As a Fulbright Scholar, Laing will spend a month in South Korea where she’ll visit 14 higher education institutions throughout the country to learn about the current trends in South Korean higher education and how these institutions view campus-wide internationalization, and also to learn more about international student mobility for students from (and to) South Korea. Friedland will spend his time as a Fulbright Scholar in Budapest, Hungary, where he will be teaching about the information economy, social media, and privacy and writing a book on comparative media law.

Fulbright U.S. Scholars are accomplished faculty, researchers, administrators and established professionals who teach or conduct research in partnership with institutions around the world. Through these affiliations, they expand their professional networks and often seed future research, innovation and institutional partnerships. When they return home to their campuses, labs, and classrooms, Fulbright Scholars share their experiences and insights, becoming champions of international collaboration. Many go on to host visiting scholars and inspire colleagues and students to pursue transformative opportunities abroad.

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 as a bold investment in global peace and American prosperity through educational and cultural exchange. Fulbright provides opportunities for exceptional Americans and participants from 160 countries and locations to study, teach and conduct research abroad. For eight decades, Fulbrighters have been leaders at the forefront of discovery and innovation, conducting cutting edge research, advancing critical industries, and preparing future generations with new skills and perspectives.

In the United States, the Institute of International Education implements the Fulbright U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit . Learn more about .

The article, “,” was co-authored by Jennifer Stephens, director of Academic-Residential Partnerships and assistant professor of education; Jill McSweeney, assistant director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning and assistant professor of wellness; Nina Namaste, professor of Spanish and assistant director of First-Year Seminars in the Elon Core Curriculum; and Brandy S. Propst, director of Elon 1010 and assistant director of Academic Advising.

The collaborative nature of this work is, in itself, a unique reflection of Elon’s approach to the first-year experience, as it brings together offices across academic affairs and student life to create a unified and campus-wide ethos to the first-year experience, which they argue is essential but often missing in institutional approaches to the first-year experience.

The piece explores how institutions should view the first-year experience as a culmination beyond first-year seminars, and that in doing so, it requires us to see this as a unique pedagogical context that differs from teaching students in their sophomore to senior years of college. The authors present a framework for faculty development in First-Year Pedagogies, incorporating CATL’s Teaching for Equity and Inclusion work, and faculty, staff, and student data at Elon. The framework asks educators to think intentionally about who they teach, what they teach, and how they teach, all within a commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusivity.

The article outlines how other institutions can put this framework into practice, by sharing how over the last two years, Elon has developed specific faculty development opportunities to bring together faculty and staff from across first-year experiences (e.g., residential learning communities, gateway major courses, advising seminars). The goal of this work has been to build shared values, language, and classroom strategies focused on preparing students to be engaged, autonomous, and self-directed learners during their college degree and supporting students through the numerous transitions they experience during their first-year at college.

This work reflects why Elon has earned national recognition for the first-year undergraduate experience and emphasizes the importance of uplifting and supporting staff and faculty in order to continue to best support our first-year students.

Students across two courses (ENS 1100: Humans and Nature (Spring 2025) and WHE 2850: Perspectives in Personal and Global Health (Spring 2025)) completed eight outdoor sit spots over the course of a month as part of a course assignment. Students were asked to spend time in an outdoor space on campus, and quietly observe their surroundings, noting a range of sensory experiences, and reflect on the changes in that space over time. Using a pre- and post-test model, they found statistically significant improvements in mindfulness, positive affect, and nature connectedness in students across the two courses.

The newly published article, “,” is authored by Elon faculty, Kelsey Bitting and Jill McSweeney, Elon alum Elyssa Kaufman ’25 (Environmental Sciences), and graduating senior, Kira Campagna ’26, an elementary education major, with a minor in environmental education). The work builds on growing research connecting nature exposure and contemplative practices with improved student wellness and academic outcomes.

Student researchers, Kaufman and Campagna, played a central role throughout the project and have at several undergraduate research and pedagogical conferences. Their project work specifically examined how outdoor mindfulness practices influenced mood, mindful awareness, and students’ relationship with nature. Their presentations highlighted significant increases in positive affect, nature connectedness and mindfulness among students who completed the sit spot assignment.

In collaboration with Evan Small, additional research this past academic year recruited over 80 students across four courses (i.e., ENS 1100: Humans and Nature (Fall 2025), WHE 1150: Stress and Wellness (Fall 2025), HEU 1719: Foraging and Wild Foods (Fall 2025), and COR 3555: Foraging Wild Food and Medicine (Spring ’26)). Using data from these four courses, graduating senior, Abigail Manning (Environmental Sciences) recently explored how sit spots affect students’ mindfulness and nature connectivity across different majors and disciplines. Her research found that students in nature-focused majors often experienced even stronger gains in mindfulness and nature connectedness through the sit spot practice.

The research team plans to continue building on these findings over the summer. Kiley Sherlock ’27, an environmental sciences major, will conduct qualitative analysis on student reflections for her Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, exploring how students define nature and further exploring how the sit spot practice impacts student stress across the semester. The team also plans on additional publications exploring the impact of student demographics, and focus on a practice-oriented piece on how to support colleagues to bring contemplative pedagogies which incorporate nature into their classrooms to support the wellbeing of students and themselves.

Together, the project reflects Elon’s commitment to engaged learning and undergraduate research, while also contributing meaningful scholarship to conversations around student wellness, mindfulness, and environmental connection.

Cortes has always been community and family-oriented, so when the opportunity to commute only two minutes to a beautiful college campus while still living at home with her family arose, she took advantage.

During her college application process, she expressed feeling discouraged when hearing back from schools.

“It seemed like I was either getting accepted, but with no scholarship, or being denied,” she said.

Upon her first early action application to Elon, she was deferred. However, her determination to be a part of the community drove her to try again. As she is dedicated and persistent in nature, she submitted another application a couple of months later, this time getting the Califf Endowed Scholarship in recognition of her hard work.

“When I tried again at Elon, I saw that someone believed in me, and this was the path I was supposed to take; it was meant to be,” said Cortes.

She notes the transition from her high school, Walter M. Williams, to Elon was a shock. In high school, she was considered advanced, but the academic rigor of Elon’s biology courses caught her by surprise.

“It was definitely a change, but we have so many resources at Elon to guide me through a successful path,” she said.

For Cortes, her passions have always been focused on biology and entering a pre-med track.

“It’s always been plan A for me. I haven’t thought about doing anything else. I’ve always been so headstrong about what I’ve wanted to become. Since I could remember, I’ve always wanted to be a doctor,” she said.

Cortes is excelling in the pre-med track, with plans to pursue a dermatology path through medical school. Growing up in Alamance and having such a strong connection with her roots, she wants to come back to her county to serve as a dermatologist for the people of Alamance.

“I’ve always loved this county, and dermatologists are running very slim here,” she added.

Several members of her family have struggled with skin conditions like melanoma, drawing her to the dermatology field.

“I’ve spent a lot of time at the dermatology office myself, and I want to give back to the community and hopefully provide dermatology care here someday,” said Cortes.

Already gaining hands-on experience in her career path, Cortes has over 400 volunteer hours with Alamance’s Hospice program. Her extensive work has developed her experience in the medical field through patient interactions and working alongside nurses in an emotionally tough environment, all while making sure the patients are well cared for.

“Unfortunately, there have been a lot of patients that I’ve gained connections with that have passed,” explained Cortes. “It’s been really hard to cope with that, but it’s a part of life and something I have to consider when being a doctor.”

Grateful for her experience in volunteering, Cortes also completed a summer internship program with Alamance Eye Center. Furthering her experience in the medical field,

“Through my internship, I gained new friendships, met new doctors through shadowing, was able to have patient interactions and was able to take part in the work of taking pictures of patients’ eyes,” she said.

Cortes recently took a moment to reflect on her experience at Elon. Under the warmth of the sun, leaning back in one of the white Adirondack chairs in Young Commons, without her phone or music, she took a moment to think.

“I just wanted to sit and enjoy the sunshine. In that moment, I was thinking, ‘I’m at Elon, in this amazing place. I’m a part of this community, this is where I belong and where I’m supposed to be, I’m doing it,'” she said. “I was once stressed about if it was going to work out, but I’m really doing it.”

Reflecting on her donors, Cortes said, “I have to remember, during hard times, that I must keep going because I have an opportunity to pursue my dreams. I think about my scholarship all the time, and how I have people in my corner supporting me, without even knowing me.”

Her Califf Endowed Scholarship has allowed her to pursue her dreams to the fullest on Elon’s campus.

“My scholarship has been truly impactful on my life path, and it’s made me want to give back to Elon,” she said. “I want to give back to Elon for everything they’ve done for me. Hopefully, one day I can support someone like me who couldn’t financially pursue their dreams without a scholarship.”

“The ACC gave me work that actually mattered; projects you could see reflected in real events,” he said.

Relationships are what drew Gandhi to Elon.

“I wanted a smaller school because building relationships with professors is the most important thing you can do,” he said.

Those connections, from weekly check-ins with Associate Professor of Journalism Alex Luchsinger to mentorship from Assistant Professor of Sport Management Khirey Walker, have shaped his path in and out of the classroom.

“If you make an effort at Elon, your professors make that effort back,” said Gandhi.

Support from philanthropy helped unlock the Charlotte opportunity. Through the Queen City Internship Grant, Gandhi could focus fully on learning, not logistics.

“The grant gave me peace of mind,” he said. “It meant I could focus on the experience, my internship, schoolwork and my business, instead of worrying about day-to-day expenses.”

In an earlier feature reflecting on the fall cohort, he added that the ACC helped him strengthen “time management,” learn new tools, adapt on the fly, and most of all, learn “how to be a professional (…) in emails, meetings, and as a teammate.”

The Elon in Charlotte program places students in the center of one of the country’s most active sports markets, and the Queen City Internship Grant removes barriers to participating, prioritizing unpaid roles and first credit-bearing internships, with typical awards ranging from $1,000–$5,000.

Entrepreneurship is the other half of Gandhi’s education. As owner of SAG Autographs, he’s built relationships with athletes and agents while managing high-value inventory and transactions. He’s learned to stay adaptable; if an injury, trade or headline changes the game overnight, he pivots. Balancing the business with classes and an internship has sharpened his scheduling and discipline, skills he knows will matter beyond campus. Faculty see the same drive.

“Shaan is a serious student who had the fire in his belly before he started at Elon,” said Luchsinger. “His prior business experience positioned him well to be a leader in the classroom. He’s a successful entrepreneur in the sports sector and has gotten plugged into complementary sectors within sports. I could see him doing just about anything he wants, from solo entrepreneur to an ‘intrapreneur’ innovating within a larger company.”

For Gandhi, that mentorship has been pivotal.

“There are different ways to be mentored,” he said. “Dr. Luchsinger and Dr. Walker have helped me think through decisions for my business and my internship. Elon’s professors really know their students. They care.”

He also carries one piece of advice forward from Luchsinger.

“Dr. Luchsinger told me you should never close any doors, even ones you didn’t expect to open,” Gandhi said. “I didn’t know I’d love what I was doing at the ACC but keeping that door open led to more opportunities.”

From Sports Illustrated interviews to game-day operations, Gandhi’s story is about turning access into impact and about the donors who make that access possible.

“Philanthropy let me say yes to an experience that changed how I work,” he said. “I’m grateful for that support, and I hope to pay it forward.”

The recognition underscores Elon’s strengths in accessibility, affordability, return on investment, better-than-expected student outcomes, high levels of engagement, strong job prospects and overall value.

“Within higher education circles, 51±ŹÁÏÍű is known as a school that other midsized private universities want to learn from,” wrote Selingo, who has written about colleges and universities for more than two-and-a-half decades.

“Dream School” is a follow-up to Selingo’s 2020 book “Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions,” and focuses on helping families redefine their idea of a “good” college, setting aside preconceived ideas about “prestige.” To put together the list, Selingo partnered with several external experts and organizations to examine datasets from 2023 and 2024. The pool of consideration was narrowed down to four-year colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates.

“For the Dream Schools list, I wanted to find institutions that outperform expectations while admitting the vast majority of good students who aren’t predestined for the Yales, Williamses, Northwesterns and UC Berekleys,” said Selingo.

For four consecutive years, Elon has been named the nation’s best university for undergraduate teaching by U.S. News and World Report and has continued to invest in both the humanities and STEM programs, launching new degrees in neuroscience, nursing and digital content management. A new physician assistant studies program is set to launch in 2027 at the university’s Charlotte national campus location.

One outcome of Elon’s teaching excellence is that the university has produced nine Goldwater Scholars – the most recent, engineering major Jacob Karty ’26, in 2025. The award is given by The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation and provides scholarships to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

In his book, Selingo highlights Elon’s commitment to mentorship, the , and the university being one of the top producers of Fulbright Scholars.

“All of my mentors at Elon have challenged me in ways that have helped me grow into the person I am today,” said Cristy MarinĂ© ’25, a Fulbright Scholar, following the announcement of her selection for the award. “For that, I am forever grateful.”

With a 77% graduation rate, Elon is in the “Hidden Values” section of Selingo’s list, “comprised of mostly private colleges with strong graduation outcomes and opportunities for fulfilling careers.” Before graduation, all Elon students are required to complete at least two of the Elon Experiences: Global Engagement, Service, Leadership, Internships and Undergraduate Research.

“Elon operates a cooperative-education program that integrates work into the undergraduate curriculum, and as a result, some nine out of ten graduates complete at least one internship during their undergraduate career,” wrote Selingo.

Selingo also highlights the connection between Elon’s residential living and academics, including the university’s residence hall neighborhoods that include faculty members in residence, along with more than a dozen Living Learning Communities, where groups of students live in the same residential area, interacting academically and socially with each other and with faculty, and sharing the same passion, interest, or academic focus.

“My hope in writing this book is that students, parents, and counselors might begin to think differently about the college search process so that teenagers ultimately find a school that will help them truly flourish,” Selingo said in an email to 51±ŹÁÏÍű President Connie Ledoux Book about the new publication. “In the end, I want to give families, and parents in particular, permission to widen the lens on the college search.”

“Dream School” is at major booksellers through Simon and Schuster.

“I would say it’s bittersweet, but it’s more bitter than sweet,” said MarinĂ© about graduating. “I have gotten so much support and guidance from the people that I’ve met here at Elon, whether they stayed in my life for a long time, or they haven’t, they have impacted my journey here so much that I just feel so incredibly grateful to spend my past four years here.”

The study abroad opportunities and cinema & television arts program drew MarinĂ© to Elon, specifically the program’s push for students to participate in the Elon in Los Angeles program, and the incorporation of internships. Internships are one of the five Elon Experiences and students must complete at least two to graduate.

Into the internships

Mariné, who is also majoring in strategic communications, dove right into the Elon Experiences during the summer after her freshman year, working on content production for Great HealthWorks in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The following spring, she chose to study abroad in Sorrento, Italy, taking courses like volcanology, drawing on location and European literature. While in Italy, she interned with a photography studio, focusing on social media, wedding photography and film development.

“It was challenging because they only spoke Italian. So thankfully with my Spanish and their Italian, we were able to communicate pretty well, but it was really great,” said MarinĂ©. “It was a family-owned business, so I would have dinner with my bosses and their families, and it was so nice because I was developing my Italian skills while they were developing their Spanish skills.”

She returned to the U.S. that summer and headed straight to Miami, Florida, for another internship with NBC6/Telemundo, creating short and long-form video in both English and Spanish.

“My internship with NBC6 and Telemundo 51 was absolutely pivotal for my career development,” she said. “It taught me so much about how to work in a fast-paced environment, how to identify trending news, how to be the first ones to cover something, but also considering quality over quantity and making sure that the work we’re doing is correct. It was definitely the most challenging internship I had, but it was incredible.”

Her NBC6/Telemundo internship paved the way for her next opportunity with E! News in spring 2024 through the Elon in LA program.

“It was a wonderful experience because I was doing an internship in the heart of the entertainment industry within entertainment news,” she said. “I got to go to award shows and I was meeting celebrities and expanding my digital content skills, which was awesome.”

After E! News, MarinĂ© went to the other coast for a summer internship at law firm Proskauer Rose in New York City, handling digital content. Now, she’s on contract with E! News again, working for the entertainment company on the weekends.

“Working at E! News was just an absolute dream that I did not expect,” said MarinĂ©. “My managers were so supportive. It was also so cool because the office is in Universal City in LA. So, the theme park is two steps away and then you also have all the studio lots.”

In 2023 and 2024, Mariné was named a LAGRANT Foundation Scholar and, in fall 2024, she participated in the prestigious IRTS Foundational Multicultural Career workshop, an initiative designed to support students and recent graduates from underrepresented backgrounds pursue careers in the media industry.

Finding her roots

Despite her numerous internships, Mariné still found time for other campus involvement and scholarship. She is a finalist for a Fulbright UK Study Grant and is a student communication coordinator at El Centro. She credits Syliva Muñoz, the assistant dean of students and director of the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education (CREDE), along with MJ Larrazabel Chacon, assistant director of CREDE, with helping her along the way.

“They feel like family at this point, because they’re like my mom and my sister away from home,” said MarinĂ©. “It’s been really nice to have their support and to have them be so understanding of everything and to just give me a space where I really struggled finding my culture at Elon my first semester and connecting with MJ and Sylvia, and the CREDE and El Centro really helped me find my roots again.”

Mariné, who was born in Venezuela, incorporates her culture into her film work. During her third year, she created a film that, she says, represents Latinx/Hispanic culture in an authentic way, telling the story of a girl navigating grief after losing her grandmother.

“I lost my grandmother a couple of months before and I wanted to create a story where I could represent our culture and also just amplify voices that aren’t often heard,” said MarinĂ©. “I feel like in the media nowadays we see a lot of representation, but a lot of it is performative or it causes more damage than good. It made me realize that in the future I want to continue telling stories that uplift unheard voices and create representation in the media that adds a positive impact that doesn’t create stereotypes.”

I just feel so incredibly grateful to spend my past four years here.

Cristy MarinĂ© ‘25

Her Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis film, “The Fantastic Adventure of Felix Fisher,” tells the story of a 10-year-old boy who tries to one up his arch-nemesis Serena during a show-and-tell presentation, telling a story about his “magnificent” journey to the aquarium.

“It explores the themes of imagination, curiosity and grief,” she said. “It’s a great story in the sense that I see myself relate to it a lot because, as a child, I was super curious and I always wanted to do these  things like travel, and that’s how we see Felix as well.”

And as MarinĂ© prepares for commencement on May 23, she’s looking back at how Elon helped her explore that curiosity.

“There are so many communities at Elon,” she said. “There’s something for everyone here, and that’s something that in my first semester, I wasn’t sure if I would find a space for myself,” she said.” But then, when I went to the org fair and I got involved with El Centro, Cinelon Productions and , I found my people and I found my place.”

“The aspects of Dr. Ritchie’s proposed work align seamlessly with several things we already have in motion here at 51±ŹÁÏÍű. But at Elon, we have a culture of never being satisfied; we know that we can always do better, and that we constantly need to strive for better,” said Joel Karty, Sydney F & Kathleen E Jackson professor of chemistry and chair of the Department of Chemistry. “Dr. Ritchie’s proposed work promises to help us make strides in some challenging areas.”

Solving ‘wicked problems’

Karty notes that science literacy is important for all students and reaching more non-science majors is a goal for the department. While Ritchie will teach through the Department of Chemistry, his educational background is in history and the history of science.  He focuses on how to make STEM education more inclusive and interdisciplinary, connecting science to the real world and solving what he calls “wicked problems.” One of Richie’s courses at Warwick, “Beyond Science,” has students work on projects related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, collaborating with mentors across disciplines.

“A chemistry degree shouldn’t just be about what you do in the lab,” said Ritchie. “It should be about developing your understanding of challenges we face today, like climate change or inequality, that can’t just be solved by science alone, but that science will have a key role in. I think with those wicked problems, you have to bring ideas from other disciplines as well.”

The Fulbright 51±ŹÁÏÍű Award, through the Fulbright Commission, allows academics and professionals to teach and pursue independent research in any subject area offered by the university.

Ritchie first heard of Elon through Sarah Dyer with the University of Exeter, who participated in Elon’s 2018-2020 research seminar on Capstone Experiences through the Center of Engaged Learning.

“It was inspirational when you saw her passion when she was talking about Elon. When it came to applying and looking through the different awards, Elon jumped out and very quickly I said  ‘That’s the only choice,’” he said. “Elon stood out to me because of its commitment to inclusive excellence and the focus on student-centered learning innovation and teaching. It feels like a place I could go and share what I do and grow what I do and learn more.”

Ethical AI

As universities, including Elon, integrate AI into their policies and processes – Ritchie focuses on how to teach students to understand and ethically use the technology. At Warwick, Ritchie and a colleague created “The AI Revolution,” an interdisciplinary course focused on AI ethics and AI literacy.

“We want to talk about AI from a philosophical point of view and a historical point of view,” Ritchie said. “How is this a technology that compares to previous technology panics that we’ve seen? And all of these sorts of questions that get students to try to think about AI as more than just a specific tool.”

In addition to his teaching role at Warwick, Ritchie is also director of student experience and emphasizes the importance of belonging and mattering at universities. He developed “We Are Chemistry,” a co-created inclusive education program that, Ritchie says, has led to a 45% reduction in students leaving the department and a 12% rise in first-year student academic success.

“I’d like to think that students leave my courses feeling a bit more like they belong,” said Ritchie. “Belonging is a really hard aspect of university life, but it’s a really important one. There’s so many studies that show the link between belonging and success. I’d like to think  students leave my classes feeling like their voices mattered, that their ideas have had power, and that I’ve tried to be responsive in how I teach.”

Ritchie will begin teaching in Winter Term 2026. Because Ritchie’s background is in history, he will not be teaching chemistry courses. Some of the courses Ritchie could potentially develop at Elon include:

• Innovation Ecosystems: From Local to Global
• AI Revolution: Navigating a World with Artificial Minds
• Science Across Divides: The Art of Communicating Complex Ideas
• Disruptive Futures: Navigating Radical Change
• Serious Play: Innovation Through Experimentation and Joy
• Design Thinking for Social Impact

Changing the narrative

SURE is about more than just researching a topic – the students are exploring personal questions and interests that can spark wide-ranging, impactful conversations.

“I want to change the narrative,” said Fiona Hodge ‘26, whose research focuses on the intersectionality of queer college student identity.

Hodge, a psychology major and vice president of the Undergraduate Research Student Association (URSA) identifies as a member of the LBGTQ community and noticed a gap in the research around queer people.

“The previous research focused on discrimination and talking about queer people, but not focusing on their own perspectives,” said Hodge. “So, I want to provide research that’s by queer researchers for queer people.”

SURE provides an opportunity for students to work with faculty and gain meaningful research experience over the summer, without the pressure of other courses during a typical semester. Students apply for the opportunity, which usually takes place during the summer before the junior or senior year.

“Undergraduate research has been shown to have a lot of great benefits for students and faculty, thinking about developing critical thinking and communication skills, which is evident at the SURE presentations,” said Eric Hall, director of undergraduate research and interim assistant provost for scholarship and creative activity. “Presenting at conferences is the way we show our research findings, and this shows students what it would be like if they go to a regional or national conference.”

Hodge first started doing research this year and says the experience has gone well, especially with the help of her mentor Adam Kim, assistant professor of psychology.

“This is my first-time presenting research. I’m excited. It feels really cool to see your research come to life,” Hodge said. “My mentor pushes me to work harder and be more creative, to think outside of the box and not just come up with an okay question but with an interesting question.”

Queerness in the classroom

The child of two educators, a future teacher and a queer-identifying student, Lindsey Hefty ’25 also turned to her LGBTQ+ identity for research.

“I wanted to combine my major of elementary education with my minor in women’s, gender and sexualities studies with all the discourse surrounding queerness in schools. There’s been a lot of negativity,” said Hefty, who is also an Elon Teaching Fellow. “There is a lot of legislation that’s making it impossible for queer identifies to exist in educational spaces.”

The debate over LGBTQ+ issues in public schools has been a hot-button political issue in the last several years. In 2023, North Carolina passed the  “Parents Bill of Rights,” which requires teachers to notify parents if a student questions their gender or uses different pronouns.

In collaboration with her mentor, Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English Kevin Bourque, Hefty interviewed LGBTQ+ educators and fielded survey responses from across North Carolina.

“We are looking for less obvious ways that queerness is happening in the classroom, less safe space posters and more covert incorporations of identity, and that’s a lot of what we’ve found,” said Hefty. “It’s also been really inspiring to talk to other queer educators about their experiences and stories.”

Hefty said she and Bourque fit together well – both being queer-identifying and interested in further exploring queer studies.

“Lindsey has been a pleasure to work with: thoughtful, perceptive, creative, good-natured, smart and funny. I love how her research ties not only to her professional goals, but also her outlook on the world,” Bourque said.

Using research to help

Research was one of the main reasons Natalie Peeples ’26 and Archie Tan ‘25 chose to attend Elon with undergraduate research being one of the Five Elon Experiences. Two of those experiences are needed for the Experiential Learning Requirement (ELR) to graduate. Students earn two ELRs for their participation in SURE.

Both Peeples and Tan are Lumen Scholars  with their SURE research being an extension of that work as well. Tan, the president of URSA, is a computer science major researching using artificial intelligence to detect pancreatic cancer.

“Right now, technology is growing super-fast, even for the people in the field, it’s really hard to catch up,” said Tan, who is also a first-generation college student. “I want to help people utilize advanced technology in their daily life. I want to use the technology to help people.”

Peeples’ topic is helping people in a different way – looking at what she describes as an understudied area in childhood well-being. The psychology major is interviewing parents of four-to five-year-old children in the US and asking them about what they think is important for early childhood, later she will talk with parents in Denmark, comparing the two countries.

“Denmark and the U.S. focus on very different things when it comes to childhood,” said Peeples, who is also an Honors Fellow. “In Denmark, they are focused more on play and outdoor time, while in the US, the focus is more on academics.”

A good childhood

Finding the parents to interview has been easy for Peeples through the dance classes she teaches at Elon DanceWorks. Her mother is also a pre-school teacher. Her mentor Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Research on Global Engagement, is helping to find parents in Denmark, which they will talk with over the next few months. Peeples plans to go to Denmark next summer to complete her Lumen and Honors thesis research.

“My mentor has taught me about resilience and organization, while making sure that you take time for yourself, your own mental health and well-being because it can be draining trying to do all these things at once,” said Peeples.

The two began working together in fall 2023 and Vandermaas-Peeler says Peeples has enthusiastically embraced the project.

“She’s grown tremendously throughout these intensive weeks and SURE has been exceptional preparation for the next two years as Natalie explores these concepts in the U.S. and in Denmark,” Vandermaas-Peeler said. “I feel very fortunate to be in a mentoring relationship with Natalie and support her intellectual journey.”

What does it mean to believe?

Growing up Catholic, Kiara Cronin ‘25 is tapping into her perceptions of religion – looking at how others in her generation (Generation Z) view faith and spirituality, compared to Generation X.

“Spirituality can mean different things for different people,” said Cronin, who is majoring in human service studies. “I see people on social media saying they are spiritual but not religious or they believe in a higher power, but not necessarily God. I thought it was interesting how my generation is open about not subscribing to a certain religion and how that differs from someone in my mom’s generation.”

The project grew out of Cronin’s work as a Multifaith Scholar through the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture and Society, in collaboration with her mentor Senior Lecturer in Human Service Studies Sandra Reid. Cronin is also an Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellow and connected with Reid through the Disarming Injustice course which all the fellows are required to take, along with a Civil Rights Leadership Tour.

Cronin interviewed people about their thoughts on religion and spirituality and held focus groups on the topic. The culmination of the research will be a podcast miniseries about her findings.

“A surprising response from people is that they don’t want to get rid of the traditional ritual acts or traditional values, because that is what makes the church what it is,” she said. “But they do think, to some degree, there has to be some change in how the church interacts with young people.”

Just the start

Before this project, Cronin had never done an extensive research project, so she found the process intimidating at first, something Garrett Schmiederer ’25 can relate to.

“It’s been time consuming, and difficult at times, but I’m enjoying it so far,” said Schmiederer, an exercise science major who hopes to become an athletic trainer. “I’ve always wanted to do research and it’s been a learning experience.”

Schmiederer’s topic looks at concussions in student athletes and their effect on headaches and sleep. His research is still developing, and he plans to have more data by the end of the fall semester and present at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum in 2025.

“It’s just the start so far,” said Schmiderer. “I’m giving them an ImPACT test, which is a concussion baseline test and then after that I’m giving them a survey that is about quality of sleep, if they have headaches or migraines and how it’s affecting their quality of life.”

Schmiederer is mentored by Caroline Ketcham, associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of exercise science, and Hall, who is also his academic adviser.

“I’ve had a lot of success as a scholar myself, but I enjoy talking to students and working with them to develop something and see their success,” said Hall. “It’s amazing to see the topics and say ‘Wow that’s impressive,’ but then when you talk to the students at the presentations and they are able to translate what they’ve done to me, who’s not in their field, is really impressive.”

Racial appraisals refer to the judgments people make about other people’s race and the grounds they use when doing so, such as ancestry, physical appearance, or culture. These judgments historically underlay slavery, segregation and land expropriation, and continue to shape discrimination and anti-discrimination policy.

Prior research had focused almost exclusively on appraisals by white Americans. Ghoshal conducted an original survey with a nationally representative sample of 1,100 people to examine how Americans of varied races constitute race.

Ghoshal found that people of all races use cues of ancestry and appearance to gauge others’ race, but Black and Hispanic Americans are far more likely than whites to think of experiences as one basis for race. For instance, Black Americans consider not just ancestry and appearance but also whether a person’s family experienced enslavement or segregation as a major factor in appraising Black identity, while Hispanic individuals consider whether a person has lived in a Spanish-speaking context as one factor in Hispanic identity.

He also found that Americans accord weight to self-identification and intra-cultural judgments in assessing some claims. For instance, Americans of all races think that whether a person considers themself Hispanic is an important factor in whether they are Hispanic, and that whether an official tribal entity considers a person to be Native American is similarly important in whether they are indeed Native American. But Americans give less weight to self-identification in deciding white or Black identity.

The goal of Ghoshal’s research is not to establish a “correct” logic of racial appraisals or race concepts, since no such correct logic exists. Rather, it is to understand change and constancy in America’s racial system, with an eye toward eliminating racial hierarchy and injustice. The research was supported by Elon’s Faculty Research and Development.