February
Jumana Al-Ahmad, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, published “Lived Islam in Films: Faith-Based Resilient Responses of Syrian Refugees,” Journal of Religion & Film 29.2 (2025), Article 7.
History major Macie Alford and faculty member Amy Price Azano, Education and Director of the Center for Rural Education, published “Raised on the Porch, Rooted in Resistance: Black Rural Education in Praxis,” Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education 24.1 (Winter 2026), special issue “Blackity, Black, Black, Black: Education, Culture, and Reimagined Futures,” 231–43, with Jamon Flowers et al.
Sweta Baniya, English, received Honorable Mention for the 2026 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Advancement of Knowledge Award for her book, Transnational Assemblages: Social Justice and Crisis Communication During Disaster (Urbana, Illinois: Conference on College Composition and Communication of the National Council of Teachers of English, and WAC Clearinghouse, 2024). The award will be presented at the CCCC annual convention, which will take place March 4–7 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Esther Bauer, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, published “In Cold Blood: Female Anger in Elke Schmitter’s Novel Frau Sartoris,” Feminist Anger in German-Language Cultural Production: Responses to Racism, Misogyny, and Other Injustice, ed. Julia K. Gruber and Regina Range, Women and Gender in German Studies 18 (Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2025), pp. 79–100.
Nataliya Brantly, Public and International Affairs, published “The U.S. Health System Vulnerabilities,” BMC Health Services Research 26.1 (2026), Article 32.
The College notes with sadness the death of David Burr, Professor Emeritus of History, on December 6, 2025. A scholar of medieval history, Burr also served as a humanities and interdisciplinary studies faculty member. An expert on medieval Franciscan history, he authored several influential books, received the Franciscan Institute Medal in 2005 and was elected a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America in 2020. Burr joined the Virginia Tech community in 1966 and was awarded emeritus status in 2001. Additional information can be found in the funeral home obituary and the Virginia Tech In Memoriam.
Mauro Caraccioli, Political Science and ASPECT Core Faculty, coedited Interlingual Relations: Global Politics in a Polyglot World (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2026), with Einar Wigen. His individual contributions to the volume were: “Introduction: Global Politics in a Polyglot World,” pp. 1–28, and “Conclusion,” pp. 279–84, both with Wigen; and “Historias for the Empire: Indigenous Translators and the Reproductions of Linguistic Conquest,” pp. 143–59. The volume is available via open access.
The following CLAHS students were recognized as Dean’s Graduate Scholars in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences for Spring 2026, based on nomination materials submitted by their faculty mentor: Waris Faizi, Sociology, faculty mentor Toni Calasanti, Sociology; Hanna Herdegen, Science and Technology Studies, faculty mentor Ashley Shew, Science, Technology, and Society; and Brit Washburn, Creative Writing, faculty mentor Janine Joseph, English.
School of Education faculty members Amy Allen, David Hicks, and Thomas Williams published “Who Teaches Rural Social Studies? A National Portrait of Demographics, Belonging, and the Racialized Terrain of Social Studies Education,” Journal of Social Studies Research 50.1 (2026): 30–46.
School of Education faculty members Bradley Bowen and Natalie Ferand published “Reported Value of Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices of Virginia Agricultural Education Teachers,” Journal of Research in Technical Careers 9.2 (2025), Article 3, with Kendrick Spencer.
Tom Ewing, Professor of History and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, published the following related to the Bike 76 VA project, which he directs: “The 1976 Bikecentennial in Pulaski County,” The Patriot and Southwest Times, October 19, 2025; “Daleville Trio’s 1910 Ride Sparked Roanoke’s Lasting Cycling Legacy,” Fincastle Herald, November 24, 2025; “Pedal Through the Past,” Blue Ridge Outdoors, December 2025, pp. 7-8; , “Honoring a Virginia Cycling Pioneer,” Roanoke Times, December 21, 2025, p. A15; and “The History of Lusters Gate Cheese Factory and US Bicycle Route 76,” Montgomery News Messenger, January 7, 2026, pp. 2 and 10.
A publication coauthored by Natalie Ferand, Education, was one of three articles to be recognized as a 2025 Article of Distinction by the journal Advancements in Agricultural Development. The article, “Agriscience Teachers’ Beliefs About STEM Illumination After an Immersive Professional Development Experience: A Q Sort Study,” is included in Volume 6, Issue 3, of the journal, pp. 27–40, and was coauthored with Catherine A. DiBenedetto et al. In addition, Ferand published “Employers’ Perceptions of Workplace Readiness Skills,” Journal of Research in Technical Careers 9.2 (2025), Article 2, with 2024 Career and Technical Education alumna Tabitha Young.
Jim Garrison, Professor Emeritus of Education, coedited The Dewey-Soka Heritage and the Future of Education (New York, New York: Peter Lang, 2025), with Jason Goulah and Gonzalo Obelleiro. His individual contribution to the volume was “Makiguchi, Ikeda, and Dewey: Geography as a Response to Spiritual Nihilism,” pp. 81–99.
Aarnes Gudmestad, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, published “Social/Affective Factors,” Second Language Acquisition, ed. Matthew Leeser and Gretchen Sunderman, Bloomsbury Applied Linguistics: Research Issues and Methods 3 (London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Academic, 2025), pp. 309–38, with Matthew Kanwit and Megan Solon.
David Hicks, Education, published “Performance in Pedagogy: Ethical and Pedagogical Dilemmas Shaping Virtual Survivor Testimony,” Annals of Social Studies Education Research for Teachers 7.2 (2025): 20–31, with Ian McGregor and Jeremy Stoddard.
David Hicks, Education, and Curriculum and Instruction alumnae Sara Evers and Suzanne Shelburne received the Exemplary Research in Social Studies Award for their article, “Whose Historical Thinking? Representation of Women in the Digital Inquiry Group’s Reading Like a Historian World History Curriculum,” Theory & Research in Social Education 53.3 (2025): 403–38. The award was presented at the National Council for the Social Studies Conference, which took place December 3–7, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Sociology doctoral student Faika Jan presented the poster “Responding to National Workforce Needs: Preparing the Future STEM Workforce through the VSU-VT Engineering Initiative” at the 2026 Hawaii International Conference on Education, which took place January 8–11 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
ASPECT doctoral student Bai Jiang presented “Conflicted Linking: Digital Fandom, Datafication, and Dividual Subjectivity in Contemporary China” at the 65th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies, which took place January 23–25 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Jennifer Johnson, Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology, was named the College’s Academic Leadership Liaison by Dean Laura Belmonte. The title is in recognition of Johnson’s facilitation of meetings between departmental and school leaders and the Dean along with the College Leadership Team; mentorship of colleagues; exploration of opportunities for the College in Richmond; and efforts in organizing the “Teaching in Turbulent Times” workshops.
Shalini Misra, Public and International Affairs, published “Decision Rules for Salt – Feedback Loops in One Water Systems and Their Implications for Collective Management,” Global Environmental Change Advances 5 (September 2025), 100028, with Benjamin H. Roston et al. Given her role as a Co-PI on a National Science Foundation Growing Convergence Research grant and her recent research, Misra was invited to deliver the National Science Foundation Growing Convergence Research Lecture Series annual lecture titled “Analyzing Knowledge Integration in Convergence Research”; the lecture took place January 14 online.
Joseph Mukuni, Education, published “Features of the Pedagogical Culture of a Teacher in Different Countries of the World,” Pressing Problems of Social Development in Society of Changes: Materials of the 3rd International Scientific-Practical Conference, March 27-29, 2025, ed. A. V. Kipensky (Kharkiv, Ukraine: Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, 2025), pp. 19–21, with Olena Lapuzina.
Carol Mullen, Education and Educational Leadership and Policy Studies alumna Diana Rios published “Differentiated Induction Support for Provisionally Licensed Teachers: An Elementary School Leader Perspective,” Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning 34.1 (2025): 58–80.
School of Public and International Affairs postdoctoral scholar Norhan Abdelgawad presented the poster “Thinking Dispositions and AI Literacy in Emergency Management” at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management conference, which took place November 13–15, 2025, in Seattle, Washington. The poster was coauthored with Master of Urban and Regional Planning student Daniel Friedberg, Public Administration and Public Affairs doctoral student Muhammad Awfa Islam, Human Development and Family Science faculty member Ben Katz, and Public and International Affairs faculty members Shalini Misra and Patrick Roberts.
School of Public and International Affairs faculty members Matthew Dull and Gavin Luter and Public Administration and Public Affairs doctoral student Dean LeFor organized the workshop “The Future of Government Oversight,” which took place January 15 at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington, Virginia, as part of SPIA’s Winter Washington Experience seminar. The following CLAHS students participated: Mariana Aguilar Arellano, Political Science; Jazmin Bowman, Criminology; Aidan Boyer, Political Science; Luke Castillo, Political Science; Chloe Ebert, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; Esther Eum, Political Science; Chloe Fillingham, Political Science; Talia Firetti, Political Science; Lauren Jarman, Political Science; Grace Kennedy, Political Science; John Kleinsmith, Political Science; Davis Nau, Political Science; Sarah Putorti, International Relations; Estee Ruiz, Political Science; Cady Shenk, Political Science; Elijah Squires, International Studies; Emily Thomas, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; Joshua Thompson, Smart and Sustainable Cities; Macy Tyndall, Political Science; Matthew Wagner, Political Science; and Caleb Waller, Political Science.
Bill Roth, Communication, was named Virginia Sportscaster of the Year for a record 13th time by the National Sports Media Association. Roth was Virginia Tech’s lead football play-by-play broadcaster from 1988 to 2015. He returned to the broadcast booth in 2022 and will mark his 32nd season in the 2026 football season. Roth helped launch the Sports Media and Analytics program in 2016 and continues to teach in the program.
Philip Yaure, Philosophy, was selected as a 2025–2026 Kluge Fellow at the Library of Congress’s John W. Kluge Center to pursue his research project titled “Transformative Organizing: Race, Gender, and the American Labor Movement.” Twelve Kluge Fellowships, each for a period of four to 11 months, are awarded each year through a competitive selection process; Fellows receive a monthly stipend for residential research at the Library of Congress. Additional information about this research project can be found here.