The strategic communications major’s work centers on a multi-platform outreach strategy that blends grassroots engagement with a six-week, workbook-driven workshop. Her project, “Designing Accessible Wellness: A Community Health Intervention Campaign for Alamance County Inspired by Blue Zones,” draws on research examining regions of the world where people live longer, healthier lives and translates those insights into practical solutions.

That approach is intentionally hands-on and community-focused. McGee’s campaign reaches people through tabling at local grocery stores, social media outreach and partnerships with local organizations, all aimed at increasing awareness and encouraging participation. At its core is a flexible workshop experience, which participants can complete in person or remotely, guiding them through topics such as movement, purpose, belonging, rest and diet.

“I wanted to create something that didn’t just inform people, but actually gave them the opportunity to build healthier habits in a supportive environment,” McGee said. “By narrowing my focus to a specific community, I realized I could design something more meaningful and impactful.”

Her research reflects a broader understanding of health as both a personal and systemic issue – an idea that first drew her to the project. McGee said she was inspired to focus on Alamance County at a time when healthy living can feel increasingly out of reach, noting that nearly half of adults in the United States live with at least one chronic health condition and that everyday environments often make unhealthy choices the easiest ones.

Drawing on Blue Zones principles, McGee emphasizes that lasting change depends on environment, culture and access – not just individual willpower. That perspective shapes how she tailors her campaign locally, incorporating resources specific to Alamance County – from nearby hiking trails to community-based spaces – and encouraging participants to rethink how their surroundings influence daily habits.

The project has also reshaped McGee’s own understanding of what research can be.

“While this started as a project for class, I have come to realize that this is something that could be real,” the Sutton, Massachusetts, native said. “Working through this project has made me feel capable and inspired to keep pursuing projects in life that can create change by starting small.”

That sense of possibility is exactly what SURF is designed to highlight. As one of Elon’s signature academic experiences, �þ��� research provides students with the opportunity to explore complex challenges while developing solutions that extend beyond the classroom.

For McGee, the hope is that her campaign does more than raise awareness. She wants it to spark a ripple effect.

“Research from the Framingham Studies shows that smoking, obesity, happiness, and even loneliness are contagious. We are influenced by our social circles,” she said. “By inspiring even a small subset of the population to take their health more seriously, it has the potential to shift behaviors across entire communities. The change starts small.”

McGee’s research was mentored by Paula Rosinski, professor of English, as part of her multimedia authoring minor.

“The public response to ‘Get Out’ was such a powerful example of the timely cultural work popular cinema can do,” Burns says, “and I was particularly struck by Peele’s playfully allusive style.”

Noting the writer-director’s tendency to wear his influences on his sleeve, including Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and other ambitious 20th-century directors, Burns also designed the course to expose students to an earlier chapter in film history.

“This ‘throwback feel’ associated with Peele’s style rewards student participation — an opportunity to make connections and share those discoveries with their fellow viewers,” Burns says.

Through this course, students explore the genre’s rhetorical and discursive power in suspense-driven allegories on diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and social justice. The hybrid nature of the course is one of the core elements of the new global film & cultures minor, which Burns coordinates with Kai Swanson, assistant professor of cinema & television arts.

“The minor’s curricular goals are primarily collaborative and organizational: to help students identify film studies courses that are already in place across the university curriculum and provide a framework for organizing them,” Burns explains, “whether it’s a Film, Politics & Society course offered by the Department of Political Science & Public Policy or one in Italian Cinema taken through the World Languages & Cultures program.”

Social thrillers like “Get Out” handle complex societal issues masked through film genre conventions. In the 1950s, “social message” or “problem pictures” looked at different subjects through the context of melodrama. In the 1960s, the movie industry began to deal with those issues more explicitly in films such as “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “Night of the Living Dead” and “Rosemary’s Baby.” More modern variants on the genre include “Parasite,” “Promising Young Woman” and the body-horror film “The Substance.”

“In shaping its definition, students compare social thrillers to other, related genres in order to better understand how films like Peele’s separate themselves out through implicit allegorical messaging rather than direct polemic,” Burns says. “In this way, students have a lot of fun defining what the social thriller is — its coherence as a genre — or whether there might be a better way to think about these films.”

The course was taught for the first time during an Elon Winter Term, and the regular semester version has enabled further expansion.

About the Professor

Dan Burns is an assistant professor of English whose �þ��� and research focus on film and media studies, adaptation, the history and theory of the novel, and U.S. literature and culture. He holds a doctorate from UNC-Greensboro and is active in interdisciplinary scholarship and academic leadership, including co-coordinating the global film & cultures minor.

Recommended Materials

• “Get Out: The Annotated Screenplay” by Jordan Peele
• “Rosemary’s Baby” by Ira Levin
• “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead

Catherine Bowlin, assistant �þ��� professor in English, presented “A Liberating Way to Take a Course: Linguistically Just, Collaborative Feedback and Assessment in First-Year Writing,” a pedagogical intervention she began piloting in her Fall 2025 courses (ENG 1100 and COR 1100). This question-based feedback model requires students to submit specific questions about their drafts before receiving peer or instructor feedback.

This approach is part of Bowlin’s broader commitment to linguistically just assessment practices that center student agency and challenge traditional grading structures that often reinforce linguistic hierarchies. Bowlin shared preliminary findings from three courses and received valuable feedback from scholars in writing studies. Early data suggests that structuring feedback around student-generated questions can increase students’ confidence, sense of ownership over their writing, and engagement with the revision process.

Paula Patch, associate �þ��� professor in English and associate director of the Common Reading and First-Year Foundations in the Elon Core Curriculum, participated in a roundtable discussion on career options after a faculty member has served as a Writing Program Administrator. Titled “‘Learning on the Bones’: Life After Writing Program Administration,” the roundtable featured five mid- to late-career faculty who spoke about their experiences as administrators, what they decided to do next in their careers, and advice they have for others. Patch spoke about the unique opportunities and sense of belonging that program and campus leadership offers for non-tenure track faculty.  The presenters also debuted a call for proposals for an edited collection on the same topic. Patch was the Coordinator of the College Writing Program at Elon from 2012 to 2019.

Associate Professors of English Heather Lindenman, first-year Writing coordinator, and Julia Bleakney, director of The Writing Center, and Associate Teaching Professor Greg Hlavaty presented the findings of a Spring 2025 study that piloted two versions of AI-integrated first-year writing courses (ENG 1100). This presentation, “Navigating Control and Trust: A Study of Two Pedagogical Approaches to Teaching First-Year Writing with Generative AI,” detailed two pedagogical models for engaging AI in the FYW classroom; shared an overview of the study’s findings from both survey and focus group data; and discussed pedagogical and curricular interventions being currently piloted in Elon’s first-year writing courses as a result of this study’s findings and implications.

Elon and ENG1100 have been leaders in research surrounding generative AI and writing pedagogy. These presentations contributed to conversations among Writing Studies scholars regarding pedagogical adaptations to support student and faculty engagement.

The workshop, titled Launching and Sustaining a Common Reading Program that Works, was facilitated by members of the Penguin Random House Common Reads advisory board, all of whom lead Common Reading programs at colleges and universities across the United States.

Workshop topics included the evolving nature of Common Reading programs,  making a case for launching or sustaining a program, program models and logistics, title selection, program assessment, and time for feedback and mentoring of attendees.

Patch joined the Penguin Random House Common Reads Advisory Board in 2025. The board meets regularly to identify titles and topics for Common Reading programs that choose Penguin Random House titles.

With the skills of grant writing, students are not only able to make change in their community but also take those skills into the next steps of their lives when they leave Elon. The course guides students through the process of researching potential funders all the way through crafting persuasive proposals and reviewing grant applications for nonprofit programs.

Li Li, associate professor of English, teaches the Writing Grants course not only to give students the skill of writing grants but also the chance to get out in the community and make a difference. Grant writing, Li emphasizes, is more than a technical skill, it is a civic tool.

“�þ��� grow to understand that writing grant proposals is not just writing, but a civic act that can support local organizations and strengthen communities,” Li said.

As a community engagement (CE) course, Writing Grants situates learning within real-world contexts. �þ��� collaborate directly with community partners in Alamance County, engaging in authentic problem-solving that requires attentive listening, asking thoughtful questions, and refining project goals together.

“�þ��� engage directly with clients to co-develop grant proposals,” Li said. “This collaborative process fosters accountability and professionalism and teaches students how to accurately and ethically represent community voices.”

The impact of that collaboration is tangible. In Fall 2025, students partnered with Alamance Arts to research, draft and submit a proposal to Impact Alamance, a local organization that supports nonprofits working to build a healthier, stronger and smarter community. The organization was eventually awarded a $6,000 grant.

“When proposals are submitted — and especially when they are successfully funded — students can see how their efforts translate into measurable benefits for the community,” said Li.

The partnership didn’t end with the semester. Several students took the initiative to serve as liaisons between Alamance Arts and Elon student organizations, establishing long-term volunteer opportunities and strengthening the relationship between the university and the local community.

For students considering the course, the benefits extend far beyond the classroom.

“Grant writing is an essential professional skill across a wide range of fields,” she noted. “Through collaboration with community partners, students see how writing can create tangible impact in the community.”

For the instructor, the most rewarding moments come when students see the real-world power of their work.

“Seeing their pride, excitement and increased confidence after hearing the news of a funded proposal is incredibly gratifying,” she shared. “Watching students shift from merely completing an assignment to contributing to a community partner is deeply fulfilling.”

Photos of the conference are available on the .

The conference began with the panel discussion “Government Threats to Journalists’ Autonomy” moderated by Lorraine Ahearn, assistant professor of journalism, and Pate McMichael, director of the North Carolina Open Government Coalition and instructor in communications. Joining the panel were professionals Thad Ogburn of the Raleigh News & Observer, Rana Cash of the Charlotte Observer, and Phoebe Zerwick of the Down from DC newsletter.

Colin Donohue, assistant professor of journalism and director of student engagement and special projects for the School of Communications, organized the conference. He said hosting an event such as NCCMA provided learning opportunities for Elon students and outreach to students from around the state.

“We’re always excited to host the NCCMA conference because we love supporting and celebrating student media,” Donohue said. “The event allows students to develop professionally and network with their peers from across the state, and that shared learning experience can inform the work they do on their campuses.”

The keynote address was presented by Elon alumnus David Hodges ’12, an investigative reporter for WBTV in Charlotte.

Many other Elon faculty, staff and students presented breakout sessions at the conference.

• McMichael presented the session “Know Your Rights: Media Law for Student Journalists.”
• David Bockino, associate professor of sport management, presented the session “From ‘We’ to ‘Me’: A History of Sports Media and Sports Betting.”
• Ben Hannam, associate professor of communication design and chair of the Department of Communication Design, presented “AI & Creativity: Challenges and Opportunities for Graphic Designers.”
• Israel Balderas, assistant professor of journalism, presented “Covering Protests, Walkouts and �þ��� Political Flashpoints.”
• Drew Perry, associate professor of English, presented “Literary Magazine – From Start to Really Finished: Matching Your Vision to the Printed Page.”
• Randy Piland, associate �þ��� professor of communication design, presented the sessions “Drones in Media: Aerial Storytelling, Ethics, and Real-World Impact” and “Photography – Action. Reaction. Interaction. Building Storytelling Frames That Matter.”
• Kelly Furnas, associate �þ��� professor of journalism, presented “10 Things You’re not Doing Online (but should be).”
• Anjolina Fantaroni ’26, executive director, of Elon News Network and Sarah Moore ’26, managing editor of The Pendulum, moderated the student editors’ roundtable.
• Journalism major Charlotte Pfabe ’27 introduced Hodges, and she and journalism, media analytics and digital content management triple major Abby Gravely ’27 emceed the conference’s awards presentation.

The conference also featured an awards ceremony recognizing the best in student media from around the state in 2025. �þ��� from Elon News Network received honors, including:

• Best of Show – Newspaper | The Pendulum
  Issues from and
• Best of Show – Website | Elon News Network
  
• 1st Place – Digital Storytelling | Lilly Molina
  
• 2nd Place – Digital Storytelling | Anjolina Fantraoni
  
• 1st Place – Photography | Ethan Wu
  
• 2nd Place – Photography | Alexander Siegel
  
• 1st Place – News Writing | Anjolina Fantaroni
  
• 1st Place – Sports Writing | Miles Hayford
  
• 2nd Place – Feature Writing | Nia Bedard
  
• Honorable Mention – Feature Writing | Charlotte Pfabe
  
• 1st Place – Single- or Two-Page Design | Sarah T. Moore
  
• 2nd Place – Single- or Two-Page Design
  Megan Walsh
  
• Honorable Mention – Single- or Two-Page Design | Reagan Sizemore
  
• 1st Place – Illustration/Graphic
  Nia Bedard
  
• 2nd Place – Illustration/Graphic
  Reagan Sizemore
  

Since his 2023 arrival at Elon, Kelly has hosted a ‘listening tour’ and spent time with each department to hear directly from faculty and staff about what they value. Kelly said that common themes soon emerged from those conversations and the new statement reflects dozens of discussions.

Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences new vision statement reads: “The Heart of an Elon Education: Ignite Curiosity, Engage Challenges, Transform Worlds.”

The mission statement then declares:

“Upholding the centrality of the liberal arts, we explore and apply disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge for inquiry, creativity, discovery and problem solving in a complex and changing world.”

The statement lists core values that include accessibility, belonging, critical thinking, diversity, equity and inclusion, integrity, intellectual curiosity, problem-posing and respect for human dignity.

Community Reflections

• “There were several opportunities for different groups, departments, branches, interdisciplinary programs, to discuss versions on the table. It was in those conversations where we might learn how a word or phrase was heard within and across disciplines; where we found convergence, deeper awareness, and respect. The both-and of this process modeled what we value and genuinely captures our shared identity as Elon College.” – Caroline Ketcham, associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of exercise science
• “It was always important to us that this wasn’t a process where faculty were just asked to weigh in at the end, after the real decisions had already been made. From start to finish, it was grounded in listening to what faculty across the college say we do well and what values they believe guide our shared work. Our task wasn’t to invent a mission, vision and values, but to clearly articulate what faculty are already living and leading with. I think that’s why faculty can so readily see themselves and their departments represented in the final statements.” – David Buck, associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and an associate professor of psychology
• “Having shared goals and articulated values helps everyone in the college feel connected as a community, value each other’s work and prioritize our energies on initiatives that matter to us.” – Shannon Duvall, interim associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of computer science
• “I appreciated the collaborative nature of it all, not just between the dean’s office and department chairs, but also extending to faculty members across Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. It really did involve all of us. What particularly stood out to me were the conversations in our chairs’ meetings with the dean where we came to agreements on core values. It’s inspiring to see that distinctly different types of disciplines uphold the same core values.” – Joel Karty, chair of the Department of Chemistry and �þ���’s Sydney F. & Kathleen E. Jackson Professor of chemistry
• “I appreciated being part of a process that felt genuinely collaborative. Our participation was not merely symbolic. It felt meaningful, and I experienced the dean’s office as truly listening. The process itself was also inspirational, and I feel bolstered in leading my own department through similar work. It was powerful to see such a broad, collective effort take shape into something tangible.” – Samantha DiRosa, chair of the Department of Art and a professor of art and environmental studies
• “The process of creating a new vision statement, mission statement and core values for Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences was both thoughtful and deeply collaborative. Over many months, department chairs worked together to reflect on what makes us distinctive and how best to express those qualities in guiding statements. The process intentionally sought input from across departments, ensuring that everyone in the college had the opportunity to contribute their perspectives. Personally, the time spent reflecting with fellow chairs on what makes each of our departments special fostered a deeper sense of shared purpose and collective commitment.” – Carrie Eaves, chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Policy and associate professor of political science and public policy

Kelly said he was pleased the final language resonated with the faculty in the college.

“The true measure of a successful attempt to lead a group or an organization towards a renewed vision, mission and core values is whether the words and sentiments ‘sound like us’,” he said. “When I heard that some faculty believed my presentation of our vision, mission and core values at our spring faculty meeting ‘sound like us,’ I knew that our work together in small and large group settings was a huge success. It means that stakeholders were heard and that the words resonate so much so that the tune or melody is familiar. The vision, mission and core values reflect truly who we are and where we are going with much intention.”

“Terror made me cruel; and, finding it useless to attempt shaking the creature off, I pulled its wrist on to the broken pane, and rubbed it to and fro till the blood ran down and soaked the bed-clothes; still it wailed ‘Let me in!’”

Thus speaks Mr. Lockwood, a clueless townie and milksop, narrator of Emily Bronte’s 1848 novel Wuthering Heights, about to appear – again! –  on screen in a Valentine’s Day release.

This production generates a new burst of interest in a novel that’s never lost its coolness-cachet. Romance – doomed, of course  – and the lure of Gothic darkness are bestsellers, particularly with a young audience.

Unsuspecting Lockwood, forced by bad weather to stay at remote and rural Wuthering Heights, the house now under the seriously unpleasant domination of brutal Byronic anti-hero Heathcliff, dreams that a child scratches at the window, begging to get in: “I’m come home! I’d lost my way on the moor!” she moans.  Overcome with inexplicable cruelty, the otherwise normal Lockwood drags ghostly Catherine’s wrist across the jagged window glass.

Catherine, Heathcliff’s long-dead childhood and eternal love, is back.

Emily Brontë’s novel also is a bit of a cine-revenant: a silent film version in 1920 was followed by five English-language screen adaptations, including 1939’s version starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. Foreign directors are not immune, with Indian, Spanish and Filipino films attesting to the pull of Brontë’s fiction.

It certainly channels the Gothic horror we all seem to crave. What fictional mode was ever more resilient than the Gothic? Born in eighteenth-century England with Horace Walpole’s “The Castle of Otranto” (1764), the Gothic mode powered on, past Mary Shelley’s 1820 classic “Frankenstein,” through Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca,” up to the very recent “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

The Gothic closet is stuffed with ghosts, dead bodies, graves, vampires, the living dead, corrupt sexuality, damsels in distress, powerful and dangerous attractive men,  gargoyled architecture and locked doors. The list is long.

But Gothic is a fragile literary mode, lurching sometimes into farce: Brontë piles it on, ad absurdum: a kitchen with a row of hanged puppies, dead rabbits mistaken for kittens, a knife thrust casually into a servant’s teeth, and Heathcliff’s late penchant for grave-digging.

Catherine’s and Heathcliff’s declarations of eternal love indeed caught the irreverent eye of satirists in “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” a seventies UK television series: “Semaphor Wuthering Heights” depicts the supposedly desperate lovers complacently signaling in neat flag formation across the desolate moorland.

But let’s get serious again. The novel is genuinely disturbing in its depiction of childhood love turned into adult obsession: “I am Heathcliff!” declares Catherine. “He’s always, always in my mind not as a pleasure . . . but, as my own being.”  And we believe her.  Their individual identities are merged forever, even after death, when Heathcliff begs dead Catherine to haunt him: “Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! . . . I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!”

Heathcliff – brought as a nameless street urchin into the Wuthering Heights household, mistreated in childhood, and bereft of Catherine – takes revenge on everyone implicated in his misery. Vampire-like, he sucks the free will, money and property from his victims, turning the landowning gentry system on its head.

The young novelist herself spent most of her life in her clergyman father’s northern England vicarage and was an unlikely author of such a startling fiction.

“Wuthering Heights,” originally published under the man-sounding pseudonym Ellis Bell, was slammed by reviewers, who denounced it as coarse, brutal, and irreligious. After her death at 30, Emily was “defended” by her older sister Charlotte, who resorted to claiming that her sister was just a child of nature, living secluded in rural Yorkshire. She really “didn’t get” polite society.

But Emily has had historical payback after those disapproving reviews. “Wuthering Heights” stays reliably in print, thanks to people like me, who teach it, and thanks to the film makers, who periodically boost it lucratively into the headlines.

The new film beckons. But I hope that moviegoers will turn again to the book: a real Gothic shocker, which entertains while inviting us to ponder the dangerous and wonderful strength of human feeling, to consider the possibility that individual human identity is permeable, and that we may really be able to live in each other’s hearts and minds – perhaps forever.

The article explores why the novel, long considered both a seminal work of Gothic literature and a complex portrait of passion and revenge, is trending again amid a new film adaptation. Haskell is quoted in the piece offering expert insight into how modern readers approach Brontë’s work.

“It appeals to our slightly shameful and subversive desires to experience the terror and horror ourselves and to experience other people undergoing terror and horror,” said Haskell of the interest in the novel.

The article highlights that some modern readers may be struggling with the novel, and Haskell says that this may be due to the changing English language. She encourages people to read the book outloud and pair it with watching adaptations, which can make the work more accessible.

“In the end, I think you just have to persevere and keep going. It becomes easier,” Haskell said.

Fulbright grantees are not just funded to teach or research—they are expected to serve as valuable cultural ambassadors in their respective host countries, both representing the United States and learning about their new communities.

Fulbright grants are awarded on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. As semifinalists, these Elon students and alumni have been recommended by the National Screening Committee of the Institute of International Education for final consideration by review panels in their respective host countries. Semifinalists will be notified of their final award status this spring, beginning in late March, barring any delays or disruptions at the federal level.

This year’s Fulbright semifinalists are:

Azul Bellot ’26

• Psychology and Sociolinguistics
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright English �þ��� assistantship to Spain

Jo Bogart ’26

• Creative Writing and Classical Studies
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright study/research grant to the United Kingdom

Anya Bratić ’26

• International & Global Studies and Public Policy
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright English �þ��� assistantship to Vietnam

Rony Dahdal ’26

• Computer Science, Math, and Philosophy
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright study/research grant to Sweden

Jubitza Figueroa ’21

• Political Science
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright English �þ��� assistantship to Spain

Alex Fleischmann ’26

• Psychology
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright English �þ��� assistantship to South Korea

Rebecca Lovasco ’26

• Psychology
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright study/research grant to Taiwan

Caroline Mitchell ’26

• Middle Grades Math and Special Education
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright English �þ��� assistantship to Bulgaria

Molly Moylan ’26

• Biochemistry
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright English �þ��� assistantship to Spain

Madison Powers ’25

• Journalism
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright English �þ��� assistantship to Spain

Aryanna Vindas ’25

• Dance Performance & Choreography
• Semifinalist for a Fulbright English �þ��� assistantship to South Korea

Elon students and alumni interested in the Fulbright Program or other nationally competitive fellowships are invited to contact the National and International Fellowships Office. To begin the Fulbright application process, please visit the Fulbright Application Process page to register for one of the following virtual Fulbright information sessions during the spring semester:

• Wednesday, March 11 at 4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 9 at 4:30 p.m.
• Thursday, May 21 at 12 p.m.