College of Arts and Sciences

From pens to prompts: Incorporating AI into English 105

Kim Spurr — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:16 +0000

(photo by Donn Young)

All first-year Carolina students are required to take English 105, “English Composition and Rhetoric,” as an introduction to collegiate-level writing. We asked English and comparative literature faculty members Dan Anderson and Ryan Prewitt to tell us more about why this English course provides the perfect space for encouraging students to explore AI responsibly and ethically. Their collective answers are below.

How do you incorporate AI into the English 105 curriculum?

English 105 has a huge variety of instructors, each with their own expertise, so across our sections we see a wide range of approaches to incorporating generative AI into the course. One of our instructors, for example, compares the algorithmic writing practices of generative AI with those of mid-century experimental poets like the Oulipo group. Another instructor devotes an entire research paper to the practice of prompt engineering, banning student-generated prose for the final product, but asking students to write a reflection paper on what processes worked best for producing academic prose. It is a virtue of our program, we think, that such a wide range of approaches is represented.

More practically, though, our in-house English 105 textbook now features AI literacy-related content in each of our 12 chapters. In this way, students in English 105 will encounter AI thought problems, writing practices and disciplinary advice in the pages of their assigned reading in the course.

Dan Anderson (photo by Jon Gardiner)

You recently received support to revamp some of the AI training modules. Can you tell us more about that?

We’re grateful that the University has helped us to do this work. The Provost’s Office has provided key resources, and the College of Arts and Sciences has supported the efforts. This work builds on support we’ve received previously from the School of Data and Information Science and the Center for Faculty Excellence but moves in new directions.

We’re taking up some of the more tricky challenges of not just offering guidance on policies or support for experimenters but studying how and when to bring AI into the processes of reading and writing. And this includes when not to use AI. As an example, the importance of understanding how genres help writers meet the expectations of audiences requires rhetorical thinking. AI can be used to generate both positive and negative examples of genre models. And these can help students learn this rhetorical thinking that is going to transfer from one situation to another. In a sense, we are developing approaches that call on AI to help students learn how to think. We like to describe it as moving past the policy and surveillance stage in our responses to AI. Of course, policies and academic expectations matter. But once we’ve handled some of that work, we can move on to developing approaches that apply these new technologies to help further an AI literacy that gives students more ways of thinking and more agency.

Is there a common misconception students have about using AI?

There are many! But for brevity we’ll stick with just two related misconceptions, both of which derive from treating AI like a frictionless catch-all solution.

The first misconception is that generative AI and thinking can’t exist together. Of course, it’s possible to use generative AI in a way that offloads your own thinking. But the same is true for a great many technologies! Meanwhile, a thoughtful and rigorous approach to your practices with AI will not only improve your writing output but will also expand your own ability to synthesize information across domains.

The second misconception is that AI exists only in the chatbot window. By contrast, generative AI is in our environment all the time and everywhere, affecting things like labor, energy, urban planning, retirement funds, even politics. The ability to see these impacts of AI involves literacy on a different level from the purely functional approach that happens strictly inside the prompt box.

Ryan Prewitt

Why do you think every student should become AI-literate?

We prefer to think of AI literacy as a practice rather than an end state or set of skills. The practice of AI literacy involves characteristics that we in writing studies really value. It invites students to ask how their processes of thinking are being influenced by emerging technologies, and vice versa, how emerging technologies might be useful to their own evolving thinking. These are, of course, ongoing processes that require constant iteration. But the frame of AI literacy also invites students to question what role AI has in broader categories — culturally, socially, professionally. With AI literacy, students can apply different focal lengths, from technical to compositional to social-critical, to understand how this prominent and developing technology is affecting their lives. With print and digital literacy, all of this has a precedent driven by a desire to help students move from being consumers to producers of knowledge. For AI literacy, that outcome is similar. AI literacy enables students to take active roles in and make decisions about AI use. At the end of the day, all of these practices are geared toward student agency. AI literacy ultimately is needed so students can make change in the world and take charge of their learning.

Why are the humanities particularly suited to helping students learn to use AI responsibly and ethically?

The first and most obvious reason is that generative AI platforms as we know them require some seriously shrewd writing tactics in order to use them well. In writing studies, we talk about the “rhetorical situation” — a phrase our English 105 students should be well familiar with — which basically entails deploying an understanding of all the components that compose a communicative interaction, from speaker to audience to context to timing. Generative AI is queried best when each of the components of the rhetorical situation are explained rigorously within the prompt and then applied as an analytic lens to the output. In this sense, querying a chatbot actually does resemble the types of writing that we teach in the humanities.

The second reason is of course the cultural one — the humanities have long taken seriously the development of technology and its impacts on culture. There’s no doubt AI has had a significant impact there. The humanities provide a built-in toolbox for untangling those layered impacts. And the idea of working toward increasing agency for students scales up as we think about disciplines. It’s easy to overlook the significance of shifting the computational interface from commands and computer codes to natural language, but that is a large part of what AI systems do.

Facility with language matters more than ever. And humanities disciplines have the language expertise to make use of that shift.

Daniel Anderson is a professor and the director of the Writing Program in the department of English and comparative literature. Ryan Prewitt is an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition in the department of English and comparative literature. Anderson and Prewitt co-direct the Digital Innovation and AI Literacy Lab.

Interview by Kim Spurr, College of Arts and Sciences

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Creative writing students hone skills in Northern Ireland

Katherine Kanakanui — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 12:00:04 +0000

Carolina’s partnership with Queen’s University Belfast offered three-week summer courses coinciding with the Belfast Book Festival.

For 30 Carolina students, a summer in Belfast offered newperspectives, creative inspiration and a chance to connect with Northern Ireland’s literary community. (Submitted Photo)

When his turn came, Anthony Guerra-Flores’ knees began to shake. He had performed at many poetry slams before but never one of this magnitude.

Leaning against the podium on stage, Guerra-Flores steadied himself and settled into the flow of his art. The Carolina junior shared three poignant poems that explored his Salvadorian roots, vulnerable poems that touched on family, love, violence and pain.

To this crowd at the Belfast Book Festival in Northern Ireland, Guerra-Flores’ words resonated. He placed fourth in the June poetry slam — a literary contest that included talented poets from across the world.

“It was awesome getting people to connect in that way,” Guerra-Flores said. “And getting people to go up to me and be like, ‘That poem really struck me,’ even though you’re not from El Salvador, or you haven’t had the same parents as me, or you haven’t had a similar experience to me.

“In a way, the writing sort of bridges all those gaps.”

Creative writing served as a cultural bridge for 30 Carolina students in Belfast this summer, Guerra-Flores among them. In partnership with Queen’s University Belfast, the creative writing program in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences offered two inaugural summer courses in Belfast — one focused on fiction and the other on nonfiction “life writing.”

During the three-week courses, held at Queen’s University’s Seamus Heaney Center, students spent their mornings studying predominately Irish literature and composing their own written works. In the afternoons, they’d explore the Northern Ireland countryside, go on food tours and visit landmarks like Giant’s Causeway. Students also led writing workshops with Belfast schoolchildren through local charity Fighting Words.

Carolina professors Michael Gutierrez and Julia Ridley Smith taught the summer courses and planned the program to coincide with the Belfast Book Festival in early June, giving students a robust experience.

“We really wanted the students to experience the literary community in Belfast,” Ridley Smith said, “because I think it’s sort of parallel to the really strong literary community that we have at Carolina and in the creative writing program.”

Gutierrez, who has previously taught similar courses in Galway, said studying abroad gives students a chance to go outside their comfort zone, inspiring creativity. The disorientation of going somewhere new can create a spark.

“Especially for writing, that feeling of being unmoored is so important,” Gutierrez said. “The best prose writing sits in ambiguity; it sits in the sense of being unsure about what is right and wrong or what is true and not true. It’s trying to make the reader reconsider how they view the world. And as a writer, you have to be in a place where you’re constantly considering what it means to be in this world.”

The summer courses were especially useful for students who seek careers in writing, like Guerra-Flores, whose poetry has been published by the literary magazine West Trade Review. “Being in Belfast, being in a place where no one looks like you, and just seeing everything was amazing. It brought a lot of inspiration,” Guerra-Flores said.

But the experience in Belfast also proved just as invigorating for students who don’t necessarily plan for literary careers, like Morehead-Cain scholar Julia Ballou, who majors in political science and public policy and has a passion for human rights and social policy work.

“I think even if you don’t want to be a writer and you never picked up a pen again, you’re invariably going to write in your everyday life,” Ballou said. “And the way that you present yourself on paper, the way that you’re able to talk about yourself, will take you far in life, no matter what field you’re working in.”

By Michael Lananna, University Communications and Marketing

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Tar Heels take their music to Ireland

Kim Spurr — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 13:41:36 +0000

Football may be the main event in Dublin, but Carolina Bluegrass and the Tar Heel Marching Band are going to play, too.

(photo courtesy of Cat Zachary/UNC music department)

For five bluegrass students and 105 marching band students at Carolina, the start to this year will be anything but ordinary. Along with about 25 music faculty and staff members, they will travel to Dublin, Ireland, in conjunction with the Aug. 29 Tar Heel football game there against Texas Christian University.

Carolina Bluegrass explores its roots

Accompanying the Carolina Bluegrass students are band director Russell Johnson and Carolina Bluegrass Initiative director Jocelyn Neal. The students, Malcolm Douglas ’27 (mandolin), Will Palmer ’30 (banjo), Katherine Thomas ’28 (fiddle), Margaret Thornton ’27 (guitar) and John Wood ’27 (bass), all have experience in bluegrass.

But only Thomas plays traditional Irish music.

“This trip is a chance for me to play two types of music that I love and grew up with,” Thomas said. “While I’m a little rusty with my Irish repertoire, I can’t wait to join a jam session in Dublin and have fun connecting with people through music.”

Thanks to a generous donation from The Carlyle Adams Foundation and an anonymous donor, these students and faculty have the opportunity of a lifetime. They will play after the women’s soccer game, at The Songlines Symposium on Aug. 27 and at a selection of other gigs around Dublin.

Johnson likes watching his students grow through experiences outside of class. “They’ll be coming home with a deeper appreciation for how those traditions evolve and connect across generations and across oceans,” he said. “I know they’ll come home inspired, and I expect I will, too.”

Neal wants to explore how bluegrass grew from the musical traditions of Scottish and Irish immigrants who settled in the Appalachian Mountains.

Katherine Thomas started playing the Irish fiddle at a young age and now uses those skills as a member of the Carolina Bluegrass Band. (Submitted photos)

“This is a chance to expand our students’ understanding and perspective in ways that will transform them, that will reframe the whole world as their campus,” Neal said. “And that learning is always a two-way street: They also get to take the best of our Carolina bluegrass program and share it with new audiences.”

Marcus Ginyard, Carolina’s director of special projects, was instrumental in breaking down barriers for this trip, from coordinating their lodging at Trinity College Dublin to helping find a donor.

“North Carolina has always had music in its DNA, and as the flagship university of a state where that tradition runs deep, we felt a responsibility to have our music on display,” said Ginyard.

The Marching Tar Heels and the Carolina Girls dance team rehearse “Will the Circle be Unbroken?” (Cat Zachary/UNC music department)

Marching for new audiences

In February 2025, University bands director Jeffrey Fuchs received his first email about the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, featuring the Tar Heels and the Horned Frogs. Over 18 months, Fuchs and assistant director of bands Anna Scott have been in regular discussions with units across campus to plan the experience.

“I’m excited to watch the students’ faces,” said Fuchs. “That’s what I love about every place we go.”

The Tar Heel band will play at pep rallies and other gigs and will meet up with the TCU band for a Celtic Nights dinner and show.

“This trip means a lot to me because it’s my first time leaving the country, and getting to do it with my best friends in an environment that I feel really safe and comfortable in is unique,” said senior Rhyan Moore.

At the game, the bands will perform the national anthem together during the pre-game festivities, and each will perform separately during halftime. The Tar Heels show will feature music from across the state, from beach music to a mountain gospel tent revival.

“I’m so excited to be immersed in a different culture,” senior Toino McLemore said. “We’re in Ireland, and then we’re also at an American football game. It’s going to be such a unique experience doing something that we’ve done before in a completely new light.”

By Cat Zachary, Music Department, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

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Lecture and memorial observance will honor faculty member Zijie Yan

Kim Spurr — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:00:20 +0000

An Aug. 27 event will bring the Carolina community together to remember the nanoscience researcher three years after his death and to reflect on his enduring legacy.

Zijie Yan

The Carolina community will gather on Aug. 27 for a lecture and memorial observance honoring the life and legacy of Zijie Yan, an associate professor of applied physical sciences who died three years ago in a campus shooting at Caudill Labs.

The observance will be held at 3:20 p.m. at the memorial site dedicated in Yan’s honor in August 2025 outside Caudill Labs. The site includes a handcrafted wooden bench and a memorial plaque bearing an inscription in English and Mandarin.

This year, two additional benches will be dedicated during the observance before they are given to Yan’s parents and his wife and daughters. This year attendees will have an opportunity to place individual flowers at the site and on two new benches in remembrance of Yan.

The observance will be followed by a memorial lecture at 4:15 p.m. in Dey Hall’s Toy Lounge featuring Ye Ma, president of The Pillar Aid, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Chinese-speaking students, visiting scholars and new immigrants successfully assimilate into academic and professional life in the United States.

Ma retired from Princeton University’s department of physics, where he served as lecture coordinator under the dean of faculty from 1996 until his retirement.

His lecture, “Light in the Lab and Beyond: Reflection on Professor Yan’s Legacy,” will draw on his decades of service within university physics departments as well as his experience supporting Yan’s parents following their son’s death.

The talk will offer both a remembrance of Yan and a reflection on the communities of care that surround international students, scholars and their families.

Yan’s colleagues and students remember him as a patient mentor, gentle presence and dedicated scientist. He was also a devoted father of two young daughters. Ma’s lecture will consider the person behind Yan’s academic accomplishments. The lecture will also explore the importance of networks that understand both academic life and the immigrant experience, particularly when scholars and their families face profound challenges or loss.

Ma will invite the Carolina community to consider how those networks of care can help international students and early-career scholars not only navigate university life but thrive.

Yan joined Carolina’s department of applied physical sciences in 2019 after serving as an assistant professor at Clarkson University. He received his doctorate in materials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2011.

At Carolina, Yan’s research sought to transcend the boundary between photonics and materials science. His work explored the interaction of light and matter, including the use of holographic “optical tweezers” to control and construct nanostructures within cells.

The memorial benches are gifts from the applied physical sciences family and will be dedicated to his memory. The UNC-Chapel Hill and department communities came together to create the benches, including students from Professor Rich Superfine’s “Tree Timber Totem” class, as well as students, staff and faculty from the department. The Carolina Tree Heritage Program supplied the wood for the three benches from a 250-year-old campus post oak tree whose life started before the University campus admitted its first student. Standing next to Old West, this tree had seen the entire history of Carolina. This year’s memorial will dedicate the two new gift benches with a laying of flowers.

As the community returns to the site three years after Yan’s death, the event will provide another opportunity to reflect on the scientist, teacher, mentor, colleague and father Yan was, while considering how his legacy can continue through scholarship, mentorship and care for others.

Schedule of Events: Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026

2:30–3:10 p.m.: Welcome reception, Murray Hall foyer
3:20–3:45 p.m.: Anniversary memorial observance, Caudill Labs grounds between Caudill Labs and Wilson Library
3:45–4 p.m.: Transition to seminar, Dey Hall / Toy Lounge
4–4:15 p.m.: Introductions and pre-seminar remarks, Dey Hall / Toy Lounge
4:15–5 p.m.: Memorial lecture, Dey Hall / Toy Lounge. Ye Ma, president of The Pillar Aid: “Light in the Lab and Beyond: Reflection on Professor Yan’s Legacy”

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Let Me Explain: Keeping cool during late-summer sports

Calley Jones — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:00:57 +0000

Photo of Jessica Murfree by Alyssa LaFaro.

Let Me Explain is a series in which we ask a College of Arts and Sciences faculty member to shed light on an intriguing, timely or often misunderstood topic related to their research. As fall sports resume at the start of a new school year, we asked Jessica Murfree, an assistant professor of sport administration and a Hyde Family Foundation Fellow in the department of exercise and sport science, how warming global temperatures affect athletes and spectators.

Q: Football and other fall sports have started for middle school, high school and college students. What are some of the biggest risks to children and young adults practicing sports in extreme heat?

A: Heat poses several major risks to young people who participate in sports. These can range from severe, exertion-related health outcomes like heat stroke to instances of dehydration and sunburn. Extreme heat also compounds chronic or existing injuries and illnesses like asthma. Beyond that, extreme heat can disrupt sleeping and eating patterns that keep young people healthy and be a source of increased cognitive strain that compromises their abilities in school.

Children and young people have bodies that are still developing, making them particularly vulnerable to extreme heat. Not only do their bodies absorb heat faster than adults, but their perspiration rates are lower, affecting their ability to efficiently cool off. This mixture of risks poses significant challenges in settings where young people want to enjoy an activity with their friends, impress their families or earn an opportunity to compete at the next level.

Q: What are some ways sporting events have changed for both athletes and spectators due to increasing average temperatures?

A: Increasing average temperatures have holistically altered the sporting experience from community sports to college sports to the mega-event stage. Mandated water breaks, indoor facilities, retractable roofs, equipment and gear alterations, refillable water stations, sponsored cooling stations, event relocations and even event cancellations have all changed the way sports are played and consumed due to heat. Structural changes to sports — such as rule changes to increase the pace of play and reduce the time players are in the heat — have also served as a form of heat adaptation.

Q: Has anything in your research surprised you about the ways sporting events and climate change interact?

Fortunately, one great surprise in the research is how supportive fans, families, athletes, teams and federations are of protecting the planet and preserving athlete well-being. For example, I’ve found sport fans perceive climate change as something negative to their lives and their favorite sports, and they feel it is something worth investing in to preserve the sports we enjoy. This is really exciting. My research has shown that, in spite of the factors that can divide different groups of people, sports continue to bring people together (regardless of jersey color). What great news for environmental scientists.

Q: Do you have any recommendations for ways to help keep athletes safe during extreme heat events?

A: We have adopted the motto of “see something, say something” in most matters of public safety, and it applies to keeping people safe in the heat, too. If you see an athlete, spectator or staffer exhibit signs of heat exhaustion (such as redness, dizziness or cognitive impairment), tell someone quickly! Encourage that person — even if that person is yourself — to take a break, preferably in a shaded area. Find ways to cool them off that don’t put added stress on the body. For example, sometimes consuming a cold, sugary sports drink might do more harm than good.

Substituting a player out, or missing a good play, or sitting on the bench for a few minutes is well worth the cost in the heat game. Remember, exertional heat-related illnesses are entirely preventable when we know the signs and can take precautionary action. Finally, remember that protecting your life or someone else’s does not make a competitor weak. I think it’s quite the opposite.

Q: If you had 30 seconds to address the most common misconception(s) about the relationship between climate change and sports, what would you say?

There are many! But a major one is that this work is reserved for the climate scientists in environmental science, geography and chemistry. I fully disagree. This work, and this type of science, is for everyone. If you have ever enjoyed a sport and have seen your own experience in the natural environment change, you are actively doing the type of science this field needs. Your observations, stories, memories and behavioral changes are all valid contributions that push the sport ecology field forward, and in turn, make the sport experience better for others.

Learn more about Murfree’s research.

Interview by Calley Jones

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Undergraduate Students, welcome to a new year in the College of Arts and Sciences

Natalie Vizuete — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:48:11 +0000

Dear Students,

Welcome to the start of the new academic year in the College of Arts and Sciences. I hope your first week has gone smoothly and you are settling into campus and your classes.

With 43 academic departments and curricula in the College, you have many choices and opportunities to dive deep into your passions and explore new areas across the liberal arts and sciences, from philosophy to chemistry, history to dramatic art, computer science to sociology.

No matter what you choose, your liberal arts education at Carolina will teach you to think critically, work collaboratively, communicate persuasively and adapt to a shifting workforce. These are the durable skills that will serve you well in your careers and in life.

The faculty in the College who teach you are world-renowned experts in their academic areas of study. You have the extraordinary opportunity to learn from them. I encourage you to get to know your professors, attend office hours, and ask for help when you need it.

Please take advantage of the outstanding support offered through the Writing and Learning centers and other academic success programs housed in the College. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your assigned advisor either.

The College is also home to Study Abroad and Undergraduate Research. I encourage you to check them out.

The College has a lot to offer, and we are here to support you throughout the semester and the entire year.

Sincerely,

Dean Jim White

James W.C. White
Craver Family Dean
College of Arts and Sciences

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Digital tools and peer mentors help bring makerspace learning to more students

Calley Jones — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:49 +0000

A new collaboration between UNC-Chapel Hill’s BeAM makerspaces and the department of physics and astronomy is helping students confidently use the makerspaces to complete hands-on projects assigned in their classes.

Lee Snow, who works in the Murray Hall makerspace, demonstrates how to use a laser cutter. A joint BeAM and department of physics and astronomy initiative, “Crafting the Curriculum: Digital Tools for Makerspace Course Integration,” aims to help instructors across disciplines integrate design and fabrication into their courses while giving students the confidence to learn by making.

For many college students, the hardest part of a hands-on project isn’t understanding the assignment. It’s figuring out how to use unfamiliar equipment, navigate a makerspace or overcome the intimidation of building something for the first time. A new UNC-Chapel Hill project is working to remove those barriers, making it easier for students and faculty to take advantage of makerspaces as powerful learning environments.

By developing digital tools, structured workshops and new support systems, a joint BeAM and department of physics and astronomy initiative, “Crafting the Curriculum: Digital Tools for Makerspace Course Integration,” aims to help instructors across disciplines integrate design and fabrication into their courses while giving students the confidence to learn by making.

The project, made possible by a CFE/Lenovo Instructional Innovation Grant, a UNC Center for Faculty Excellence program that funds faculty-led projects exploring innovative uses of technology in teaching and learning, combines lessons learned from the course PHYS 100: “How Things Work” with resources that can be scaled across the BeAM makerspace network. Its goals include helping faculty at every experience level incorporate makerspace activities into their teaching, creating sustainable support models, measuring the educational impact of makerspace learning and building a community of instructors who share successful approaches.

“We’re trying to learn some good lessons from Physics 100 and extrapolate them to all of the courses that BeAM supports,” said Anna Engelke, BeAM’s education program manager. “Learning by doing gets thrown around a lot, but when students are physically engaged in creating something, they’re refining their understanding through an iterative process. Our job is to remove the barriers that aren’t serving the learning objectives.”

For Jennifer Weinberg-Wolf, teaching associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy, those barriers were especially evident in PHYS 100, a general education course that enrolls more than 100 students each semester.

“The challenge was, how can we bring down the barriers so students can actually get to the point of using and making the things we knew would help them, but not have all these extra barriers in the way during just a few weeks,” said Weinberg-Wolf. “Many students come in thinking, ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I’m not creative.’ We wanted to change that experience.”

One of the project’s most successful innovations was hiring a dedicated undergraduate learning assistant, or ULA, with extensive makerspace training. The student, already familiar with both BeAM equipment and the physics curriculum, held dedicated makerspace hours for PHYS 100 students, served as a trusted peer mentor and helped bridge the gap between course content and fabrication tools.

The results were striking. Student satisfaction increased. Reflections that had once described frustration with reservations or unfamiliar equipment disappeared. Only one final project failed to function, compared with roughly 20% in previous semesters. Late assignments dropped by 50%, and students had greater confidence troubleshooting their own designs instead of relying on staff to solve problems for them.

The pilot proved so successful that the department of physics and astronomy committed to continuing funding for the dedicated ULA. Weinberg-Wolf believes the model could benefit many other large courses that include makerspace activities.

The project also expanded support beyond a single course. A BeAM undergraduate learning assistant developed standardized workshops covering 3D design and printing, laser cutting, digital embroidery and vacuum forming. The workshops were piloted in 15 courses ranging from Art History to Marine Sciences and are now available to faculty across campus.

The team also created a Canvas course to guide instructors through every stage of integrating makerspace activities into their teaching. The online resource includes advice on project planning, assessment strategies, instructor guides and sample syllabus language, making it easier for faculty with little experience in digital fabrication to design meaningful projects.

“What these workshops allow faculty to do is be experts in their content area without having to know everything about laser cutting, Adobe Illustrator or 3D printing,” said Engelke. “It becomes a teaching team where instructors provide the disciplinary expertise while makerspace resources support the technical side.”

One unexpected lesson involved artificial intelligence. The team originally planned to develop AI chatbots that could answer student questions. After talking with students and instructors, however, they discovered that many were experiencing “chatbot fatigue.” What students really wanted was help understanding the physical space around them.

Instead, the team built a computer vision web application that uses a phone’s camera to recognize makerspace equipment. The tool currently identifies three commonly used machines with about 85% accuracy and instantly directs students to operating instructions, safety information, training materials and reservation links. Future versions could connect the technology directly to course assignments, helping students become comfortable navigating the makerspace while reinforcing classroom learning.

By combining peer mentors, scalable teaching resources and thoughtfully designed digital tools, the project offers a blueprint for expanding hands-on learning across the university.

“Rather than asking faculty to become experts in fabrication overnight,” said Weinberg-Wolf, “it gives them the support needed to help students learn one of the most valuable lessons in higher education: sometimes the best way to understand how something works is to build it yourself.”

By Dave DeFusco, Department of Applied Physical Sciences

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Graduate Students, welcome to the start of the year in the College

Natalie Vizuete — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:24:27 +0000

Dear Graduate Students in the College,

Welcome to the start of the academic year in the College of Arts and Sciences. We are pleased that you have chosen to pursue your graduate degrees at one of the very best state public universities in the world.

There are about 2,400 graduate students in the College. You play an important role in the University by advancing knowledge and exploring new frontiers in your research and creative works, as well as by your teaching and mentoring. We recognize and value the contributions you make to your departments, the University, higher education, and your individual fields.

During your program, I encourage you to work closely with your primary advisors and take full advantage of the deep expertise in the faculty and your peers. The excellent staff in your departments are here to help you; I encourage you to get to know them. I also encourage you to take advantage of the programming and resources offered by The Graduate School.

Graduate school is challenging, rewarding, and hopefully a healthy dose of fun and personal growth. We are here to support you throughout the semester and the entire year.

Sincerely,

Jim White

James W.C. White
Craver Family Dean
College of Arts and Sciences

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Congratulations to the award-winning faculty and staff in the College of Arts and Sciences

Kim Spurr — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:10 +0000

(photo by Jon Gardiner)

The College of Arts and Sciences celebrates the more than 200 awards granted to College faculty and staff members during the last academic year, through June 30, 2026.

Two years ago, the Dean’s Office began a concerted campaign to catalog the significant awards, honors and recognitions for College employees. The number of awards documented this year is more than double the number of awards captured for the previous academic year.

“We want to extend our congratulations to all. We know that each day across the College, faculty and staff work to educate and support students, pursue research for the public good and serve our state,” Jim White, Craver Family Dean, and Karla Slocum, senior associate dean for faculty and staff development, wrote in a message to the College. “We are grateful for the work that all of you do.”

A list of awardees is below. In addition, the College is already compiling the list of honors and recognitions for the year-long period that began July 1, 2026. Check out the new College faculty and staff awards portal where people can submit information about awards they received or awards that their colleagues received. The College website also features a new awards and recognition page.

Awards for Career Excellence and Achievements, Fellowships, and Membership into Honorific Societies

Listed updated Aug. 18, 2026

Advising

Cristóbal Clemente, received the Mickel-Shaw Excellence Award

Victor Dease, received the Mickel-Shaw Excellence in Advising Award

Toni Formato, received the Mickel-Shaw Excellence in Advising Award

Alyssa Westberry, received the Mickel-Shaw Excellence in Advising Award

African, African American and Diaspora Studies

Brandi Brimmer, received the IAH Arts and Humanities Research Grant Award

David Pier, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

American Studies

Kelly Alexander, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Gabrielle Berlinger, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Gabrielle Berlinger, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Seth Kotch, received the Chapman Family Teaching Award

Michelle Robinson, received the Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction

Michelle Robinson, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Anthropology

Benjamin Arbuckle, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Brian Billman, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Rachel Briggs, received the Fixed-Term Faculty Development Award

Rachel Briggs, received the Southeastern Archaeological Conference Rising Scholar Award

Rachel Briggs, received the Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Award

Jocelyn Chua, received the IAH Arts and Humanities Research Grant Award

Mary Elizabeth Fitts, elected Treasurer of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference

Heather Lapham, elected Executive Office of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference

Jon Marcoux, received the Thorp Engaged Scholars Award

Michele Rivkin-Fish, received the Davis Center Book Prize in Political and Social Studies

Dafna Rachok, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Douglas Smit, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Angela Stuesse, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Colin Thor West, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Applied Physical Sciences

Ronit Freeman, selected as an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellow

Ronit Freeman, received the Carolina Women’s Leadership Council Faculty Mentoring Award – Faculty to Graduate Student Mentoring

Otto Zhou, selected as a National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow

Art and Art History

Avery Newton, received the SHRA Employee Recognition Award

Hồng-Ân Trương, received the Anonymous Was A Woman Award

Hồng-Ân Trương, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Martín Wannam, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Arts and Sciences Foundation

Riley Wojcik, received the Employee Forum’s Staff Member of the Year – Perfect Addition Award

Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Kyoungjin Bae, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Pamela Lothspeich, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Claudia Yaghoobi, elected President of the Association for Iranian Studies

Biology

Derek Cain, received the Mover of Mountains Award

Bob Duronio, selected as a Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor

Mara Evans, received the Tyson Academic Leadership Fellowship

Bob Goldstein, received the Edward Kidder Graham Faculty Service Award

Eric Hastie, received the Fixed-Term Faculty Development Award

Eric Hastie, received the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Amy Maddox, selected as an American Society for Cell Biology Fellow

Laura Ott, received the Chapman Family Teaching Award

Benjamin Parker, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

David Pfennig, selected as a Bland Simpson Distinguished Professor

Maria Servedio, selected as a Kenan Distinguished Professor

En Yang, selected as a PEW Scholar in Biomedical Sciences

Lillian Zwemer, received the Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Award

Biomedical Engineering

Soumya Benhabbour, received the Yang Family Biomedical Scholars Award

Ashley Brown, elected as a BMES Board Member

Yevgeny Brudno, elected as an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Fellow

Michael Daniele, elected as an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Fellow

Matthew Fisher, elected as an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Fellow

Amol Yadav, received the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award

Chemistry

Erin Baker, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Anna Curtis, received the J. Caryle Sitterson Award for Teaching First-Year Students

Jillian Dempsey, received the National Brown Investigator Award

Megan Jackson, received the Cottrell Scholar Award

Frank Leibfarth, received the Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists Laureate in Chemical Sciences

Alex Miller, selected as a Lloyd S. Liles Distinguished Professor

Elisa Pieri, received the Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career Research Award

Mark Schoenfisch, selected as a National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow

Sergei Sheiko, received the Third Edition of the UNESCO-Russia Mendeleev International Prize in the Basic Sciences Award

Kevin Weeks, selected as a National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Senior Member

Wei You, selected as a Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor

City and Regional Planning

Matthew Bhagat-Conway, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Alanna Coombes, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Yan Song, selected as a Laurie E. McNeil Distinguished Professor

Meenu Tewari, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Meenu Tewari, selected as a Tyson Academic Leadership Fellow

Classics

Sheira Cohen, received the IAH Arts and Humanities Research Grant Award

Sheira Cohen, received the Franklin Research Grant Award from the American Philosophical Society

Janet Downie, received the IAH Arts and Humanities Research Grant Award

Janet Downie, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Al Duncan, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Jennifer Gates-Foster, selected as a Zachary Smith Distinguished Term Associate Professor

Hérica Valladares, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Communication

Kelsey Brod, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

E. Chebrolu, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellowship Award

Megan Fitzmaurice, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Julia Haslett, received the IAH Arts and Humanities Research Grant Award

Aaron Shapiro, received the IAH Arts and Humanities Research Grant Award

Jesica Speed Wiley, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Computer Science

James Anderson, received the Best Paper Award for the Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems

Mohit Bansal, selected as a Fellow of the Association for Computational Linguistics

Benjamin Berg, received the Google ML and Systems Junior Faculty Award

Gedas Bertasius, received the Sony Focused Research Award

Gedas Bertasius, received the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award

Samarjit Chakraborty, received the Dieter Schwarz Courageous Research Grant

Snigdha Chaturvedi, received the NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student Funding Program Award

Tianlong Chen, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Tianlong Chen, received the Amazon Research Award

Neil Gaikwad, received the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Kris Jordan, received the Undergraduate Student Mentoring Award

Kris Jordan, received the IAH Tyson Academic Leadership Fellowship

Julie Len, received the Distinguished Paper Award for the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security

Connor McMahon, received the Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Award

Shahriar Nirjon, runner up for the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Embedded Wireless Systems and Networks

Donald Porter, received the Distinguished Paper Award at the ACM Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures

Roni Sengupta, received the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award

Montek Singh, received the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Shashank Srivastava, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Danielle Szafir, received the Association for Computing Machinery Best Paper Honorable Mention Award

Danielle Szafir, received Best Paper Honorable Mention at the IEEE Visualization Conference

Dramatic Art

Letitia James, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Triffin Morris, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Aubrey Snowden, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Tao Wang, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Economics

Peter Hansen, selected as an International Association for Applied Econometrics Fellow

William Jungerman, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Jonathan Williams, elected Chief Economist for Federal Communications Commission

English & Comparative Literature

Inger Brodey, selected as a Peter Thacher Grauer Distinguished Professor

Gabrielle Calvocoressi, finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry

Gabrielle Calvocoressi, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Gaby Calvocoressi, elected to the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets

Gabrielle Calvocoressi, elected as the Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets

Shinjini Chattopadhyay, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Taylor Cowdery, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Cynthia Current, received the J. Caryle Sitterson Award for Teaching First-Year Students

Melissa Faliveno, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Joe Fletcher, received the Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize

Michael Gutierrez, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Danielle Hanson, selected as an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow

Hilary Lithgow, received the Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement

Søren Palmer, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Courtney Rivard, received the Thorp Engaged Scholars Award

Karen Tucker, received the IAH Arts and Humanities Research Grant Award

Karen Tucker, received the Fixed-Term Faculty Development Award

Daniel Wallace, inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame

Kym Weed, received the Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Award

Earth, Marine, and Environmental Science

Karl Castillo, received the Walter H. Wheeler Award for Excellence in Teaching

Tom Clerkin, received the Star Heel Award

Scott Gifford, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Rick Luettich, received the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) Excellence in Partnering Award

Richard Moss, received the EMES Spotlight award

Richard Neve, received the Star Heel Award

Hans Paerl, received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award

Tamlin Pavelsky, selected as a Kenan Distinguished Professor

Michael Piehler, selected as a Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor

Johanna Rosman, received the Walter H. Wheeler Award for Excellence in Teaching

Exercise and Sport Science

J.D. DeFreese, received the Fixed-Term Faculty Development Award

Zachary Kerr, received the Clark & Kessler Award for Excellence in Mentoring

Zachary Kerr, received the Robert A. Huggins KSI Lifesaving Research Award

Jason Mihalik, selected as a National Academy of Kinesiology Fellow

Aliza Nedimyer, received the Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Award

Anthony F. Patterson, received the Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Award

Meredith Petschauer, inducted into the Mid Atlantic Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame

Abbie Smith-Ryan, received the Women in Nutraceuticals Research Pioneer Award

Erianne Weight, selected into the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Leaders Network

Geography and Environment

Shorna Allred, selected as a Tyson Academic Leadership Fellow

Pervin Banu Gokariksel, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Anthony Dest, received the IAH Arts and Humanities Research Grant Award

Scott Kirsch, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Christian Lentz, received the Chapman Family Teaching Award

Ruch Matamoros Mercado, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Sara Smith, elected President of the American Association of Geographers

Conghe Song, selected as a Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor

Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures

Priscilla Layne, received the Summer International Collaborative Research Grant Award

Sophia Strietholt, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Sophia Strietholt, received the Innovation in Language Program Direction Award

Stanislav Shvabrin, received the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages Best Slavic and East European Journal Article Award

Tobias Wilke, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Global Studies

Michael Osterwiel, received the Fixed-Term Faculty Development Award

History

Cemil Aydin, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Chad Bryant, received the Summer International Collaborative Research Grant Award

Peter Coclanis, received the Faculty Award for Global Excellence

Camille Goldmon, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Henry Gruber, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Antwain Hunter, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Lauren Jarvis, selected as a National Humanities Center Summer Residency Scholar

Michelle King, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Michelle King, received the Summer International Collaborative Research Grant Award

James Leloudis, received the Thomas Jefferson Award

Lisa Lindsay, elected member for the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure Membership

Lisa Lindsay, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Michael Morgan, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

John Wood Sweet, selected as a Guggenheim Fellow

Andrew Walker, received the American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship Program Award

Andrew Walker, received the Book Manuscript Workshop Award

Honors Carolina

Bryan Yackulic, received the Administrator of the Year Award from PeopleGrove

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Hannah Gill, received the ISA Mellon Faculty Conference Travel Award

Linguistics

Misha Becker, elected Editor-in-Chief of the Language Acquisition Journal

Misha Becker, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

David Mora-Marín, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Mathematics

Boyce Griffith, received the Langtangen Prize Award

Caroline Moosmüller, received the Austrian Scientists and Scholars in North America Award for Junior Principal Investigator

Richard Rimányi, received Editor’s Choice Recognition by the London Mathematical Society

Casey Rodriguez, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Casey Rodriguez, received the William C. Friday Award for Excellence in Teaching

Pedro Sáenz, received the American Physical Society Gallery of Fluid Motion Award

Philip Tosteson, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Philip Tosteson, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Music

Juan Álamo, received the IAH Arts and Humanities Research Grant Award

Naomi André, selected as a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar

Andrea Bohlman, received the Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe (SISECSE) Fellowship

Deonte Harris, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Kelariz Keshavarz, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Kelariz Keshavarz, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Mark Katz, received the C. Felix Harvey Award

Mark Katz, received the Frances Densmore Prize Award

Mark Katz, received the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award

Jesse Moorefield, received the Employee Forum’s Staff Member of Year – Hall of Famer Award

Jocelyn Neal, selected as a Bernard Gray Distinguished Professor

Clara Yang, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Philosophy

Thomas Hofweber, selected as a William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor

Jim Pryor, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Margaret Shea, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Michael Vazquez, received the Chapman Family Teaching Awards

Rebecca Walker, selected as a Tyson Academic Leadership Fellowship

Physics and Astronomy

Brad Barlow, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Brad Barlow, selected as an American Astronomical Society – Shapely Visiting Lecturer

Duane Deardorff, received the Fulbright Specialist Program Award

Joaquin Drut, selected as a Tyson Academic Leadership Fellow

Alia Hamdan, elected member of the American Physical Society Forum on Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Political Science

Frank Baumgarnter, received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring

Christopher Clark, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Mary Kroeger, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Mary Kroeger, received the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Junghyun Lim, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Tyler Pratt, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Ye Wang, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Psychology & Neuroscience

Anna Bardone-Cone, received the Ann Rankin Cowan Excellence Award for High Impact Research

Jessica Cohen, received the CAS Seed Funding Program Award

Karen Gil, received the William C. Friday Award for Excellence in Teaching

Deborah Jones, selected as a Kenan Eminent Distinguished Professor

Anne Maheux, received the Junior Faculty Development Award

Keith Payne, selected as a Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor

Erin Pelletier, received the College of Arts and Sciences Award in Management

Jamilah Silver, received the Victoria S. Levin Award for Early Career Success in Young Children’s Mental Health Research

Public Policy

Cassandra Davis, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Cassandra Davis, received the Thorp Engaged Scholars Award

Angel Hsu, elected member of the North Carolina Governor’s AI Council

Sarah Fuller, received the American Educational Research Association Outstanding Reviewer Award

William Goldsmith, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Religious Studies

Eden Consenstein, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Eden Consenstein, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Joseph Lam, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow
Hugo Mendez, received the John L. Sanders Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Service

Brendan Thornton, received the Book Manuscript Workshop Award

Romance Studies

Danila Cannamela, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Adam Cohn, selected as an IAH Faculty Fellow

Dulcinea Muñoz Gómez, received the ISA Mellon Faculty Conference Travel Award

Dulcinea Muñoz Gomez, received the Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Award

Juan Carlos González Espitia, received the ISA Mellon Faculty Conference Travel Award

Valérie Pruvost, received the Board of Governor’s Excellence in Teaching Award

Valerie Pruvost, received the Carolina Women’s Leadership Council Faculty Mentoring Award – Faculty to Junior Faculty Mentoring

Dan Warfield, received the Brilliant Beginner Award

Sociology

Neal Caren, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

Barbara Entwisle, elected as an American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member

Robert Hummer, selected as a National Institutes of Health Matilda White Rile Distinguished Lecturer

Arne Kalleberg, received the American Sociological Association W.E.B. DuBois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award

Lisa Pearce, selected as a Tyson Academic Leadership Fellow

Lisa Pearce, selected as the Delta Delta Delta Distinguished Professor

Rui Jie Peng, received the Book Manuscript Workshop Award

Lauren Valentino, received the Russell Sage Foundation Fellowship Award

STOR

Amarjit Budhiraja, received the 2028 Medallion Award and Lecture from the Institute of Mathematical Statistics

Jan Hannig, selected as a Kenan Distinguished Professor

Daniel Kessler, selected as President of the New Researchers Group of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics

Daniel Kessler, received the School for Data Science and Society Computational Data Science & AI Cloud Pilot Program Seed Funding Award

Chudi Zhong, received the School for Data Science and Society Computational Data Science & AI Cloud Pilot Program Seed Funding Award

Hang Zhou, received the School for Data Science and Society Computational Data Science & AI Cloud Pilot Program Seed Funding Award

Undergraduate Education

Michael Smith, selected as the Regional Vice President of the North American Association of Summer Sessions

Women’s and Gender Studies

Amalia Ashley, received the Schwab Academic Excellence Award

The post Congratulations to the award-winning faculty and staff in the College of Arts and Sciences appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.

North Carolina as a living classroom

Kim Spurr — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:00:25 +0000

North Carolina educators explore Appalachian history at the Swannanoa Railroad Memorial with Daniel Pierce., professor of history at UNC-Asheville. (photo by Gina Flow)

Nearly 100 North Carolina teachers from 33 counties dived into the theme “Democracy in Place” through retreats in Asheville and Wilmington as part of a Carolina K-12 summer learning initiative tied to America’s 250th birthday.

Cori Greer-Banks wanted teachers to experience the impact of democracy through history — not as a dusty idea only rooted in the past — but as a living, breathing thing being shaped by local communities throughout the state.

Greer-Banks was a classroom teacher for 24 years before becoming director of Carolina K-12 in November 2024. The program is an outreach and engagement arm of Carolina Public Humanities in UNC-Chapel Hill’s College of Arts and Sciences. It extends the resources of the University to the state’s educators through place-based professional development programs, an online database of innovative lesson plans and interactive pedagogical training.

North Carolina educators gather on the deck of the Battleship North Carolina. (photo by Gina Flow)

A three-year $974,000 civic education grant from the U.S. Department of Education to Carolina K-12 jump-started the grant’s impact through “Democracy in Place,” an initiative connected through separate teacher retreats this summer in Asheville (“Mountains of Democracy”) and Wilmington (“Harbors of Democracy”).

Through interactive workshops and field experiences, democracy came alive for teachers as they were given the tools “to infuse local democracy into their classrooms,” Greer-Banks said. “We have an opportunity through this grant to help promote healthy civil discourse and to find examples of ‘democracy in place’ close to home — to explore how democracy has been shaped, challenged and carried forward, and how these stories can deepen classroom teaching today.”

Carolina assistant professor of history Antwain Hunter delivered a lecture on Brown v. Board of Education (photo by Gina Flow)

Through a partnership with Carolina’s history department, the retreats used Foundations of American Democracy: A Critical Documents Reader (University of North Carolina Press), as their anchor text. Participating teachers received a copy of the textbook and free digital access for their students. The textbook was the brainchild of 11 Carolina historians. Carolina K-12 will also develop curricula to complement the book.

Both the Asheville and Wilmington retreats opened with a virtual seminar led by Kathleen DuVal, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian and an editor of Foundations of American Democracy. Antwain K. Hunter, assistant professor of history, co-led workshops at both sites in person, along with representatives from the National Paideia Center. He discussed the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education.

Actor and playwright Mike Wiley, left, and singer-songwriter Dawn Landes perform “Well, I Declare” on the porch of the Bellamy Mansion Museum in Wilmington. (photo by Gina Flow)

In Asheville, teachers participated in themed walking tours of the city, visited the Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace State Historic Site and Black Mountain College, took a bus trip to Cherokee to experience the Museum of the Cherokee People and watch the Unto These Hills outdoor drama and more.

In Wilmington, they visited the Battleship North Carolina, viewed a documentary screening at Thalian Hall about the Wilmington 1898 coup and massacre, enjoyed a performance based on the Declaration of Independence by playwright Mike Wiley and singer-songwriter Dawn Landes, explored Masonboro Island and more.

“Place-based learning really hits home the idea that history is now, that we are shaping history as we speak,” Greer-Banks said. “It drives home this idea of history being relevant.”

Teachers visit Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. (photo by Gina Flow)

In both retreats, teachers interacted with historians, artists, performers, museum educators, archivists, community leaders and their fellow teachers.

Historically, Carolina K-12 has offered a separate local government seminar for teachers once a year, where they learn from city and town council members, county commissioners and government leaders. To close out the Asheville and Wilmington retreats, Paul Bonnici, Carolina K-12’s civic education and media manager, programmed a local-government session titled “What Does a City or County Manager Do?” In Asheville, teachers even toured the public safety training facility. Greer-Banks said educators found the local government sessions to be valuable, and it sparked ideas of how they could involve local government leaders in their own classrooms.

After the experience, 21 educators voluntarily named a concrete action plan they would be willing to take within 30 days to build or revise local history units, work to strengthen student dialogue and connect their classrooms with local community leaders, among other ideas.

“I am going to spend time exploring the archives to build a unit that involves storytelling surrounding Hurricane Helene,” said teacher Angel Barnsback, who attended the “Mountains of Democracy” retreat. “My students were directly impacted, and this could be a valuable lesson for them.”

Andromeda Crowell, who attended the “Harbors of Democracy” retreat, shared, “I will weave environmental justice narratives into every unit of my biology course and include primary sources for students to examine from what I’ve learned here.”

Educators examine a live blue crab during a hands-on coastal ecology lesson with Carolina Ocean Studies as part of a visit to Masonboro Island. (photo by Gina Flow)

Greer-Banks had experienced the value of previous Carolina K-12 teacher retreats herself. She said leaving her classroom was hard, but in her new role she has an amazing opportunity to impact teachers and students throughout the state.

On the wall across from her home office desk is a group photo with her students on the steps of The Exploris School in downtown Raleigh, where she taught eighth-graders.

“I look at that picture, and it’s a great reminder of what this ultimately means, which is improving outcomes for students in this state,” she said. “I feel like I didn’t step out of the classroom, my classroom just expanded.”

“Democracy in Place” builds on the history and success of earlier teacher retreats hosted by Carolina K-12. The program’s origins are rooted in the William Friday Teacher Initiative, funded by the North Caroliniana Society, and the Eastern North Carolina Teachers Retreat, supported by the Wayne County Friends of Public Education. Both retreats, presented free to teachers, were made possible by many different sponsors. Learn more at humanities.unc.edu/democracyinplace/.

Read two previous stories on teacher retreats “Down East” and in Hillsborough.

By Kim Spurr, College of Arts and Sciences; photos by Gina Flow, Carolina Public Humanities

The post North Carolina as a living classroom appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.