Department of Music Education Faculty
Steven Moser, Ph.D. - Professor of Music - Associate Dean, College of Arts & Letters
holds the rank of Professor in the School of Music. Currently Associate Dean for Administration in the College of Arts and Letters, he concurrently serves in the School of Music as a professor for undergraduate and graduate conducting and music education classes.
From 1990 to 2002, Dr. Moser served as director of The Pride of Mississippi marching band and was the conductor/director of the Symphonic Winds until 2005. Dr. Moser also served as associate director of the School of Music from 2002-2005. Prior to his 1990 appointment at Southern Miss, Dr. Moser was the assistant director of bands/marching band director in the College of Fine Arts at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
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Multi-faceted, he has extensive classroom experience as a music educator; served as an administrator of a dynamic and nationally respected college marching band and scholarship program; and works as a consultant, clinician/conductor, and adjudicator of marching and concert band events. Receiving his Ph.D. in educational leadership and research in the area of adult education, Dr. Moser’s research focuses on adult learning in music.
Dr. Moser holds numerous professional memberships and is active as an adjudicator and clinician for concert and marching bands throughout the United States and has conducted honor bands/touring bands, semi-professional/ professional wind ensembles and municipal bands in the United States and in Europe.
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Jennifer Shank, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Music
received her Ph.D. in music education from The University of Kentucky. Prior to her appointment at Southern Miss, she held teaching positions at The University of Kentucky, Manassas Park High School in Manassas, Va., and St. Joseph School in Martinsburg, W.Va. Dr. Shank holds a B.A. in secondary education from Shepherd College and a M.M. from The University of Kentucky.
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Her research focuses on the use of visual arts in music listening and adult learners and has presented papers at the American Orff Schulwerk National Conference, International Conference on Arts and Humanities, National Symposium of Music Instruction Technology, International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations, Music Educators National Conference and the Southern Division Music Educators Conference. She also has been a presenter at the Mississippi Music Educators Conference as well as a clinician for continuing teacher education around the state and region.
Dr. Shank is the general music specialist at Southern Miss as well as the associate director of the School of Music. She serves as director of the Southern Arts Pro Musica Recorder Ensemble. She is also currently serving as Collegiate Chair of the Mississippi Music Educators Association and president of the Mississippi chapter of the American Orff Schulwerk Association.
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Mohamad Schuman, M.M.E. - Assistant Professor of Music
has served as Director of Bands at Stone High School and Stone Middle School since 1993. During this time his bands have established a reputation for excellence throughout the United States. Bands under Mr. Schuman’s direction have appeared at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, The University of Southern Mississippi All-South Conductor’s Conference, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the 2005 Inaugural Parade for President George W. Bush.
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In 2000 Mr. Schuman served as Marching Director for the Mississippi Lions All-State Band. The band was named the International Champion at the Lions Convention held in Honolulu, Hawaii that year. Mr. Schuman holds the Bachelor of and Master of Music Education Degrees from The University of Southern Mississippi where he studied with Dr. Thomas V. Fraschillo. He has been honored by the National Band Association with its Citation of Excellence and, most recenty, was named as one of its three International Conducting Symposium winners.
Mr. Schuman is an elected member of Phi Beta Mu, and The American School Band Director’s Association (ASBDA). Other rofessional afiliations include the National Band Association, the Mississippi Bandmaster’s Association, and the Gulf Coast Band Director’s Association. He has twce been named Star Teacher for Stone High School (2003, 2005) and was honored by the Mississippi chapter of Phu Beta Mu with their Mississippi Band Director of the Year Award in 2003.
Mr Schuman has enjoyed conducting and judging invitations throughout the southeastern United States. He is currently a stuent in the doctoral conducting program at the University of South Carolina where he studies with Mr. James K. Copenhaver.
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Anita Davis, Ph.D. - Associate Professor of Music
is Associate Professor of Choral Music Education, where she directs the USM Symphonic Choirs and teaches choral conducting, choral methods and graduate classes in music education. She received the bachelor of music education, master of music in choral conducting, and doctorate in music education from Florida State University, where she was assistant director of the Chamber Choir with conductors Clayton Krehbiel and Rodney Eichenberger. Dr. Davis also has studied conducting and choral techniques with Wilhelm Ehmann, Joseph Flummerfelt, Frauke Haasemann, Gerald Mack, Phillip Spurgeon, and Andre Thomas, and has performed as a member of the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Robert Shaw. Previous to her current position, Dr. Davis served as assistant professor of choral music at Rutgers University. In addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in music education at Rutgers, she conducted the University Choir and Voorhees Choir. She also served as director of choral activities at Georgia Southern University.
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Formerly a board member of the New Jersey ACDA and currently a member of ACDA, MENC and MMEA, Dr. Davis taught award-winning high school choruses in Florida as well as the Cobb Youth Chorus of Georgia for which she received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. She has published compositions and arrangements with Hinshaw Music Company and Silver, Burdett, and Ginn Publishing Company, and has published articles in Visions of Research in Music Education and the Journal of Research in Music Education. Her current research interests include music teaching, choral performance and literature, and aesthetic response. Dr. Davis remains active as an adjudicator, clinician, and conductor of state and district level festivals and honor choirs including North American Music Festivals, Ovation Music Festivals, and the Performing Arts Consultants “Festivals at Sea.”
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John Flanery, M.M.E. - Assistant Professor of Music
is in his second year as Assistant Director of Choral Activities at The University of Southern Mississippi. He recently completed course work for the Doctoral of Music Arts in Choral Conducting at The University of Kentucky. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa and a master’s degree in choral conducting from The University of Kentucky.
At Southern Miss, John teaches undergraduate choral conducting, choral literature and choral methods, directs the Concert Choir and Southern Miss Gulf Coast Civic Chorale, and assists with many other ensembles and duties.
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While at The University of Kentucky, John was the conductor for the Choristers, assistant conductor of the Chorale and Men’s Chorus, and coach for the male a cappella group, the acoUstiKats. Under his leadership, the acoUstiKats were chosen to perform at the Kentucky Music Educator’s Convention. As a high school music educator in the state of Iowa for nine years, John conducted concert choirs, show choirs, madrigal dinners, musicals, jazz choirs, and many other ensembles.
Mr. Flanery is a regular clinician and judge in the Midwestern and southeastern United States.
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