A welcome message from the Dean
Dean Mercy Cannon
I am pleased to share recent accomplishments in the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. With dedicated, passionate faculty at the heart of CLASS, we continue to excel in our mission of educating students for the Commonwealth. The Fall 2025 semester has been a busy one. We have welcomed the largest freshman class in EKU history, enjoyed the CLASS football game against West Georgia, celebrated Homecoming Weekend, and supported more students than ever in our academic classes, tutoring centers, student groups, departmental activities, and engaged learning opportunities.
Many thanks to all of our alumni and friends for your continued support of Eastern. It is an exciting time to be a Colonel!
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Society of Student Anthropologists: creating a space for open discussion
This article was originally published here
Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) Society of Student Anthropologists (SSA) at Living Archaeology Weekend (LAW) hosted in Red River Gorge. Members of SSA helped secondary education students learn about different cultural and archaeological aspects of indigenous people.
The Society of Student Anthropologists (SSA) organization at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) allows students to build a community with like-minded people interested in the same area of study as them: anthropology.
Anthropology is the study of how humanity evolves from the past, present, and future. The four categories of anthropology include archeology, cultural, linguistic, and physical. These categories further allow anthropologists to understand the different people they meet out in the community, said SSA President Nadia Grullon, junior anthropology and Spanish major.
It can be as simple as observing someone on campus, said Grullon. She said observing what people order at Starbucks and how Greek Life students table around campus are part of anthropology studies.
“What are people’s behaviors, their body language? It’s kind of like psychology but more interactive,” said Grullon. “Put yourself in other people’s shoes…experience what they’re experiencing.”
SSA takes students’ interest in anthropology and lets them apply it to real-life situations outside and inside of the classroom, along with defining what anthropology means to those who do not know.
“During meetings, we’ll talk about different anthropologically relevant things going on in the community,” said SSA Treasurer Thomas George, senior anthropology and Spanish major. “We’ll do philanthropic events throughout the semester, or we see things, or try to raise money for different movements that we kind of support.”
At one of their meetings, the SSA discussed the Richmond Powwow and the controversy surrounding it.
The Richmond Powwow is an annual event held by the Richmond Powwow Association to celebrate Native American culture and heritage.
“(The Richmond Powwow has) some controversial aspects to it because it’s not really run by physically recognized Indigenous communities,” said George. “We talked about how if we were going to attend it, how we were going to attend it, how it needs to be, how we need to conduct ourselves there, how we need to talk about it.”
Discussing events like the Richmond Powwow keeps students who are not anthropology majors informed on the importance of being culturally aware, said Thomas.
The SSA also has meetings where they get together to talk about their classes and study together.
“One of our professors set up an anthro coffee morning, (we) just sat around. (We) all just talked about our classes, what we want to do this semester and next semester, and experiences we’ve already had,” said Grullon. “Most of us were (are) so in a time crunch that we usually don’t see each other, so (we) just talking and catching up within our major. It’s very, very fun.”
The SSA participated in the Living Archaeology Weekend on Sept. 20 and 21, where members of the club helped elementary to high school students with different archaeological and cultural aspects of the indigenous people of Kentucky at Red River Gorge.
“I got to help out with pump drilling and Spanish interpreting. We didn’t really run into a lot of individuals who needed interpreting, but I was able to help a group of high schoolers from Bryan Station High School get their Spanish volunteering hours,” said George. “They were able to translate an information doc…”
Pump drilling is using a hand device to make holes in different materials. It taught the fifth graders how to explore the past and why it’s important to preserve it, said George.
Grullon said this semester the SSA will be focusing on fundraising and putting themselves back on campus. Having people join who are not anthropology majors is something Grullon would like to see.
“I’d like to encourage people who are non majors and just want to know more about anthropology or just know more about yourself and other people,” she said. “Don’t be afraid. The title may be long and anthropology may be scary, but it is a very fun field and I recommend it to anybody.”
George finds it important to note that those who learn about anthropology will learn something from a different point of view that isn’t their own and that’s important to George.
“Anthropology in general allows for a different point of view, how you perceive the world around you,” said George. “I feel like we’ve been removed from the human aspect of ourselves throughout technology and everything.”
SSA meets every Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Keith Building 109. For more information, check Engage or email President Nadia Grullon.
“What the Constitution Means to Me” shown at EKU for 3 days only
This article was originally published here
Actors Patrick Lee Lucas, Vanessa Becker Weig, and Cricket Brown performing the coin flip debate scene in “What the Constitution Means to Me” at Eastern Kentucky University’s (EKU) Pearl Buchanan Theatre. During this scene, they debated on whether to keep the Constitution or throw it out.
Students and faculty were invited to see “What the Constitution Means to Me” at Eastern Kentucky University’s (EKU) Pearl Buchanan Theatre from Sept.12- 14. EKU theatre professor, actor, and producer Vanessa Becker Weig encapsulated her character, Heidi Schreck, and exposed college-age students to the power and validity of their voices.
In “What the Constitution Means to Me,” Heidi Schreck switches between a 15-year-old admirer of the Constitution and a 40-year-old woman who feels betrayed by the Constitution.
When she was 15, Schreck performed for judges, discussing what the document meant to her for scholarship money. This is how she paid her way through college and became a playwright. When she first mentions the Constitution, she is excited, playful, and ambitious.
By the end of the performance, she focuses on who the Constitution failed to represent: women and children, women of color, transgender individuals, binary and nonbinary individuals, disabled individuals, and immigrants.
Schreck concludes the play by bringing a young debtor to the stage to argue in regards to keeping or discarding the Constitution. Schreck recognizes the need to include the next generation because they hold new concepts of the developing community the Constitution struggles to represent.
“It is like a call to action to the audience, so you can think about what the Constitution means to you. You can get involved and civically minded; you can stand up for your rights,” said Weig.
She describes “What the Constitution Means to Me” as “a story about Heidi Schreck, the Playwright. She delivered these speeches, when she was fifteen, about the Constitution. Throughout the play, she makes discoveries about her own life and how it has shaped her world and asks the audience to question that for themselves.”
Weig relates to Heidi’s outcast feeling as a woman in modern society, sharing similar personal experiences and being born within a month of her character. Weig felt challenged by the representational acting with direct dialogue between her and her audience because of how alike she feels to her character.
“The most recent roles I have played are like Morticia in “The Addams Family” or Ursula in “The Little Mermaid,” said Weig. “I have to put a lot more of myself into this. It is very honest and extremely vulnerable…(with this) I interact with the audience the whole time. I ask them questions. It is very very different from what I am used to.”
Not only is Weig talking to her audience, but she is speaking as herself through Schreck. She even becomes herself at the end of the show and has a live semi-improvised debate on whether to keep or toss the United States Constitution.
“What the Constitution Means to Me” resonates with young people who want to have a voice in the authority that governs them. The play depicts how the next generation will be shaped by our Constitution or how we can reshape the Constitution to fit our image and speak for all of us.
Each actor experiences a process of stripping the character they play away. They become themselves. While Weig goes from Schreck to herself, another actor in the show, Patrick Lee Lucas, embodies his character Legionnaire Mel Yonkin and tells a story about his personal experience coming out to his father. This shows beauty to character, to story, and to self-expression. The people and characters are dynamic, artistic, and change as they learn, similar to the Constitution.
Another actor in “What the Constitution Means to Me”, Cricket Brown, explains how the Constitution is learning, growing, and changing just like us.
“The Constitution is like a person,” said Brown’s character, Young Debater, during the show.
Audience member and student of Weig, EKU freshman psychology major Bostyn Collins, describes the play as a positive experience that gave her the chance to reflect on her life and history. Collins found the play intimate and relatable.
For students who want to see the show, Collins says to take the story to heart and think deeply about the message.
“I would tell them to go into the play open-minded, to allow themselves to feel the story deeply, and reflect on their character,” said Collins. “I would teach the lesson that everyone is going through something and to be kind and empathetic and resilient, so we can fight for what we deserve.”
“What the Constitution Means to Me” teaches its audience to be mindful and stand up for possibility. Yell until you are heard regardless of age, gender, or race. The United States Constitution can represent all of us if we choose to be a part of our community and make it happen.
The students of EKU are the future. Their involvement in the government that is meant to protect and serve all people in the United States is pivotal for the unity, diversity, acceptance, and growth of the nation. Students can make a change. Voices Amplified recognizes the need to cultivate young adult minds because their minds will cultivate a young Nation with new experiences.
When the debate within the play came to a close, Brown’s character reminded the audience how much our Constitution has protected and how unhappy many people would be without it. They say we can change what the Constitution has to say, without omitting it entirely.
Like many students, the Constitution is young and has potential. The Constitution is worth the time to teach new ways.
Schreck says “The Constitution doesn’t tell you all the rights you have…because it doesn’t know.”
We are responsible for figuring that out. So, What does the Constitution mean to you?
To see more productions from Voices Amplified go to their website.
EKU Celebrates Faculty Awards
This article was originally published here
2023-24 Faculty Awards, Dr. Heather Fox, Dr. Rusty Carpenter, Dr. Charlotte Rich
In a celebration of excellence at Eastern Kentucky University, several instructors were honored at the 2024 University Faculty Awards and Recognition Ceremony on April 9 in the Keen Johnson Building. The evening’s festivities also included the Sabbatical Showcase and Faculty Club Open House.
The faculty awards cover several categories, including teaching-focused awards, scholarship-focused awards, first-year courses awards, and the EKU Libraries partnership award. New to this year’s ceremony, EKU’s Graduate Profile team recognized faculty and staff who have demonstrated a commitment to the intentional implementation of employability skills within classes and university efforts for students.
Applications for most awards are submitted in mid-January and departments are encouraged to nominate candidates for award categories.
The 2024 University Faculty Awards recipients are as follows:
Faculty Leadership Award
- Nedim Slijepcevic, Assistant Professor, Instructional Design
Teaching-Focused Awards
- 2023-24 Teaching and Learning Annual Themed Award: Workforce & Employability Skills, Teaching & Learning for Future Careers – Niki Hill, Assistant Professor, American Sign Language & Interpreter Education; Heather Fox, Associate Professor, and Charlotte Rich, Professor, English
- Faculty Innovation in Teaching Awards – Vigs Chandra, Professor, Computer Science & Information Technology; Erin Presley, Associate Professor, English
- Inclusive Excellence Faculty Award – Emily Zuccaro, Associate Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator, Teaching, Learning, & Educational Leadership
- Transformative Teaching Award – Laura Barthel, Assistant Professor, Accounting
- Dr. Jerry Pogatshnik Graduate Faculty Award – Cy Mott, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Scholarship-Focused Awards
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award – Jill Parrott, Professor, English
- Transformative Scholarly and Creative Achievements Awards – George Ashley, MSW Field Director and Associate Professor, Social Work
First-Year Courses Awards
- Outstanding Foundations of Learning Instructors Awards – Cassie Bradley, Program Manager, Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning and Coordinator, Credit for Prior Learning; Bethany Warner, Director, Office of Advising & Career Services
- Outstanding College-Specific Student Success Seminar Instructor Awards – Sabrina Moore, College of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics; Darlene Stocker, Associate Director, Office of Advising & Career Services
- Distinguished First-Year Instructor – Ashton Chaffins, Advisor, NOVA Program
Graduate Profile Recognitions: Essential Employability Skills
- Integrating Employability Skills (Faculty) – Casey Humphrey, Associate Professor and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator, Occupational Science/Therapy; Brian Simpkins, Assistant Professor, Homeland Security
- Commitment to Employability Skills (Staff) – Bethany Warner, Director, Office of Advising & Career Services; Darlene Stocker, Associate Director, Office of Advising & Career Services
EKU Libraries Partnership Award
- Catherine Stearn, Associate Professor, History
- Starr Wentzel, Director, First Year Courses
Faculty award winners are announced during EKU’s Scholars Showcase, held each year in April.
EKU English professor shines light on Ukrainian poetry and the power it holds during wartime
This article was originally published here
Professor Brent Shannon
Here in Kentucky, students can safely walk from class to class. There is no concern that a bomb will be dropped onto a school building. However, in other parts of the world it’s not that simple.
For some students, like those who attend school in Ternopil, Ukraine, their experience is different. Air raid sirens often disrupt classroom learning and force students into bombs shelters. Liza Tvardovska is a translator in training and attends school in Ternopil. She said her experience in the bomb shelter is challenging.
“Shelter is a place where people are loud and interrupts each other. Our teachers, I don’t know, they are simply, literally, have no opportunity to give us this information and we just don’t like receive the amount of information that we have to.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine heavily impacted Tvardovska’s educational experience.
“I often have nightmares because of war. When like alarm starts I often wake up at night and I just can’t normally sleep and that’s what interrupts my studying and my normal life.”
After the full-scale invasion started over two years ago, Tvardovska said it greatly affected her learning. As a student, she finds inspiration from her mentor, who often uses poetry as a way to educate.
In Ukraine, poetry is a huge part of their culture. It impacts much of their lives and is used as a way to unite the people. Inspired by this culture surrounding poetry, Eastern Kentucky University English Professor Dr. Brent Shannon decided to integrate Ukrainian war poetry into his curriculum.
“And so I saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate how, here is a culture and a community that is using poetry to talk about the real world, you know, talking about death and war and fear and how this was changing their lives. Things that for them were incredibly real and incredibly important and that they chose to use poetry as a forum in which to express these ideas and feelings.”
He wants to share with EKU students the impact of the written word.
“We can see, regard poetry as a sort of communal act of resistance and defiance, that it can become a kind of political act. It can become a weapon of war. It is a voice through which you can resist against your oppressors.”
Ukrainian poets, especially in war time, insist upon their own culture and their own nationhood. A sense of national identity is central to the poetry Shannon is introducing to his students. Showing the impact poetry can make on an event as life changing as war can be a challenge.
To aid in this, Shannon invites Ukrainian individuals to speak to his students, allowing them to share first-hand knowledge of their experiences. One is translator Vira Hrabchuck, who has met with the class over Zoom.
“I think poetry for us is a lot of about a way to express yourself. A way to express your thoughts, your stand, your feelings, emotions.”
Hrabchuck grew up in Ukraine and works as a translator and educator. She takes every opportunity to share her perspective as someone living through the war.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be an alive Ukrainian scholar, student, and it’s my duty to also talk on behalf of those who unfortunately have perished.”
Hrabchuck said poetry for her is an important escape from the realities of war.
“It just requires a lot of focus and it helps me to zone out in many ways, like forget about the war, it’s my meditation. Translating poetry or reading poetry is my meditation for sure.”
Hrabchuck often has her students translate poetry and one of her students is Liza Tvardovska. She recently translated a poem by a popular Ukrainian poet, Vasyl Symonenko called “Perhaps the guns will cry again”.
Ukrainian poetry is often written so it can be relevant for decades to come. Many Ukrainians, like Tvardovska and Hrabchuck, feel connected to these poems.
For now, times remain uncertain as the war in Ukraine continues but the use and impact of poetry can provide solace to those enduring it.
Student Spotlight: Kiaira Tomlinson, Sociology and Criminal Justice Double Major
Dean Mercy Cannon and Kiaira Tomlinson
As the Dean’s Merit Award recipient for 2024, Kiaira Tomlinson represents the very best of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. A Sociology and Criminal Justice double major with an African and African Studies minor, Kiaira is an accomplished junior researcher in sociology with a well-defined research agenda and outstanding skills that allow her to pursue projects well beyond the level of most undergraduate students.
She has been distinguished as a McNair Scholar and Honors Scholar, volunteers for Madison Home, and participates in the Black Student Union, the AFA Club, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Sociology professor Dr. Alison Buck writes that “Kiaira has a passion and capability for answering meaningful questions through social science research that is rare among undergraduate students.”
African and African American Studies professor Dr. Ogechi notes that Kiara “lends her strong voice to promote an understanding of the people and their history with unapologetic passion. She is an admirable and reliable ambassador of EKU Black Studies.”
She will be attending UNC-Charlotte’s Masters of Sociology Program this Fall with full funding through an assistantship. After graduate school, Kiaira will pursue training and licensure as therapist focused on non-traditional therapy for women and children who have been wronged by the criminal justice system.
Kiaira, we believe you will change this world for the better and we are honored to have been a part of your journey. Congratulations on all your success!
EKU Names 2024 Society of Foundation Professors
This article was originally published here
Dr. Todd Gooch, Dr. David Coleman, Dr. Jason Koontz, and President David McFaddin
By Evan Bentley
While this year Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) celebrates 150 years of teaching in the Commonwealth, every year for almost four decades EKU recognizes the faculty who demonstrate the highest standards of teaching through the Society of Foundation Professors. On April 30, 2024, Dr. Todd Gooch, professor of philosophy and religious studies, and Dr. Jason Koontz, music professor, were inducted into the Society of Foundation Professors. Dr. David Coleman, executive director of EKU Honors and professor of history, was inducted as an honorary Foundation Professor.
“I am proud of this honored tradition of celebrating our most outstanding faculty through the Society of Foundation Professors,” said EKU President David McFaddin. “These three professors come to campus every day with the clear intentions of enhancing the lives of our students through education. Their work does not go unnoticed, and I applaud their commitment to providing opportunity for every student.”
The EKU Foundation established the Society of Foundation Professors to recognize “creative, self-motivated exemplars of the ideal college professor.”
Full-time tenured faculty members are eligible for the Foundation Professorship. The award provides a $5,000 salary increase for two years. The selection is made by a committee composed of members of the Society of Foundation Professors, and the process provides for a high degree of peer review.
Gooch started as a part-time professor at EKU in 1999 and became full-time in 2001. He has taught 25 different courses during his time at EKU. Gooch has designed and conducts interdisciplinary Honors seminars with colleagues, and has contributed to several academic books about the history of modern religious thought.
Although Gooch grew up in California, his father grew up in Lincoln County, Kentucky, where the family has a seven-generation farm. Gooch’s great-aunt graduated from Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College (now EKU) in the early 1930s, and Gooch recalled fond memories of her teaching him sentence composition on the front porch at the family farm where he spent summers as a boy.
“Because of this family history, I am especially honored to have been able to pursue a career as a professor at EKU,” said Gooch. “I want for my students to develop their abilities to think intelligently and exercise good judgment in making informed choices. My biggest aspiration, however, is for them to experience the study of the liberal arts as something that is itself liberating by virtue of the opportunity it provides us for self-reflection, and, in conversation with others who may think differently, to identify, clarify and articulate our own fundamental beliefs and values.”
Considering himself an EKU devotee for the past 32 years, Koontz’s EKU journey began as an undergraduate music student in 1992, and he’s now taught at EKU for 24 years. He has traveled the world to perform and teach music and collaborate with students and artists.
Koontz was encouraged by colleagues to apply for the Foundation Professorship. “I am honored to receive the recognition for my work and commitment to EKU and be selected to become a part of such a venerated group of educators,” said Koontz. “Throughout my career, I feel that I have made a positive impact on EKU and have maintained a strong desire to educate, collaborate and nurture my varied professional interests.”
Koontz strives to ensure students become independent thinkers, artists and lifelong learners through “sound pedagogy, leading by example, being open to new ideas and promoting an atmosphere where students are challenged and can express themselves freely in a multitude of ways.”
Coleman, an honorary inductee, has achieved significant accomplishments throughout his time at EKU, including publishing two scholarly books and seven research articles. He served as chair of the EKU History Department for five years and has served as executive director of the EKU Honors program for the past 11 years. Last fall, Coleman received national recognition as a Fellow of the National Collegiate Honors Council.
About being an honorary inductee into the EKU Society of Foundation Professors, Coleman said, “It means a great deal to me to be recognized by my peers on the EKU faculty as a campus community leader in the core teaching mission of our institution—I am deeply grateful and honored.”
As for his highest ambitions as a professor, he said, “So many of my EKU faculty colleagues and I share the goal of building in our students a lifelong curiosity and a growth mindset that encourages our students to persist in pursuing their dreams. As embodied in the inscription on EKU’s Turner Gate, we seek to bring students to our campus to seek not just ‘Knowledge,’ but also ‘Wisdom.’ We also seek to empower our students who go out into the world to live lives of ‘Passion’ and ‘Purpose’ in service to their communities.”
Gooch, Koontz and Coleman join more than 70 professors who have been recognized for teaching excellence since the awards were first given in 1988. As an Employer of Choice, EKU celebrates and rewards the outstanding efforts and accomplishments of its faculty through several recognition opportunities, such as the Society of Foundation Professors.