J. Murrey Atkins Library Digital Publishing

Subcritical: Third Culture Field Notes

2023-12-13T21:37:17-05:00

Subcritical: Third Culture Field Notes explores an innovative, interdisciplinary collaboration between scientists and artists. Based on a project funded by the National Science Foundation that studies how climate change influences the breakdown of rocks and the cracking of mountains, Subcritical integrates the arts with scientific research to communicate findings. Subcritical brings together scholarly and theoretical essays as well as richly illustrated artwork and case studies of design investigations. This novel work represents the type of multidisciplinary synergies possible when artists and scientists collaborate with each other.

Volume edited by Martha Cary (Missy) Eppes, Marek Ranis, and José L. S. Gámez. Essays contributed by Martha Cary (Missy) Eppes, José L. S. Gámez, Ken Lambla, Brook Muller, Marek Ranis, Monica Rasmussen, and Melissa Riker.

Table of Contents:

Foreword: Tectonics of Research in Play by Brook Muller
Introduction by José L. S. Gámez
Cracking Up by Martha Cary (Missy) Eppes
Liminal Landscape by Marek Ranis
With Your Nose on the Rock, It’s All You Can See by Monica Rasmussen
First Steps: Capacity, or: the Work of Crackling by Melissa Riker
Geology for Artists, Art for Geologists by Ken Lambla

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Race and Social Justice

2023-04-17T21:12:15-04:00

Race and Social Justice: Building an Inclusive College Through Awareness, Advocacy, and Action is designed to support college and university members as they navigate and aim to eliminate individual, interpersonal, and institutional discrimination and seek to create more inclusive workplaces and learning environments for faculty, staff, and students. Through the narratives of faculty and staff from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who were charged with dismantling anti-Black racism, we learn from their concerns, challenges, successes, and change process; as well as what works and does not when building diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice into the fabric of a large college. This book centers the work of six Race and Social Justice working groups. Each chapter will detail research in the areas of self-reflection, anti-racist workplace practices, policy, faculty research and outreach, graduate recruitment and success, and undergraduate student success. National- and college-level statistics are provided as context for recommendations, action steps, and suggested short- and long-term planning towards racial equity in higher education.

Volume edited by Kendra Jason

Table of Contents
Foreword, Brandon Wolfe
Chapter 1: Race and Social Justice: My Approach and the Resistance, Kendra Jason
Chapter 2: The Genesis, Goals, and Process of UNC Charlotte’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences’ Justice and Equity Group, Sonya Ramsey, Joyce Dalsheim, Debarati Dutta, and Julia Robinson Moore
Chapter 3: Equity Fundamentals: Self-Reflection, Committee Work, and Policy Sandra Clinton, Maisha Cooper and Dave Frantzreb
Chapter 4: Building an Antiracist Workplace, Eddy M. Souffrant and Susana Cisneros
Chapter 5: Making Race and Social Justice Matter in Faculty Research and Outreach, Crystal Eddins, Erika Denise Edwards, Scott Gartlan, and Honoré Missihoun
Chapter 6: Opportunities, Barriers, and Building a Path to a Graduate Degree for Historically Marginalized Students, Alaina Names-Mattefs and Suzanne Leland
Chapter 7: Undergraduate Student Success: Incorporating Race and Social Justice Issues Into Pedagogy, Victoria E. Rankin and Carrie Wells
Conclusion, Kendra Jason

Charlotte and UNC Charlotte

2021-08-30T13:41:56-04:00

Charlotte might have built the nation's first tax-supported university had an institution begun in 1771 survived the American Revolution, but it did not. Over the years, other efforts to establish a public college or university also failed. By the end of World War II when thousands of returning veterans sought an education on the GI Bill, the city found itself without a public institution to accommodate them. This is the story of visionary citizens and their valiant effort to fill that void. It is the story of Bonnie Cone and the other community leaders who shared her dream: Elmer Garinger, Woody Kennedy, Murrey Atkins, and many others.

It is also the story of how Charlotte and UNC Charlotte grew up together: Charlotte from a city of 120,000 to a metropolitan hub of over one million, and UNC Charlotte from a community college to one of North Carolina's leading universities. It is almost certain that neither would have realized such potential without the other.

Many state and local leaders provided crucial support. Bill Friday, president of The University of North Carolina, and his assistant Arnold King, recognized the rising needs of the state's largest metropolitan region. At key moments, Governors Terry Sanford, Dan Moore, and Robert Scott played pivotal roles. In succession, Chancellors Dean Colvard, E. K. Fretwell, Jr., and James H. Woodward arrived to accept the challenge of building a great university. Throughout, it is the story of dedicated professors, administrators, staff members, students, and generous friends who shared the vision and worked to make it a reality.

It is also a story of struggle: first for existence, then for facilities and public support, and finally for state and national recognition. Above all it is a story of success: of triumph over apathy, of startling growth, of rapid progress, of entrepreneurial verve, and of increasing excellence.

The Odyssey for Democracy

2021-08-25T13:16:40-04:00

Mirsad HadÅ¾ikadiÄ‡ never planned for a life in politics. Yet, in 2018, he decided to run for the Bosniak presidential council seat in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mirsad made the life-changing decision to run, despite the fact that he had a successful, thirty-year career as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and very little experience in politics outside of academia. However, a conversation with a dear friend from Sarajevo planted the idea in his mind. Samir AvdakoviÄ‡ suggested that he run for office because â€œthere may never be another election in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the country as we know it will probably disintegrate.â€ The words rumbled within Mirsadâ€™s mind for the next several months, and he thought to himself, â€œif what Samir says is so, who am I, because of the comforts I have, to decide not to even try?â€

After announcing his intentions on national TV in January of 2018, Mirsad began this journey in earnest in May of 2018 by building a campaign from the ground up with the hope of instilling a vision of hope and change and shifting the countryâ€™s political discourse. However, he soon learned that the odds were stacked against him. He only had five months and limited funds to prove to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina that he deserved their votes. And so, he took his meager funds, limited time, and infinite passion to do just that. He toured the country, meeting and talking with citizens, to share his vision of hope and change.

Though Mirsad was not victorious on October 7th, his results were deemed historic and unprecedented. A relatively unknown, underfunded independent candidate managed to receive 60,000 votes or ten percent of the total votes cast. And, despite the defeat, Mirsad succeeded in spearheading a democratic movement, resulting in the formation of the Platform for Progress political organization in November of 2018 and the official dawning of The Odyssey for Democracy.

Jewel in the Crown

2020-11-25T17:24:04-05:00

Jewel in the Crown: Bonnie Cone and the Founding of UNC Charlotte chronicles the postwar development of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from a temporary night school for returning veterans into a college, and eventually the fourth campus in the UNC system. With no public college or university within 90 miles of Charlotte, the need for greater opportunities for higher education in the region was clearâ€”although the path forward to achieve that goal was not. Cone led the effort to engage the business community, government officials, and the general public to support the development of the institution, while convincing distinguished faculty from around the country to be part of this new endeavor. Drawing heavily from oral history interviews with Cone and many who knew her, the book highlights the personal qualities of persuasiveness, perseverance, and vision that gave her the ability to lead the effort culminating in this incredible achievement. Always an educator at heart, Cone never lost sight of the fundamental purpose in establishing the university: to provide opportunities for students and challenge them to achieve their goals. A foreword by UNC Charlotte alumnus Michael L. Wilson, who went on to lead the Board of Trustees, provides a first-hand account of Coneâ€™s inspiration and influence on students.