The Appalachian College Association is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2023-24 Faculty Fellowships. Through this program, the Association will furnish during the 2024-2025 academic year financial support to member institutions’ faculty for post-doctoral research or pre-doctoral degree completion.
This year, thirty-four faculty members, representing eighteen member institutions, are awarded fellowships.
John B. Stephenson Semester Fellowships
John B. Stephenson, then Director of the Appalachian Center at the University of Kentucky, received the first Mellon Foundation grant for fellowships for faculty at over 30 private colleges in Central Appalachia, forming the “Appalachian College Program.” In 1990, participating member colleges in the fellowship program incorporated as the Appalachian College Association and assumed administration of the program. Stephenson, President of Berea College from 1984-1994, served as the first chair of the ACA’s Board of Directors. After his death in 1995, the ACA Board voted to name semester-long fellowships in the liberal arts and sciences in his memory.
Stephenson Semester Fellowships
David Abernathy, Professor of Global Studies & Geographic Information Systems, Warren Wilson College: Development of GIS Climate Analysis and Visualization Teaching Modules for Advanced Undergraduates and Graduate Students
April Dye, Associate Professor of Psychology, Carson-Newman University: Examination of national best practices and programs regarding honors programs, curriculum, and co-curriculum
Gerald Dyson, Associate Professor of History, Kentucky Christian University: Investigation and coalescence of early medieval English manuscript fragments
Timothy Goldberg, Professor of Mathematics, Lenoir-Rhyne University: Research studying card games whose rules and game-play make them models of finite geometries, and initiation of a general mathematics textbook project, exploring a variety of topics through recreational mathematics
Jose Iriate Diaz, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of the South: Investigation of the bite force adaptations across primates to assess the evolutionary consequences of feeding on different foods
Kyle Lusk, Professor of Art, Brevard College: Creation of new sculptures from Cor-ten steel and cast aluminum for public exhibition/outdoor public display
Verlaine McDonald, Professor of Communication, Berea College: Completion of a book manuscript about Martha Layne Collins, Kentucky’s only female governor
Wesley McMasters, Assistant Professor of English, Carson-Newman University: Examination of Edgar Allan Poe and other members of literati from Philadelphia, exploring the value of local, national, and transatlantic networks in the historical context of American Literature
Matthew Mitchell, Associate Professor of History, University of the South: Historical examination of the Royal African Company in the context of business practices in the transatlantic slave trade from Africa to America
Kayce Mobley, Associate Professor of Political Science, Bethany College: Completion of field research on the individual motivations and consequences of post-pandemic “dark tourism,” sites of death or its remembrance
Allison O’Leary, Associate Professor of Psychology, Brevard College: Investigation of the impact of mindfulness meditation on metacognition in college students
Laura Ong, Associate Professor of Biology, King University: Development for publication a series of pedagogical materials designed for teaching in Biology
Andrew Reed, Professor of Film and Media Arts, University of Pikeville: Completion of coursework in a PhD program in Educational Leadership at Northwest Nazarene University
Chris Shutz, Professor of History, Tennessee Wesleyan University: Development of a monograph on Populist Segregationist Governor Lester Maddox
Alex Sosler, Assistant Professor of Bible and Ministry, Montreat College: Development of a monograph exploring artistic and agrarian ways of spiritual life designed to encourage a way of formation that is a celebration, not a rejection, of the physical world
In-Year Fellowships
Lisa Connor, Associate Professor of Family & Consumer Sciences, Carson-Newman University: Examination of children’s private speech profiles, speech intended for assisting one’s own thinking rather than communication with others
Marisa Hsu, Assistant Professor of Chinese and History, Lenoir-Rhyne University: Examination of Chinese diaspora to the U.S. and to Western Europe in the 20th century and its impact on Chinese communities in both large cities and local communities
Summer Fellowships
Ana Barrios, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Tennessee Wesleyan University: Exploration of the relationship between the conservationist movement in Costa Rica and the country’s efforts to revitalize indigenous languages and cultures
Michael Deckard, Professor of Philosophy, Lenoir-Rhyne University: Examination of how Native American peoplehood be included as part of the Western narrative, particularly in relation to US termination and relocation policies
Sam Eastridge, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Brevard College: Development of a Virtual Reality program that furnishes Calculus instructors and students the ability to draw in 3D space
Yukiko Fujimura, Assistant Professor of Music, Union College: Creation and evaluation of a toolkit for teaching methods for self-expression through music
Katherine Gerlaugh, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Lenoir-Rhyne University: Examination of the effects of economic development and transformation in Hickory, NC, to understand social and environmental impacts over time
Praveen Kumar Guraja, Assistant Professor of Information Technology Management, University of Pikeville: Investigation of how AI can improve cybersecurity in the context of the challenges of both rural Appalachia and these emerging technologies
Brandon Hollihan, Assistant Professor of Music, Carson-Newman University: Development of a staged concert presentation and scholarly research on Schubert’s Winterreise
Sunil Karna, Associate Professor of Physics, Union College: Investigation of the structural, morphological, and electrochemical behavior of hydrothermally synthesized rare earth metal ion, Ce3+ doped, and pristine NiO nanoparticles to study their potential application as an electrode material for supercapacitor
Susan Monteleone, Associate Professor of Biology, Tusculum University: Research to map the location of Caltha palustris L. population at Phineas Fen in Cherokee National Forest, TN, to establish phenology parameters for study of surviving Caltha transplanted population, and to investigate conditions of Caltha’s reproductive success
Miranda Navarro, Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, Emory & Henry College: Examination of narratives of mineral extraction from communities and geo-human spaces within Appalachia, southwestern Peru, central region Bolivia, and Chile
Bryan Poole, Associate Professor of Psychology, Lee University: Exploration of the extent to which two common facets of teaching contribute to cognitive overload, burnout, and disengagement in teachers: task switching and emotional labor
Delia Diane Price, Associate Professor of Education, Lee University: Historical investigation of the 19th century Bristol (UK) Orphanage and the lessons it furnishes for contemporary education in Appalachia
Lisa Toland, Professor of History, Montreat College: Research for a monograph containing a series of case studies exploring the relationship of the physical space, the practice, and the philosophies of gardening and their impact on discovery, wellness, community, and deep thinking
M. Justin Walker, Assistant Professor of Old Testament & Christian Ministry, Lee University: Elucidation of Lamentation’s particular construction of and engagement with Israel’s God with special consideration of its poetic features and their import for Lamentations’ religious imagination
Patrick Wensink, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, Lincoln Memorial University: Work toward completion of Great Black Swamp: A Memoir of Toxic Algae, Toxic Marriage, and The Greatest Story Ever Told About Ohio
