Fazio Wins University of North Carolina’s System Award for Teaching Excellence.

Past Working-Class Studies Association President, and Professor of English at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, Michele Fazio has won the University of North Carolina’s System Award for Teaching Excellence.fazio

The award is the highest post-secondary award in the state of North Carolina. Fazio will be formally honored and will serve as UNC-Pembroke’s winter commencement speaker.

Congratulations Michele!

Debbie Warnock on “Creating Communities of Support for First Generation, Low Income, and Working Class Students,” as part of American International College’s Lectures and Forums Series, Oct. 22, 2019

Debbie Warnock, PhD, WCSA member at Bennington College, will present on “Creating Communities of Support for First Generation, Low Income, and Working Class Students,” as part of American International College’s Lectures and Forums Series. The series is coordinated in part by WCSA member, and Associate Professor of History at AIC, Gary Jones.

The event will be October 22, 2019 at 11am in AIC’s Campus Center Auditorium, and is free and open to the public.

First-Generation Students

WCSA members Colby King, associate professor of sociology, and Sean McPherson, assistant professor of art, (both of Bridgewater State University) contributed to an article on understanding the needs of first-generation students on campus. “New Territory: Ensuring First-Generation Students Feel at Home and Succeed on Campus” appeared in Bridgewater Magazine.

King will start a new position in the fall as assistant professor of sociology at the University of South Carolina at Upstate.  Click here to read his views on what the next generation of working-class Americans will look like.

 

Survey on Low-Income First-Generation Working-Class Students

WCSA Working-Class Academics Chair, Debbie Warnock, is conducing a survey on low-income, first-generation, and working-class undergraduate students.  See the information below if you’re interested:

Are you a first-generation college student? Are you from a low-income or working-class background? Would you like to volunteer to participate in a study about your experiences of class on campus?

In order gain insight into the experiences of low-income, first-generation, and working-class (LIFGWC) students, Dr. Debbie Warnock and student research assistants at Bennington College have developed a survey that asks about institutional supports on campus, as well as sources of informal support, such as relationships with faculty, staff, and fellow students from similar class backgrounds.

Participants will be contributing to our knowledge of the first-gen/low-income/working-class student experience on campus and can opt into a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card.

To participate, simply go to TINYURL.COM/CLASSONCAMPUS

Feel free to contact debbiewarnock@bennington.edu with any questions. Thanks!

 

Launius’ New Role

Longtime member and former WCSA president Christie Launius has started a new position as Department Head of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS.  She is pleased to report that she is serving as a faculty mentor through the university’s Office of First-Generation Students.