Faculty and students in CHSSA are actively involved in advancing knowledge and creative activity across a full range of Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts Disciplines.
CHSSA students have the chance to work hand-in-hand with expert faculty on a variety of projects. From service learning to study abroad, students use what they have learned in the classroom to make a lasting impact on the community and the world around them.
All of our majors include an applied learning component, and experiential learning in the College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts provides students with limitless opportunities to collaborate with faculty. CHSSA faculty are actively involved every semester in sponsoring independent student research and inviting students to support a range of faculty scholarly and creative activity. Reach out to your advisor or faculty and ask about opportunities in your program.
CHSSA undergraduates are eligible for the full range of scholarships, loans, grants, and other aid programs, for example the
ALFRED AND ANITA SCHNOG TRAVEL AWARD FOR HOLOCAUST STUDIES
Graduate students may receive federal student aid, as well as support through their departments and programs. Visit the UNCW Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid for more award opportunities.
CHSSA supports faculty research as funds allow with research reassignments, small project completion grants, research seed money, and other research in initiatives. Semester long research reassignments were granted for 2024-25 to the following faculty:
| Mariana Johnson, Film Studies | The Films of Pablo Larraín |
| Scott Juall, World Languages and Culture | Chus Guterrez/Mathias Enard/Henri Raczymow |
| Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock, Communication Studies | Raising Boys: Stories of Masculinity through Cultural Currents |
| Michaela Howells, Anthropology | Impacts of Natural Disasters on Pregnancy Outcomes |
| Dan Johnson, Music | Musical Education in Rural America |
| Nicholas Hudson, Art and Art History | Archeological Database for the Athenian Agora |
| Sayantani Dasgupta, Creative Writing | We Who Live in This House |
| Todd Berliner, Film Studies | Hollywood Amateur: Elaine May and Mikey and Nicky |
| Malena Morling, Creative Writing | Lumina Station |
| Yixin Chen, History | Organized Peasant Counterrevolutionaries in Mao’s China |
The CHSSA Research Committee supports award selection for these grants, and encourages research activity across the College.
CHSSA encourages interdisciplinary collaboration on research, and encourages faculty to form research communities. Active current communities include:
The Research Community in Digital Humanities seeks to foster collaboration and support for digital humanities broadly conceived. Whether you are already engaged in digital humanities work or just interested in exploring, we invite you to join the group. Faculty and staff from any department/discipline are welcome.
Contacts:
Jennifer Lozano, English
John Knox, UNCW Library
The Research Community in the Humanities AI seeks to foster interdisciplinary collaborations between humanities scholars, computers scientists, and other academics interested in studying the ethical, legal, and social impacts of technology--very broadly conceived as material and digital cultures, film, organizations, AI, generative AI, quantum computing, intelligent systems, large language models, etc.--in the past, present, and future. The goals of this community are: 1) to consolidate existing Humanities AI research at UNCW; 2) to create new collaborations on Humanities AI research at UNCW and beyond; 3) to showcase Humanities AI research at UNCW; and 4) to build a network of scholars interested in applying for Humanities AI research grants.
Contacts:
Jamie Brummitt, Philosophy and Religion
C. Shane Elliott, Sociology and Criminology
The Research Community in International Trade and International Exchange is a collaboration between the College of Humanities, Social Sciences, the Arts and the Cameron School of Business. Our goal is to educate our students and the public about the importance of international trade to our region, state, nation, and world and to explore the complex issues surrounding international trade. RCITE has three legs of activity: supporting faculty research, encouraging rigorous faculty-mentored student inquiry, and providing public programming.
RCITE Events
Contacts:
Mark Spaulding, History
Peter Schuhmann, Economics
The Research Community in Science and Humanities Research Community engages intersections, interconnectivities, conceptual influences, and movements of knowledge between the sciences and the humanities. Scholars working in a variety of fields including, but not limited to, philosophies of science, science fiction studies, language and narrative in the sciences, scientific writing, (post) humanisms, histories of science, and science and the arts are welcome to join.
Contacts:
Christina Lord, World Languages and Cultures
Brian Chandler, World Languages and Cultures
The Research Community in Sustainable Networks is an interdisciplinary group of faculty from a wide range of disciplines whose work entwines the three tenets of sustainability: ecology, economics, and equity. The purpose of this community is threefold: 1) to create and strengthen networks among individuals working on sustainability efforts at UNCW and in the Wilmington community, 2) to amplify work already being done, and 3) to showcase the many components of sustainability, including the work of those in the humanities.
Contacts:
Meghan Sweeney, English
Jenny Le Zotte, History
Jennifer Biddle, Public and International Administration
The Hawk AI Research Project: Developing Trusted LLMs for Real World Solutions
Nov. 1, 2024, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
What is the university’s role in creating and curating knowledge that LLM applications use? Could LLM technology in universities become powerful tools enhancing student wellbeing and success? The Hawk AI Research Project develops both a prototype application and an institutional process for further debating these questions. This project creates an LLM’s knowledge corpus, tests its utility, and debates the experience of using the application on campus and community forums.
Dr. Shane Elliott, Dr. Douglas Engelman and Dr. Sang Teck Oh will have 20 minutes to talk about their research, followed by a Q&A session. Open to all UNCW faculty. Join via Zoom.