Ritchie gave a spotlight session, “People, Not Systems: AI, Belonging and Readiness,” and joined the closing leadership panel on what must change next in higher education. Much of the session was built around his teaching at �鶹��Ƶ.

During his Fulbright year, Ritchie taught The AI Revolution at �鶹��Ƶ, a course he co-created at Warwick. �鶹��Ƶ students and Warwick students took on the same assignment in two very different classrooms, imagining possible futures shaped by AI and writing policy briefs to people with the power to act on them. One �鶹��Ƶ first-year student argued the course should be compulsory for every �鶹��Ƶ student. Comparing the two classrooms shaped the talk’s central argument: students are not the readiness problem; institutions are.

The work of Zach Conklin ’28 and other students from the course is featured throughout. In class, Conklin wrote on the whiteboard that “the hardest problems aren’t technical. They’re human.” Ritchie used the line to close his talk. Conklin has since become one of the �鶹��Ƶ student editors of a joint �鶹��Ƶ–Warwick special issue of “Reinvention: an International Journal of Undergraduate Research,” on AI and the final-year research experience.

The talk also drew on “Your Place in the World: Exploring Identity, Sustainability, and AI,” the course Ritchie taught at the �鶹��Ƶ Academy summer program. Scholars co-wrote their own honor code before using AI, then recreated hand-drawn designs with AI tools and reflected on what the technology made, what they made, and how they handled bias along the way.

“Money buys adoption. People make readiness,” Ritchie said. “The students at �鶹��Ƶ showed me that, in the classroom and at the Academy.”

The award follows the AI in Learning Excellence Award Ritchie received from Echo360 this summer.

Fifteen contestants had six minutes to eat as many hot dogs as possible in a competition hosted by none other than Joey Chestnut, the 18-time reigning champion of the famous Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest held every Fourth of July on Coney Island. The competition required advance registration and a $50 entry fee, and it drew in contestants from across the state of North Carolina.

�鶹��Ƶ’s Sydney F. & Kathleen E. Jackson Professor of Chemistry won the local competition in Winston-Salem after consuming 14.5 hot dogs – half a frank more than his nearest opponent.

And because Chestnut had a full view of the contest on Oct. 8, 2026, and saw that Karty and his nearby foe were in the lead the entire time, the cheers from the world-famous competitive eater were impossible to miss.

“I did not know Joey Chestnut was going to be next to me the entire competition cheering me on, it was very motivating,” Karty said. “Telling me to find my happy place? During the competition, the only thing going through my mind was to focus on the process and find a rhythm. I was thinking ‘don’t overdo it, but don’t take your foot off the gas’.”

Karty practiced ahead of the competition and tapered his food intake the day before the contest. His strategy included dunking the buns in water and separating the hot dog from the bun to eat separately. Participants had to finish one hot dog at a time.

When the six minutes were up, Karty only knew the race was close. Chestnut’s announcement of his success was unforgettable. For context, in the most recent Nathan’s contest from July, Chestnut himself consumed 70.5 hot dogs in 10 minutes. 

.

“It was a pretty magical evening. Now Joey Chestnut knows me!” Karty said. “I didn’t expect to win. I didn’t expect the trophy. I didn’t expect to take photos for 20 minutes with people from the crowd afterward. All I expected was a meet-and-greet with Joey Chestnut before the competition and to eat as many hot dogs as I could.”

The special issue, “AI and the Final-Year Research Experience: Transatlantic Perspectives,” is a collaboration between �鶹��Ƶ and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, where Reinvention is based. Zach Conklin ’28, Alyssa Collins ’27 and Chris Guider ’28 serve on the student-led editorial board alongside student editors from Warwick.

The project grew out of Tom Ritchie’s year at �鶹��Ƶ as a 2025-26 US-UK Fulbright Commission Visiting Scholar. Ritchie, reader and director of student experience in the Department of Chemistry at Warwick, focused on AI and belonging in course curriculum design during his time at �鶹��Ƶ, where he taught Conklin and Collins in his course ‘The AI Revolution’.

“So many of my conversations with �鶹��Ƶ students kept coming back to the same question: what does doing your own research look like now that generative AI is part of every stage of it?” Ritchie said. “Students are working this out as they go, often ahead of the guidance written for them. Their experience deserves to be in the literature in their own words, and it means a great deal that �鶹��Ƶ students are the ones shaping that conversation.”

The call for papers is open to current undergraduates and recent graduates from any discipline and any institution. Submissions may include research articles, critical reflections and book reviews on topics such as using AI to frame research questions or analyze data, how AI has changed conversations with faculty mentors, academic integrity and disclosure, access and equity, and the decision not to use AI. Reinvention is fully open access, and there is no fee to submit.

The issue will be published alongside a companion special issue of Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring (PURM) exploring the same questions from the faculty and staff perspective. That issue is co-edited by Ritchie; Brandon Sheridan, associate professor of economics and Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Pedagogy Fellow at �鶹��Ƶ; and Yanyan Li, early-career fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study at Warwick.

“Putting the two issues side by side gives us something unusual,” Ritchie said. “We’ll hear from students and mentors on both sides of the Atlantic about the same moment in undergraduate research, and see where those experiences line up and where they don’t.”

Submissions are due Jan. 6, 2027, and the issue is scheduled for publication in summer 2027.

Full details are available on the .

The transformative program is designed to support scholars at multiple points in their undergraduate years and early career. Renewable for up to two years, the UGSP provides:

• $20,000 per academic year to support undergraduate education expenses
• A 10-week full-time summer internship at the NIH immediately following the year of scholarship support
• One year of full-time employment with the NIH post-graduation

Because Barnes and Sterling have won the award as juniors, they are eligible to receive up to $40,000 in scholarship support, two paid summer internships (one between their junior and senior years, and another following graduation) and two years of employment upon graduation.

Approximately 15 scholars are selected each year from a nationwide pool of hundreds of applicants, and �鶹��Ƶ students have been remarkably successful in this competition in recent years. The federally-funded program was on pause last year, but Samantha Hinton ’25 was selected in 2024, and three seniors—Genesis Tolbert ’24, Christopher D’Inzeo ’24 and Samuel Ramirez ’24—were selected in 2023. The addition of Barnes and Sterling to the list means that �鶹��Ƶ has been represented in the three most recent cohorts of this highly selective program.

The next application cycle for the NIH UGSP will open in Spring 2027. Interested students should contact the National and International Fellowships Office to learn more.

Sofia Barnes ’28

Sofia Barnes is a chemistry and psychology double major from Port Washington, New York. At �鶹��Ƶ, Barnes has worked under the mentorship of Dan Wright, associate professor of chemistry, on an analysis of toxic metal concentration in medicinal herbs and spices in the United States. The research aims to fill the knowledge gap around potential contamination of medicinal herbs and spices by creating a nationwide catalog outlining the metal accumulation in numerous medical herbs and spices. This experience helped foster Barnes’ love of research and pushed her to seek out external opportunities like the NIH UGSP.

Thanks to the robust structure of the award, Barnes will be freer to deepen her research impact at �鶹��Ƶ and the NIH.

“This award will not only give me the opportunity to further my career as a researcher and give me the chance to connect with mentors and peers to help push and encourage me,” she explained. “It has also provided me with the support to be able to lessen the monetary stress that comes with my undergraduate degree, which allows me to focus more on making the most out of my time in undergrad. It allows me to expand my reach with my post-grad options and where I may go after �鶹��Ƶ which before felt more limited.”

In addition to her research, Barnes is active across campus. She is a service ambassador in the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, a member of Chi Upsilon Sigma National Latin Sorority Incorporated, a chemistry tutor, and has previously served as a SMART mentor and Peer Educator. Her constellation of �鶹��Ƶ mentors includes Andrew Moffa, assistant Director for the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, Justin Clar, associate professor of chemistry and director of �鶹��Ƶ’s Undergraduate Research Program, and Dr. Dan Wright, associate professor of chemistry.

Parker Sterling ’28

Parker Sterling is a double major in biology and history with minors in chemistry, neuroscience, and peace & conflict studies from Randleman, North Carolina. As an �鶹��Ƶ College Fellow, Sterling is working under the mentorship of Jonathan Su, associate professor of engineering and chair of the Department of Engineering, to test the feasibility of a dual-drug intravaginal ring for menstrual pain. She’s supplemented her ECF research experience by assisting with data collection and processing in the �鶹��Ƶ Physical Therapy Department’s Glen Raven Biomechanics Lab.

The NIH UGSP will be a critical step in Sterling’s development as a research scientist. While she remains committed to STEM research on her journey towards medical school, Sterling is equally committed to earning her master’s in history while working at the NIH. She seeks to understand not only the science, but also the historical and social contexts that have shaped scientific inquiry and advancement.

Sterling is highly engaged on campus outside of her research and academics. She is the Business Lead (and former President) for the Phoenix Racing Team, a physics TA, a senior resident assistant in the Global Neighborhood and a Leadership Ambassador with the Center for Leadership. As a reflection of her wide breadth of involvement, Sterling’s �鶹��Ƶ mentors span disciplines and departments; the list includes Jonathan Su, associate professor of engineering and chair of the Department of Engineering, Andresa Bresler Bezerra, assistant teaching professor of chemistry, Efrain Rivera-Serrano, assistant professor of biology, Amanda Kleintop, assistant professor of history, and Matthew Banks, engineering lab manager and advisor for the Phoenix Racing Team.

“The magic of �鶹��Ƶ College lies in the people who teach our students,” said Hilton Kelly, Dean of �鶹��Ƶ College, the College of Arts and Sciences. “Our new faculty members embody a commitment to the liberal arts. They are curious, inspiring and interdisciplinary thinkers. We are delighted to welcome them to our community.”

New Professors for 2026-27 in �鶹��Ƶ College, the College of Arts and Sciences

• Jackson Cooper, assistant professor of arts administration, earned an MFA from Seattle University. He will teach Arts Administration and Community, Legal Aspects of Art and Entertainment and COR 1100: The Global Experience.
• Joseph Frey, assistant teaching professor of human service studies, earned a PhD from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He will teach Social Policy and Inequality and The Art and Science of Human Service Studies.
• Rachel Johnson, assistant professor of biochemistry, earned a PhD from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She will teach General Chemistry and Biochemistry. She will join in the Winter Term to teach General Chemistry and Biochemistry.
• Ariana Montoya-Lozano, assistant professor of political science and public policy and environmental studies, earned a PhD from Purdue University. She will teach Introduction to Environmental Science 1150 and Environmental Policy 3230.
• Aditi Vyas, assistant professor of biology, earned a PhD from Ohio University. She will teach Cell Biology and Genetics.
• Danny Frye, interim director of bands, earned a DMA from University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

�鶹��Ƶ �鶹��Ƶ College, the College of Arts and Sciences

�鶹��Ƶ College, the College of Arts and Sciences provides the foundation for the study of the liberal arts and sciences at �鶹��Ƶ. The college is comprised of 19 departments across three branches: the arts and humanities; natural, mathematical and computational sciences; and social and behavioral sciences. It hosts �鶹��Ƶ’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest honor society celebrating excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.

Committed to the growth of students’ intellectual curiosity, intercultural competence and critical thinking, the college champions disciplinary knowledge and interdisciplinary applications to reflect upon, respond to and offer solutions to complex problems in an interconnected and changing world.

With more than 45 majors and 65 minors, the college is �鶹��Ƶ’s largest academic division. Two-thirds of the nearly 1,600 students who graduate from �鶹��Ƶ annually do so with at least one major or minor in the college. Within a year, over 90% of college graduates report employment in their chosen field or enrollment in top post-graduate programs.

College faculty are prolific and preeminent scholars and creators in their fields, recognized for expertise at national and international levels. Each year, its more than 300 full-time faculty publish hundreds of articles, chapters, and books, and they present at scores of conferences and events. Their scholarship results in grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Institutes of Health and other prominent centers of research.

The course asked scholars three of the biggest questions they’ll face heading into college and beyond.

• Who are you?
• How does the world around you work?
• Where do you belong in it?

Answering those questions meant building a team that could bring three different lenses to the room, not one guest lecturer parachuted in for an afternoon, but three weeks, three educators and one shared arc.

The design work started long before anyone boarded a flight. Jess Savage and Yanyan Li, both from Warwick, along with Aoife Prendergast from TUS Ireland, worked with Ritchie from early on to shape the course’s structure and pedagogy. Amanda Lang and Jo Kukuczka from Warwick also helped shape the wider exchange from the start, thinking through how a course like this could work across institutions with genuinely different academic cultures. �鶹��Ƶ Assistant Teaching Professor of Wellness Evan Small, �鶹��Ƶ Academy Director Emily Wiersma, and the �鶹��Ƶ Academy team helped the team turn their planning into a course that actually happened, on the ground, with real scholars.

In June 2026, that design became three weeks of teaching. Savage led the first week, taking scholars outside to investigate the natural world of �鶹��Ƶ’s campus, observing and mapping the environment and asking who shapes it and how they could begin to understand sustainability differently. Li led the second week, turning to the digital world, unpacking what AI is, whose values it carries, and how to use it with honesty and critical thought. Prendergast led the third week, joining the class from Ireland as the s first Transatlantic Teaching Fellow. She turned the lens on the scholars themselves: their story, their strengths, their future, and what belonging looked and felt like for them.

Belonging wasn’t confined to Prendergast’s week; it ran through all three, as the thread underneath the environment, the AI and the identity work alike. Scholars kept a reflective journal throughout, used photography in the first week to document their experience, and carried a logo and motto project across all three weeks: hand-drawn in Week 1, recreated with AI in Week 2 under a co-created and scholar-drafted honor code, then made personal in Week 3 as their final project, representing their own identity, values and vision for the future.

“That arc worked because an international team built it together, then taught it together, each trusting the ones before and after them to carry it forward,” said Ritchie. “So much of Fulbright’s work is about building bridges between UK and US institutions. But a bridge only matters once people walk across it, and once the people crossing it have had a hand in building it too. That’s what this collaboration set out to do: curriculum design, planning, and teaching, shared genuinely across three institutions, not handed from one to another.”

Twenty-six students participated in Phoenix Summer, held July 6-17 on �鶹��Ƶ’s campus, where they immersed themselves in hands-on, college-style academics while fostering curiosity, community and independence.

“The transition from high school to college is one of the biggest milestones in a student’s life, and after working with first-year students for many years, I’ve learned that one of the most common things they say is ‘I wish I had known what to expect,’” said Theresa Higgins, academic coordinator for alternative start programs. “Phoenix Summer gives students the opportunity to experience college before they get here full time.”

Students lived in the residence halls, navigated campus, ate in the dining hall, learned from �鶹��Ƶ faculty, connected with staff and explored the academic and social opportunities �鶹��Ƶ has to offer.

Students selected two courses to take throughout the camp, including Order in the court!, An introduction to law and justice, taught by Shilanka Lewis, assistant professor of law; Chemistry in the kitchen, taught by Mary McManamy, associate teaching professor of chemistry; Exploring astronomical and poetic light, taught by Claudine Moreau, assistant teaching professor of physics; and Start-up Spring: concept to creation, taught by Elena Kennedy, associate professor of entrepreneurship and Dan Reis, assistant director of creative learning technologies.

“The Phoenix Summer faculty were truly the highlight of this pre-college experience,” Higgins said. “Their enthusiasm, passion and genuine engagement with their subject matter inspired students to see college as a place to explore their interests and discover new possibilities.”

Each day the students spent time learning and engaging in the classroom through a variety of hands-on lessons.

“The law class was my favorite part of the camp,” said Ava Hendricks, an eleventh grade student from Raleigh, North Carolina. “I have always been interested in law and what we have been doing in the class to prepare for a mock trial has been so cool. Phoenix Summer gave me the opportunity to picture college. I would never have known what college would be like without this possibility.”

During the day, students participated in their courses, while evenings and weekends were filled with social events, activities, several off-campus excursions and signature �鶹��Ƶ experiences to help students build community. Activities students participated in included a trivia night, human bingo, s’more making, karaoke, a water balloon fight and a sip and paint.

“My favorite parts of the camp were meeting new people, living in a dorm and attending the classes,” said Sienna Rohan, a twelfth grade student from Greensboro, Georgia. “It’s been nice meeting new people, and I’ve learned a lot about �鶹��Ƶ.”

Higgins’ hope is that students left the camp with not only a greater appreciation for �鶹��Ƶ, but also a renewed excitement about the possibilities that lie ahead as the students transition from high school to college.

“The primary goal of Phoenix Summer is to provide high school students with an authentic college experience that builds confidence, independence and a sense of belonging before they begin their college journey,” Higgins said. “The most exciting part of the camp was watching the students truly thrive in the experiences we intentionally designed for them.

“I watched them blossom from students who arrived on the first day feeling nervous and uncertain about what to expect into confident, engaged learners — and, in the case of our Order in the Court students, budding lawyers in training. I hope they leave believing in themselves. Whether they ultimately choose �鶹��Ƶ or another institution, I hope �鶹��Ƶ will always hold a special place in their hearts as the place where they first experienced college and began to see themselves as future college students.”

For more information about Phoenix Summer and information about future camps, contact Theresa Higgins, academic coordinator for alternative start programs, at thiggings7@elon.edu.

�鶹��Ƶ has been repeatedly recognized for the number of its alumni who participate in the Fulbright Program as teachers, graduate students, and researchers and has been named a top-producer of Fulbright students in six separate years. Students and alumni interested in the Fulbright Program or other nationally competitive fellowships are invited to contact the National and International Fellowships Office. The deadline to notify the office of your intent to apply for Fulbright in this upcoming cycle is June 1, 2026. Rising seniors are required to work with the National and International Fellowships Office to apply for Fulbright, and alumni are highly encouraged to do so.

Those who received awards this year are:

Azul Bellot ’26

Azul Bellot, a double major in psychology and sociolinguistics with a minor in TESOL, has received a Fulbright grant to teach English in Spain. She is The �鶹��Ƶ Commitment scholar in the Odyssey Program and a student scholar with The Center for Engaged Learning.

Bellot has been preparing for an experience like Fulbright long before she arrived at �鶹��Ƶ. Reflecting on her early years, she says, “Growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, I was my family’s translator from a young age. I navigated formal systems, adult conversations, and bureaucratic spaces in both English and Spanish long before I had the language to describe what that experience was doing to me. It gave me a deep understanding of what it means for language to be a gateway, and what it costs when that gateway is closed.”

These formative years laid the groundwork for her time at �鶹��Ƶ, where she developed her own independent sociolinguistics major, volunteered as an English tutor for children and adults, and conducted research on meaningful mentoring relationships. To Bellot, a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Spain is “the most honest intersection of everything [she’s] been working towards: language, identity, education, and community.”

After Fulbright, Bellot plans to pursue more international fellowships before returning to academia to earn her PhD in Applied Linguistics. Her �鶹��Ƶ mentors include Archie Crowley, assistant professor of English; Nina Namaste, professor of Spanish; and Sylvia Muñoz, assistant dean of students and director for the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education.

Anya Bratić ’26

Anya Bratić, a double major in international & global Studies and public policy with a minor in public health, has received a Fulbright grant to teach English in Vietnam. She is an �鶹��Ƶ College Fellow, a Periclean Scholar, and the Student Government Association Student Body President.

To Bratić, Fulbright represents the intersection of her two greatest passions: global engagement and teaching. She found ways to blend these passions during her time at �鶹��Ƶ. As a Periclean Scholar, she had the opportunity to study abroad in India to understand what mutually beneficial relationships look like in practice, not just in theory. As a student consultant with the Center for Design Thinking, she developed a love for teaching and facilitation, specifically the challenge of guiding others through the structured process of finding meaningful solutions to “wicked” problems. Serving as an English teaching assistant will allow her to refine her intercultural and teaching skills while strengthening diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam.

After Fulbright, Bratić is interested in pursuing a career in diplomacy or global social impact. “Simply put, I want to work at the intersection of people, policy and purpose,” she says. Bratić’s constellation of �鶹��Ƶ mentors includes Amanda Tapler, associate teaching professor of public health studies; Safia Swimelar, professor of political science and public policy; Sean McMahon, professor of entrepreneurship; and Danielle Lake, director of design thinking and associate professor of human service studies.

Molly Moylan ’26

Biochemistry major Molly Moylan has received a Fulbright grant to teach English in Spain.

At �鶹��Ƶ, Moylan took every opportunity to foster and blend her passions for STEM research, teaching and service. As a researcher, Moylan worked with chemistry professor Dan Wright to study trace metals within medicinal herbs and spices. She refined her teaching skills by serving with America Reads, the Village Project, the CityGate Dream Center, and more. Most notably, Moylan found a way to combine her passions by co-founding Imagine Science, a program designed to address declining student engagement in science education by bringing hands-on experiments and activities to local after-school programs.

In Spain, Moylan will serve as an English Teaching Assistant in Galicia, a region that is especially interested in promoting students’ scientific thinking skills. This Fulbright year will serve as crucial preparation for Moylan as she applies to medical school. The language and cultural skills she will gain in Spain will allow her to better serve Spanish-speaking patients in the future.

Moylan’s most influential �鶹��Ƶ mentor has been Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dan Wright. “Dr. Dan Wright has been instrumental in my success at �鶹��Ƶ,” she said. “Through his continued support, my confidence in both my personal and professional capacities has grown immensely, and I am extremely grateful to have had him as a mentor.”

Madison Powers ’25

Madison Powers, who graduated in 2025 with a degree in journalism and a minor in Spanish, has received a Fulbright grant to teach English in Spain. At �鶹��Ƶ, Powers was a communications fellow and a 2023 Pulitzer reporting fellow. Since graduating, she has served as an editorial intern at Garden & Gun Magazine in Charleston, South Carolina.

Powers has long had her sights set on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Spain. During her undergraduate years, she spent a semester in Sevilla and fostered her dual passions for cross-cultural exchange and global education. Eager to return, she applied for Fulbright in last year’s application cycle and was named a semifinalist. She remained so committed to the value of a Fulbright experience that she chose to reapply this year, and her hard work and persistence paid off.

Powers will serve as an English teaching assistant in Madrid. She is excited to live and work in a large, diverse city while improving her Spanish language skills and forming connections with her community. Serving in Madrid will also allow her to work closely with students on Global Classrooms/Model UN projects, which are important to the development of their critical thinking and cross-cultural skills.

This Fulbright year will serve as a bridge between Powers’ current and future journalistic work. Upon returning to the U.S, she plans to work as a journalist reporting on and working in Spanish-speaking communities. Her �鶹��Ƶ mentors include Kelly Furnas, associate teaching professor of journalism; Jan Register, administrative assistant for the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life; and Pablo Celis-Castillo, associate professor of Spanish.

Aryanna Vindas ’25

Aryanna Vindas, a graduate of the class of 2025, has received a Fulbright grant to teach English in South Korea. She graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography and a minor in Asian studies.

Serving as an English teaching assistant in South Korea is a natural extension of the work Vindas began at �鶹��Ƶ. She completed a two-year undergraduate research project about Korean Buddhist mindfulness, studied abroad for a semester in South Korea, and undertook a rigorous course of Korean language study. Simultaneously, she developed her teaching skills by serving as a volunteer English teacher, tutoring Spanish, and leading and assisting dance classes.

Because her grant does not begin until January 2027, Vindas has chosen to go above and beyond to prepare. She will spend this summer in South Korea completing intensive language study at Yonsei University in Seoul, which will help her integrate more successfully into her future host community and build more meaningful relationships with her students.

After Fulbright, Vindas plans to enroll in graduate school to continue the research on Buddhist mindfulness she began at �鶹��Ƶ. Vindas’ �鶹��Ƶ mentors include Renay Aumiller, associate professor of dance; the “wonderful” dance staff; and Pamela Winfield, professor of religious studies and associate director of international & global studies.

In addition to these students, one senior has been named an alternate. Alternates are still in the competition and have the chance to be promoted to finalists (recipients of the grant) up until the official start of the grant period. We will update this story as we continue to hear news of their progress.

Rebecca Lovasco ’26

Rebecca Lovasco, a psychology major with minors in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and neuroscience, has been selected as an alternate for a Fulbright study/research grant in Taiwan to earn a master’s degree in Mind, Brain, and Consciousness at Taipei Medical University.

Lovasco is an �鶹��Ƶ College Fellow who went on to win the Lumen Prize. Her research, which integrates cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology, and philosophy of mind, explores how anxiety and depression affect reinforcement learning and conscious visual perception. Outside of her research, Lovasco is proud to have served as a law enforcement crisis counselor with the Campus Alamance program.

Lovasco’s �鶹��Ƶ mentors include Kristina Krasich, assistant professor of psychology; William Schreiber, associate professor of psychology; Kim Epting, professor of psychology; Alexa Darby, professor of psychology; and Jill McSweeney, assistant director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and assistant professor of wellness.

Lumen Scholars will work closely with their mentors during the next two years to pursue and complete their projects. Efforts traditionally include coursework, study abroad, research both on and off campus, internships locally and overseas, program development, and creative productions and performances.

“It was another very competitive year, and the Lumen Advisory Board saw many good applications,” said Michael Carignan, director of the Lumen Prize and professor of history. “These 15 represent truly special talent and engagement. We look forward to watching the projects unfold over the next two years.”

The name for the Lumen Prize comes from �鶹��Ƶ’s historic motto, “Numen Lumen,” which are Latin words meaning “spiritual light” and “intellectual light.” The words, which are found on the �鶹��Ƶ seal, signify the highest purposes of an �鶹��Ƶ education.

2026 Lumen Prize Winners

Tajallah Amirkhil
Mentor: Molly Green
Major: Public Health & Biochemistry
Project: Barriers and Resilience: Exploring Mental Health among Afghan Refugee Women in North Carolina

Emma Briceño
Mentors: Dan Burns & Tita Ramirez
Major: English (Creative Writing)
Project: The Desert Lighthouse, a Novel: an Exploration of Queerness and Safety through Body Horror, Immortality, and Genre Reinvention

Kelley Calvillo
Mentor: Renay Aumiller
Major: Dance Performance and Choreography
Project: The Body Knows: Developing a Feminist Framework for Distributed Choreographic Authorship

Chloe Cone
Mentors: Eryn Bernardy & Ahlam Armaly
Major: Biochemistry
Project: Solutions in the Soil: Unearthing Novel Antibacterial Compounds from Soil Microbes to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

Sanai Crosby
Mentors: Lauren Kearns & Matt Wittstein
Major: Exercise Science & Dance Science
Project: Dance and Neural Activity: Examining Neural Activity Across the Choreographic Process and Performance Environments

Fleur Helmantel
Mentor: Scott Wolter
Major: Biomedical Engineering & Chinese Studies
Project: Development of Tissue-Mimicking Phantoms for the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Anna Keller
Mentor: Scott Morrison
Project: Perceptions and Practices of Outdoor Literacy: a Two-Part Mixed-Methods Study

Nevaeh Kimmie
Mentor: Yanica Faustin
Major: Psychology & Economics
Project: To Code-Switch or Not to Code-Switch: Authenticity, Psychological Outcomes, and Social Judgement of Black College Students in Predominantly White Academic Spaces

Lisa Kranec
Mentors: Hwayeon Ryu & Efrain Rivera-Serrano
Major: Biomedical Engineering & Applied Mathematics
Project: Mathematical Modeling of Excessive Collagen Production in Cardiac Fibrosis

Jordyne Lewis
Mentor: Steve DeLoach
Major: Economic Consulting & Data Analytics
Refugees, Emotional Wellbeing, and Financial Inclusion in Uganda

Kendall Lewis
Mentor: Jen Uno
Major: Biochemistry & Mathematics
Project: Can the Microbiome Heal the Brain?Evaluating Butyrate’s Efficiency in Reducing Stroke Severity within the Context of Obesity

Ja’Mir Parham
Mentor: Zack Hutchens
Major: Astrophysics
Project: RESOLVE, ECO, and eRASS: Probing Galaxy Growth through Cold and Hot Gas

Danny Stern
Mentor: Karl Sienerth
Major: Chemistry
Project: From Backlog to Breakthrough: Use of Fluorescence Quenching for the Development of an Explosive Identification Database

Ainsley Thompson
Mentor: Yuko Miyamoto
Major: Biochemistry
Project: Decreasing Platinum Chemotherapy Resistance by Downregulating STAT3 and Upregulating PTEN in the SKOV3 Cell Line

Scout Winter
Mentor: Bill Evans
Major: Exercise Science
Project: Effects of a Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet on Insulin Resistance and Inflammation in Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

�鶹��Ƶ students’ presentations spanned both the ages and the globe, with presentations ranging in focus from ancient Maya society to generative AI’s role in online public relations discourse, and spanning both the experiences of Syrian refugees and the indigenous politics of Peru.

The setting in Richmond offered a unique opportunity for mentor/mentee pair Amanda Kleintop, assistant professor of history, and Athena Vizuete ’26, a history major from Carrboro, North Carolina, who study Civil War history. In addition to presenting, they built in time to tour local historical sites that inform their research projects.

“It was amazing to see the quality of �鶹��Ƶ’s undergraduate research in our students’ presentations,” said Kleintop. “I was very proud of Athena, who presented on her research on Reconstruction in North Carolina that was threeyears in the making! Plus, there nothing like visiting Richmond as a Civil War and Reconstruction scholar!”

“NCUR is a wonderful opportunity,” Vizuete said. “I am so happy I got to present my research on a national scale and attend so many fascinating presentations by my fellow students.”

Senior Professional Writing and Rhetoric major Caden Halberg is mentored by Travis Maynard and presented his work entitled, “The Whey Forward: Successfully Advocating for the Galactosemia Community.”

“Presenting at NCUR allowed me to raise awareness about rare disease advocacy while connecting with students across disciplines, many of whom had never encountered this topic befor,” said Halberg.

Several students presented their work from the School of Communications. Senior strategic communications and public policy major Teresa Cao is mentored by Shanetta Pendleton, and presented her project entitled, “Sorry, Not Sorry: Exploring Communication Patterns and Perceived Authenticity of Influencer Apologies on Social Media.”

“NCUR was great because I loved being able to see the range of students and how the chose to pursue their interests,” said Cao. “It reinforced to me how there’s always something to learn or dig deeper into, and in my case, that was influencer apology videos. Pop culture is often a mirror to what’s happening in society on a broader scale, so I loved being able to share my insights on something that’s seemingly very superficial. It was also really encouraging to be around students from other disciplines since I got to hear their perspectives on my research, what they admired, and advice on how they’d do things differently.”

Students were accompanied by faculty members Eric Hall, Justin Clar, CJ Fleming, Jen Hamel, Amanda Kleintop and Judy Folmar. Folmar presented two mentor-led sessions accompanied by her research students in which they shared their research process with other student-mentor pairs.

NCUR was first held at the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1987 and �鶹��Ƶ students have been attending the conference since 1993. �鶹��Ƶ typically has more than 40 students present at NCUR each year. Next year’s conference will be held April 12-14, 2027 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.