August 30, 2007
Volman Named Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator of Entertainment Industry Studies
Mark Volman, a founding member and lead singer in the musical group, The Turtles, (“Happy Together”) and Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, has landed in Nashville at Belmont University—he’s been appointed the Program Coordinator of the Entertainment Industry Studies and named an assistant professor in Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business. Volman has been teaching classes at Belmont since 2004 when the school hired him as an adjunct professor to teach music business classes. A natural subject for Volman, he incorporates many of his real-world “ups” and “downs” in the music industry into his lectures.
“Successful artists are few and far between, and I always attach an element of reality to the topics we study,” says Volman. “Failure is an option [for artists trying to make it in the music industry], because it teaches you to pick yourself up. It is important to realize, just because you put out a record that doesn’t succeed, doesn’t make it a bad record.”
The Turtle’s hit song, “Happy Together” recorded in 1967 helped launch Volman’s career—one that spans 43 years and counting for the American pop, psychedelic and folk/rock band member. Characterized by a good-natured, joyously melancholic sound, the Turtles claimed 10 top ten singles during the sixties, including “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “ You Showed Me”, “She’s My Girl,” “You Baby,” “It Ain’t Me Babe”, “Elenore,” and of course, “Happy Together,” which has been featured in movies, television shows, commercials, and recently elected in to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
So how did a self-described high-school class-clown end up at Belmont? At the age of 44, Volman started college at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where he completed his MFA in Screenwriting, graduated Magna Cum Laude, and was Valedictorian of his undergraduate class, essentially reinventing himself as an academic—something as important to him as his music career. Most importantly, he says, he enjoys his new calling—teaching.
After his graduation from Loyola Marymount in 1997, and teaching at LMU from 1997 to 2003, Volman and his wife, Emily, moved to Nashville. He taught a music business course for a semester at Lee University in Cleveland Tennessee, but wound up at Belmont in Nashville after getting in touch with now fellow music business instructor at Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business, Dr. Larry Wacholtz who recommended him to the university.
“We are very excited and pleased to have Mark join our full-time faculty,” said Dean Wesley Bulla. “Mark is passionate about the benefits of education and his role in passing his knowledge to the next generation of movers and shakers. Mark’s significant real-world experience in everything from music to film to radio and TV make him a perfect fit for our Entertainment Industry Studies program. Mark is a jewel, finding someone that is literally a living part of American musical history and culture, that is also able to connect with higher education in a meaningful way, is rare and extraordinary.”
The Entertainment Industry Studies (EIS) program will work together with many other departments at the university to introduce and examine the new entertainment delivery platforms and how entertainment companies are being forced to radically change to deal with the new technologies and the new demands from consumers. "I am very excited at the opportunity that Belmont has given me in assuming the position as Coordinator of the EIS program” says Volman. “It will offer our students a greater understanding of the future of the entertainment industry.”
The already successful Music Business program, along with the new Songwriting, and Audio Engineering Technology program, will continue to focus on the constant transitions taking place in the world today. However the EIS program will offer students a historical, philosophical, and informed understanding of the contemporary developments in the many entertainment areas that will dominate economic industries in the future. “Our content in the EIS program will connect many areas: Film / Internet / Telecommunications / Animation / Television / Video Games / Sports and new developments that will help our students prepare for a long-term careers in the ever changing world of entertainment."
- For more stories from the College of Entertainment and Music Business Archive, click here.
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Named one of the top two “Schools to Watch” in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Belmont University is a fast-growing community of more than 5,400 students who come from every state and 25 countries. Committed to being a leader among teaching universities, Belmont brings together the best of liberal arts and professional education in a Christian community of learning and service. The university’s purpose is to help students explore their passions and develop their talents to meet the world’s needs. With more than 75 areas of study, 20 master’s programs and three doctoral degrees, there is no limit to the ways Belmont University can expand an individual's horizon. For more information, visit www.belmont.edu.
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