ENGLISH – In April, Professor Susanna Ashton delivered a public talk in Pendleton, South Carolina, on free speech, censorship, and public debate in the nineteenth century, using an 1849 attack on the Pendleton post office to explore broader questions about intellectual freedom and civic discourse.
Later that month, Ashton delivered a keynote lecture in Hallowell, Maine, based on her research into the histories of enslaved people who escaped from South Carolina to freedom. The event brought together local residents, educators, and public history advocates to discuss regional and transnational histories of freedom.
Also, the National Park Service approved Ashton’s application to the Network to Freedom for the gravesite of James Matthews, a man who escaped slavery in South Carolina and made his way to Hallowell. The official designation was announced publicly to the community on Saturday, May 3, creating an opportunity for local commemoration, education, and dialogue with Ashton and students who contributed to her research.
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY – Assistant Professor Camden Burd was recently awarded the Dorothy Schwieder Prize, an award from the Midwestern History Association to honor the best article on Midwestern history published during the previous calendar year. The winning article, “In Search for a Postextractive Future: Ruin, Recreation, and Militarism in the Upper Midwest,” was published in Agricultural History 99, no. 4 (2025).
ENGLISH – On April 14, the Faculty Senate presented Associate Professor Cameron Bushnell with the Alan Schaffer Senator of the Year award. The Schaffer award recognizes Faculty Service and commitment to faculty governance. Bushnell served for the past year as Chair of the Faculty Senate Policy Committee and Lead Senator for the CAH delegation.
LANGUAGES – Jody Cripps, associate professor of American Sign Language, and his colleague JB Begue from Towson University gave a Zoom presentation titled “Rain”: A Signed Music Analysis to Columbia University’ Teachers College’s Feel the Music 2026 Conference on April 4th.
Cripps also presented his Navigating Signed Music presentation (virtual) to Aimee Whyte’s sociology class at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. Cripps also, along with his Creative Inquiry (CI) students Chrysa Calvert, Andrea Fletcher, Harley Mitchell, and Cassady Fortson, provided a poster presentation titled “Exploring the Relationship between Libraries and American Sign Language” at the Focus on Creative Inquiry Poster Forum at Clemson.
Lastly, Cripps and his CI students traveled to Martha’s Vineyard to conduct research work and provide a presentation to Chilmark community members at Chilmark Public Library. Doreen Simons, a deaf community partner, joined them. Their presentation is titled “Hands Waving: Creating a Signed Language-Friendly Community.” This presentation covers their past and current research projects and outreach.
ENGLISH – Assistant Professor of English and World Cinema Maziyar Faridi has published an article titled “Deceleratory Encounters with Measures of Modernity: A Still Life” in the latest issue of Diacritics. This article explores philosophies of rhythm, value, and labor time under conditions of modernity. In March, Maziyar presented “Neither Now nor New: The Untimely of the Other Modernisms” at the American Comparative Literature Association Annual Conference.
PERFORMING ARTS – Lillian Utsey Harder, Brooks Center director emerita and artistic director of the Utsey Chamber Music Series, secured three broadcasts on American Public Media’s Performance Today: WindSync’s performance of Viet Cuong’s Flora (movements 1 & 3) on April 8 from their concert on March 7, 2025; Sphinx Virtuosi’s performance of Valerie Coleman’s Tracing Visions on April 20 from their concert on March 30, 2023; and Verona Quartet and pianist David Fung’s performance of Grażyna Bacewicz’s Piano Quintet No. 1 on May 4 from their performance on November 1, 2022.
INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES – Chair and Professor Lisa Melonçon, along with co-editor Miriam F. Williams, published a new book,Liminality: The Work of Resilience in Technical Communication (University Press of Colorado) through the WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) Clearinghouse.
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY – Assistant Professor Amanda (Mandy) Regan has been elected Co-Vice President of the Association for Computers and the Humanities (ACH) alongside Brandon Walsh of the University of Virginia. ACH is the leading professional organization for digital humanities in North America. She will serve a two-year term as Co-Vice President, followed by a two-year term as Co-President.
ENGLISH – Members of the First-Year Writing team from the Department of English presented their research, “Early Findings from a Study on Instructor & Student First-Year Writing Curriculum Experiences at Clemson,” at the 10th Annual Clemson University Research Symposium on May 6. The panel presented initial insights from an IRB-approved assessment of student and instructor experiences of the revised English 1030 curriculum. Presenters included postdoctoral fellows Kelly Sauskojus and Matthew Burchanoski, graduate instructor Megan Crowe, and Director and Associate Director of First Year Writing, Michelle Smith and Molly Nestor.
HISTORY & GEORAPHY – On May 14, Associate Professor of History Lee B. Wilson was a featured presenter at the Georgetown Public Library’s series, “A Glorious Cause: South Carolina and the American Revolution”. The series offers free public educational programs illustrating the Palmetto State’s key role in securing American independence while exploring various aspects of colonial society that shaped the new nation.
