Highlights from UEngage

Fall 2024
McNair Scholar receives grant funding and Research Excellence recognition

Tey Hairston-Chase was an Office of Undergraduate Research grant awardee for the 2024 Fall Semester and was accepted into the Fall Undergraduate Symposium as one of the six Research Excellence Award finalists in the oral presentation category. Tey’s awarded research project is titled I’m the “Alpha;” Negotiating Black Manhood Under the Aegis of Hosting Podcasts; A Systematic Media Analysis, a research project focused on the negotiation of Black masculinity in Alpha male podcasting.

Tey’s in depth research is an attempt to understand how Black manhood is re/de/constructed online and to theorize the relationship between Alpha male identity as a masculine negotiation and the systemic oppression/dominant cultural expectations. With a focus on the Alpha male identity, this study hopes to make a significant contribution to how we understand gender and race construction online. Tey’s project incorporates exploration of the lack in research as it relates to the construction of Black masculinity online, as well as the little to no research on hosts of podcasts, or the specific topics of podcasts.

Through a methodological plan to analyze the content of 4 different podcasts that fit his operational definition of Alpha male podcasts, Tey hopes to utilize systematic sampling to ascertain the podcasts with the most cultural impact to grasp how Alpha male identity is constructed and justified. His project explores videos and transcripts to identify themes in rhetoric and body language of self-identified Black Alpha male podcasters as they perform their exaggerated gender expressions, attempting to align themselves with White hegemony. Through his analysis of multiple episodes from each podcast, Tey hopes to answer the overarching questions of how Black men negotiate their masculine identity as “Alpha Male” podcasters, and what strategies or signals do these Black men utilize to exhibit manhood in podcasting. Tey’s project will explore the relationship between “Alpha Male” identity and the effects of dominant cultural expectations.

Tey is passionate about his research into the role that white dominant culture/power plays in limiting marginalized identities’ access to humanity and how we can dismantle systemic oppression and create equity. He is engaging in this research to nuance and challenge existing narratives of Black masculinity as well as examining how we study and socialize masculinity. By doing so, their project has undoubtedly become a stepping stone for critiquing the impacts of systemic oppression and stereotyping. He is a Sociology major, with minors in American Sign Language and Africana Studies.

Tey was in the McNair Scholars Research Program and Upper Division Honors Program, and worked closely with their faculty sponsor, Dr. Harmony Newman, to complete their research.

Fall 2023 – Spring 2024
UNC Honors Student wins prestigous Portz Fellowship from National Collegiate Honors Council

Madison Gremillion won the 2023 Portz Interdisciplinary Fellowship Award through the National Collegiate Honors Council. Only three Honor students win this award nationally per year. The award amount was for $5000. Portz Interdisciplinary Fellowship Awards – National Collegiate Honors Council (nchchonors.org)

Madison’s Honors project is End-of-Life Patient Communication: Exploring Comfort, Communication and Education of Healthcare Professionals for End-of-Life Care, which is an interdisciplinary research project exploring the phenomenon surrounding healthcare professionals working with dying patients.

What makes this project interdisciplinary is that Madison has included methods and frameworks of Psychology, Philosophy, Communications, and Biomedicine. Her study uses a qualitative design and phenomenological methodology and she uses a semi-structured interview which is a common data collection method in phenomenological research. She has had five participants who specialize in Oncology, Palliative Care, Grief Counseling, Family Medicine, and Emergency Medicine respectively. She’s taken the interview data and has coded it using the software provided by UNC, NVIVO. From this, she has found themes in addition to those previously published in the limited data available on the topic. Previous themes include education, experience, and death anxiety being influences of comfort. Some emerging themes include cultural influences, both personal and US culture, support availability within the healthcare system, and accountability within the professional space.

Madison is a sixth year senior majoring in Biomedical Sciences and minoring in Chemistry. She plans to graduate in Spring 2024. Her plans for the future include applying to the Master of Public Health program here at UNC, while also applying to medical schools. She hopes to enter the medical field as an MD or DO. Her long-term goals include expanding her professional education to include Bioethics, such that she may make a larger impact either as an educator/lecturer and/or supporting policy change in the later years of her career.

Students can design their own Interdisciplinary Major at UNC

The Interdisciplinary Studies Bachelors of Arts is an under-utilized program that allows students to design their own major in subject areas of the arts, sciences, and everything in between. Students can design their course of study based on a future career path or even a particular topic. INDS students work closely with faculty advisors to complete their program and apply what they’ve learned toward a major research project before graduation. Previous student-designed majors have included Art Therapy, Feminist Studies, International Education, and Sports Psychology.

Jackson Alston designed his own major in Public Health Analytics. The focus of his program is to use statistics to evaluate certain areas of public health. When Jackson came to UNC, he had already earned his Certified Nursing Assistant License and was a pre-nursing major. Jackson admits to struggling with the biology courses of the nursing program but used that obstacle as an opportunity to follow his aptitude for math. He had received a 5 on the AP Stats exam in high school but didn’t want to abandon his love for medicine, so he combined his interests to design an interdisciplinary program of study he hopes will lead to a career in epidemiology.

Jamie Alexander is a non-traditional transfer student who came to UNC after completing an Associates of Arts with English Designation at Front Range Community College. Prior to FRCC, Jamie had gained professional experience in writing, publishing, and web design, but missed the academic environment and hoped to gain the degrees required to teach at the college level. During her time at FRCC, she re-discovered her love for history, but her historical interests were specifically focused on ancient and medieval religious texts, especially mythological texts. At UNC, she designed a major called Religious Studies in Pre-Modern Europe, which combined her previous literary and religious studies education, and would fill in the gaps of her historical and philosophical knowledge. After graduation, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in Medieval Studies.

UNC’s ROTC Students climb to greater heights

UNC’s ROTC program focuses on teaching students leadership skills. Students participate in physical training, leadership labs, and combat water survival tests. When students graduate from ROTC, they will earn the bar of a Second Lieutenant and can choose to be commissioned into the Active Army, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard. The UNC ROTC was also recently featured in the national news!

CJ Anderson decided to join ROTC because his family has a history in the military. By choosing to join ROTC rather than a military service academy, CJ was able to enjoy the traditional college experience while still gaining the benefits and experience of military training. He also received an ROTC 4-year national scholarship that covered all of his tuition and fees, as well as providing additional stipends. “ROTC has kept me physically active while teaching me useful leadership skills that I will use in my future career,” CJ told me. “Believe it or not, the army can be quite flexible with what you do in it. Now I want to go active duty and earn my retirement, but there is always an option of me joining the National Guard or Reserves if I wish to seek employment in the civilian sector while still serving.” Once CJ graduates, he plans to commission as a Second Lieutenant of the United States Army.

Eric Dershem joined the UNC Air Force ROTC for the training opportunities and to be a part of something bigger than himself. He also grew up in a military family and wanted to continue the tradition of military service. The Detachment 90 program, which is a joint AFROTC program for students of UNC, CSU, Front Range Community College, and AIMS Community College, gives students the opportunity to commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force or Space Force. It is also one of the top-rated detachments in the nation, and an important part of Eric’s decision to transfer to UNC. Eric states, “By joining AFROTC, I have been able to gain fundamental skills related to leadership and discipline as well as improve my physical fitness. Not only this, but I have gotten to know an amazing group of fellow cadets who are also dedicated to pushing themselves beyond their limits.” Upon graduation, Eric plans to commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, possibly in aviation or intelligence.