2024 UNCG Research Magazine is Now Available Online
Posted on June 26, 2024
An ambitious obesity study following kids from the womb to preschool, the art of Disney, social entrepreneurship improving lives across NC, cosmodernism, and chiggers and ticks and sand flies (oh my!). Explore our wide-ranging impact in the 2024 issue of UNCG Research magazine.
Emilia Phillips at their book reading for "Nonbinary Bird of Paradise" at Scuppernong Books.
On a dreary Thursday night in February, a group gathered at Scuppernong Books in downtown Greensboro for a reading of a new collection of poetry by Emilia Phillips. Phillips had just released their fifth collection of poetry, entitled “Nonbinary Bird of Paradise,” but this was no typical book reading.
Phillips gathered UNCG students and alumni to read original works and selected text that inspired their latest poems. All in attendance raved about how the reading was a celebration of voices and art and the flow of inspiration. For Phillips, all of this is intertwined.
An Artist Spreads Their Wings
A UNCG professor since 2017, Phillips is an associate professor of creative writing where they teach poetry workshops and serve as core poetry faculty for the Masters of Fine Art in Creative Writing. Phillips also has cross-appointments in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and English departments teaching the Queer Poetry and Poetics class and the Women’s Health and Bodies class to undergraduates.
Being a poet, a teacher, and a voice for the LGBTQIA+ community is all part of the creative process for Phillips. “I can’t teach poetry unless I’m writing it and vice versa,” she says. “My constant dialogue with students informs my work.”
“Nonbinary Bird of Paradise” is a prime example of Phillips’ exploratory style of poetry, but this latest collection focuses on gender and the ways cultural, religious and mythological narratives support heterosexuality as “the norm”.
In “Nonbinary Bird of Paradise,” Phillips’ challenge of compulsory heterosexuality cuts right to the chase. The first section includes twelve poems in the voice of Eve from the Bible. It imagines if Eve wasn’t born straight and was never desiring of Adam but had no other choices of partners.
“My writing is definitely informed by my own worldview, experience, gender journey and sexuality,” says Phillips, who was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. “I couldn’t have written the Eve sequence without getting to a certain point of my own reflections and self-work, but I was nervous when the book came out because it does deal so explicitly with sex and gender and sexuality.”
The poem that inspired the book’s title is also extremely personal. “It’s a love poem for my partner,” Phillips explains. “I imagined if I was a bird of paradise, how would I woo my partner without the fancy plumage.”
Phillips admits that most of their poetry is part autobiographical and part creative, but its fiction label opens doors for creative freedom, a principle they encourage in the classroom as well.
Birds of a Feather Writing Together
Phillips’ classes provide a safe space for building art and students appreciate the sense of community they find at UNCG’s English department.
“Emilia prioritizes community not only in the classroom but outside of it too,” second-year MFA student Liz Bruce explains. “We are constantly sharing resources and opportunities and celebrating each other.”
Kay Zeiss read an original poem at the “Nonbinary Bird of Paradise” book reading.
Recent MFA graduate Kay Zeiss is a private practice therapist working with adults who have experienced trauma. They are particularly dialed into using writing to process trauma. Self-identifying as genderqueer and nonbinary, Zeiss was particularly interested in working under Phillips’ mentorship and thrived in the department.
“My goal isn’t to become this famous writer,” Zeiss confesses. “I just hope my writing can be of service to someone. Folks are really interested in being able to articulate their experience and find language for something that they didn’t have before. There’s a community and compassion there that I want to help facilitate.”
Attracting creative minds like this to UNCG is exactly what Phillips had in mind when they joined the English department in 2017. Establishing a close-knit community within a larger campus community, which serves minorities and has historically been a safe place for LGBTQIA+ youth, provided the perfect environment for Phillips’ poetry to take root.
“Having representation in the classroom and also having representation in my work out in the world is very important to me,” Phillips says.
Artistic Reflections
This high regard for representation and community made it natural for Phillips to invite students to share inspirational text at their book reading. “My students are among the most important people in my life,” they said. “Including them made it really festive.”
“I’ve been to multiple readings at Scuppernong and this one was definitely different in that there was a huge crowd of people there to celebrate,” said Bruce, who read “[Poem about Naomi; unsent]” by Rachel Mennies at Phillips’ book reading.
Zeiss read an original poem publicly for the first time at Phillips’ reading. “Hymnal to Transqueer Futures” reflects on grief following the death of Nex Benedict and ponders hope for the future of nonbinary and transqueer children. Zeiss dedicated it to Maddie Poole, another writer in attendance. “I was so honored to be a part of this group,” they said. “It was very tender and sweet to have other people in the MFA program that I care about in this line-up of incredible poets. Reading my poem felt like an offering to the community.”
Liz Bruce reads a poem at Emilia Phillip’s book reading.
Bruce, and others who participated in the event, felt similarly grateful to be a part of Phillips’ unveiling of “Nonbinary Bird of Paradise.”
“Because of Emilia’s decision to platform multiple voices and multiple authors, they recognize that writing isn’t created in a vacuum,” Bruce says. “It was a celebration of the community as much as the book, because the community influenced the making of the book in so many ways.”
UNCG has nothing but pride for communities like Emilia Phillips’ that bring art into the world to spur curiosity and impart understanding. We celebrate this during Pride month, as we do throughout the year.
Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications. Photography courtesy of Felipe Troncoso
UNCG Artists Turn Up the Heat at Community Showcase
Posted on June 24, 2024
Students at UNC Greensboro put on a sizzling show for the community. They browsed the artwork made by students in the School of Art or made their own, courtesy of an iron pour and steamroller press.
The packed event on April 20 began with an art showcase inside UNCG’s Gatewood Studio Arts Center and closed with an iron pour in the sculpture yard. During the day, visitors toured the studio spaces, attended workshops, and watched demonstrations of glass working and ceramics.
UNCG Foundry Director Kevin Vanek supervised the students pouring molten iron into art tiles that had been carved beforehand by guests. The students built the furnaces themselves, which heat metal to almost 3,000 degrees.
“This is a new furnace that hasn’t been used before,” says Loucks S., who is getting a bachelor of fine arts in painting. “That’s really exciting. They’re going to see some really cool fire work, glassblowing, and other sculpture art.”
It was Vanek’s goal upon joining the School of Art faculty in 2020 to revitalize iron pouring at UNCG, taking students on tours of foundries and attended conferences so they could learn how to do it themselves. It was inspiring to see how many people turned out for their showcase. “This is a big event,” said Vanek. “The community gets to come out and see the whole thing and get drawn into the arts. It gives them an understanding of how the work they’re looking at gets made.”
Sculpture and ceramics major Viktoria Banovic says iron pouring promotes community engagement. “Much of the iron that we’re using today was donated by community members from old cast iron radiators. The more that we involve them, the more we get to create.”
Student artists sold other types of art and provided musical entertainment during the showcase.
Loucks was happy to see students work together. “Having an opportunity to do this at our own school with our peers and having younger people lead the event itself is really empowering for artists.”
The students hope this event gave people a greater appreciation for the artistic process. “Opening eyes to the possibilities of art and what we are able to make,” says Banovic. “A lot of work and teamwork goes into this artform. It’s important to us to shine a light on it.”
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications Video by David Lee Row, University Communications Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
UNCG Alumna Fights Teacher Burnout And Gives Kids a Head Start
Posted on June 20, 2024
When many teachers feel compelled to leave their job, it’s not because they’ve lost a love for teaching or stopped caring about students.
Dr. Tyla Ricks ’23 learned, while working with early care educators for her dissertation at UNC Greensboro, that their departures are largely driven by low pay and burnout. “They don’t necessarily leave the field,” she says. “They leave to go to another program that may pay a little bit more.”
Ricks says since the pandemic, educators have felt pushed to the brink. The expiration of COVID-era stabilization grants for childcare this month adds to that uncertainty.
“The question has become, ‘What’s next?'” she says.
Ricks also speaks from personal experience. She spent five years teaching in early care and education, working in Atlanta, Georgia and Greenville, North Carolina, until she felt burnt out.
“I remember leaving the classroom, and I said, ‘I still want to impact the classroom, but in a different way,'” she says.
Ricks came to UNCG’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies to get her PhD. “I wanted to focus on how we can better equip teachers to personally take care of themselves while they’re in the classroom.”
Her research introduced her to a local organization, Ready for School, Ready for Life in Guilford County, with whom she is now helping to craft a positive answer to “What’s next?” in education.
Personal goals Form A Bigger Picture
While at UNCG, Ricks conducted a book study – funded by the Administration for Children and Families – with early care and education teachers in Guilford County. The subject of the book was teacher resilience.
Her participants answered questions related to their perception of resilience, their support networks, and what they thought others expected from them. As they progressed through the book, they began to talk about what they wanted to change.
The teachers opened up to Ricks about something they don’t often get to address – their own health and wellbeing. Ricks says, “Normally, when you hear about teachers and their goals, it’s in relation to the classroom. But these teachers wanted to talk about setting personal goals.”
Their conversations about exercise, diet, and de-cluttering helped Ricks see the bigger picture. “I’m giving them the tools to address wellbeing and resilience, but if their environment doesn’t change, then how much of a help or support can that really be?” she says. “Wellbeing needs to be embedded in everything: their programs, professional development opportunities, and policies overall.”
Ricks and her Ready for School, Ready for Life colleagues at “Books on Break.”
Ricks also took up an assistantship working with teachers and directors from three childcare centers to assess their work environment. “That project was funded by Ready for School, Ready for Life,” says Ricks. “Someone from my assistantship encouraged me to apply to that organization, and so I did.”
Ready, Steady, Go!
Ricks is a continuous quality improvement specialist for Ready for School, Ready for Life, also known as Ready Ready. The non-profit partners with more than 100 community organizations, among them UNCG’s Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships. By emphasizing community-wide collaboration and identifying gaps in care, Ready Ready makes it easier for the people who want to help reach the people who need that help.
“We work to help build a system of care,” Ricks says. “I’m not working directly with teachers or working with children as a teacher, but I am working with organizations as a whole who help young children and families.”
For example, Ready Ready teamed up with Book Harvest for “Books on Break,” an event for children to pick up free books to take home before the summer break.
As the name Ready for School, Ready for Life implies, they also support the physical, social, cognitive, and communication skills that will carry children beyond a classroom. “For example, we had an organization come to us who is in need of car seats,” says Ricks. “We try to assess the needs of the community, which are ever-changing. We try to figure out a way or make our partner organizations aware of that need.”
Showing her work
Ricks’ research at UNCG is also making sure one subset of educators does not get overlooked. In February, two months after her doctoral hooding at UNCG’s Graduate Commencement ceremony, she took her findings to a place where it might be seen by advocates and policymakers.
Ricks’ presentation “Insights on Head Start Educators’ Wellbeing: Amplifying the Voices of Black Educators” drew from the book study she did while at UNCG. “The majority of my sample were women of color,” she says. “I was able to present the things they said throughout the book study, aligning it and seeing how other research talked about women of color in early care and education.”
Back in Guilford County, Ricks sees her goals play out every time she goes to an event made possible by Ready Ready. “Going to ‘Books on Break’ and seeing children light up, because they’re getting five free books, that was very rewarding,” she says.
There is no short or easy answer to “What’s next?” for educators, but Ricks has never shied away from embracing a challenge.
“We’re not only trying to help our partners accomplish their initiatives,” she says. “We’re trying to hear their voice, to see what they’re seeing. They’re the ones in the community, helping parents, helping children, helping families.”
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications Photography courtesy of Dr. Tyla Ricks, Ready for School, Ready for Life
Create a culture where children and families thrive.
Five Spartan women’s softball players were named to the Academic All-District team and all are athletes excelling on the field and in the Kinesiology department.
Class of 2024 Grads Thrive at The Middle College at UNCG
Posted on June 19, 2024
Middle College of UNCG Class of 2024
The Middle College at UNC Greensboro offers a unique high school experience for Guilford County students interested in pursuing careers in health sciences. Opening its doors in 2011, the high school benefits from its location on UNCG’s campus to provide college courses to students. Students must also obtain 250 service hours to graduate, which is easy when you’re connected to a university whose motto is “Service”.
Last month, the Middle College graduated its twelfth class, including some very accomplished students. Their stories illustrate how the Middle College at UNCG is providing accelerated educational opportunities, enhanced service-learning experiences, and access to UNCG’s campus which makes the transition to any college easier for its graduates.
Pavan Ariyawansa’s Fast Track to Pre-Med
Pavan Ariyawansa
When Ariyawansa finished middle school, he knew he needed a challenging high school environment that offered as many college level courses as possible.
“I have always taken college classes, not to fulfill requirements or to become Valedictorian, but purely for learning,” Ariyawansa explains. “I took numerous biology, and chemistry college classes and took many classes over the summer while interning in places such as the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Wake Forest Center for Precision Medicine, and currently Duke University.”
He appreciated the academic rigor and the flexibility of course scheduling at the Middle College. His courses at UNCG gave him experience with time management and allowed him to mix with undergraduates.
“I had more independence than high school students and was slowly exposed to college culture and the typical struggles of undergraduates.”
By setting goals early, staying motivated, and taking heavy course loads, Ariyawansa was able to graduate from high school 1.5 years earlier than the average student. He finished his senior year with an internship in a research group at Duke University that simulates and designs proteins. In the fall, he will attend UNC-Chapel Hill on the pre-medical track with a long-term goal of becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon.
“Despite having long days at my internship and long nights working to complete yearlong courses in a matter of weeks, I have no regrets about the results,” Ariyawansa states. “Through my high school experience at the Middle College at UNCG, I have realized how much potential I have and how much more I can do in the future.”
Chloe Thompson Finds Her Voice
Chloe Thompson
Chloe Thompson originally came to the Middle College at UNCG because of her interest in health science careers. A Type 1 Diabetic since the age of two, she always wanted to help others who struggled with the disease. As a high achieving student, she was drawn to the smaller class sizes and the opportunity to take classes at UNCG that other high schools didn’t offer.
“I felt like I had more freedom in my education,” Thompson explains. “The smaller class sizes gave me more one-on-one time with teachers. I was able to voice my opinions and ideas in classes, and I could have meetings with my guidance counselors to talk about my specific college and career plans.”
Working with teachers gave her confidence and direction, and access to UNCG’s campus acquainted Thompson with a university atmosphere.
“For example, my high school chemistry class was able to use the UNCG labs for experiments to prepare us for college labs,” she says. “I also remember how lecture classes initially intimidated me since they were so large, but support from my Middle College teachers helped me overcome my anxiety.”
Furthermore, she found extracurricular activities where she discovered a passion for her Native American culture. From participating in the Middle College’s diversity club to leading activities at UNCG’s pow-wow this spring, Thompson has expanded her connection to her Mohawk ancestry during her high school years.
Participating in conferences and organizations through Guilford County School’s American Indian Education program enlightened Thompson about Dartmouth College’s Indigenous Fly-In Program. In December, she was one of 70 students from across the country selected for the program. It was an opportunity to attend a prestigious Ivy League institution 800 miles from home while remaining connected to a community of Native American students.
Thompson credits the Middle College with academic preparation and support to explore her passions, which ultimately enlightened a path to Dartmouth College. There she plans to major in biology, with minors in Native American and Indigenous Studies and English.
“The Middle College has helped me so much in my education,” she raves. “I’m not sure what I would be doing for college if I hadn’t come here.”
Salvador Perez-Toledo Discovers a Whole New World
Salvador Perez-Toledo
“My favorite memory from the Middle College at UNCG was exploring the UNCG campus and realizing how massive it was,” Salvador Perez-Toledo remembers.
High school at the Middle College not only expanded Salvador Perez-Toledo’s view of a college campus, but it gave him a comfortable transition to the next step. He thrived in a high school atmosphere with lots of class options and flexibility.
“At the Middle College, I was able to discover and adapt to the college lifestyle at an early age which allowed me to mentally mature at a quicker rate,” he says. “This was all possible because college classes immersed me into a new environment full of others with similar ideas.”
Perez-Toledo came to the Middle College with health science interests but when he began to question his commitment to a medical career, he took advantage of UNCG’s classes to explore other career directions.
“I enrolled into some business classes which ultimately made me realize my passion for business,” he explains. “Although I figured out my path on my own, I give a lot of credit to our career coordinator, Mr. Prioleau, for offering me advice and guidance along my journey. He cemented my idea of becoming a successful businessman.”
Those early classes and the community he witnessed on the UNCG campus made Perez-Toledo decide to continue his college studies right here at the Bryan School of Business and Economics.
“The Middle College at UNCG gave me freedom to spread my wings and enjoy finding my own path in life,” he says. “There will be obstacles, but no good story is a straight arrow. I look forward to joining the Spartan family and fighting for my success.”
Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications. Photography courtesy of the Middle College at UNCG and its students.
Undergraduate Researchers Show Their Work at UNCG Expo
Posted on June 18, 2024
At the close of every spring semester at UNC Greensboro, students get the chance to share the outcomes of their scholarly activity at the undergraduate and graduate research and creativity expos. They display their results on posters in UNCG’s Cone Ballroom, through performances and art exhibitions, or in oral presentations.
Rising fourth-year classical studies major Ethan Divon blended his favorite hobbies – mythology and video games – into his research. With mentorship from Dr. Aisha Dad in classical studies, Divon is studying the ways that Greek and Roman mythology gets worked into games, part of what is known in academia as “classical reception.”
“I can spend 30 minutes talking to Aisha about the ‘Hades 2’ game’s technical tests. And we not only talk about how it’s a cool game, but how it’s receiving this literature.”
He hopes his findings will help make video games an effective teaching tool for educators. “Seeing how those classical ideas have been imagined and reimagined, accurately or inaccurately, is super fascinating and can tell you a lot about a culture.”
Divon, who is part of the Ashby Residential College with the Lloyd International Honors College (LIHC), had taken his research to several conferences, most recently the Southern Regional Honors Conference. He says he felt his poster in UNCG’s Undergraduate Expo last year was not as good as it could be, not helped by his field revolving around long epics comprised of text. For his oral presentation this year, he made sure he had appealing images in his slides. He was excited to learn that he took first place for the humanities category.
“Conveying research through speech allows you a little bit more flexibility than a paper,” he says. “When talking, I try to keep my presentation a little bit lighter, a little more casual.”
While his prior experience in band, theatre, and choir prepared him to speak in front of a crowd, Divon says it was somewhat stressful to speak in front of peers and professors, so he practiced in front of friends. “It’s a strategy I use for my papers as well. Before I write, I usually try and talk to a friend in a conspiracy theory-style rant. It helps me get all my thoughts in order.”
Ethan’s advice to future participants
“Don’t stress too much. Everyone has an implicit understanding that you’re a student, and you’re learning. It’s okay to make mistakes. I’ve given this presentation at six or seven different conferences. The first was not that great. But by the seventh time, it was good. Letting yourself experience how to present is really important.”
Class Notes
Abby Hughes ’24 and Tyler Rae Durkee ’24 share a love of music but play different musical instruments. That became the basis of their research to help music teachers teach students how to play instruments they themselves are not used to playing. Working with Dr. Rebecca MacLeod, professor of music education, they won first place in the Expo’s performing arts category for a presentation specifically about how colleges can prepare educators to teach string instruments.
In 2023, they spoke at the National Conference for the American String Teachers Association (ASTA). They had to shorten that presentation to fit the time limit at UNCG’s Expo.
“It was tough, taking what we already condensed down into 45 minutes, then condensing that further to 12 minutes,” says Hughes. “And at the ASTA conference, we were talking to other music teachers and string players. For URSCO, our audience did not necessarily have that background. So, we met to figure out how to make sure it made sense and was still appealing to them.”
With MacLeod as their mentor, Hughes says they brought three unique perspectives to craft effective tools for music educators. “Rebecca helped us brainstorm ideas and asked us questions that challenged us to go even further with our research.”
The Expo was during their last semester before graduating with degrees in music education. Hughes and Durkee were also completing student teaching. Hughes said their friendship and a shared love of the research topic helped them get ready. “Almost every week, we would meet so that we would get more comfortable with what we were saying,” she says. “It got to the point that we could easily go back and forth, taking turns speaking. We figured out a rhythm.”
Having shared their presentation at a national conference, Hughes was happy for the chance to bring it home to UNCG.
“We were excited to find out that we won, and that people liked our presentation,” says Hughes. “One of our goals is spreading awareness of the string teacher shortage and giving an option to all music education students. To have that message spread further was really cool for both of us.”
Abby’s advice to future participants
“Find something that you are genuinely interested in. For both of us, by the time we were prepping for the Expo, it didn’t feel like work because we were so invested and so interested in it. That was meaningful to us because we did feel nervous before the Expo. But it was a different kind of nervousness; more of an excited nervousness about sharing what we’d been working on for so long. Find something that you’re genuinely interested in figure out how to share with other people.”
Mind the Gaps
Rising third-year student Kendal Walker majors in mathematics and statistics, but her research on the post-pandemic data of STEM participation was deemed the best presentation for the category for business, education, social and behavioral sciences.
The Honors College student studied undergraduate students’ participation in STEM classes. Her data initially showed few disparities between racial and gender groups, but only when all STEM-related fields were averaged together. She delved deeper and identified the fields where gaps were apparent: physics, engineering, and computer science.
At the Expo, Walker took great care in making her poster an attention grabber. She picked one angle of her multi-faceted research that would stand out in a room full of posters. “It makes me feel like a salesperson,” she says. “I can grab people walking by, if they even glance at my poster for a second. I like to pull them in.”
While not in the oral presentation lineup, Walker still had to be comfortable with speaking. “Some people come look at the poster, read it, and then ask questions. I like that format better than an oral presentation. You can make it more interactive.”
Walker sets a high standard for herself as an undergraduate, saying, “The project I’m doing is something that I could be doing for my career. I treat it as I would treat my job.”
She’s grateful for the help of all her department faculty, particularly her mentor, Economics Professor Dora Gicheva. “She always had time to give me feedback at any stage of this process,” says Walker. “She was available for once-a-week meetings. And I could email her and receive feedback within a day or two.”
More support came from Dr. Julie Edmunds, the director of the Early College Research Center at the SERVE Center, a UNCG initiative to promote positive outcomes in education that was working with the same post-pandemic data. Edmunds met regularly with Walker and gave advice on presenting her own findings.
Finally, Walker appreciated the chance to step back from her own research and see the other UNCG students and faculty presentations at the Expo. She says, “I got to talk to other professors and make connections with professors that I might not normally talk to.”
Kendal’s advice to future participants
“Put your all into your project. Don’t worry about the competition factor. Everything that you do for an expo is something that you can potentially put on your LinkedIn. It’s something that gives you experience, to be able to present to a bunch of people. Don’t cut any corners. Treat it like you’re trying to do your best work, and it will really pay off.”
UNCG congratulates all winners of the Undergraduate Research and Creativity Expo, listed here:
Business, Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences 1st Place Kendal Walker, Mathematics & Statistics STEM Enrollment Gaps by Race/Ethnicity and Gender before and after the COVID Pandemic: Evidence from North Carolina Public Colleges and Universities
2nd Place (tied) Nathan Dang, Public Health Education Chronic Health Disparities in the U.S. Hmong Population: A National Profile with Implications for a Community-Driven Needs Assessment in NC
Kimberly Cang, Biology; and Tiffany Tan, Psychology Conversations About Discrimination Among Asian American Parents and Adolescents
Humanities 1st Place Ethan Divon, Classical Studies Expanding Classics: Comparative World Mythology and its Reception in Gaming
2nd Place Sofie Muska, English Scions of the Solar Sea
3rd Place Matthew Henderson, Anthropology Zooarchaeological Considerations at Crusader-Period Caesarea Maritima
(STEM) Mathematics, Life and Physical Sciences 1st Place Sarah Hudson, Biology Exposure to Microplastics and Nanoplastics (MNPLs) Triggered Inflammatory Response in Human Aortic Endothelial Cells (HAEC)
2nd Place Sarah Korb, Biochemistry Enantioselective Effects of Co-Catalysts on Tetrahydropyran Protected Alcohols
3rd Place Yeancarlos Jalouf-Zogbi, Biology; and Grant Koher, Chemistry & Biochemistry Māmaki Ethanol Extracts Inhibit TNF-Α-Induced Endothelial Proinflammatory Gene Expression in Human Aortic Endothelial Cells
Performing Arts 1st Place Tyler Rae Durkee, Music Education; and Abigail Hughes, Music Education Everybody Can Play Strings: Including Non-String Primaries in Your Program
Visual Arts Exhibition 1st Place Annabelle Kizer, Art The Children of Nightmare
2nd Place Sophie Shahan, Theatre Exploring History and Theatrical Mobility
3rd Place Sarah Smith, Art; and Amiah Jones, Art Murals and Large-Scale Painting: Bridging Creative Research and Community Development
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
UNCG Students Receive Coveted National Science Foundation Fellowship
Posted on June 17, 2024
Four students from UNCG have been awarded the 2024 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship which covers up to three years of graduate school expenses.
UNCG’s Dominick Amendum Helps Bring “Wicked” to the Big Screen
Posted on June 14, 2024
Professor and Musical Theater Director Dominick Amendum ’01 juggles teaching with film production after being tapped to join the production team for the “Wicked” feature film, set for release in November 2024.
UNCG Honors Juneteenth with Reflection Through the Arts
Posted on June 12, 2024
UNC Greensboro demonstrates its enduring community leadership in creative expression and in civil rights with an event honoring Juneteenth. On Wednesday, June 19, the campus and surrounding community were invited to attend “Echoes of Freedom: Celebrating Juneteenth Through the Arts” in the courtyard of the Weatherspoon Art Museum.
The Art of Equality
This year, UNCG’s Juneteenth planning committee was inspired to assemble artists to celebrate the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, educate the public about the history of the day, and reflect on our journey towards equality.
Spoken word performance poet, Josephus Thompson III headlined the event. Thompson was named Greensboro’s first Poet Laureate in 2023 and serves as an activist, lecturer, teacher, and author.
Joining Thompson were UNCG poet D. Noble, Bennett College’s Poet Laurette Jasmine Faison, and local youth poet Kingzton Tacorie. Their work was featured alongside musicians like drummer Isaac Cousar, vocalist Jade Spratling, and Christian hip-hop artist Kayo Bracey. The celebration will also included a West African drum and dance performance.
Be Inspired
Observing Juneteenth through the arts is a natural choice for a university that takes pride in the educational and artistic opportunities it provides to its students and the surrounding community.
“We are thrilled to host ‘Echoes of Freedom: Celebrating Juneteenth Through the Arts’ at UNCG,” said Dr. Channelle James, lecturer at the Bryan School of Business and Economics and Juneteenth event organizer. “This event is a meaningful opportunity to unite as a community, reflect on our shared history, and celebrate the enduring spirit of freedom through the arts. ‘Juneteenth @ UNCG’ is focused on better understanding of the African American experience in our country. This is our fourth Juneteenth celebration, and we are proud to make this event a UNCG tradition.”
The showcase of African American artists began at 11:00 A.M. and lasted approximately an hour and a half to encourage the community to take a break in their day to be inspired by art that celebrates freedom, resilience, and progress towards equality.
A Taste of Freedom
Although some Black communities have celebrated Juneteenth since 1865 when the final emancipation of slaves was issued in Texas following the American Civil War, the holiday wasn’t federally recognized until 2021. UNCG held its first campus observance of Juneteenth that year and has hosted celebrations like 2023’s Juneteenth walking tour every year since.
In addition to the Echoes of Freedom arts showcase, UNCG was also a sponsor of the Juneteenth Greensboro event on June 15 and 16. This celebration in downtown Greensboro featured music, art, and food trucks.
Local artists displayed their works in Sternberger Park on Saturday, June 15 from 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Afterward, festival goers sampled tasty treats from over forty Black-owned food trucks at the Black Food Truck Festival from 5:00 to 11:00 P.M. Princess Howell Johnson ’07, founding director of Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet, helped to organize the event which concluded with a gospel interfaith program on Sunday from 2:30 to 5:30 P.M.
UNCG was proud to host and sponsor Juneteenth events to celebrate the day and educate our community.
Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications. Photography by Martin Kane, University Communications.
Learn More About UNCG’s Commitment to Racial Equality.
