UNC faculty members begin spring fellowships at the Institute for the Arts and Humanities

January 2, 2008

Chapel Hill, N.C. — Ten faculty members from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's College of Arts and Sciences begin spring fellowships at the Institute for the Arts and Humanities (IAH) in January. For the first time, the UNC faculty members will be joined by a professor from Duke University as part of a new faculty exchange between the IAH and Duke's Franklin Humanities Institute.

"IAH Fellowships provide time for faculty to focus on specific research projects while exchanging their ideas with a diverse group of colleagues," said IAH Director John McGowan, The Ruel W. Tyson Jr. Distinguished Professor of Humanities. "The conversations at the fellowship table create an intellectual community from which cutting-edge research and good teaching emerges."

Faculty Fellows for the spring 2008 semester, which include two recipients of Chapman Family Faculty Fellowships, and the research topics they will pursue are:

• Karen Booth, associate professor, Curriculum in Women's Studies, "Reading AZT: The Cultural Politics of Global Medicine" (Chapman Fellow)
• Marianne Gingher, associate professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature, "A Woman at Play: The Coming of Age of a Writer" (a memoir) and "Speedos: An Anthology of Short Short Stories by 60 N.C. Writers" (editing and collecting) (Chapman Fellow)
• Banu Gokariksel, assistant professor, Department of Geography and Curriculum in International and Area Studies, "The Urban Spaces of Modern Muslim Women, Veiling as Fashion and Political Activism"
• Perry Hall, associate professor, Department of African and Afro-American Studies, "Finding Fault: Lines and Sites of African American Cultural Production"
• Jennifer Ann Ho, assistant professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature, "Passing Through Asian America: Mixed-Race Asian Americans in Late 20th Century Culture"
• Dale Hutchinson, professor, Department of Anthropology, "Global Expansion, Social and Economic Transformation, and Health in the Colonial New World"
• Laurie Maffly-Kipp, associate professor, Department of Religious Studies, "Hyper-Patriotism and Heresy: A History of Mormonism"
• Michael McFee, professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature; Creative Writing Program, "New Poems and Essays"
• Eric M. Myers, professor of Judaic Studies and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies, Duke University, "Israel: The Archaeological Heritage"
• Jocelyn Neal, assistant professor, Department of Music, "Individuality, Race, Gender, and Fan Identity in the Country Dance Hall"
• Krista Perreira, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy, "Latino Immigration and the American South"

The Faculty Fellows Program, in its 46th semester, provides semester leaves on campus for eight to 12 faculty members to work on research for publication, exhibition, composition and performance or to develop new courses, programs and initiatives. A key feature is the weekly meeting, or "conversation," chaired by IAH Associate Director Julia T. Wood, during which Fellows discuss their work and ideas, and offer each other suggestions and criticism.

A committee of Fellows who serve on the IAH's Faculty Advisory Board select new classes of Fellows in the fall each year. IAH Fellowships are open to UNC faculty members from the humanities, fine arts and social sciences. Chapman Family Faculty Fellowships are open to faculty from any unit of the university who regularly teach undergraduates.

The Faculty Fellows Program is a signature program of the IAH, part of the College of Arts and Sciences, which offers programs and activities that support UNC faculty at every stage of their careers. The IAH funds individual and collaborative research, showcases faculty work, develops faculty leaders and teachers, and facilitates the formation of collaborative, interdisciplinary communities that promote intellectual exchange. For more information, visit www.iah.unc.edu.