The Appalachian College Association is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2024-25 Faculty Fellowships. Through this program, the Association will furnish during the 2025-2026 academic year financial support to member institutions’ faculty for post-doctoral research or pre-doctoral degree completion.
This year, 38 faculty members, representing 23 member institutions, are awarded fellowships. Thirty faculty receive post-doctoral fellowships for research projects, while eight receive pre-doctoral awards to support completion of their terminal degrees.
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
Suzanne Birner, Associate Professor of Geology & Earth Science, Berea College: (Post-Doctoral) To support research to increase understanding of magma formation processes using a combination of empirical and thermodynamic modeling
Joseph Gordon, Professor of Theology, Johnson University: (Post-Doctoral) To support research and writing of a monograph that explains and shows how human care for such undesirable or “evil” creatures—snakes and other “creeping things”—is imperative within Christian discipleship and faith in the 21st century
John Hurtgen, Professor of New Testament & Greek, Campbellsville University: (Post-Doctoral) To write a companion text for the graduate course “Pastoral Letters, Pastoral Leadership,” which would consist of a commentary study of the Greek text of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, along with leadership principles based on these texts
Coty Martin, Associate Professor of Political Science & Public Service, West Virginia Wesleyan University: (Post-Doctoral) To continue ongoing research to incorporate students' voices from elsewhere into his classroom, exploring changing students’ perspectives on issues based on conversations with their counterparts in other countries
William McDonald, Professor of Religion, Tennessee Wesleyan University: (Post-Doctoral) To support a book project comparing the German Protestant Reformer Martin Luther and the English evangelist John Wesley
Mallory McDuff, Professor of Environmental Studies, Warren Wilson College: (Post-Doctoral) To develop a climate engagement assessment and creative nonfiction essays to help document and shift climate anxiety to climate engagement within the classroom and community
Christina Seymour, Associate Professor of Writing Communication, Maryville College: (Post-Doctoral) Funding to provide opportunity to complete her immersive counseling internship program as part of her Master's in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling program at Naropa University
Annalee Tull Lanier, Associate Professor of Theatre & Dance, Emory & Henry University: (Pre-Doctoral) To complete doctoral degree at Queen’s University Belfast and undertake her dissertation titled “Dance across the Lands and Hear the Connection: An Interdisciplinary Study of Dance from Scotland, Ireland and Appalachia”
Kelly Vaughan, Associate Professor of Biology, King University: (Post-Doctoral) Support to prepare two manuscripts for publication from her toxicology research lab and to take a leadership role in the HHMI IE3 funded IMPACT STEM Transfer national network
Caleb Wittum, Associate Professor of History, Lindsey Wilson College: (Post-Doctoral) To support the revision and publication of dissertation manuscript "The Chasquis of Liberty: Indigenous Messengers in the Age of Revolutions," which explores a group of Native American revolutionaries and their historical contributions
Kirk Zigler, Professor of Biology, University of the South: (Post-Doctoral) To explore the genomes of the cave species troglobiont beetle Ptomaphagus hirtus and its close relative, the surface species P. cavernicola
Semester Fellowships
Amanda Hensley, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Union Commonwealth University: (Pre-Doctoral) To support completion of doctorate program at Northern Kentucky University, including her dissertation project, which focuses upon Ideal Discharge Protocols and their relationship to patient readmission to medical care
Landon Holbrook, Associate Professor of Engineering, Milligan University: (Post-Doctoral) Investigation to locate and establish new engagement opportunities for Milligan Engineering students with various national and international institutions and organizations
Kelly Maynard Joplin, Associate Professor of Social Work, Campbellsville University: (Post-Doctoral) To support research that aims to provide educators who teach in Christian mission-driven institutions with a strategic approach to navigating student tensions when addressing social justice issues in the classroom
Anne Montgomery, Associate Professor of Business Administration, Tennessee Wesleyan University: (Pre-Doctoral) Support toward completion of her doctorate at National-Louis University, including dissertation research aimed at identifying relationships between the entrepreneurial outcomes in Appalachia and the roles of higher education institutions in fostering local entrepreneurship
Brian Sohn, Associate Professor of Education, Carson-Newman University: (Post-Doctoral) Development of research examining how students at small liberal-arts higher education institutions in Appalachia can develop greater resilience to mental health challenges
Summer Fellowships
Andrew Bledsoe, Professor of History, Lee University: (Post-Doctoral) Development of a extended research project focused upon the Cleveland (Tennessee) Copper Mine's important role in the American Civil War
Rebecca Brackmann, Associate Professor of English, Lincoln Memorial University: (Post-Doctoral) Support to produce a modern critical edition of William Lambarde’s 1576/1596 Perambulation of Kent
LaRoy Brandt, Professor of Conversation Biology, Lincoln Memorial University: (Post-Doctoral) Field research examining the bio-acoustic census of mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata), work with the Costa Rica Wildlife Foundation to improve monitoring efforts of the Baid’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii), and bat biodiversity monitoring through both bio-acoustic surveys and mist-netting capture efforts
James Cockerham, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Montreat College: (Post-Doctoral) Continued research examining the effectiveness of the North Carolina Teen Court system on recidivism
Debra Dean Murphy, Professor of Religious Studies, West Virginia Wesleyan College: (Post-Doctoral) Funds to support a two-week intensive writing retreat to be used to complete forthcoming text Grieving the End of the World: Climate Collapse and other Breakdowns
Alexis de Coning, Assistant Professor of Communication, West Virginia Wesleyan College: (Post-Doctoral) Support toward a book project examining the ascendancy of misogynist politics in North America as it transitioned from print to digital media in the 1990s
Brett Frye, Assistant Professor of Biology, Emory & Henry University: (Post-Doctoral) Research to develop an Innovative Vervet (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus) Model of Early Alzheimer’s-like Neuropathology and Symptomatology
Benton Jones, Associate Professor of Management, Bryan College: (Post-Doctoral) Research studying the application of Intergroup Social Contact Theory in online diversity training to determine whether the race of the presenter of online diversity training impacts the expected reduction of bias
Elise Kikis, Professor of Biology, University of the South: (Post-Doctoral) Research to determine whether microplastics in the environment have a detrimental effect on protein folding during aging
Ryan Luhrs, Associate Professor of Music, Lenoir-Rhyne University: (Post-Doctoral) Funding to research and develop a choir tour that would combine the Lenoir-Rhyne A Cappella Choir with a choir from a historically Black College/University to present a series of concerts along the original 1961 Freedom Rides route
Kristen Mudrack, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Milligan University: (Post-Doctoral) Exploration of virtual reality tool Nanome's capabilities to enhance chemical modeling and general student learning about protein structure and drug design
Indra Sahu, Associate Professor of Physics, Campbellsville University: (Post-Doctoral) An investigation of the the role of Styrene Maleic Acid Lipid Particles (SMALPs) for the structural dynamics of Membrane Proteins
Neeraj Singh, Director of Optometry Research, University of Pikeville: (Post-Doctoral) Research to evaluate the prevalence of refractive errors and binocular vision anomalies among children in the Appalachian Region
Daniel Toot, Assistant Professor of Theatre, Brevard College: (Post-Doctoral) Funding to attend the National Stage Combat Workshop, with the intention of becoming certified as an Society of American Fight Directors certified teacher
Faith Annette Watt, Assistant Professor of Music, Bryan College: (Pre-Doctoral) Funding toward completion of a Doctor of Arts in Music with concentration in Worship Studies at William Carey University, including doctoral research examining how undergraduate students in these programs are prepared for multi-generational worship leadership roles in local churches
Lauren Wisnieski, Associate Professor of Public Health & Research, Lincoln Memorial University: (Post-Doctoral) Research designed to predict Lyme disease incidence using a One Health Approach, an integrative approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, and addresses complex health challenges that emerge from these interactions
In-Year Fellowships
Kaylie Butler, Lecturer of Communication, Lindsey Wilson College: (Pre-Doctoral) Investigation of the impact of "memorable messages" from family members in Central Appalachia regarding perceptions of higher education
Rene Diamond, Senior Lecturer and Assessment Coordinator of Education, Lee University: (Pre-Doctoral) Support for completion of Ed.D. degree from Liberty University, including doctoral research focused on evaluating and enhancing program effectiveness in higher education
Shweta Kailani, Director of the Center for Teaching & Learning, Lenoir-Rhyne University: (Pre-Doctoral) Support for doctoral studies in Learning Design and Technology at Texas A & M University, including doctoral research on the impact of collaborative games on developing and improving collaborative problem-solving skills
William Sewell, Instructor of English, Lindsey Wilson College: (Pre-Doctoral) Support for the completion of doctorate/dissertation project at the University of Kentucky, entitled “Apocalyptic Ecologies: Climate and Catastrophe in the 21st Century American Imagination,” which examines recent cultural and political narratives influencing a prevailing sense of climate doom, or “ecoanxiety”
Laura Singletary, Professor of Mathematics, Lee University: (Post-Doctoral) Exploration of how prospective secondary mathematics teachers learn to facilitate collective argumentation, which engages students in collaboratively validating mathematical claims
Benjamin Van Dyke, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Young Harris College: (Post-Doctoral) Research to measure the frequency at which Young Harris students and employees currently engage in health behaviors to identify and characterize the barriers and facilitators of health behavior change and performance and to use the information gleaned to inform the development, design, and implementation of a campus health and wellness program
