philosophy also extends beyond history and technique. “My research focuses on integrating dance/movement therapy, social and emotional learning, and somatic modalities” she says. “I incorporate these approaches into my teaching and student support, emphasizing the importance of ongoing education and personal growth alongside my students.”
Learn more about Christie Bondade here.
Emily Budd | Art, Assistant Professor
Sculpture artist Emily Budd joins Meadows’ Division of Art faculty as an Assistant Professor this year. Budd, who has exhibited throughout the U.S. at institutions like the SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco, the Barrick Museum of Art in Las Vegas, and SEED Lab at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, has a background in bronze casting and paleontology. Her sculptural practice seeks queer futurity and place-making through reformative monuments, artifacts, fossils and memorials. “I was drawn to Meadows to join forces with the accomplished fine arts faculty, a growing program, and SMU’s foundry facilities to expand my research,” Budd says. “I am excited to explore experimental forms of metal casting with students and share our work with the community!”
Learn more about Emily Budd here.
Dana Buzzee | Art, Visiting Professor of Practice
Dana Buzzee is a Canadian visual artist and arts educator who will be joining the Division of Art as a Visiting Professor of Practice. Buzzee’s work, which is rooted in queer hauntology and materialism, engages an exploration of consumer fetishism tied to extractive capitalist economies, serving as a narrative medium for deep-time storytelling and speculative futurity.
“My teaching philosophy centers on creating an inclusive and supportive environment where students feel empowered to take risks and develop their own unique artistic practices,” Buzzee explains. “By meeting students where they are at, and acknowledging them as experts of their own experiences, I aim to cultivate student-centered classrooms that encourage critical inquiry and experimentation.”
Learn more about Dana Buzzee here.
Frederico Câmara | Art, Assistant Professor
Brazilian artist Frederico Câmara will be joining Meadows’ Division of Art as an Assistant Professor, specializing in photography. In his work, he revisits the role of the traveling artist and explorer, decolonizing their historical antecedents with a contemporary approach to discovery, questioning the ideas of the familiar and the exotic, and promoting environmental awareness and sustainability. “In my teaching, I promote technical experimentation and critical thinking in artistic practice, supported by historical and contemporary examples from all over the world says Câmara, who holds a Ph.D. in fine art. “Those examples are characterized by a diversity of views that will reflect on the diversity of the world and of the students themselves.”
Learn more about Frederico Câmara here.
David Challier | Art, Visiting Professor of Practice
David Challier will be joining the Division of Art as a Visiting Professor of Practice. Challier, who splits his time between Dallas, Texas and Simiane-La-Rotonde, Alpes de Haute Provence in France, primarily works in the glass and ceramic scientific research and in decorative arts. His inspiration mostly comes from geology, archeology, architecture, and ancient heritage knowledge, and is utilized to make pieces of art that are seemingly ancient artifacts and very contemporary objects in equal measure. “I’m looking forward to working with a diverse group of students and helping them explore their creativity by integrating innovative teaching methods and new technologies,” Challier says. “Combining artistic and scientific research in a university setting offers a unique and interdisciplinary approach that can enrich both fields.”
Learn more about David Challier here.
Edward Cumming | Music, Professor
Edward Cumming has been appointed the Martha Raley Peak Director of Orchestral Studies for Meadows’ Division of Music this year. Cumming, who will also serve as a professor, joins Meadows from The Hartt School, a performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford in Connecticut. He has taught at colleges in all four corners of the country, including Yale University, California State University (Fullerton), University of South Florida, and Pacific University, and he is excited for a new beginning with his students and to connect with them through music. “My philosophy is to allow the genius of the composers whose music we play to come through and to show each student the unique qualities of each composer, beginning with the sound,” explains Cumming. “Everything starts with the sound.”
Learn more about Edward Cumming here.
Diggle | Theatre, Visiting Professor
Diggle is a Mexican-Latinx scenic designer joining the Division of Theatre as a Visiting Professor. As an associate designer he is best known for Slave Play, Grand Horizons, and How I Learned To Drive on Broadway and X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X at New York’s Metropolitan Opera; his work can also be seen regionally throughout the country. In 2023, Diggle was awarded Princess Grace Award in 2023, nominated by The Public Theater, for his extraordinary promise, talent and potential for innovation or impact in theater within his field. He is excited to create a positive impact on young designer's voices. “I am here to train and hone my students' viewpoints on the world's they create,” Diggle says. “We aren't here to replicate reality but instead to create the emotional truth of a world. When we master that there is no stopping what we can design.”
Carter Gill | Theatre, Visiting Professor
Carter Gill is an actor, director and movement instructor who is joining Meadows’ Division of Theatre as a Visiting Professor of Acting. Gill, who is also a Meadows alum (B.F.A.’06), has devised commedia and clown work for several acclaimed Off-Broadway productions as well as work in film and television. His knowledge in physical comedy and movement pedagogy, as well as his own experience at Meadows, will inform his teaching philosophy as he guides both graduate students and first year B.F.A. students as their performance instructor. “My performance class my freshmen year [at SMU] was so incredibly formative and it forged my ideas around artistic integrity,” explains Gill. “I’m pumped to join the student actors in their appetite to play; playfulness and the pleasure to perform will take an actor on a wild adventure that has no end.”
Learn more about Carter Gill here.
Sara Idacavage | Journalism, Assistant Professor
Sara Idacavage is a fashion historian with a background in journalism joining Meadows’ Division of Journalism as an Assistant Professor in the Fashion Media department. Her research employs sustainability as a lens to delve into the historical foundations of the fashion system and contextualize contemporary challenges within a broader historical framework. Idacavage – who recently completed her Ph.D. in Polymer, Fiber, and Textile Sciences – is eager to bring the insights she gained from her doctoral studies into the classroom by experimenting with new teaching approaches. “I see my role as both a facilitator of active learning and an organizer of a close-knit classroom community,” she says. “I tailor my courses to students' interests and career goals, offering flexible assignments that allow them to translate what they learn into creative projects like magazines, design collections or business proposals in lieu of traditional essays.”
Learn more about Sara Idacavage here.
Corey Jones | Advertising, Executive-in-Residence
Corey Jones (B.A. ’98) returns to the Hilltop to join Meadows’ Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) this school year as the new Executive-in-Residence. With a career path that spans production, creative, strategy, and executive leadership, Jones brings over 25 years of advertising experience to the Meadows School of the Arts. “As a Meadows alum, I'm honored having the continued opportunity to work with people who will shift and influence culture for years to come,” says Jones, who is the Co-Founder and CEO of the consulting firm PrismWork. “I'm fortunate to present and explore the fascinating aspects of this medium to those beginning to wonder about the industry and privileged to share practical tools and resources with those committed to start a life here.”
Learn more about Corey Jones here.
Parisa Khobdeh | Dance, Artist-in-Residence and Visiting Professor of Practice
Internationally renowned dancer and Meadows alum Parisa Khobdeh (B.F.A. ’03) joins the Division of Dance as an Artist-in-Residence and Visiting Professor of Practice. Khobdeh starred with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 2003 to 2019, creating and performing in principal and supporting roles in over 100 Taylor dances throughout her career. She is eager to return to her alma mater and offer her experience to the strengthen the next generation of artists. “I’m excited about the opportunity to help students harness their unique talents and discover that they are capable of achieving more than they ever dreamed,” says Khobdeh. “Witnessing the moment when a student realizes their own potential and gains confidence in their abilities is incredibly rewarding.”
Learn more about Parisa Khobdeh here.
Jennifer Prediger | Film & Media Arts, Assistant Professor
Jennifer Prediger is a writer, director, producer and actor joining Meadows’ Division of Film & Media Arts as an Assistant Professor. Prediger has had a role in 39 films, both behind and in front of the camera, and plans to bring that vast depth of experience to the classroom. She will be teaching “Introduction to Screenwriting,” as well as the program’s new “Screenwriting the Adaptation” course in which students will learn how to adapt source material into a screenplay, an invaluable skill in today’s industry. “Film is one of the most collaborative art forms and it's a filmmaker's dream to be in a place like Meadows School of the Arts, which also houses theater, dance, music, art, and more,” explains Prediger. “Being surrounded by so many working artists is a great source of inspiration and I’m excited to be part of a film program invested in hands-on learning.”
Learn more about Jennifer Prediger here.
Jennifer Joan Thompson | Theatre, Assistant Professor
Jennifer Joan Thompson joins Meadows’ Division of Theatre as an Assistant Professor. Her research and teaching interests include theatre history, performance studies, Latin American theatre, cultural policy, theatre as social practice, and actor training. Thompson, who has also taught at University of Pennsylvania, Webster University, Brooklyn College, and City College, has extensive professional experience as an actor and plans to develop courses that are deeply tied to artistic practice. “I try to take a prismatic approach to learning, by which students are looking at and responding to material from many different lenses,” explains Thompson. “I strive to make learning as embodied, immersive, and experiential as I can because I do believe that the most impactful learning is achieved through experience.”
Learn more about Jennifer Joan Thompson here.
Leon Turner | Music, Assistant Professor of Practice
Leon Turner transitions from a Visiting Professor of Practice to an Assistant Professor of Practice this year in Meadows’ Division of Music. He is an opera singer and has starred in performances of Carmen, Faust, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Porgy and Bess, and more. Due to his operatic talents, Turner was also cast as a gospel singer in the movie Leap of Faith, starring Steven Martin, Liam Neeson and Debra Winger. Turner, who is a Meadows alum (M.M. ’92), says that his time at the school inspired him to come back and join the faculty. “My wonderful educational experiences as a student and the desire to share the knowledge that helped propel me to professionalism drew me back to Meadows,” he explains. “I have an opportunity to guide very smart, dedicated students with phenomenal talent to their full potential.”
Learn more about Leon Turner here.
Margaret Winchell | Music, Assistant Professor
Margaret Winchell has been appointed the Director of Choral Activities for Meadows’ Division of Music this year. Winchell, who will also serve as an Assistant Professor of Music, joins Meadows from the Yale School of Music where she is in the post-residential phase of her D.M.A. She will conduct Meadows’ Chamber Singers and Concordia choirs and utilize her background as a music director, vocal coach, and pianist in her courses. “Conductors are nothing without an ensemble, and what the singers bring to the room shapes the music we make together,” says Winchell. “Education should expand our sense of possibility, and I want my students to see that music is richer, deeper, more expansive, and for a broader audience than they might have considered.”
Learn more about Margaret Winchell here.
Megan Winters | Theatre, Visiting Lecturer
Megan Winters joins Meadows’ Division of Theatre as a Visiting Lecturer, specializing in stage management. Winters’ previous 15 years of experience as a Production Stage Manager at the Dallas Theater Center (DTC). Her involvement with SMU grew with the birth of Public Works Dallas, produced in partnership by Dallas Theater Center and SMU Meadows. “As DTC's Resident Production Stage Manager, I found myself interviewing, hiring, overseeing, and working alongside several student stage managers which I enjoyed,” explains Winters. “I'm looking forward to continuing this work in my new position at Meadows to help educate the next generation of stage managers.”