2013 Faculty Awards

Faculty from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences were recently recognized for outstanding accomplishments in teaching, advising, research and engagement at a ceremony held in Caldwell Lounge April 25, 2013. “As we mark our 50th year as a distinct college, we continue to come into our own, as is reflected in our faculty’s accomplishments,” said CHASS Dean Jeff Braden. “The scholarship, commitment, and passion represented by these awards demonstrate the breadth of excellence in our faculty.”

UNC Board of Governors Teaching Award

Dr. Rupert Nacoste, a professor in the Department of Psychology, has won the prestigious UNC Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence. He is among 17 faculty members from the entire UNC system to be so honored this year. 

Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence

The NCSU Board of Trustees awarded Dr. Virginia Aldige, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, with the Holladay Medal that recognizes members of the faculty who have made outstanding contributions to the university through achievements in research, teaching, or extension and engagement. It’s the highest award made by the university in recognition of a career of faculty achievement and contributions at NC State University.

University  Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professor Award

Chris Anson, Professor of English, received one of two 2013 NC State Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professor awards that recognize outstanding graduate level teaching at NC State University.  Read this Q&A with Dr. Anson about his work and the keys to being a successful professor.

Fellowships

Elvira Vilches, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures: Fellowship with the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS); National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship with the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. Both fellowships support her current book project titled Doing Business: Commerce and Mercantile Culture in the Early Modern Hispanic World.

John N. Wall, Department of English, National Humanities Center Fellowship. He will complete a book entitled Hearing Donne: The Experience of Preaching in Early Modern London, an outgrowth of his major research on the Virtual Paul’s Cross Project that involves a visual and audio representation of the outdoor area of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London where John Donne preached on November 5, 1622.

Troy Case, Department of Sociology and Anthropology: Fulbright US Scholar Grant to study in Thailand in the Fall of 2013. He will use the collection of modern human skeletons at Chiang Mai University to explore size variation within the hand and to assess the health and activity levels of the subjects.

NC State University Outstanding Extension Service Awards

Devin Orgeron (English) is a major contributor to our college’s public outreach through the outstanding film studies program. He is a highly visible public scholar at film and cultural events throughout the Triangle and in local and national media.

David Zonderman (History) has been instrumental in reviving our college’s extension efforts that support faculty in sharing their expertise in North Carolina’s public schools. He has also been  involved with three North Carolina school systems through their Teaching American History grants.

Opal Mann Green Engagement and Scholarship Award

Joan Pennell and the Center for Family and Community Engagement received this university award that honors teams of university and community participants whose work exemplifies such  values as using democracy in the classroom, in the community, and at home; creating inclusive teams; and community-based learning and mutually-beneficial action around local issues valued by community members.

University Advising Awards

• Seth Murray (Interdisciplinary Studies), University Faculty Advisor Award
• Joseph Palis (Interdisciplinary Studies), University New Faculty Advisor Award
• Christina Hobbs (Psychology) University New Advisor Award

Outstanding Teaching Awards

CHASS recognizes its outstanding teachers with college-wide awards. Recipients are inducted into the NC State University Academy of Outstanding Teachers. The 2012-2013 Outstanding Teachers are:

In addition, the NC State Alumni Association honored John Morillo as one of seven Alumni Association Outstanding Teachers. Read an interview with Morillo on the Red & White for Life blog.

CHASS Outstanding Researcher

Adriana de Souza e Silva, Department of Communication and the Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM) program, works at the cutting edge of mobile communication technology. Her research focuses on the intersection of digital media and ideas about location and mobility, including location-based games.

CHASS Outstanding Graduate Professor

Heidi Hobbs, Master of International Studies program, has served as advisor for 15 MIS students and the initial advisor for more than 125 MIS students. The program has flourished under her leadership.

CHASS Outstanding Undergraduate Professor

Jeffrey Reaser, English, teaches in the secondary English education and linguistics tracks. His research focuses on language awareness, specifically, developing curricular and professional development materials that allow teachers to teach effectively about language variation in public schools and serve the literacy needs of diverse students.

Lonnie C. Poole Jr. Teaching Excellence Award

Robin Dodsworth, English, teaches introductory linguistics, syntax, and language variation and change. In 2008, she began the Raleigh Language Study, a large-scale investigation of vowel change in the Raleigh area that is investigating linguistic variation and socioeconomic class, and includes an examination of vowel stability and change among the local African-American population.

CHASS Outstanding Lecturer

Keiko Ueda, Foreign Languages and Literatures, makes learning Japanese creative, engaging and enjoyable by creating an inclusive classroom where students can practice language, make mistakes, and improve their abilities. She challenges students to develop multicultural awareness, an understanding of US-Japanese relations, and to see their role as citizens who can make the world a better place.

CHASS Outstanding Advisors

Etta Barksdale, English, advises nearly all sophomore English majors and is a tireless advocate for her students and a pillar of support for her colleagues.

Shannon Carey, School of Public and International Affairs, coordinates undergraduate advising in the Department of Political Science, where her knowledge of curricula and advising issues are invaluable.

CHASS Outstanding Junior Faculty Award

Sarah Bowen, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, focuses her work around the relationships among local actors, global institutional and market dynamics, and environmental and social change.  She is recognized across the U.S., Latin America and Europe as a key scholar contributing to the debates about terrorism and the protection of territorially-embedded products in a context of globalization and neoliberalism.  She has brought in an unusually large grant from the USDA to study childhood obesity, an area of great public interest, and one that generates attention in an area that is rare in sociology – that of food and its cultural and social linkages.  The grant helps to fund a five-year longitudinal study following 120 lower-income mothers and young children in North Carolina.