Kyser Lough receives FYO Faculty Award

Kyser Lough intrinsically earns a lot of satisfaction from teaching his First Year Odyssey (FYO) class “Music, Media, and Athens: Documenting and Critiquing the City’s Culture Through Music Journalism.”

Now, he is receiving recognition for his work from the FYO program by receiving a faculty FYO award based on excellence in instruction, as well as effectively connecting the seminar to scholarship and meeting main goals of the program. Lough was recognized with this FYO faculty award during a lunch celebration on April 17.

“FYO is so supportive for faculty and for students, and it is validating to see how far I’ve come from that first class, and to see how much I’ve learned from each time I’ve done it and how much more I can do with it.” Lough, an associate professor in the Department of Journalism, said.

The FYO program started in 2011 as an opportunity to introduce first-year students to smaller class sizes of 15 to 18 students, provide an opportunity to discuss concepts directly with faculty and introduce the research culture of the university. 

Lough is in his third year of teaching this class which focuses on music journalism and, specifically, covering Athens Porchfest, an annual event where Athens, Georgia, neighbors host local artists and groups for concerts outside their homes.

Lough, who researches visual communication and photojournalism, has a personal interest in concert photography, which reinforces how he instructs this class and what he shares with his students.

“It’s really refreshing to get a ‘first days on campus freshman,’” said Lough in an interview last fall. “It’s a reminder of the excitement and spark of starting college. It’s so revitalizing.”

Due to the small class size, students get to interact with faculty on a more direct basis and Lough has remained connected with his students over the years. Several students have taken other classes from him and two students registered for his Travel Writing study away course in Prague. Another student, Stella Turner, was in Lough’s first FYO class and is now working with Lough on a research project interviewing music editors in the United Kingdom.

“Dr. Lough’s music journalism odyssey course introduced me to a plethora of resources that grew to be essential in my college experience, from on-campus student resources to research opportunities,” said Turner, a journalism student. “He is a great professor and an even better human.”

The research is expected to be part of the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities program next year and an academic conference later this year.

Lough is continually impressed by the variety of topics offered through the FYO program, including some he is curious about taught by other faculty.

“I know we joke all the time about wanting to take each take each other’s classes, but there’s so many of that I would love to take,” Lough said. “I wish this was something that I had when I was in undergrad.”

Author: Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu