Image: We are elated to celebrate our faculty, both core and affiliated, and staff’s successes. From conference presentations to winning the 2025 Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) Faculty Teaching Award, our faculty are not just participating in the academic conversation—they’re leading it. Their accomplishments reflect the vibrant intellectual culture we cultivate every day. Here are some highlights: Core Faculty Elizabeth Saari Browne presented at three conferences in 2025: “Terre, Terracotta, and the Invention of Art and Nature” (Huntington Library, Calif.); “Plastic: Some Observations on the Shape and Form of Eighteenth-Century Terracotta” (College Art Association, N.Y.); “Soft Power: Terracotta, Women, and the French Revolution” (Southeastern ASECS, Savannah, Ga.). She received grants from the New Foundation for Art History, American Philosophical Society, Lamar Dodd School of Art, and Willson Center. She was selected for the Lilly Teaching Fellowship and elected Secretary of Historians of Eighteenth-Century Art and Architecture. Kelly Happe continued as Director of Graduate Studies in WGS and Associate Head in Communication Studies. She published in Argumenta on race in science, gave four talks including invited lectures in Italy, and received an I-Cubed grant to co-teach a course on science and gender with Prof. Dax Ovid. Cecilia Herles presented at the 17th Pascal Conference in Taipei and co-facilitated a workshop at NWSA in Detroit. She joined the Faculty Learning Community on Teaching Sustainability, led a book club on Unshrinking, and completed Career Champion Training. Ingie Hovland published Life in Language: Mission Feminists and the Emergence of a New Protestant Subject (University of Chicago Press, 2025). Juanita Johnson-Bailey received the 2025 Outstanding Practice with Broad Impact Award for contributions to Women and Leadership. Joselyn Leimbach won the Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award. Rumya Putcha received the Bernard S. Cohn Book Prize for The Dancer’s Voice: Performance and Womanhood in Transnational India. Patricia Richards continues as co-editor of Gender & Society and was an invited panelist at the 38th Feria Internacional del Libro in Guadalajara. Elise Robinson was promoted to PR and Program Director and Academic Professional for WGS. She presented at NWSA and the Mid-Atlantic Theatre Conference. Staff Carla York, Administrative Assistant, completed multiple trainings and led WGS office renovations including new carpeting, furniture, and signage. Stop by North Campus to see the updates! Affiliated Faculty J. Maria Bermudez published in Social Work Research, presented her book Third Order Thinking in Family Therapy in Mexico, and spoke at the Latino Social Work Organization in Chicago. She received the 2025 First-Year Odyssey Seminar Program Teaching Award and joined the 2024–25 Aspire Fellows Program. Sujata Iyengar published entries on “Whiteness” and “Early Modern Women and Colonialism” in the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Early Modern Women’s Writing, co-authored with Johanna Bailie. Jessica Kissinger was awarded a University Professorship. Cris Lira received the Franklin College Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award. Sharina Maíllo-Pozo was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in Romance Languages. She gave a Distinguished Alumni talk at CUNY, published two works, won the CLASP Faculty Teaching Award, and participated in the Mellon Foundation’s “Convivencia” symposium. Barbara McCaskill was named a Distinguished Research Professor and joined the editorial advisory board of Feminisms, Gender, and Space at UGA Press. Dax Ovid (they/she) published two major articles in biology education research and spoke at the American Physiological Society conference in Baltimore. Cecília Rodrigues won the CLASP 2025 Excellence in Language Education Award for integrating Brazilian culture into curriculum and expanding Portuguese at UGA. She also serves as president of the American Portuguese Studies Association. Emily Sahakian co-published a translation and critical edition of Tale of Black Histories (Liverpool University Press, 2025) and launched a companion website with staging histories and Creole songs. Ziying You co-edited Narratives of COVID-19 in China and the US and authored three essays on immigrant resiliency, sexual harassment, and intellectual legacy. We are so proud of our faculty and staff and commend you for all that you do!
