Three Professors Receive ACA Fellowships

Mars Hill University professors Laura Boggess, David Gilbert, and Kelly Moore Spencer have received faculty fellowships through the Appalachian College Association. They are among 27 faculty members from 17 ACA institutions to receive the awards for 2022-23. The fellowship program provides financial support to the recipients for post-doctoral research or pre-doctoral degree completion.

Through the fellowship, Boggess, an instructor of biology and environmental science, will be able to complete work on her Ph.D. in biology, examining Southern Appalachian lichens at the New York Botanical Garden and the City University of New York. Her work examines the impact of climate change and human disturbance on lichens and cliff plants in the Southern Appalachians. Her results will contribute to conservation and management of well-loved national forests and climbing areas in our mountains.

“I’m delighted to have received this fellowship,” said Boggess. “I’m also honored to be part of the Appalachian College Association and this program that has helped MHU and so many of our faculty over the years. And it’s even better that two of my amazing colleagues and friends can have similar experiences next year!”

Gilbert, an associate professor of history, will use grant funds to study jazz music and culture in Europe. He is author of a book about the Black musicians, actors, and dancers who desegregated Broadway theater and the New York City recording industry

by Mike Thornhill, Director of Communications

in the years prior to the Harlem Renaissance. Since completing the book in 2015, he has focused on researching local stories about Madison County and Mars Hill.

The fellowship will allow Gilbert to devote time to his ongoing academic study of the history of African American music. He will conduct research and interviews with performing musicians in Europe to explore Black influence regarding questions of cultural appropriation, racial essentialism, and the relationships between identity, race, culture, and power. Gilbert said, “I’m really excited to return to my primary areas of interest, and I can’t wait to talk to European jazz players about their love of the music and devotion to the craft.”

Spencer is an associate professor of art therapy and psychology. She said, “I am hoping to conduct a qualitative research study exploring ways that art can help communities heal, with the intention of continuing to build bridges between the Mars Hill community and MHU, culminating in a mural on Main Street. I am so grateful that both MHU and the ACA are supporting these projects!” Through the project she will develop coursework to help students explore ways in which art can connect communities and address social justice issues.

According to MHU Executive Vice President and Provost Tracy Parkinson, Mars Hill was the only institution among the ACA’s 34 members to have all of its proposals selected for funding. With the three awardees, Mars Hill received the maximum level of funding that can be allocated to a single institution in the yearly fellowship cycle.