Wednesday, February 1, 2023

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3 faculty awarded NEH fellowships, tying UT for 1st place

CAITLIN MULQUEEN Staff Writer

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded three UT faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences prestigious NEH Fellowships, making UT one of just two universities to have three recipients in 2023 among the 70 humanities projects receiving fellowship.

Among the faculty at UT awarded for their outstanding studies is Manuela Ceballos, assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies, for her project, “Between Dung and Blood: Ritual Purity, Sainthood, and Power in the Early Modern Mediterranean.”

Her research centers around the Western Mediterranean in the early modern period — a region with complex histories of interreligious exchange.

“My work deals with the stories of saints from some of these different religious communities who were the children or grandchildren of converts, and how they and their followers engaged with that family history of conversion,” Ceballos said.

Ceballos believes her efforts have proven to be time well spent. Upon receiving the grant, she described the recognition as both “great and a little daunting.”

“Doing this kind of work can be isolating, so having your peers read your writing and encourage the process can be very meaningful.”

Ceballos plans on using the fellowship year to finish her book and begin a new project shortly after.

In the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, Mary McAlpin, professor of French, was selected for her project “Rationalizing Rape: The New Logic of Sexual Violence in Enlightenment France.”

McAlpin, a specialist in eighteenth-century French studies argues in her project that “the Enlightenment turn away from the authority of religion, toward that of reason and science, resulted in a new vision of female sexuality as fundamentally contradictory.”

“I look at medical texts, novels and socio-political works to argue that this novel assumption about the ‘natural’ sex act — that a woman’s ‘no’ always means ‘yes’— worked to efface women’s sexual autonomy, with lasting consequences as the recent #MeToo movement demonstrates,” McAlpin said.

She has been conducting research in La Bibliothèque Nationale (French National Library) and elsewhere for seven years in addition to the humanities work that she has built slowly throughout her entire professional career and prior studies.

Still, McAlpin was surprised to receive the grant.

“The NEH fellowship is so highly competitive. There is always an element of luck in getting an

award like the NEH; there are so many worthy projects out there, and too little funding for the humanities,” McAlpin said.

Moving forward, McAlpin plans on finishing her book, looking forward to seeing it published, reviewed and cited.

Another recipient in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures is Daniel Magilow, who was selected for his project “Disinformation and the Illustrierter Beobachter, 1926-1945,” a history on the official illustrated magazine of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (the Nazi Party), which was founded in 1926 and published until March 1945 — only weeks before the end of World War II.

“These weekly glossy tabloids were as popular in their day as cable TV and the internet are now,” Magilow said. “My project is to study the strategies of misinformation and disinformation in the Illustrierter Beobachter to see what they can tell us about how extremist media erode confidence in democracy and its institutions.”

Magilow has been researching since starting graduate school in the mid-1990s and since he began working at UT in 2006. He began working specifically on this specific project in 2014.

Much like Ceballos and McAlpin, Magilow remains humble when talking about his successes.

“While I do think I have a compelling project, there’s a lot of luck involved, too,” Magilow said. “Grant funding in the humanities is mainly about playing the law of averages because there is just so little of it… My strategy has, out of necessity, been to apply year after year after year after year and just try not to take the annual ritual of receiving my NEH rejection letter too personally.”

Anticipating a rejection, Magilow’s first reaction was disbelief.

“I thought that the NEH might have made a technical error whereby they accidentally sent all the applicants a ‘congratulations’ email and they would soon retract it,” Magilow said.

A follow up email never came, though. Magilow is planning to research and write the book he proposed and have something to show for it.

“I think we too often forget this important point,” Magilow said. “While it’s terrific when UT professors get prestigious grants, we should be celebrating and writing Beacon articles about

the products that these grants make possible. The grant is only a key phase at the beginning of the journey, not the destination.”

Just as notable as the individual achievements is the collective fact that UT is one of just two universities to have three faculty receive an NEH Fellowship.

Alan Rutenberg, research development manager in UT’s Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development, explained the history of the humanities fellowships at UT and the progress that has been made in supporting them.

“In 2004 the Office of Research initiated a program to support humanities fellowships. In the period since 2004, UT ranks 10th in the country among all universities, public and private, in the number of NEH fellowships received,” Rutenberg said.

Ceballos sees the stat as a testament to the quality of humanities research at UT.

“In my case, the help of (Rutenberg) at the Office of Research was crucial, so I hope UT continues to provide this kind of support for faculty,” Ceballos said.

Support seems to be the general quality recipients are wanting to see for the rest of the humanities department and the many fields of study within it.

“I think the high quality of the work done by the humanities professors at UT is too often overlooked by our administrations,” McAlpin said. “We do not bring in the big bucks, but we do consider the big ideas, both in our research and in our classroom. We challenge students’ assumptions, in a good way, and in the process change lives by honing in on students’ critical abilities. I would love to see more funding for the humanities at UT, both in terms of professor lines and research opportunities.”

Magilow shared that the funding rate for this year’s NEH faculty fellowships was less than 7%. 70 fellowships were given out of the 1,029 applicants.

Although there has been progress made in the field of humanities research at UT, Magilow got straight to the point about his feelings on the availability of grants.

“There needs to be more funding for research in the humanities.”

(From left to right) Profs. Manuela Ceballos of Religious Studies, Mary McAlpin of French, and Daniel Magilow of German and History. Courtesy of Kelsie Crittendon

6 events in February to celebrate Black History Month

a group dedicated to creating a non-elitist, non-discriminatory safe space for minority musicians on campus. All UT students are invited to attend and perform.

“Black History is American History” is the name of the game this year as local organizations prepare to celebrate Black History Month. The Knoxville community will be treated to a variety of educational and entertaining events, including lectures and musical performances.

Keep an eye out for more event announcements as February draws nearer. Good places to look include the Visit Knoxville events calendar and the UT Events calendar. Local organizations such as the Beck Cultural Exchange Center may also be announcing events shortly.

Several nationwide organizations are hosting virtual festivals and exhibits online to allow greater accessibility and equity to those who may not be able to attend events in-person. Notable hosts include the Library of Congress, Association for the Study of African American Life and History and National Museum of African American History & Culture.

18th Annual Black Issues Conference (Feb. 4)

A joint venture between Multicultural Student Life and the UT chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), this one-day conference offers an opportunity to discuss issues affecting the Black community. Issues addressed at previous conferences include education and healthcare reform. There will be workshops, as well as a keynote speaker. In the past, the conference has hosted notable Black Americans such as hip-hop legend MC Lyte and Judy Smith, the lawyer who inspired the hit TV show “Scandal.”

The event will take place at the Student Union from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those interested are encouraged to register through the MSL website.

Testing and Vaccine Clinic (Feb. 8)

In observance of National Black HIV/ AIDS Awareness Day, the Pride Center is collaborating with the McNabb Center and the Knox County Health Department to host a free testing and vaccine clinic in Student Union Suite 373. The clinic will offer free HIV and Hepatitis C testing, as well as no-cost mpox vaccines. National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day celebrates the strides made by the Black community in HIV prevention as well as in care for those living with the virus. It also acknowledges how other factors, such as racism and distrust of the healthcare system, pose unique difficulties for Black Americans living with HIV.

Douglass Day (Feb. 13 and 14)

On Feb. 14 each year, thousands of people come together in celebration of Douglass Day, which is recognized as the birthday of Frederick Douglass. The event will kick off with a plenary address delivered by professor Nneka Dennie on Monday, Feb. 13 at 3:30 p.m. in the library auditorium in Hodges Library.

Then, on Tuesday, Feb. 14, UT’s Frederick Douglass Day Celebration and Transcribe-a-thon will take place from 12-3 p.m. in the Frieson Black Cultural Center. At the Transcribe-a-thon, volunteers will visit the DouglassDay.org website and have the opportunity to transcribe the papers of Mary Ann Shadd Cary. This event will be an opportunity to become directly involved the preservation of Black history.

Distinguished Lecture in Religious Studies: “A Black Church Burned: Sanctuary, Loss, and Place-Making in Knoxville” (Feb. 16)

Join Todne Thomas, associate professor of African American Religious Studies at Harvard Divinity School, for a presentation about the 2015 burning of the College-Hill Seventh Day Adventist Church and its lingering effects on the church’s congregation. The lecture will also discuss the law enforcement investigation into the arson, as well as the community’s healing and rebuilding process. Other themes that will be addressed include urban renewal, gentrification and the making of sacred spaces.

The lecture will take place in Hodges Library 101 from 5:30-7 p.m. It will also be available via webcast.

Black and Boujee (Feb. 16)

Black and Boujee is an annual celebration of Black music and art. The event is organized by the Black Musicians Alliance,

The event will take place at the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall at the Natalie Haslam Music Center. Performances will start at 5:30 p.m. The event will also be live streamed through the School of Music website.

Genealogy Workshop: Historic Roots – A Guide to Understanding & Tracing African American Lineage (Feb. 25) For many Black Americans, tracing genealogy can be a difficult and emotionallytaxing journey. The East Tennessee Historical Society is hosting a workshop to help Black Americans with that journey, including information on how to identify records and interpret findings. The workshop will also address other popular methods of researching genealogy, including DNA testing and oral histories.

The workshop is free and open to the public and will be hosted at the East Tennessee History Center. ETHS will be running other genealogy workshops throughout the next few months, including one focusing on women’s history in March.

AURORA SILAVONG Staff Writer

Members of the Black History Month Planning Committee hold a banner together at the third annual Silent March. File / The Daily Beacon

A Vision for 2030

“Extreme Campus Makeover.”

The 2020s, years known as “the greatest decade in the history of the University of Tennessee” by UT System President Randy Boyd, have come into fuller view.

Every 10 years, university leaders partner with architectural and consulting firms to embark on the months-long process of creating a massive document: the campus master plan. The newest plan, which began development in 2021 to replace its 2011 predecessor, includes near-term and long-term construction and renovation projects and is the result of nearly 18 months of public forums, survey responses, campus tours and meetings.

On Wednesday, Chancellor Plowman was joined by representatives from Ayers Saint Gross, a Baltimore-based architectural firm specializing in higher education, as well as several local firms, including McCarty Holspace McCarty and CDM Smith, in a town hall meeting in the Student Union in order to present the newest campus master plan and field questions from the campus community.

The town hall comes after a fall semester in which students and faculty took issue with the university’s insufficient residential space, limited parking availability and plans to relocate several academic departments in order to make space for a new Haslam College of Business building.

As features of the plan have become public over the last two years, including plans to replace the current Melrose Hall with a new student success building and to build two new residence halls, they have been met with both excitement and criticism.

Jessica Leonard, a principal architect with Ayers Saint Gross, presented the plans for construction and renovation, focusing on physical needs, like gateways and pedestrian access, along with space needs, like housing and research space. These needs drove the group’s decisions surrounding 38 near-term projects to be completed in the next five years, 27 midterm projects and 24 long-term projects, expected to take 10 or more years to complete.

The timeline of the plan depends largely on the firms’ assessment of which facilities are in good, average or poor condition. According to the plan, 25% of spaces on campus, or roughly 4.2 million square feet, are in poor condition. Leonard said this figure is typical for old campuses with sprawling layouts. She also mentioned the progress of UT’s infrastructure since the last master plan was created.

“Your campus had not the best reputation for its physical campus and, in the last decade, has really transformed itself,” Leonard said. “I think that that commitment to quality and consistency and really the exterior environment will ultimately help with a lot of your goals.”

ter plan which suggested the university was outgrowing its support space and residential capacity for first-year students. Plowman said growth is still very much a part of UT’s future, however.

“We can grow, we are growing, as opposed to most of the other public schools in the state. And that means a greater opportunity for more students to get a college degree. And that is a philosophical position of the board, the president and chancellor,” Plowman said. “But we wanna do that in a way where we can maintain the quality … of the student experience in every aspect.”

By projecting the next 10 years of growth, the plan contains the hopes and frustrations of faculty, staff and students over the university’s use of its increasingly limited space.

The plan also reflects a broader change for the UT System as it receives unprecedented funding from the state in its mission to provide educational access to the most Tennesseans possible. At a Board of Trustees executive committee meeting on Jan. 20, President Boyd reported that the university had secured 100% of its legislative agenda in 2022, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding.

These funds, part of a push by Boyd and Chancellor Donde Plowman to engage the legislature in planning the university’s expansive future, have helped fuel transformational building projects in nearly every corner of campus.

There is now over $1 billion in construction and design currently underway on Rocky Top. UT has entered what Moira Bindner, communications and customer service manager at Parking and Transit Services, describes as

Among the near-term projects are a new chemistry facility at the site of the current Panhellenic Building on Cumberland Avenue and several renovations and new constructions in the pressing area of student housing.

Further out in the future lie projects such as replacements of McClung Tower and the Humanities and Social Sciences building, as well as renovations of facilities which may soon be in poor condition, like Andy Holt Tower and Hess Hall. These projects are not only more distant but are more uncertain, since the long process of securing state and donor funds for them has in most cases not yet begun.

The long-term future also contains development of the South Waterfront, given the potential construction of a pedestrian-bicycle bridge across the river in collaboration with the city and county.

The master plan’s 10-year goals include one million square feet of additional housing space and 3.3 million square feet of non-residential space to support research and student experience.

Leonard and Plowman emphasized UT’s need for physical growth to accommodate the growing population on campus. The master plan projects a total population of 46,133 students by 2030, a 36% increase over the next 8 years. The total student population in fall 2022 was 33,805 students, which included a record freshman class of 6,846 first-year students.

Plowman, speaking on the first master plan of her tenure, said the population growth would continue as part UT’s strategic vision. The year-old strategic vision involves cultivating a volunteer experience, conducting research, emphasizing the “VOL is a verb” sentiment, being nimble and adaptable and embodying the R1, land-grant university.

According to Plowman, the university will have a “drastically” lower acceptance rate for the more than 48,000 students who have applied for entrance into the class of 2027, especially as UT plans to end a 10-year trend by admitting a smaller freshman class this fall than in fall 2022.

This decision was driven by data in the mas-

In her presentation, Leonard said the plan would not only make campus itself more connected, but would also connect it to other parts of the city, like nearby downtown Knoxville. The firm realized how difficult the current landscape makes it to get from one place to another.

“It’s kind of taking your life in your own hands walking down those hills, that topography,” Leonard said, getting a laugh from the full audience. “We spent a lot of time walking around your campus.”

The presentation, available for download online, painted a picture of a campus that will be 5,000 beds and hundreds of thousands of square feet behind its projected population growth without intervention.

A few of the previewed plans to make roads more pedestrian friendly and strengthen connections include replacing a portion of E.J. Chapman Drive to make a path for pedestrians and bikes, adding wider sidewalks and a bike lane to Joe Johnson Drive and restructuring Caledonia Avenue to include sidewalks and green space.

DANIEL DASSOW AND ABBY ANN RAMSEY Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor

“Your campus had not the best reputation for its physical campus and, in the last decade, has really transformed itself.”

Jessica Leonard Principal architect, Ayers Saint Gross

Chancellor Donde Plowman was joined by Jessica Leonard of Ayres Saint Gross (right) to address concerns over the new campus master plan at a town hall on Jan. 25 in the Student Union. Ericksen Gomez-Villeda / The Daily Beacon

The once-a-decade campus master plan imagines UT’s expansive future, and as debates over the university’s limited space continue, the plan meets its detractors again.

The development of the campus master involved a process of cross-disciplinary design sessions, listening sessions, open forums and surveys. Nevertheless, attendees had questions and concerns about the new plans.

Many questions that were critical of certain aspects of the plan came from staff and faculty within the College of Arts and Sciences who spent 2022 speaking out against the university’s restructuring proposals for the college and the physical future of several departments following board approval of a plan to build a $227 million Haslam College of Business building in place of Dunford, Henson and Greve halls.

Many graduate students, staff and nontenure track faculty in the college occupy shared office space in old buildings slated for destruction, which will be replaced with stateof-the-art facilities to support growing STEM research and the expansion of the college of business. In the meantime, the university is planning to relocate employees to temporary office spaces across campus.

“As someone who’s coming from a department that’s being divided and displaced to make room for the new Haslam College of Business building, I want to know what priority, if any, is being given to something that’s more important than temporary, which is stability – providing departments and units with permanent academic homes,” said Roraig Finney, a doctoral student in history, at the town hall.

The campus master plan accounts for the relocation of employees for one or more years

during a construction project, and Leonard said the architects’ goal is to only move workers once.

Finney, along with other members of the UTK Space Coalition, plan to hold a rally on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 12:15 p.m. at the foot of McClung Tower to protest what they deem the “space crisis” at the university.

Though the master plan includes near-term construction of an interdisciplinary humanities building on Volunteer Boulevard, Katie Hodges-Kluck, communications and marketing coordinator for the Humanities Center, said she and her colleagues heard similar plans during the rollout of the last master plan over a decade ago.

“We were told a humanities building was right on the horizon, and we’ve been told that over and over and over and everyone’s started wondering, and I know it was on the plan, but how do we know that’s actually happening and not bumped again and bumped again?” Hodges-Kluck said.

In response, Plowman said the university did not previously have a systemized process of selecting projects to present to legislators for funding. She clarified that chemistry and arts and humanities projects are next in line to begin the lengthy process of moving forward to legislative presentation.

Mia Romano, senior lecturer of Spanish Studies and vice president of the UT chapter of United Campus Workers, noted a figure that was absent in the presentation of the plan. While the slideshow included percentages of student population growth, square footage of campus’ expanding footprint and even a map of a widened campus boundary, it did not include the rate of faculty hiring necessary to keep up with the growth. It also did not address any increases in salary for lecturers, nontenure-track faculty who have spoken out for years against what they believe is underpayment.

In 2021, UT raised its minimum wage to $15

and its minimum salary for full-time, nontenure-track faculty to $40,000 for those without terminal degrees and $45,000 for those with terminal degrees. At the town hall on Wednesday, the chancellor said more of these raises are on the horizon as UT seeks to rise to the compensation levels of its aspirational peers.

“It’s largely a problem in one college, but that’s a college that uses a lot of lecturers,” Plowman said, referring to the College of Arts and Sciences. “We need to keep raising the minimum wage.”

Not all the feedback from staff and faculty was critical of the plan. Like many of the plan’s supporters, Amy King, an educational specialist in the College Access and Persistence Services Outreach Center, expressed appreciation for the comprehensive and ambitious nature of the master plan.

“This is great because it’s like a 30,000 foot

view, and it’s a plan and we know what it is. I just want to say thank you,” King said, addressing the chancellor. “This is great. Thanks for having the foresight to do it and the wherewithal to make it happen.”

There were moments of laughter at the town hall, as architects from Maryland delivered light-hearted deprecations about UT’s infrastructure and as figures from across campus put forth their characteristic prods at the plan.

Plowman, for her part, said she had spent more time thinking about zoning and sidewalks than ever before, and once the spirited round of questioning was through, she enjoyed her own moment of optimism for the future.

“I’ve learned that when you design a building, you’re really redesigning what happens in a building and who we are and that’s what I love about this,” Plowman said. “I’m just so impatient, I want to do it tomorrow. I want it to look like this tomorrow.”

“We were told a new humanities building was right on the horizon, and we’ve been told that over and over and over.”

Katie Hodges-Kluck Humanities Center

The campus master plan includes a proposal to widen Calendonia Avenue, which runs parallel to Cumberland Avenue. Courtesy of the University of Tennessee and Ayres Saint Gross

A proposed project on Joe Johnson Drive would connect the Agriculture campus with main campus via a wider pedestrian and bicycle bridge. Courtesy of the University of Tennessee and Ayres Saint Gross

If each project in the newest master plan is completed, then a section of E. J. Chapman Drive on the agriculture campus will be transformed into a 20-foot pedestrian walkway. Courtesy of the University of Tennessee and Ayres Saint Gross

Professor Georgi Gardiner named to Knoxville’s 40 Under 40

ABBIE SMITH Staff Writer

Georgi Gardiner is an assistant philosophy professor at UT and was recently named as one of Knoxville News’ 40 Under 40 , an honor that recognizes leading young professionals in the East Tennessee area. In 2022, she also received the Chancellor’s Notable UT Woman Award.

Gardiner’s research focuses on epistemology and meta-philosophy, with recent projects on evidence law, epistemology of rape, the ethics of belief and the epistemic power of attention and doubt. She also has projects concerning the philosophy of science, love, sexuality and sex work.

Gardiner, originally from the United Kingdom, is an assistant professor, but is coming up on tenure early, due to the amount of research she has done. She is also interested in doing more public philosophy, not just her formal academic research, but also by creating a podcast or writing for newspapers or magazines.

“I also work a lot on love, so a lot of what I work on is really of interest to people. A student in my class – I knew the class discussion would hit close to home for her, so I wrote to her after class and said ‘hope you’re okay after class today’ and she wrote back saying something re-

ally lovely: ‘I think your paper cannot help but hit close to home for anyone who has a pulse and has been alive long enough to be smitten,’” Gardiner said.

nor exceptions. Her most recent gathering was for queer women and non-binary people. She keeps food at her home that she does not eat, with the intention of offering it to those who come to the Playhouse.

Gardiner hopes to build a sense of community by opening her house to anyone who wants to take advantage of the “third space,” which is another topic of one of her salons. A third space, to Gardiner, is a space where community is strengthened.

crafts, games, discussions and more with the goal of exploring the role of art in life. Members of the Knoxville and UT community are invited to come, though to maintain a professional distance from work, Gardiner prefers that philosophy students do not attend.

Outside of her work, Gardiner is accomplished in circus skills, such as trapeze and aerial arts. She is interested in physical, creative and healing arts. She is a trained masseuse and has an extensive tea collection.

While an academic, Gardiner also spends her time fostering community. She has transformed her home into a space called “The Playhouse,” where she holds events such as acro-yoga, where all are welcome. Not all events are physical, however, with Gardiner also leading salons on a regular basis. These events are meant to bring people together so that they can have an intellectually stimulating conversation.

Gardiner calls these events her “Scruffy City Salons” and anyone is welcome to come. She also holds events where all are invited with mi-

Gardiner’s Playhouse is loved by those who have attended events there. Mabry Benson summed up the Playhouse in a sweet simile.

“Being there feels like a hug,” Benson said.

Benson feels that the Playhouse is full of kindness, peace, humor, creativity, inclusiveness and joy.

Another Playhouse attendee, Tootsie Ja, explained the feeling of belongingness that comes from visiting the Playhouse.

“After a year of living in Knoxville and only a month of playing at the Playhouse, I feel like I have finally found my people” Ja said. “I am so grateful for the space that Georgi has created. It is so unique and welcoming, and it brings together such energetic, open-minded and diverse humans.”

The next Scruffy City Salon will take place on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at The Playhouse, 1622 Dora St., and the theme is “What art does.” There will be

Georgi Gardiner and friends practice acroyoga at her home. Courtesy of Georgi Gardiner

“I am so grateful for the space Georgi has created.”

Tootsie Ja Playhouse attendee

McClung honors Holocaust Remembrance Day, survivor project anniversary

AURORA SILAVONG Staff Writer

Members of the UT community gathered at the McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture on Friday afternoon for a reflective event in observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The event focused on the experience of Tennesseans who experienced the genocide, including Jewish survivors of concentration camps and members of the American armed forces who liberated the camps. It was sponsored by the College of Communication & Information, the School of Journalism & Electronic Media, the Department of Judaic Studies and the Division of Diversity & Engagement.

The afternoon began with an exhibition of select photographs from the Living On project. Robert Heller, professor of photography, took the portraits two decades ago as part of a Tennessee Holocaust Commission project documenting the stories of some of the last remaining Holocaust survivors in Tennessee. Heller says it is important to preserve these narratives for the education of future generations.

“There are people that claim [the Holocaust] never happened,” Heller said. “Through these portraits and the stories that come with them, we are teaching people about what really did happen and celebrating that some people did survive and found their way to Tennessee.”

The main event of the afternoon was a showing of the documentary, “Living On: Tennesseans Remembering the Holocaust,” which was

produced in part by one of Heller’s former students, Will Pedigo. Pedigo, then a videographer for Nashville’s WNPT, accompanied Heller during his travels around the state and filmed the interviews, later convincing the station to edit and release the footage as a documentary. It went on to win a Regional Emmy Award in 2006.

The hour-long documentary, which can be viewed for free through the WNPT website and the PBS website, features interviews and footage from talks given by Holocaust survivors and witnesses, interspersed with haunting photos from the ghettos and the forced-labor camps.

While much of the content was somber, there were moments of levity throughout the piece. For example, one Polish survivor spoke about his experience selling produce at the age of ten after his family was taken away.

“The problem with selling food,” he quipped, “is that you start eating your inventory.”

The event concluded with a short Q&A session with Heller about his experience working on the project. Attendees were visibly moved at the conclusion of the event.

“It is astounding to me that we have these resources around, yet we are living in an environment where people do deny this reality and continue some of these terrible behaviors,” John McNair, director of technology at the CCI, said. “Frankly, I didn’t know it was Holocaust Remembrance Day until [Heller] mentioned it, and I think that makes it all the more poignant.”

The Tennessee Holocaust Commission holds similar events throughout the year, including Holocaust educator workshops. All events are free but require pre-registration through their Eventbrite page.

Professor Robert Heller talks about his exhibition Living On: Tennesseans Remembering the Holocaust at McClung Museum. Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. Ericksen Gomez-Villeda / The Daily Beacon

Reading power: 15 Black-authored books for Black History Month

“The African Lookbook: A Visual History of 100 Years of African Women” by Catherine McKinley

“The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander

“The New Jim Crow” was published in 2010 and critiques the criminal justice system in America. The book explores the links between slavery, Jim Crow and mass incarceration in the modern day, arguing that the racial caste system in America was never ended, just redesigned.

“The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett

Published in 2020, this novel focuses on the Vignes sisters — identical twins who grew up in the South, then ran away at age 16. Their adult lives are incredibly different, with one sister living with her daughter in the same town she tried to leave behind, while the other passes as white and hides her past from her husband and daughter. Though separated, the sisters remain intertwined — even more so when their daughters’ stories begin to intersect.

“The African Lookbook” was published in January 2021. Curator Catherine McKinley assembled 240 pages of photographs to present a history of African women from 1870 to 1970. The earliest photographs in this collection are among some of the earliest photographs in North America. Additionally, McKinley includes photos by Europeans (mostly nudes, so don’t be shocked) that aim to depict the power imbalance between races in this period.

“How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America” by Clint Smith

“How the Word is Passed” was published in June 2021 and tours the nation’s monuments and landmarks, both those that are honest about the past and those that are not, offering an intergenerational story of how slavery has shaped America’s history.

“A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story” by Elaine Brown

This autobiography was published in 1992 and documents Elaine Brown’s life. As the first and only female chairwoman of the Black Panther Party, this is a story about a Black woman finding power and battling to define herself.

“Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires” by Shomari Wills

Published in 2018, “Black Fortunes” traces the stories of the first six self-made black millionaires: Mary Ellen Pleasant, Robert Reed Church (at the time, the largest landowner in Tennessee), Hannah Elias, Annie TurnboMalone, O.W. Gurley and Madam C.J. Walker.

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou’s first memoir, published in 1969, depicts the loneliness of childhood, the insult of bigotry and the quest to find words that will make all things right in the world. From the time Angelou lived with her grandmother in a small Southern town, to being attacked by a grown man in St. Louis at eight years old, to Angelou’s self-discovery years later, this book captures the struggles and triumphs of one of America’s favorite writers.

“The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin

This book, consisting of two essays, gives a voice to the then-emerging Civil Rights Movement in 1963. It examines racial injustice and its consequences in both a personal and societal context. The first essay is focused on the history of racism and its effect on the world up until 1963, while the second is focused on racism’s role within organized religion.

“Between the World and Me” by TaNehisi Coates

In this 2015 book, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes a letter to his son trying to answer the questions: “What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live with it?” and “How can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?” Coates encompasses history in these letters through eras of time and the lives of many.

“Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson

Published in 2014, this book is a memoir and a collection of poetry all in one. Jacqueline Woodson writes about growing up Black in the 1960s and 1970s in two different states: South Carolina and New York. Woodson explores her childhood feelings and search for belonging, as well as the remnants of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement that were sweeping the nation in that time.

“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas

This 2017 novel follows 16-year-old Starr Carter as she navigates between her two worlds: her poor neighborhood and the suburban prep school she attends. When Starr witnesses her childhood best friend, Khalil, being shot and killed by a police officer, her life will never be the same. Khalil’s death becomes a national headline and the public wants to know what really happened the night he died, but the only person who knows is Starr, and if she speaks, it could upend her community and put her own life in danger.

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston

Though first published in 1937, this book went out of print for 30 years due to its reception. Following Janie Crawford, this book depicts a Black woman in her thirties who sets out to be her own person. She marries three times and takes her search for her identity back to her roots. Written by Zora Neale Hurston, one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, this book is a timeless depiction of a side of the past that was silenced for years.

“The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks” by Shauna Robinson

Published in Nov. 2022, this book follows the tale of Maggie Banks, who comes to the town of Bell River to run a friend’s struggling bookstore. Unfortunately, Bell River’s literary society won’t allow Maggie to sell books written in this century. As the bookstore faces setbacks, Maggie comes up with a solution: an underground book club, selling books from this century. She dodges the literary society successfully and uncovers a town secret that could change everything.

“Soft,

Sweet, Plenty of Rhythm” by Laura

Warrell

This book was published in September 2022 and is set in 2013. It follows the story of a jazz musician named Circus Palmer who finds out the woman closest to him, Maggie, is pregnant with his child. Afraid of what this could bring, he leaves. This moment sparks revelation after revelation for the women in Circus’ life, most notably, the revelation of his teenage daughter Koko. She is awakened to her own sexuality and has to face her mother’s troubles as well: her failed marriage and Circus’ rejection.

“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison

First published in 1970, this landmark novel is set in Lorain, Ohio in 1941 and tells the story of Pecola Breedlove, an 11-year-old Black girl. Breedlove prays for her eyes to turn blue so that she will be as beautiful as all the blonde, blueeyed children around her. When the marigolds in her family garden don’t bloom, Pecola’s life changes for the worse. Toni Morrison is also the writer of “Song of Solomon” and “Beloved” and won both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Nobel Prize in Literature.

ABBIE SMITH Staff Writer

Michelle Alexander speaks about her book “The New Jim Crow.” Miller Center / Creative Commons

Vernon Barford Library / Creative Commons

Robert Huffstutter / Creative Commons

Sutherland Golden Roast relocates, plans to grow in Cherokee Mills space

ABBY ANN RAMSEY Managing Editor

The Golden Roast’s Sutherland location recently moved out of the building it occupied for the last several years. But don’t worry – its new location is just about a one-minute drive from the last one.

Relocating to a space in Cherokee Mills, on the corner of Sutherland Avenue and Concord Street, The Golden Roast officially opened its doors last Friday.

At first glance, the move might seem small. After all, they’re just a stone’s throw away from where they used to be. But while the move is small in distance, Taylor Renfro, general manager, sees it as a big step for the shop’s future.

The previous Sutherland location operated without a full kitchen. They relied on baking their food at Real Good Kitchen and then transporting it to Sutherland.

“We were like, we’ve outgrown our space, which is a wonderful thing for a business, and so it’s time to move on,” Renfro said.

Now, the shop plans to utilize the kitchen in the Cherokee Mills space to expand their menu offerings and cater to the wants and needs of the Sutherland community.

“We are just so excited to be part of the Sutherland community in what feels like growing deeper roots into this area,” Renfro said.

While they are still adjusting to the new location, Renfro said she and baristas are brainstorming ways to have something on the menu for everyone. Future project ideas include creating more vegetarian and vegan options.

Previously, The Golden Roast not only transported their own food, but also collaborated with food providers like Goldman Bagels , Yum Yum and The Lunchbox. But just because they have their own space does not mean they’re dropping those collaborations.

“The collaboration has been something that’s been out of necessity but has taught us that that’s not something we wanna lose, even when we do get into a kitchen,” Renfro said.

Collaboration lies at the heart of The Golden Roast’s mission. Not only are Renfro and employees excited for maintaining collaborations, they’re also excited to form new rela-

Faces of UT: How do you feel about this semester?

tionships in a space that is surrounded by local businesses and offices. Cherokee Mills is home to several businesses and also offers office space for companies.

Even though the shop is still on Sutherland, the location brings with it a whole new group of customers who stop in for a cup of coffee before or during their 9-5. Renfro said that previous regular customers still stop by the new location, but even in the past week, they’ve gotten several more regulars who drop by multiple times a day.

Additionally, the new location allows the opportunity to expand with services like catering and keeping tabs open for regulars.

“We’re creating relationships that we might not otherwise have been able to, which is exactly what we’re all about,” Renfro said.

Angelica Perise, a full-time barista at The Golden Roast, also looks forward to the way the new location offers a clean slate and provides new opportunities.

“It’s kind of like getting a new apartment, you know?” Perise said. “It just feels fresh and it feels new and it’s exciting.”

You can visit the new Golden Roast at 2250

Sutherland Ave. in suite 125. They also have a location closer to campus, located on Melrose Avenue.

The patio at The Golden Roast’s latest location welcomes customers with a list of featured drinks and lots of outdoor seating. Abby Ann Ramsey / The Daily Beacon

“I’m really excited. I was still a little nervous to come back since I’m still getting used to everything and I had new classes, but so far it’s been great.”

Orianna Stephens Freshman, sociology

“I hope I will learn many new things and I want to learn.”

“I am looking forward to ending the semester and popping the cork on a bottle of champagne.”

“Well, I’d really like to have a major chosen, for one thing.”

“I finally get to take classes that associate right with my major ... I’ve been working my whole college career to get here.”

“I am looking foward to upcoming events at Clarence Brown Theatre.”

Jose Vieyra Senior, supply chain management

Ericksen Gomez-Villeda / The Daily Beacon and Hayden Formica, Contributor

Harmandeep Singh

Caleb McNeil Freshman, exploratory

Brian Cross Junior, sports communication

Madison Mansouri Senior, English and Theatre

Tennessee continuing success in SEC play behind backcourt play

ANDREW PETERS Sports Editor

Though it lost to Kentucky on Jan. 14, No. 2 Tennessee (18-3, 7-1 SEC) won seven games in January and displayed some of its best basketball so far this season.

One of the biggest reasons for that success is Zakai Zeigler. The sophomore guard has been on one of the best stretches of his career, averaging 17.25 points per game and 7.75 assists per game across the last four games.

Zeigler recorded a double-double against LSU and a 22-point double-double against Texas.

“I’m not sure there’s a guard in the country that has impacted the game as much as he has, especially in the month of January,” Barnes said. “I mean, he has been terrific, every area that you could ask him to be.”

The key there is making his teammates better. Zeigler has made life easier for everyone on the court through his ball movement, especially the Vols’ big men.

On Saturday, Zeigler helped Olivier Nkamoua reach a career-high 27 points.

Zeigler’s play is drastically different than

that of November or December, when he was coming off the bench primarily looking to score the ball.

“What we wanted to see him do earlier is exactly what he’s doing now,” Barnes said. “He’s embraced being more than a guy that can shoot the ball.”

The duo of Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi has become one of the best in the SEC, combining intense defense with being a constant offensive threat.

“I’m not sure there’s a better tandem right now in college basketball in terms of what those guys are doing and certainly what Z’s done as a point guard and taking care of the ball, getting assists,” Barnes said. “I’m not sure any point guard in the country has had a better impact on the game than he has.”

The Vols made it out of January with just one loss, an encouraging sign for a time that often exposes teams that looked good through November and December.

“January is a tough month in college basketball for everybody,” Barnes said. “Just the fact that you’ve played a lot, you’ve practiced a lot, now you get into February, which we know is an important month for everybody.”

But January is just a fraction of the sea-

son. Tennessee, which is ranked No. 2 in the most recent AP Poll and No. 1 in the KenPom. com rankings, still has a month and change of the regular season left before getting into postseason play.

Though it had a successful month of offense, Barnes believes defense will define Tennessee in February.

“I’ll always start on the defensive end, where you’ve got to be really good,” Barnes said. “You’ve got to be good in ball-screen coverage. You’ve got to be able to win those individual battles.”

The Vols will start off February on the road against Florida (12-9, 5-3). Though the Gators have struggled this season, Barnes recognizes how difficult an SEC game on the road can be. Tennessee is also 1-4 in its last five trips to Exactech Arena.

The Vols and Gators tip off at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday night.

“I don’t care where you are, what level you’re at, it’s hard to win basketball games and we know that it’s going to be hard to go to Gainesville, Florida and get a win,” Barnes said. “It’s hard but we have to be locked in and go one day at a time and get better today, tomorrow and go play.”

Jillian Hollingshead shines despite back-to-back Lady Vol losses

CALEB JARREAU Staff Writer

Jillian Hollingshead caught the ball deep in the left corner on Monday in Baton Rouge. Without hesitation, she took the wide-open look, nailing her first three of the season.

The lone three-pointer she made a season ago, while donning the red and black of Georgia, also came against LSU.

Against LSU on Monday, Hollingshead finished with seven points and five rebounds in the 76-68 loss. Hollingshead also helped keep Angel Reese in check, preventing arguably the top post in the SEC from reaching her points average.

The Georgia transfer has become more confident on the court, and it has become evident. Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper’s only complaint about Hollingshead the past two contests has been the lack of paint touches the Lady Vols are able to generate.

Against LSU, failure to get paint touches affected the post unit as a whole.

“I thought we got her a few touches,” Harper said. “We missed our post-players several times, in particular in the third quarter. I thought we should’ve got it inside a little bit more, but we missed them.”

The Tigers crowded the paint in the second half on Monday, limiting Hollings-

head’s influence. Regardless, she decided to show off her range with a corner three.

“We did not move the ball well,” Harper said. “They’re sitting in the paint, they don’t have to come out of the paint. They were trying everything they could do to stay in the paint.”

Hollingshead’s performance Monday night was not a fluke.

She shined on a national stage against UConn last week. She finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes.

“In terms of Jillian, the most disappointing thing was that we didn’t get her the ball enough,” Harper said. “There were times that she needed those touches and we just missed her.”

A common theme has been Tennessee’s struggles to get the ball in the post. It’s an issue Harper says they have to address.

“We just got to keep finding some movement, ball movement and player movement, when our first option breaks down,” she said.

Harper and her staff have experienced their confidence in Hollingshead, both verbally and with her play on the floor.

With the loss of Tamari Key, Tennessee’s 6-6 post who was diagnosed with seasonending blood clots in her lungs, Hollingshead is now the tallest active player. If you ask her teammates, they’ll tell you she

could compete for tallest on the team.

Hollingshead is hitting her stride at the right time for Tennessee, during a crucial part of their conference schedule.

“That was probably one of the most exciting things to come out of that game,” Harper said following Tennessee’s matchup with UConn. “I thought she played well in a big-time environment against a bigtime team.”

The 6-foot-5 forward possesses guard skills, but also the length to hang with most bigs in the league. Harper has boasted of Hollingshead’s versatility.

While she is mostly in the post for Tennessee, Hollingshead also gets practice reps with the guards. She doesn’t seem to have any issues with handling the ball in-game for the Lady Vols.

With the momentum Hollingshead is picking up, and her likely earning more minutes following her standout games against UConn and in Baton Rouge, the Lady Vols may be adding another consistent scorer to the mix.

“I think that’s good for her, it’s good for our team,” Harper said. “She’s skilled with size and you love to see that competitiveness come out of her. I think we can really, really grow from this. I’m really excited about how she’s played.”

Jillian Hollingshead elevates for a layup against UConn on Jan. 26, 2023. Ericksen Gomez-Villeda / The Daily Beacon

Tennessee runs through pre-grame rituals ahead of its matchup with Tennessee Tech on Nov. 7, 2022 at Thompson-Boling Arena. File / The Daily Beacon

Vols clinch spot in ITA Indoor National Championship in thrilling victory

The Vols bounced back as Angel Diaz defeated Baptiste Anselmo by winning a dogfight in Set 1 7-6 needing a 12-10 tiebreaker to get the Vols back ahead 2-1.

The No. 11 Volunteers clinched a spot in the 2023 ITA indoor national championship after taking down the Oklahoma Sooners 4-3 Saturday afternoon.

Things got really intense out the start of the doubles matches. Oklahoma smacked the Vols in the face with everything they had to get out to a quick lead, however, the Vols would settle down and even up the scoring on all three courts.

Vols Pat Harper and Johannus Monday beat Oklahoma’s Alex Martinez and Siphos Montsi 6-4 to put themselves in the same position as Friday where all they needed to do was win one of the remaining courts.

Emile Hudd and Angel Diaz would answer the call defeating Nathan Han and Jordan Hasson in a thrilling match winning 7-6 needing a 9-7 tiebreaker to win. Their match on court two put a pulsating energy throughout the tennis center as the 180 fans in attendance were all on the edge of their seats as the Vols would take a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

Shunsuke Mitsui and Tomas Rodriguez’s match went unfinished on court three.

Coach Chris Woodruff was very complimentary of his team’s doubles performances.

“I thought today was excellent, like we had great energy and we did a good job of sticking together.” Woodruff said.

The singles matches were a battle for both teams going back and forth.

Oklahoma got the first point of the singles matches as No. 62 nationally ranked Justin Schlageter easily took care of Volunteer Martim Prata 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.

The Sooners were not backing down however as they bounced back to take a 3-2 match lead following wins from Jordan Hasson on court two and then Siphos Monti on court four over Vols Shunsuke Mitsui and Emile Hudd.

With only two singles matches still playing, Vols had to win them both to get the match victory.

No. 86 nationally ranked Blaise Bicknell squeezed out a victory over No. 50 nationally ranked Nathan Han. His match didn’t start out how he would have liked losing the first set 6-7 in a 7-9 tiebreaker loss. He knew he had to win the last two sets to not end the evening for the Vols and he did just that, winning the last two sets 7-6 in a 7-5 tiebreaker and winning the last set easily at 6-3.

The only match remaining was on court one as Johannus Monday took on No. 57 nationally ranked Alex Martinez. Monday won the first set 6-4 but lost the second set 6-7 in a 4-7 tiebreaker.

As the players of both teams gathered together to watch their teammates fight it out for a spot in the indoor championships there was one set remaining with all the weight on both player’s shoulders.

Johannus Monday defeated Alex Martinez winning the final set 7-6 as he dominated the tiebreaker 7-2. Monday was bombarded by his teammates on the court celebrating clinching their spot in Chicago for the 2023 ITA National Championships.

“It was a tough battle honestly and it could have gone either way,” Monday said. “You’re not just playing for yourself, you are playing for your teammates, your coaches, your university and the fans.”

Johannus was very aware of the pressure filled situation he was in.

“I could feel that pressure especially, honestly I just feel really proud of myself because I’ve never been in that situation before,” Monday said. “I’ve not been playing my best for the past month or so but hopefully I can use this win to keep going and keep improving.”

Monday was very appreciative of the moment.

“Well you know what I thought to myself at two all in the last set that either way this goes what an honor it is to be in this position,” Monday said. “ You could be in a much worse position in life so it was nice to get the win but more importantly I’m going to look back at this win in 10 years and think ‘wow what a feeling to even be apart of that.’”

Johannus was ecstatic and thrilled with his victory but he remembered what it’s like to be in the opponent’s shoes so he went over to Martinez and consulted him as he sat there on his bench where he had been soaking in the loss for 10 minutes.

“I just wanted to tell him to keep his head up and that it was a battle,” Monday said. “Unfortunately in sport there is going to be one winner and one loser and all that matters is if you compete hard and you give your best.”

Coach Chris Woodruff was thrilled to see his team bounce back from the adversity of the 2-3 deficit.

“This is kind of the flow of college tennis,” Woodruff said. “You are going to get everyone’s best, I knew they would have a good team and I was just really pleased that Johannus stepped up.”

Woodruff was very proud of Monday stepping up when they needed him the most.

“I’ve been doing this a long time and it doesn’t surprise me that it came down to him,” Woodruff said. “You kind of expect that in these matches and I thought he showed great composure, he was up and down and it was just a really great match and I’m really happy Jo was able to pull it out for us.”

The 4-3 win for the Vols sends them to the 2023 ITA Indoor Championships for a

third consecutive year and are set to be held in Chicago, Illinois, and run Feb. 17-20. Tennessee plays next on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. ET against TCU.

KERRY WILLIAMS Contributor

UT’s men’s tennis faces off Illinois on Sept. 18, 2022 during the four-day Knoxville Showdown series. File / The Daily Beacon

UT Senior Blaise Bicknell congratulates UNC’s Ryan Seggerman after a match won 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 by Seggerman at Barksdale Stadium. File / The Daily Beacon

UT’s Kent Hunter ready to serve in Barksdale Stadium on Thursday Sept. 15, 2022 during the Knoxville Showdown four-day series. File / The Daily Beacon