a publication of the
DEAN
Dr. Pamela Riggs-Gelasco
VC COMMUNICATIONS
Dr. JAy Blackman
EDITOR
Chuck Wasserstrom
WRITERS
Bethany Cothran
Carter Graham
Peyton Schultz
Gina Stafford
J. Todd Foster
Amy Donahue
Omar Dedovic
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Meghan Phillips
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Amy Devan Barker
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Angela Foster
Noah Camacho
Patrick Heagney
Michele Coleman
Welcome to the College of Arts and Sciences’ METHOD magazine. We are pleased to highlight a number of new initiatives and accomplishments across the 14 departments housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, home to the Liberal Arts at UTC. It is my privilege to lead 270 teacher-scholars in CAS who use their research and scholarly interests to enrich classroom instruction and to create life-changing and practical experiences for our students.
The Liberal Arts were made for rapidly evolving times such as these. The word “liberal” in this context comes from the Latin word liberare, meaning “to free.” The Liberal Arts is an educational approach originating in ancient Greece coinciding with the dawn of democratic principles. The Liberal Arts teach our students how to hear and react to dissenting opinions and how to critically analyze the information that they consume. The Liberal Arts lead students to find inspiration, community and challenge in literature, in creative processes, in theatre and in music. It is in our Liberal Arts labs and classrooms where students discover how they might contribute to fundamental knowledge that could improve human health or the health of the earth. They discover how transformative technological breakthroughs are made. The Liberal Arts provide students with the historical, statistical, political, social and cultural context for the complexities that face us. Most importantly, the Liberal Arts help students develop their empathy and concern for the world they live in. As a faculty, we create the spaces where students imagine a better world and we empower them to achieve it. The Liberal Arts have never been more important.
Some of the stories you will read about in this issue were made possible by generous donors or through competitive government grants funded with taxpayer investment. Thank you so much for your continued advocacy for the work that we do with students. It is indeed a privilege, and we are grateful for your continued support.
The UTC Department of Criminal Justice is flexing its research capacity with the launch of the Violence Reduction Initiative.
Not long after joining the UTC faculty, Dr. Rick Dierenfeldt—now a UC Foundation associate professor and head of the Criminal Justice department—began working with the Chattanooga Police Department (CPD) in 2020 to implement and evaluate the Scenic City Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC).
Over three years, Dierenfeldt assisted the CPD by conducting statistical analysis, producing policy-driven technical reports and providing CGIC with new metrics that could be used to guide practices designed to reduce gun violence in Chattanooga.
A great deal was achieved during the threeyear period, including a 27% decrease in firearm homicides, a 36% decrease in overall homicides and a 42% decrease in shooting victims.
For Dierenfeldt, who served for more than 10 years as a police officer in Northwest Missouri, it put a seed in his head: establishing a research center at UTC to place the Criminal Justice program in a better position to address these concerns.
In 2024, the Violence Reduction Initiative was born.
“There was an opportunity here to expand our reach and partner with more agencies and service providers in the community to pursue more externally-funded partnerships and really embrace this idea of data-informed, evidencebased practice,” Dierenfeldt said. “What I ended up pitching to the University was that we could open a research center and use that to focus on relationships with community partners to seek external funding.”
Dierenfeldt thanked numerous UTC personnel for their assistance in lifting the VRI from conception into reality, including Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Jerold Hale, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Pam Riggs-Gelasco, Vice Chancellor for Research Reinhold Mann, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Meredith Perry, Academic Affairs Director of Space Management Theresa Liedtka, and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School Ethan Carver.
“Full credit goes to them for seeing the value in what we were trying to do here and investing in it immediately. I’ve never seen anything move this fast,” Dierenfeldt said.
After getting the approval to move forward, Dierenfeldt and the VRI sought funding activity—and two grant collaborations were awarded federal grants.
First, Hamilton County Alternative Sentencing Programs—in partnership with a Criminal Justice team of Dierenfeldt, Dr. Andrew Denney, Dr. Gale Iles and Dr. Sherah Basham—was awarded an $844,294 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) as part of the Second Chance Act Smart Supervision Program.
The three-year project, titled the Recidivism Reduction Initiative (RRI), is designed to improve public safety by reducing recidivism rates among justiceinvolved individuals in Hamilton County’s
misdemeanor supervision programs.
Recidivism is defined as the act of someone committing a crime again after having already been punished or gone through the justice system for a previous offense. It refers to how often people return to criminal behavior after being released from jail, prison or another form of correctional supervision.
The RRI, managed through Hamilton County’s Alternative Sentencing Programs, focuses on implementing evidence-based supervision strategies and providing essential services to participants. As the research partner, the Criminal Justice program provides ongoing analysis of program outcomes, including recidivism rates, compliance with supervision and the overall effectiveness of interventions offered to participants.
“This grant allows us to implement risk/needs assessments and a new incentive/consequence matrix,” Dierenfeldt said. “The initiative is about evidence-based, trauma-informed strategies for dealing with offenders, many of whom have experienced substance abuse or early childhood traumas, known as adverse childhood experiences. By addressing these needs, we hope to reduce recidivism and improve community safety.”
The RRI officially launched in January 2025 and runs through September 2027.
Shortly after learning that RRI had received funding, another award came through—a $1,999,187 grant from BJA for a partnership with the City of Chattanooga for the Chattanooga United to Reduce Violence (CURV) initiative.
CURV, led by the city’s Office of Community Safety and Gun Violence Prevention, seeks to reduce gun violence in high-crime, highrisk neighborhoods through evidence-based, community-focused strategies. The initiative includes expanding structured after-school activities for youth, providing trauma-informed mental health services, offering wraparound support for families, and deploying violence interrupters—community members trained to deescalate potentially violent situations.
“Violence is often concentrated in specific neighborhoods and among young people who lack access to structured, supervised activities,” Dierenfeldt said. “By addressing these root causes and providing meaningful support, CURV aims to reduce opportunities for victimization and offending.”
Dierenfeldt said the three-year grant will allow UTC researchers to assess the impact of CURV’s strategies and provide data-driven insights to inform future violence prevention efforts.
“The research will involve multiple faculty, graduate students and a post-doctoral scholar hired specifically for this project,” he said. “It is an incredible opportunity to demonstrate our capacity for quality research, inform policy and practice, and stand united with the city of Chattanooga to reduce violence in our community.
“The fact that we have the support we do from the University and our community partners is awesome because that doesn’t happen everywhere.”
Donated to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2024, Raccoon Mountain Caverns is UTC’s newest classroom and research laboratory.
Located approximately 15 minutes southwest of campus, it is a complex cave system known for its extensive underground formations and diverse ecosystem.
Part of a karst system that includes a landscape characterized by caves, sinkholes and underground streams, Raccoon Mountain
Raccoon Mountain Caverns marks a monumental leap forward for UTC
Caverns has over 5.5 miles of explored passageways. Its formation dates back millions of years and is caused by the dissolution of soluble rocks like limestone.
From a business standpoint (which UTC will not manage), visitors can enjoy cave walking tours showcasing impressive geological formations like stalactites and flowstones.
From the research standpoint, Raccoon Mountain Caverns marks a monumental leap forward for UTC—particularly for the faculty and students within the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science.
“One of the greatest things about it is that it hits all disciplines of our department,” said BGE Department Head and UC Foundation Professor Gretchen Potts. “We have geology at the core, but ecology, biology and environmental science are all at play here.
“Raccoon Mountain Caverns opens up research possibilities that we’ve only dreamed of. We’ve always had big ideas. Now we have a big place to explore them.”
Dr. Steven Perlaky, a Chattanooga area emergency medicine physician, had owned Raccoon Mountain Caverns since 1995 before donating it to UTC.
“I had thought long and hard about the best future for the cave, and I believe that to be in UTC’s hands,” Perlaky said. “The reality is that the University, with contacts and students, will spur far more research interest … hopefully we’ll find some secrets—maybe in the DNA of some species, or maybe we’ll even discover new species.”
Vice Chancellor for Advancement and Executive Director of the UC Foundation Kim White explained the importance of philanthropy in creating such transformative opportunities for the University.
“The lasting impact this will have as a recruitment and retention tool for students and faculty, along with preserving the cavern for research and as a wildlife habitat for our community, will reap benefits for decades to come,” White said.
There are believed to be only seven other institutions across the country known to own a cave.
Raccoon Mountain Caverns is home to several rare and endangered species, many of which are uniquely adapted to the cave’s dark, isolated environment, making it a vital site for biodiversity research.
Among the most significant discoveries is the Crystal Caverns cave spider (Nesticus furtivus), which, as Perlaky explained, has “been isolated in this cave at least 5 million years to evolve into its own species.”
In addition to the spiders, the cave supports a range of species—from blind cave beetles and millipedes to salamanders and bats. The presence of these species—and the complex food web within the cave—offers immense potential for discoveries in evolutionary biology.
“We can drive out to the cave, conduct research and be back on campus all within a few hours,” Robert Lake Wilson Professor of Geology Amy Brock-Hon said. “That’s a luxury most universities don’t have.”
According to research assistance provided by the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, there are believed to be only seven other institutions across the country known to own a cave.
“The freedom that we are gaining to access Raccoon Mountain Caverns automatically presents another project for me to pursue,” Professor of Biology David Giles said. “There’s such rich ecological diversity, not just microbial within a cave system, that I could envision research projects of interest for many of our faculty—which would then trickle down to student experience in trying to make discoveries in a subterranean environment.”
The students who can afford to volunteer full-time often have a more competitive edge when applying to medical or PA school.
For pre-health students at UTC, finding time for unpaid hospital shadowing or volunteer work while holding down a job can be a challenge.
A new partnership between the UTC Center for Professional Education (CPE) and Erlanger Baroness Hospital is helping to eliminate that barrier, offering 10 students the opportunity to earn their Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) license for free with secure, paid employment at Erlanger.
Launched in August 2024, the program is designed for students interested in pursuing medical or physician assistant (PA) school. The initiative is a response to Erlanger’s shortage of CMAs in conjunction with students’ need for paid medical experience.
Theresa Blackman, assistant director of pre-health student services at UTC, described the program as a game changer for students who want careers in health care.
“We have an unending supply of students; every year, a student leaves for PA school or medical school and we’ve got more coming up in the ranks,” Blackman said. “It helps meet the community need because our students are helping people and they’re helping people in our community, which is really, really cool.”
According to Blackman, the students who can afford to volunteer full-time often have a more competitive edge when applying to medical or PA school.
“If you have someone who doesn’t have to work and can shadow and
a student.
volunteer in a hospital and not worry about having to hold down a job, they’re probably going to have a more competitive application,” she said. “For the students who can’t afford that, this program gives them the chance to have paid experience and work in the field they enjoy.”
After the semester-long CMA certification process, students in the program will have two work arrangement options: they can either work full-time for one year in an Erlanger-run clinical setting—ideal for those planning a gap year before professional school—or work part-time for two years, allowing them to gain experience while continuing their studies. Students are required to complete a minimum
of 1,095 hours within the one- or two-year period post-certification.
Among those in the CMA program is Carlie Epps, a sophomore pre-professional biology major from St. Petersburg, Florida.
“This opportunity has made the program so much more accessible and achievable for me as a student,” Epps said. “Becoming a CMA offers me the opportunity to not only deepen my knowledge of the medical field but also to engage in meaningful, direct patient care—a hands-on experience that can’t be learned in a classroom.”
After receiving her CMA license, Epps will participate in the two-year work program at Erlanger.
“It aligns well with my academic path as a sophomore, allowing me to immerse myself in both learning and practical experience without feeling rushed,” she said.
Skylen Casrill said that the experience would help her to be more prepared for medical school and her eventual career as a doctor.
“Being a medical assistant is becoming an extremely valuable job in health care,” said Casrill, a junior pre-professional biology major from Perry County, Tennessee. “I believe it will help me prepare by being immersed in the clinical environment, having the ability to take control of my future, and help a patient heal.”
Another pre-professional biology major, senior Ailene Le, said that—while her favorite part of the program is learning organ systems—the most valuable experience for her is learning the CMA’s administrative roles.
“It will help me understand clinical workplace dynamics, whether it be from CMA to CMA, CMA to physician or CMA to patient,” said Le, who hails from Franklin, Tennessee. “I believe that this experience will help me gain more insight into every person’s role in the clinic and gain a newfound respect for all those involved in patient care.”
With over 200 specialties in Erlanger-run clinics in the region, Blackman said there are plenty of opportunities for students to interact with different fields.
“Erlanger is a teaching hospital and there is a lot more access for students to learn things,” she said. “They can do everything from urgent care to pediatrics to oncology to sports medicine.”
CPE Workforce Development Specialist William Watson said the first half of the CMA program is online and covers medical law and ethics, terminology, anatomy and medical records management. The in-person training focuses on clinical skills such as taking vital signs, drawing blood, performing EKGs and learning pharmacology.
“We’re here to prepare them while they’re at school, but if you’re looking to go to medical school, UTC is really only a step in that journey,” Watson said. “I think it’s our responsibility to
identify opportunities for UTC students to improve and set themselves apart from other graduates all over the country.”
Both Blackman and Watson emphasized the program’s ability to give students the head start they need in such a competitive environment, especially for those who otherwise would not be able to afford medical opportunities.
“They’re not sure that they’re going to be able to pursue health care,” Blackman said, “and not because they’re not capable; it’s because they can’t afford it. I’m going to do everything in my power to remove that financial barrier. If they can do it, then I want them to do it.”
Watson said the CMA certification process and the experience at Erlanger will provide students with the skills, confidence and expertise they need to succeed.
“I appreciate the students’ willingness to go above and beyond what any other traditional students would expect to do in their four years,” he said. “I think that shows a level of maturity, but it also shows a level of dedication and ambition.”
For the past four years, the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) has called the UTC Fine Arts Center home, filling its halls with creativity, inspiration and exhibits that spark ideas for students envisioning their next artistic creations.
Prior to 2021, the ICA was known as the Cress Gallery of Art. Before that, it was the University Art Gallery.
As the Cress Gallery of Art, the Department of Art showcased the work of locals in the Chattanooga region—but mainly displayed work from students and faculty. Transforming the gallery to the ICA, the department strived to redefine the space’s purpose.
According to Angie To, the head of the Department of Art, the ICA “still serves students and faculty, but really the focus is bringing contemporary art to Chattanooga and the UTC campus.”
Rachel Waldrop has been director and curator of the UTC ICA—the first ICA in the state of Tennessee—since 2020.
Life inside the ICA showcases paintings that serve as windows to other worlds, housed within a space that stretches beyond the idea of a standard university art gallery. Rather, the ICA serves as an extension of Chattanooga’s culture and art.
“It’s definitely not one of those places where you feel out of place,” To said. “We really try to create a welcoming, friendly atmosphere for people.”
With the ICA housed alongside art classrooms, there is no shortage of creativity for art students to find. As they often walk through the gallery, they are surrounded by inspiration to create art and aspiration to have it displayed.
For senior art students, they are to curate a collection of art that is showcased in the ICA for a short period of time.
“It’s just a wonderful opportunity for our students to show their work in a professional environment,” To said, “but also in an environment that is right inside their learning environment—so it makes it feel like it’s definitely attainable.”
Every piece of art inside the ICA tells a story and—like any other museum—the pieces are carefully designed and selected to ensure the ICA maintains a strong sense of integrity and wonder.
Their ultimate goal is to preserve culture and inspire others.
“I think that it helps to open up a dialogue about the place of art in public life,” To said, “but also the fact that we’re on a University campus that celebrates liberal arts, visual arts and performing arts.”
In the future, To hopes they will be able to expand the ICA, allowing more space for art to be showcased and giving the department a chance to increase their reach.
“Our challenge has been to not only make sure that the University community understands that this is here,”
she said, “but also engaging more with the public and with the citizens of Chattanooga to really let them know that this is a wonderful resource for them.
“We have a pretty diverse audience of people that come through our building and we really want to make sure that the ICA is accessible to all of those people.”
The UTC Department of Theatre is introducing a new multi-disciplinary Film and TV Studies minor. Working with the Communication, English, and Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures departments, the new minor—coming in the 2025-26 academic year—will give students a flexible path that suits their interest in film and TV.
Steve Ray, head of the Department of Theatre, artistic director of the UTC Theatre Co. and coordinator of the Theatre Entrepreneurship concentration, is looking forward to this minor filling an area many students wish to pursue.
They“A lot of students are already making their own films, short films and video projects,” Ray said. “It gives them a way to learn more about how to do that better but also get credit for some of those projects.”
Ray highlighted UTC theatre professors who have worked in the film and television industry, explaining why students should be enthusiastic
“One of the things that should make them excited is this incredible group of local professionals and local film professors,” he said. “They have national reputations.
“(Faculty members include) well-known actors in the industry and some directors who have
Dylan Kussman and Anthony Sims both teach Introduction to Film at UTC and have been working as actors, directors and producers.
Kussman has acted in major films like “Dead Poets Society” and “The Mummy.” Sims directed a short film called “The Day After Stonewall Died,” which won the Cannes Short Film Festival in 2014.
UC Foundation Associate Professor Charlene Simmons was the interim Communication department head during the process of developing the new minor. She mentioned that the team focused on making this minor flexible for students “so it would meet a lot of different people’s interests.”
“We had a debate. ‘Do we require that they take a production class?’ We decided no,” Simmons recalled. “Not every student is going to want to make a film or TV show. Some are simply going to want to do criticism. They’re going to want to be able to read a text.
“On the flip side, we think everybody needs to have an understanding of film at the level of Introduction to Film. To be able to make films or television, you also need to understand the theoretical side. You need to have that critique or criticism background.”
Communication Lecturer Angelique Gibson teaches many production classes and is excited about what this minor can provide for students.
“Any student who’s going to do something interdisciplinary is going to have a wider view—a more multi-varied approach to how they’re able to tell stories or integrate in different parts of their career when they get out of here,” Gibson said. “When a student graduates with a film and television minor, the way that we’ve built it, they’ve gotten a chance to understand how the world works by having to take a world film class.
“They understand the history of film by taking that theatre class. If they get a chance to take a production class, they start to put all those pieces together, including whatever they’ve learned in their major—in order to tell a story using the paintbrushes they’ve been taught how to use.”
Gibson added that students have clamored for this type of minor during her seven years at UTC. She is thrilled to see it come to fruition.
“We’re connected all throughout the University,” she said, “and the students wanted it. There’s no reason not to give it to them.”
In summer 2024, four internationally recognized conductors came to UTC to share their expertise as part of the Summer Pedagogy and Conducting Institutes.
As part of the redesigned Master of Music in Music Education program, choral and instrumental institutes were held on UTC’s campus to provide participants with opportunities to advance their careers in music education.
“The workshops were designed to serve both enrolled graduate students in the Music Education program and practicing K-12 teachers,” College of Arts and Sciences Dean Pam Riggs-Gelasco said.
A benefit to the workshops, she said, was that people didn’t have to directly participate as conducting fellows to be involved in the experience.
“You could pay to participate as a conducting fellow so that you could get in front of a performing group and conduct (while receiving) mentorship from the clinicians,” she said, “or you could audit and play or sing in the ensemble. As an auditor, you learned about conducting through watching other people learn.”
Dr. Kenyon Wilson, head of the Department of Music and professor of applied tuba, said that some students who did not participate for credit included high school seniors who had enrolled at UTC.
“Several of them said, ‘I never thought my band director went through all this in order to improve themselves,’” Wilson said.
Associate Professor Alison Allerton played a significant role in redesigning the master’s program and described the Pedagogy and Conducting Institutes as the highlight of the program.
“Each week, we brought in a new, internationally recognized practitioner to be a guest instructor,” Allerton said, “so our students were able to learn from some of the biggest names in conducting and music education without leaving Chattanooga.”
Week One, which ran from June 10-14, featured Dr. Mary Schneider from Eastern Michigan University for the Instrumental Institute and Dr. Kristina Caswell MacMullen from Baylor University for the Choral Institute.
Week Two, which took place June 17-21, welcomed Dr. Kevin Sedatole from Michigan State University for the Instrumental Institute and Dr. John Dickson, professor emeritus from Louisiana State University, for the Choral Institute.
According to Professor of Music and UTC Director of Bands Randall Coleman, the Master of Music in Music Education program offers the “best of both worlds” for the contemporary music educator.
“As an online program with a twoweek summer intensive program that is on campus,” Coleman said, “our students can complete their coursework without giving up their current job and also have the opportunity to work with national and international leaders in our field during the two-week summer program.”
Dr. Lee Harris, coordinator of music education, continues to oversee Kodály music education courses offered each summer.
Harris established the Kodály Institute at UTC in 2000, offering a three-week workshop format that trains music teachers in Kodály-based music instruction.
“The coolness factor is evident in the hands-on experiences provided to our participants as they strengthen their musicianship, pedagogy and conducting skills,” Harris said.
UTC alum Molly Epperson, the band director at East Hamilton High School in Ooltewah, Tennessee, participated in the 2023 instrumental institute of the conducting workshops.
“What I learned from them and the experience I had on the podium with that ensemble will stay with me for the rest of my career,” Epperson said. “The connections made with the two clinicians as well as with the other members of the ensemble have already been invaluable.”
Exploring the impact of the Supreme Court on a landmark Chattanooga case
This landmark case was the only criminal trial ever held by the Supreme Court and underscored the Court’s authority to enforce its orders and ensure the protection of constitutional rights.
Dr. Michelle Deardorff was beaming as she shared her thoughts on the success of the program.
For two weeks in June 2024, UTC and Deardorff—the Adolph S. Ochs Professor of Government in the Department of Political Science and Public Service—played host to “The Supreme Court and My Hometown,” a collaboration that included the Supreme Court Historical Society and the United States District Court’s Eastern District of Tennessee.
During that period, 20 local high school students participated in a day camp to investigate the federal courts, African American history and the impact of Supreme Court decisions.
“The program exceeded all of our expectations,” Deardorff said. “We’ve been planning this for about a year—the court, UTC, myself representing UTC and the Supreme Court Historical Society—and really thinking about what this could look like.”
Deardorff explained that “The Supreme Court and My Hometown” is an immersive, inperson civics education program for area high school students. Each program is sponsored and supported by the local federal court in partnership with the Supreme Court Historical Society. In the federal court system’s present form, 94 district-level trial courts and 13 courts of appeals sit below the Supreme Court.
During each program, students study a Supreme Court case that originated in their hometown; engage with the case’s constitutional questions and procedural history; examine how the judicial branch interacts with the other two branches of government; create a capstone project to promote increased understanding about the case; and learn from legal mentors, professors and historians.
The students who participated in the UTC camp learned about the 1906 Ed Johnson case that went to the Supreme Court as United States v. Shipp.
This landmark case was the only criminal trial ever held by the Supreme Court and underscored the Court’s authority to enforce its orders and ensure the protection of constitutional rights.
In that case, Hamilton County Sheriff Joseph F. Shipp and several co-defendants were charged with contempt of court for their involvement in the lynching of Johnson, an African American man. Johnson had been convicted of raping a white woman and was granted a stay of execution by Justice John Marshall Harlan pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Despite the stay, Shipp and his co-defendants failed to protect Johnson, who was forcibly taken from jail by a mob and lynched.
Deardorff said the students spent time in courthouses, went on tours, and heard speakers
talk about how the law works, “and now they are synthesizing all this information for a public history display.”
Five college students, including four from UTC, assisted in providing support for the high school students.
Political science major Nadine Habonimana said it was “very insightful getting to do this program.”
“It’s definitely not something that was around when I was in high school, especially with the depth that we’re getting into with the history and the court system itself,” Habonimana said.
Mychael Allen-Fennessee, a history major with an Africana Studies minor, said he enjoyed the mentorship aspect.
“It’s been awesome because a lot of the questions the kids are having are like, ‘Oh wow, how could someone do something like that?’ Or, ‘How could this happen?’ he explained. “They don’t understand the historical context of how (the court system) got to where it is today and how we have so many protections that we do today.
“Being able to look at the problems or the ills of our system in the past and seeing how they were fixed … Those steps are very fascinating.”
For 20 years, the UTC Department of Psychology has hosted the River Cities Industrial-Organizational Psychology Conference (RCIO), where people across the country come to learn about I-O psychology and opportunities available to those who decide to pursue human resources and other related fields.
I-O psychology is made up of industrial psychology, which works primarily on matching people to jobs they may be good at, and organizational psychology, which helps to determine how a workplace impacts its employees.
“This degree is used in every industry all over the world,” said Guerry Professor and UC Foundation Professor Chris Cunningham, the
“It’s a way for us to highlight UTC,” Cunningham said. “It’s a way for our students to realize that this is kind of a big deal.”
The conference, he said, gives students the chance to immerse themselves in the field beyond what they can learn in the classroom.
“There are certain topics in our field that are too big and too multifaceted to cover in any one class,” Cunningham explained. “By hosting a conference every year, we get to take a theme that’s current and usually complicated—and we get to bring together a set of presenters who are all working on things that are somehow related to that theme.”
In 2024, the conference’s theme was “Employee Value Propositions,” focusing on how employers can best support their employees. Chosen for its relevance in today’s world, the theme allowed attendees to explore an avenue of I-O psychology that has limited research.
“We’re always trying to find something current,” Cunningham said, “but also something that has a practitioner value, something that we think will allow these students to be better practitioners.”
As part of the conference, registrants may present their research and receive feedback from professionals and other researchers in the field—allowing students to gain hands-on learning experience while making meaningful
“People are trying to learn, so nobody’s trying to show how smart they are or how badly they can poke holes in your research—just how to help you complete the research that you’re undertaking,” said Associate Professor and Department Head Brian O’Leary.
As leaders of the I-O psychology program at UTC, O’Leary and Cunningham find attending conferences to be an important learning opportunity for students. Often, they hear from students after the RCIO conference that they knew more than they thought they did.
“A lot of times our students will come back and say, ‘We made the right choice coming to UTC,’”
Cunningham said.
Northern Kentucky University initially hosted the RCIO conference, but O’Leary and Cunningham were happy to bring it to Chattanooga when the
“It’s a nice, inviting atmosphere, and lots of knowledge and research is being shared,” O’Leary said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s just fun for everybody who comes.”
As they prepare for the 50th anniversary of the I-O program this fall, they aim to showcase UTC as a top school for future I-O psychologists.
“We’re not doing clinical or counseling work,” Cunningham said. “We’re helping organizations function better—but we’re doing that in a way that also is protecting and promoting health, safety and well-being in the employees.”
UTC Assistant Professor of Sociology Zach Simoni is exploring how social class shapes the experiences of family members caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease.
His research paper, “Social class and informal caregiving for family members with Alzheimer’s disease: the role of economic capital, cultural health capital, and social capital,” was accepted for publication in Sociological Spectrum—the official journal of the Mid-South Sociological Association. The article examined the disparities between wealthier and less affluent caregivers, highlighting the significant role that economic resources and social networks play in managing the burdens of caregiving.
Simoni said the study’s findings have significant implications for the future of Alzheimer’s care, particularly as the American population continues to age and the number of people living with the disease increases.
“The biggest takeaway from my research is the need for more support for caregivers,” Simoni explained. “Whether it’s through access to home health aides, better communication with health care providers, or simply more information about available resources, there’s a clear need for a more equitable approach to caregiving.
“The number of people caregiving for family members with Alzheimer’s is likely to increase. Thus, the need for equitable approaches towards long-term care for Alzheimer’s disease patients is paramount.”
Specializing in the sociology of health and illness, Simoni said his work is focused on how cultural and social structural issues impact health outcomes and access to health care. His latest study, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, involved gathering data from a diverse group of caregivers ranging in age from 18 to 78.
Simoni explained that he collected both qualitative stories and quantitative data on factors such as social class, race and other demographics. The approach allowed him to capture a broad spectrum of caregiving
experiences, providing a comprehensive view of how social class influences the challenges and strategies employed by caregivers.
“Wealthier caregivers had more resources at their disposal,” said Simoni, who joined the UTC faculty in 2019. “They were able to draw on their economic resources, which makes a lot of sense, but they also seem to have higher amounts of what we call ‘cultural health capital’—the knowledge and experience in terms of navigating the health care system.”
He said this allowed them to navigate medical environments with greater ease, fostering stronger relationships with doctors and health care providers. These caregivers were more adept at understanding medical terminology, asking pertinent questions and advocating for the needs of their loved ones.
“In the literature, the term is ‘habitus,’” Simoni said. “It’s the idea that certain social classes develop a way of being, or a set of habits and dispositions, that are valuable within specific fields, like health care. The upper-class caregivers in my study had this habitus—they knew the language to use, they knew how to get what their family members needed, and they felt more at ease in these settings.”
However, Simoni said the study also highlighted the resilience and resourcefulness of lower-income caregivers who faced significantly more challenges in accessing resources.
Lacking the financial means to easily navigate the health care system, these caregivers turned to their social networks for support. Friends, family and community members played a critical role in helping them manage the day-to-day responsibilities of caregiving.
“Lower-income caregivers didn’t have the same level of economic resources, but they were incredibly resourceful,” Simoni explained. “They used their social capital—relationships within their communities—to get the help they needed. This was in contrast to wealthier caregivers, who didn’t rely as much on these social networks.”
work experience outside the classroom.
Lecturer David Norman and Assistant Professor Anthony Cepak led the course, which was a combination of Public Relations Campaigns and Publication Design II classes. The students in the course were divided into groups of four and assigned a nonprofit to work with throughout the semester.
While this course was initially introduced during the spring 2024 semester, students are already seeing the fruits of their labor. One recent alum, Maddi Myers-Osband, landed a job with a nonprofit after graduation, and one group was nominated for a Public Media Award presented by the National Educational Telecommunications Association.
“This was their opportunity to be creative and do whatever they want to help the client,” Norman said, “and obviously, from the other perspective, this is great for not-for-profits because pretty much all the not-for-profits we have dealt with are understaffed, underfunded. They love the opportunity to have good UTC students helping them out for a period of time.”
It wasn’t a normal internship where students learn on the job, he said. Instead, they actively put together plans and campaigns to help the organization and then implement them.
“They met with the clients. They talked to them about how they could help during the next three months of the semester. They actually put together a public relations plan for them,”
Norman said. “They actually implemented the plan based on what they figured out with the client. This allowed students to get real-life, hands-on experience working for a client.”
Myers-Osband was the account supervisor for her team in spring 2024 and—after earning a bachelor’s degree in communication—began working full-time for Lookout Mountain Conservancy, a nonprofit organization. During her time at UTC, she also minored in sociology and environmental studies.
“It definitely eased the transition because it feels … I’ve already walked the steps, and I’ve kind of had someone helping me through that, and now I’m able to go out and have a lot more confidence in what I’m doing, especially since I’m not even a year out of college,” Myers-Osband said. “Having that experience has definitely allowed me to have that confidence moving forward, especially when I’m meeting people who have been in the industry for a really long time.”
During her Lookout Mountain Conservancy internship days, Myers-Osband and her group completely redesigned the website and logo for ChaTech, a local nonprofit. She credits the class for her transition to the business world.
“Having that experience has definitely allowed me to have that confidence moving forward, especially when I’m meeting people who have
been in the industry for a really long time,” Myers-Osband said.
Gracee Morrow was in the fall semester course and was the account supervisor for her team.
“Since we worked with nonprofit organizations, the people didn’t have all the help in the world, and implementing what we learned all of college is awesome,” Morrow said. “To see it actually produced was probably the most rewarding. We were there for them, their right hand at all times, and they don’t get this all the time. This is something that’s special.”
The workshop was created as a platform for writers to engage in an open exchange of ideas, works and readings. In addition, the workshop’s continual mission is to provide UTC students and underserved community members with greater access to the literary arts.
The Meacham Writers’ Workshop, which connects established writers from across the country with local authors, students and novice writers, returns to the UTC campus from March 20-22. The free, public workshop coincides with Meacham’s 40th anniversary, with efforts underway to strengthen its connection to the Chattanooga community.
By building partnerships with schools and youth programs, Meacham aims to expand its reach and foster lasting collaborations. These initiatives are designed to enhance access to UTC’s distinctive educational model, benefiting the community while enriching the academic and creative experiences of students and faculty.
The workshop was created as a platform for writers to engage in an open exchange of ideas, works and readings. In addition, the workshop’s continual mission is to provide UTC students and
underserved community members with greater access to the literary arts.
The event is primarily funded by an endowment established by the late Jean Meacham—a professor and assistant dean of students at UTC—in memory of her husband, Ellis K. Meacham. The aim is to promote writing as an expressive art and to connect University writers with the broader community.
“The Meacham Writers’ Workshop brings together a diverse and talented group of writers to engage deeply with both the University and the wider Chattanooga community,” said UC Foundation Professor Sybil Baker, the workshop director and associate chair of the UTC Department of English.
“This event continues to be a space where people interested in the literary arts of all levels—students, emerging voices and
established authors—can connect, share their work and learn from one another.”
UTC alums who have benefitted from and participated in past Meacham Writers’ Workshops include recipients of the MacArthur Genius Award and the Whiting Award—a prestigious literary prize given annually to emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama.
The October 2024 event was highlighted by visiting writers Tomás Q. Morín and Ira Sukrungruang and spring 2023 Meacham Fellow Christian J. Collier.
Morín is the author of “Where Are You From: Letters to My Son,” the memoir “Let Me Count the Ways,” and the poetry collections “Machete,” “Patient Zero” and “A Larger Country.” An associate professor in creative writing and associate chair of the Department of English at Rice University in Texas, Morín is the recipient of fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation.
Sukrungruang is the author of four nonfiction
books, “This Jade World,” “Buddha’s Dog & Other Meditations,” “Southside Buddhist” and “Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy;” the short story collection “The Melting Season;” and the poetry collection “In Thailand It Is Night.” He is the Richard L. Thomas Professor of Creative Writing at Kenyon College in Ohio and the president of Sweet: A Literary Confection—a literary nonprofit organization.
Collier, who resides in Chattanooga, is the author of “Greater Ghost” and the chapbook “The Gleaming of the Blade”—the 2021 editors’ selection from Bull City Press. His works have appeared in The Atlantic, Poetry, December, and elsewhere. A 2015 Loft Spoken Word Immersion Fellow, he also won the 2022 Porch Prize in Poetry and the 2020 ProForma Contest from Grist Journal.
Sponsors of the October 2024 Meacham Writers’ Workshop included the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of English, the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, the Latin American Studies program, the George C. Connor Professorship, the Division of Advancement and Alumni Affairs, HOLA and Stove Works.
The UTC Department of History hosted the Southern Labor Studies Association (SLSA) conference at various locations on campus in September 2024, bringing together scholars, labor activists and community members to explore the rich history and evolving dynamics of labor in the southern United States.
The bi-annual SLSA conference, titled “Crossroads of Resistance,” focused on the intersection of rising reactionary movements and opportunities for radical change in southern labor history. The event included various activities such as breakout sessions, film screenings and performances—all aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of the historical and current struggles of southern working people.
UC Foundation Associate Professor of American History Michael Thompson was the event’s local organizer.
“Hosting this conference at UTC provided an opportunity to showcase our beautiful campus and city while highlighting some of Chattanooga’s rich labor history,” Thompson said. “Chattanooga historically has been
described as a borderland and at a crossroads of the upper and lower Souths— where ‘corn met cotton’ and enslavement gave way to freedom. It also was a great transportation hub where rail, river and road passengers crisscrossed the landscape.
“Working people in Chattanooga and throughout the South today remain at a crossroads as efforts to organize southern workspaces and improve labor and living conditions intensify.”
The mission of the SLSA is to promote the study, teaching, and preservation of the history of southern labor through activities that encourage dialogue and discussion about key issues and events relevant to the past and present of labor in the South.
“A few years ago, when I first found out that there was a Southern Labor Studies Association and there were documentary filmmakers, musicians, activists and academics beyond the historical discipline, it felt like a really good fit for me,” Thompson recalled, “so it was terrific to bring the conference here.”
Integrated Studies offers a flexible program for traditional, transfer and adult students. Tailored course plans integrate disciplines, prior college credits and workplace training to create unique majors.
The UTC Integrated Studies program offers a path for students to finish their studies in a way that fits their needs.
Dr. Amanda Clark, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Erica Holmes-Trujillo, director of the college’s Student Success Center, are the interim co-directors of the program and aim to fill the needs of these undergraduates.
“There were a number of students that had chosen UTC and—for whatever reason—had not been able to complete their original program,” Holmes-Trujillo said. “That might be a bottleneck of courses. It might be GPA requirements for majors. It might just be realizing three years in that I am not interested in this content anymore.”
Integrated Studies offers a flexible program for traditional, transfer and adult students. Tailored course plans integrate disciplines, prior college credits and workplace training to create unique majors. The program combines already completed courses with new courses students wish to finish to graduate with a Bachelor of Integrated Studies.
“We saw that potential with integrated studies as a way to utilize the work that they’d already done and create a clear path to graduation,” Holmes-Trujillo said.
Another way the program caters to students is through a capstone course experience.
“This capstone really helps the student articulate what their skill set and abilities are so that they are marketable when they leave with the degree,” Clark explained.
“Integrated study students almost always have earned a lot of credit hours in several different areas, but they don’t nicely meet the degree requirements in any one particular area. The program offers so much hope to students who feel like they’ve been succeeding at completing the classes but don’t feel like they’re getting any traction toward the completion of a degree.”
Throughout their teaching journeys, UTC faculty members Edwin and Krysta Murillo have lived by a Mark Twain quote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
Accompanying students on summer abroad excursions has become a passion for the Murillos.
Following the completion of the spring 2025 semester, Dr. Edwin Murillo, an associate professor of Spanish and director of Latin American studies, will lead students on a summer abroad program in Costa Rica, his father’s homeland.
As a professor in the UTC Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures (MCLL), he creates “bridges to other cultures. Like (Mark) Twain said, travel is deadly for prejudice. You cannot meet other people and still be prejudiced.”
Murillo keeps busy inside and outside the classroom. He is currently working on his third book about Colombian existentialism, having published “Midnight Vallenato” (Floricanto Press, 2019) and “Latin America and Existentialism” (University of Wales Press, 2023). His second book is an intellectual history that prioritizes literature and contextualizes philosophical contributions from the 1860s to the late 1930s—the foundation of the Latin American existential canon.
He defines existentialism as a cultural phenomenon—most recognizable in its philosophical and literary manifestations—that is concerned with human existence, its purpose and meaning. It “proposes that each person is responsible for creating (giving) value to their life,” he said. “Without an Almighty God, destiny is not written. In this world, choosing and acting are essential.”
A first-generation college graduate, Murillo earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology and Spanish and Hispanic cultures at
the University of Houston before completing his doctorate in romance languages at the University of Miami. Since joining UTC in 2016, he has worked to inspire MCLL students to expand their worldviews through study abroad and crosscultural engagement.
Edwin’s wife, Dr. Krysta Murillo, has made her own mark at UTC. An associate professor in the School of Education, she specializes in early childhood education, play studies, and family and community partnerships. A Butterfield Fellow and key contributor to UTC’s Upward Bound and TRIO programs, she helps firstgeneration and low-income students access and succeed in higher education.
“What we do through our programming is create bridges to other cultures for our students in UTC,” Edwin said. “You begin to see the humanity in all of humanity when you get out of your comfort zone.”
Explained Krysta, “That first generation of college graduates is such a big deal coming from an immigrant household. To overcome some of those generational challenges to get an education, be the first in your family, is a huge hurdle. It’s a big deal.”
Last summer as part of his Professional Development Leave, Edwin traveled to a conference in Valencia, Spain, and a weeklong research trip to Portugal—another language he is fluent in. Earlier in the year, he visited his mother’s native Colombia.
His current, ongoing book—which will be written in Spanish—will be a product of those research trips.
In March 2024, he gave the keynote address at the Global Forum at Penn State University, Berks. Titled “Latin America and Its Malcontents,” the speech focused on the influence of European thinkers throughout the Spanish and Portuguesespeaking Americas and examined neglected central cultural figures such as the late Fernando González, a Colombian writer and existentialist philosopher known as “el filósofo de Otraparte.”
The opportunity to walk where students study in textbooks or see historical figures’ impact firsthand doesn’t come around often, but one UTC professor has spent the academic year witnessing history in the flesh.
Dr. Irven Resnick, a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and Chair of Excellence in Judaic Studies, is spending most of the 2024-25 academic year in Essen, Germany, after being selected as a senior fellow at the College for Social Sciences and Humanities at the University Alliance Ruhr/ Research Alliance.
Working with Ruhr University Bochum colleague Dr. Alexandra Cuffel, Resnick is working on a research project focusing on Albert the Great, a philosopher and theologian from the Middle Ages.
“I’ve been working on Albert the Great for most of my career,” Resnick explained. “He is a distinguished medieval naturalist. In other words—apart from theology—he was principally interested in zoology, botany, the natural world and conducted experiments. He was a really fascinating figure for someone from the 13th century.”
Resnick and Cuffel planned conferences in Germany and Italy to discuss a different aspect of Albert the Great’s life. Together, they realized that the philosopher’s understanding of health and disease during the time had not yet been explored.
“He had an important influence on medical education in the early modern period, the later middle ages and the early modern period,” Resnick said. “Medical students were reading it— and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to focus on this topic. It hadn’t really been explored.
“I’m interested in what influence he had on the medical training and the medical education of students in the 16th and 17th centuries. Do we still feel that influence today? Are there things
that perhaps he contributed that are still part of medical education or the medical curriculum?”
These conferences, Resnick said, aim to dive deeper into Albert the Great and learn something new from a new generation of eyes. The majority of the people attending these conferences are professors and researchers from all around the world.
“I’m hoping that the other presenters in the conference open my eyes to some aspects of Albert’s work and philosophy that I was not aware of,” Resnick said. “I’m also looking forward to having the opportunity to sit down and have a meal with people that I have actually corresponded with via email for years.
“Particularly, I’m interested in some of the younger colleagues. Some of the younger researchers I’ve been reading their work. I’m reading their material
These conferences, Resnick said, aim to dive deeper into Albert the Great and learn something new from a new generation of eyes.
as they’re developing their interest in Albert, and I’m looking forward to meeting them. They bring new insights. The opportunity for all of us to get together and sit down over a meal and share our research is a great experience.”
Resnick hopes that universities from around the globe will be able to create study-abroad experiences for students at UTC.
“One of the great advantages that one has studying—say intellectual history—in Germany or in Europe … generally there’s evidence of that history wherever you turn,” he said. “When I was in Trier touring the Roman ruins and medieval sites, I would very much have loved to have the opportunity to have students with me so that we could do a walking tour of a medieval city.
“Trier is the oldest city in Germany. It was founded under the Caesars in the first century. There’s evidence of that history literally wherever you turn. That’s a great advantage if you’re teaching history to be able to walk out the door and see it right in front of you.”
Dr. Irven Resnick standing in front of the sarcophagus of St. Albertus Magnus in the crypt of the 11th century Sankt Andreas Kirche in Cologne.
UTC Department of Mathematics Assistant Professor Xiunan Wang is drawing international recognition for her work in mathematical modeling to forecast the spread of infectious diseases.
Wang, who joined UTC in August 2021 and specializes in mathematical biology, served as lead author for a paper published in the prestigious SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics in which she proposed a novel discrete inverse method for estimating the transmission rates of infectious diseases.
“Her research is getting a good deal of press coverage, including outlets like the CBC in Canada and BioSpace in the United States,” Department Head Chris Cox said. “To get an article published in one of the SIAM journals is a big deal.”
A native of Tieling, China, Wang said she developed her passion for applied mathematics during her undergraduate studies at
Southwest University in Chongqing, China—where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and applied mathematics and a master’s degree in applied mathematics.
“In my second year, I attended a mathematical modeling contest and won a prize,” she recalled. “I collaborated with a team of my classmates and found it very interesting.”
Wang then traveled to Canada to continue her education. She received her Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2017 and spent one year as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Western Ontario.
She started her postdoc fellowship at the University of Alberta in September 2018 and was there nearly three years before coming to UTC.
“At the University of Alberta, I broadened my research area, including not only epidemiology but also ecology,” she said, “because there are some deeper connections between epidemiology and ecology.”
Wang’s research took on new importance in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had an urgent need to forecast how many people are infected each day in the United States or Canada,” she said. “We developed a hybrid method combining the strengths of differential equations and machine learning to forecast how many people were infected each day.”
director of the Interdisciplinary Lab for Mathematical Ecology and Epidemiology, and applied the method to forecast transmission rates of various infectious diseases— including COVID-19, influenza and measles.
The researchers showed that the properties of transmissibility and number of infections can be quite different.
“Usually the data on the website, given by the CDC or some health department, are about how many people are infected each day, but they never tell the value of the transmission rates,” Wang said. “The value of transmission rates are not observable and cannot be recorded—and that is where we, as mathematicians, can help.
“The forecast is quite accurate. Hopefully that can provide some guidance for policymakers to design some control measures for the disease.”
Wang has quickly made her mark since arriving at UTC, Cox said.
“Her contributions have been recognized both locally and internationally and she has published 24 peer-reviewed papers,” he said. “To have 24 papers published in refereed journals … referee journals have very high standards. For many faculty, that’s a lifetime of work.”
Deborah Barr, administrative specialist for the Department of Mathematics, echoed those sentiments.
“Being an only child, she lights up when we talk about her family and culture,”
The forecast, called the “discrete inverse method,” served as a bridge between differential equations and machine learning.
She collaborated with University of Alberta Professor Hao Wang, the Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Mathematical Biosciences and
Barr said. “She is incredibly observant and intelligent. She always brings a thoughtful perspective to our conversations and I love how her curious, research-driven mind shines.”
Thanks to an almost $800,000 funding award from the National Science Foundation, the Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) program at UTC is off to a great start.
The grant funding will be awarded incrementally over three years, concluding in October 2027. It will enable the hiring of postdoctoral researchers, graduate students and undergraduates—and the purchase of specialized instruments—for a research project overseen by Dr. Tian Li.
Li is the UTC Quantum Center’s chief technology officer and an assistant professor of physics. Collaborating with him on the project is Dr. Girish Agarwal, a Texas A&M University professor of biological and agricultural engineering with a joint appointment in physics and astronomy.
They will investigate “a novel theoretical and experimental scheme for demonstrating distributed quantum sensing on a metropolitanscale fiber-optic quantum network in downtown Chattanooga.”
That would be the EPB Quantum Network powered by Qubitekk, Inc. Launched in late 2022, it is the world’s first softwarereconfigurable commercial quantum network— and UTC is connected via its Quantum Node Lab on campus. So, what is “distributed quantum sensing?” And how is it demonstrated?
First is the creation of pairs—or multiple sets—of entangled particles.
“Among all particles that can be manipulated quantum mechanically, photons are of particular interest to us, as instruments for producing entangled photon pairs are now commercially available with Quibitekk being a leading vendor,” Li said. “However, the efficient generation of multipartite entanglement, such as 3- or 4-partite entanglement, remains an active area of research in the current QISE community and is currently being explored” by Li and his postdoctoral researcher at UTC.
Li’s research involves distributing entangled particles through the quantum network, preserving the entanglement so that if one particle is changed, the other changes instantly—no matter how far apart they are. Li and his collaborators will conduct measurements on the particles at different locations on the network to verify that the entanglement was maintained.
“The biggest hurdle for us is to distribute the entanglement. Once that is achieved, then there’s just a use case for the sensing application. I don’t think that will actually be too difficult once we have the entanglement distributed,” Li said.
He described the project’s objective as seeking to bridge the gap between proof-ofconcept, in-lab demonstration and practical, real-world implementation.
Collaboration among UTC, Texas A&M, Qubitekk and EPB will expand UTC’s QISE research capacity and broaden participation in QISE.
Asked about a hypothetical, real-world use case, Li described the need for superior accuracy and speed in assessing energy consumption in power grids, adding that “quantum distributed sensing can revolutionize energy consumption estimation in power grids by deploying entangled quantum sensors across key grid nodes to provide highly accurate, real-time data.”
UTC’s Quantum Node Lab will serve as the testbed for the project. Collaboration among UTC, Texas A&M, Qubitekk and EPB will expand UTC’s QISE research capacity and broaden participation in QISE.
“Most current experimental quantum sensing demonstrations are limited to measuring physical quantities at a single location or distributed sensing of multiple physical quantities within a controlled lab environment,” Li wrote in the proposal. “There is no concrete manifestation of distributed quantum sensing on a deployed commercial network infrastructure thus far.”
Research findings and results will enhance learning for students enrolled in the QISE certificate program at UTC, which was developed to upskill technology professionals in surrounding communities.
“I am thrilled about this significant funding, which will greatly expand UTC’s participation in the QISE research arena,” Li said. “This opportunity will not only enhance our capacity for groundbreaking research but also provide invaluable learning and hands-on experience for both graduate and undergraduate students.”
During the summer of 2024, a trio of research proposals led by UTC Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science faculty members secured over $1.8 million in external grant and contract awards.
Dr. Francesca Leasi, in collaboration with Florida International University, received $696,680 from the National Science Foundation for the project titled “The Evolution of Salinity Tolerance in Monogonont Rotifers.”
Dr. David Giles was the principal investigator for a $396,750 grant received from the National Institutes of Health for the project titled “In vitro and in silico investigations of changes in bacterial cell membrane dynamics due to polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) modifications.”
Dr. Loren Hayes and Dr. Azad Hossain were coPIs on a $749,999 grant from the National Science Foundation for the project titled “Integrating biological, geospatial, and math modeling to understand how a changing climate impacts animal social systems.”
Leasi’s four-year NSF-RUI (National Science Foundation Facilitating Research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions) project aims to understand how certain microscopic aquatic organisms, called monogonont rotifers, can survive changes in their environment—specifically salinity (salt level) fluctuations caused by climate and environmental changes.
These tiny animals, she said, play a critical role in maintaining ecological balance by recycling organic matter and serving as a food source for larger species.
“Natural salinity fluctuations occur because of seasonal water evaporation and rainfalls, tide dynamics and extreme weather events like hurricanes and drought,” Leasi said.
“Unfortunately, global warming is greatly intensifying salinity variation by increasing the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events and, more gradually, raising sea level. Many times, estuaries get diluted or rivers become more saline, and microscopic life typically can’t withstand such a variation. But some of these animals have been found in a very broad
salinity range. The question is, how do they cope with that? What does it take to survive climate and environmental changes?”
Giles’ three-year NIH grant will explore how Vibrio cholerae—a type of bacteria that can cause serious disease if left untreated—takes in fatty acids and how the changes to its membrane might make it more or less resistant to treatments. By using laboratory techniques and computer modeling, the study will uncover how these fatty acids alter the bacteria’s membrane, potentially revealing new ways to combat infections.
The grant aims to explore the “intriguing ability” of many bacteria to acquire fatty acids from their environment,” he said.
“We’ve known that bacteria can take in fatty acids to generate energy because they are carbon sources,” Giles said. “But over the last decade, I’ve focused on showing that many bacteria also use fatty acids they can’t produce themselves but can absorb from their environment for other purposes, like altering their membranes.”
Hayes and Hossain were co-PIs on a five-year NSF-IRES (International Research Experiences for Students) cross-disciplinary research grant project involving biology, geology and mathematics that aims to explore how environmental conditions influence animal social systems and reproductive success—focusing on the social behavior of a small rodent species in Chile called Octodon degus.
Over the grant period, 30 undergraduate and graduate students will work with experts from Chilean universities, gaining experience in project planning, data analysis and manuscript preparation while learning skills like behavioral observation, social network analysis, geospatial analysis and mathematical modeling.
“It’s rewarding to involve students in this research, helping them develop skills that will make them competitive for jobs or academic positions,” Hayes said.
“The strength of this project is in combining Loren’s long-term behavioral data with geospatial information, allowing us to identify patterns and predict future changes,” Hossain said.
The Faculty Publications spotlight celebrates recent books authored by College of Arts and Sciences faculty, showcasing their expertise across disciplines. These titles highlight the breadth of scholarship within the college and the unique perspectives our faculty bring to their fields at UTC.
Dr. Andrew Denney
Assistant Professor
“Criminology & Criminal Justice: A Survey” “Media & Crime: Contemporary Issues“
Dr. Emma McDonell
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
“The Quinoa Bust: The Making and Unmaking of an Andean Miracle Crop”
Sybil Baker
Meacham Professor “Apparitions“
2024 IPPY Gold Medal Winner
Russell Helms Senior Lecturer “Sympathy”
J. Kasper Kramer
Adjunct Instructor “Eyes on the Sky”
Andrew Najberg
Senior Lecturer
“The Mobius Door” “Gollitok”
“The Neverborn Thief” “In Those Fading Stars: A Collection of Short Fiction”
“Fighting Fermi: A collection of poems” “Try Not to Die: In the Shadowlands”
Kris Whorton
Senior Lecturer “Alchemy”
Earl S. Braggs
Herman H. Battle Professor of African American Studies
“Moving To Neptune: New & Selected“
The subjects of these titles are as varied as the faculty who wrote them— covering topics in the many disciplines within the College of Arts and Sciences. Each publication represents the ongoing work of UTC faculty to contribute to conversations in their fields and beyond.
Dr. Carmen Jimenez
Associate Professor
“Ser libre era bueno: Una traducción”
Dr. Edwin Murillo
Associate Professor
“Latin America and Existentialism: A PanAmerican Literary History (1864-1938)”
Dr. Jonathan Yeager
LeRoy A. Martin Professor of Religious Studies
“Understanding and Teaching Religion in US History”
Dr. Michelle Deardorff, et al
Adolph S. Ochs Professor of Government
“American Democracy Now (Eighth Edition ed.)”
Dr. Michelle Evans, et al
Associate Professor
“Intersectionality and Crisis Management: A Path to Social Equity”
Dr. Marcus D. Mauldin
Associate Professor
“Playing the Policy Game: Basic Knowledge and Skills for Effective Policy Process Participation”
Dorthy Stephens
Adjunct Instructor
“Psychology of the Black Experience: An Anthology”
Dr. Kathryn Taylor
Assistant Professor
“Ordering Customs: Ethnographic Thought in Early Modern Venice”
Talley Bettens (MS, Research Psychology, 2021) received a $120,741 graduate research fellowship from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to support her dissertation research titled “Schoolhouse interrogations and confessions: Perspectives from principals and students at George Mason University.”
Shelby Glover (MPA, 2024) was one of two recipients of the Tennessee City Management Association’s Master of Public Administration Scholarship in 2023.
Arsen Martyshchuk (MPA, 2024) was selected for the City of Minneapolis’ Urban Scholars program and worked with the city’s Transportation Planning Division on urban mobility improvement projects, street redesigns, and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects.
Lola Oke (BS, Political Science and Public Service: International and Comparative Studies, 2023) was awarded the Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship to prepare for a career in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State.
Clariece Miller Paulk (BM, Music, 1960) was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. College of Preachers and Laity at Morehouse College. This recognition is particularly remarkable because Clariece, along with her son, Pastor D.E. Paulk, are the only mother and son duo to be honored.
Emily Patton (BS, Environmental Science, and BA, Humanities: International Studies, 2024) was selected to be a Portz Scholar.
Allison Quintanilla Plattsmier (BS, Political Science: Public Administration and Nonprofit Management, 2015) is the executive director of Empowering Neighborhood Partnerships. She was named one of Nashville Business Journal’s 2024 Women of Influence.
Olivia Reeves (BS, Sociology, 2024) is UTC’s first Olympic gold medalist and world record holder in women’s weightlifting.
Dylan Rivera (BS, Political Science and Public Service: Public Policy, 2020) is the director of policy planning and implementation for the City of Chattanooga. Rivera received the 2023 La Paz Latino Leadership: Chattanooga’s Choice Award.
Christine Rukeyser (BS, Chemistry, 2023) received a research fellowship from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP).
Jared Sullivan (BA, English: Writing, 2013) had his latest book, “Valley So Low: One Lawyer’s Fight for Justice in the Wake of America’s Great Coal Catastrophe,” reviewed by The New York Times.
Bre-Anna Willis (BS, Chemistry, 2022) received a research fellowship from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP).
Emma Sprayberry (BA, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures: Spanish and BA, Humanities: International Studies, 2024) received multiple prestigious national and international awards, including the U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and a Freeman-ASIA Scholarship (summer
The U.S. Department of State’s Gilman Scholarship Program was created to enable students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad, providing them with skills critical to national security and economic prosperity. The following College of Arts and Sciences students were recent recipients of Gilman awards:
Bailee Fiste
BA, Humanities-International Studies Spring 2024
Kylie Knott
BS, Psychology Spring 2024
Ashlyn Roberson
BA, MCLL, and BIS, Arts and Sciences Spring 2024
2021), Fulbright Canada-Mitacs Globalink Research Internship (summer 2022), Killam Fellowships Program (fall 2022), the Public Policy and International Affairs Junior Summer Institute Fellowship (summer 2023), and most recently a Fulbright Scholarship to Taiwan (AY20242025), teaching English and representing the U.S. as a cultural ambassador.
Marietta Song (BFA, Studio Art, 2024) will travel to Morocco as part of her Stevens Initiative Alumni Fellowship. Song is the first UTC graduate to be awarded this prestigious fellowship from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Bryce Sanders
BS, Psychology Spring 2024
Jayda Fowler
BA, Humanities-International Studies Fall 2023
Kaymen Hustrulid
BA, Humanities-International Studies Fall 2022
With more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, the UTC College of Arts and Sciences benefits from philanthropic support in many forms. While scholarships remain a critical need across campus—directly impacting students’ ability to achieve their educational goals—donors also have opportunities to align their passions with the work of faculty, staff and students in a variety of meaningful ways.
From the donation of a cavern to funding a summer intensive program that strengthens foundational math and science skills for first-year pre-health students to supporting the department you once called home at UTC, there are countless ways to invest in the College of Arts and Sciences—aligning both campus needs and donor interests.
For Polly Ann Thompson (’67), giving back is a reflection of both gratitude and purpose. During 2024’s Mocs Give Day, she and her husband, Richard, established the Thompson Scholars Program to strengthen math and science readiness for students pursuing health care-focused degrees. Though she built a successful career in marketing at Delta Airlines after earning a degree in English and American Language and Literature, Polly Ann saw an opportunity to make a lasting impact—helping future health care professionals gain the essential skills needed to succeed.
“I just wanted to do something for students,” Polly Ann shared. “We’d like to help people get the type of advantages that we’ve gotten.”
After witnessing the kindness and expertise of nurses who cared for her loved ones, Polly Ann recognized the critical need for well-trained health care professionals. She hopes to not only ease the financial burden on students but also encourage more compassionate and skilled individuals to pursue careers that will change lives.
Harris (’77) and her husband, Foy (’80)
Judy Harris (’77) and her husband, Foy (’80), understand that meaningful change is built over time. Through years of steady, long-term support, they have helped create lasting opportunities for UTC students. Since earning her degree in chemistry, Judy has been a dedicated supporter of the University and the chemistry department for more than 40 years, ensuring students have access to essential hands-on resources and stateof-the-art lab equipment.
“I believe education gives people options in life,” Judy shared. “UTC gave me a strong foundation, and I want to help today’s students have the same opportunities I had.”
With encouragement from professors like Dr. Frank Boyer and Dr. Ben Gross, Judy’s education at UTC laid the foundation for a successful 33year career at Eastman Chemical. Grateful for the opportunities she received, she gives back in hopes of inspiring others to see how consistent contributions—no matter the size—can create a lasting impact, shaping the next generation of scientists.
Raccoon Mountain Caverns is our newest classroom and research laboratory. Located approximately 15 minutes southwest of campus, it is a complex karst system known for its extensive underground formations and diverse ecosystem with over 5.5 miles of explored passageways.
From the research standpoint, Raccoon Mountain Caverns marks a monumental leap for the faculty and students within the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science (BGE).
“One of the greatest things about it is that it hits all disciplines of our department,” said BGE Department Head and UC Foundation Professor Gretchen Potts.
Dr. Steven Perlaky, a Chattanooga area emergency medicine physician, had owned Raccoon Mountain Caverns since 1995 before donating it to UTC.
“I had thought long and hard about the best future for the cave, and I believe that to be in UTC’s hands,” Perlaky said. “The University, with contacts and students, will spur far more research interest.”
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
[PREF_MAIL_NAME]
[PREF_MAIL_NAME_2]
[ADDRESS 1]
[ADDRESS 2]
[CITY], [STATE] [ZIP]
