Introducing professor Avery Dame and technical director Isaac Sawle

Winona State University welcomes two more new faculty members to the college of liberal arts, Avery Dame and Isaac Sawle.

Dame is a fixed term professor for creative digital media. He moved to Winona from Maryland and received his PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park. He said he is excited about planting a lavender garden with his wife, Cassandra Dame-Griff, another new professor teaching ethnic studies, now that they finally have a yard.

Dame is teaching Print and Web Production, Video and Audio Production, Mass Communication Computer Applications and Photo: The Technical Art.

“I am here for a year, but ideally I would love to be here longer,” Dame said. “Hopefully I hear good news about a renewal.”

Dame said he hopes to teach his students to become lifelong learners and to learn outside of a classroom setting on their own after college. After coming from a large campus to Winona State, Dame enjoys encountering his students outside of the classroom.

“I want my students to express their skills through creation instead of just writing a paper about it,” Dame said. “Students don’t share their five page paper with friends.”

Dame thinks the small town is nice, and that Winona has a lot of good stuff to offer. He can go to the store in a fraction of the time than in Maryland. But Dame is still learning the area with his wife, finding kid appropriate things to do with their 10-month-old and planting their new lavender garden with supplies from Menards.

Sawle is the new technical director in the theatre and dance department. When he isn’t building, or in the shop, Sawle enjoys hiking the Holzinger trails in Winona.

Sawle came to Winona from Mankato, where he finished grad school. He is the emergency hire for technical director from August until July. Though he is new to Winona, Sawle is from Minnesota, where he grew up on an organic milk farm.

“It has been a hectic first few weeks, but at least the land is familiar,” Sawle said.

Sawle’s interest in theater began when he was young, as he did theater work to get off the farm.

“If I was home, I had to work on the farm, so I chose to work in theater at school instead,” Sawle said.

Sawle does return home to help his parents with projects, though he is four weeks behind due to preparations for the THAD department’s production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

Sawle hopes when his time is up in July, he will be able to stay in his position.