The University of Central Florida recognized some of its top faculty for their contributions to scholarly excellence and creativity during the fourth biennial Faculty Authors’ Celebration held Thursday at the Live Oak Ballroom on campus.

The event, which is sponsored by the Office of Research and Faculty Excellence, drew more than 40 guests, including Vice Provost for Faculty Excellence Jana Jasinski and Interim Vice President for Research and Innovation Winston Schoenfeld.

Schoenfeld spoke about the importance of creativity and scholarship in a thriving academic environment.

“In a time when we see significant emphasis placed on metrics such as research expenditures, it is important to recognize that societal impact is not always reflected in research dollars spent,” Schoenfeld says. “And in particular, scholarship and creative works are core tenants of a high impact academic institution and represent significant value toward society that should be celebrated.”

Pegasus Professor of History Luis Martínez Fernández delivered the keynote address that shared insights into his recent book, When the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019- 2022, that comprises 66 essays drawn from syndicated columns he wrote during that period.

Motivated by significant global events like the COVID-19 pandemic, George Floyd’s murder, and political turmoil, Martínez-Fernández emphasized the interconnectedness of these events and the need for a more creative approach to historical writing.

The authors and their works honored were:

• Salvador Almagro-Moreno, College of Medicine, Vibrio spp. Infections.
• Mindi Anderson, College of Nursing, Holograms & High Technology: Could Technology Bridge the Gaps in Simulation Education?
• James Bacchus, College of Sciences, Trade Links: New Rules for a New World and Truth about Trade: Reflections on International Trade and Law
• Cori Baill, College of Medicine, Why is Mommy Crying? -Explaining Early Pregnancy Loss to Young Children
• Melody Bowdon, College of Arts and Humanities, Ethical Considerations of Virtual Reality in the College Classroom
• Wayne Bowen, College of Undergraduate Studies, Spain and the Protestant Reformation: the Spanish Inquisition and the War for Europe
• Sarah Bush, College of Community Innovation and Education, Success Stories from Catalyzing Change
• Li-Mei Chen, College of Medicine, Protastin in Human Health and Disease
• Jim Clark, College of Arts and Humanities, Lost Attractions of Florida
• Ilenia Colón Mendoza, College of Arts and Humanities, The Broken Body as Devotional Mediator in Seventeenth Century Spain
• Fayshonda Cooks, College of Nursing, Goal Lean Health and Weight Management Lifestyle Plan (a series)
• Sai Deng, UCF Libraries, Translations of: Sketches of China: with Illustrations from Original Drawings
• Lauryn De George, College of Business, Instructors Manual and PowerPoint Slides for Principles of Management and Multiple Case Studies on Compensation, Customer Expectations, Inclusivity, Ethics, Performance Management, Quiet Quitting, Supply Chain Issues, Employment at Will and Other Pertinent Topics
• Desiree Díaz, College of Nursing, Chapter 8: Holograms and High Technology: Could Technology Bridge the Gaps and Incorporating Concepts of Diversity and Cultural Humility in Simulations
• Erin Doggette, Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, ChatGPT Assignments to Use in Your Classroom Today
• Sara Duff, UCF Libraries, Zines in Libraries: Selecting, Purchasing, and Processing
• Chloë Rae Edmonson, College of Arts and Humanities / School of Performing Arts, America Under the Influence: Drinking, Culture, and Immersive Performance
• Martha Garcia ’97 ’00MA, College of Arts and Humanities, Sense and Art of the Textual Pilgrimage. Stories & Auto Sacramental in Bilingual Key.
• Enrique Guerra-Pujol, College of Business, Business Law and Strategy
• Steve Haberlin, College of Community Innovation and Education, Meditation in the College Classroom: A Pedagogical Tool to Help Students De-stress, Focus, and Connect.
• Keith Harrison, College of Business, Circle Inside of a Box: The Business of Hip Hop Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• David Head, College of Arts and Humanities, A Republic of Scoundrels: The Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers Who created a New American Nation
• Elizabeth Brendel Horn ’10MFA, College of Arts and Humanities, Activated Script Analysis: An Integrative Approach to Play Analysis through Creative Expression and Devised Theatre
• Michael Jablonski, College of Arts and Humanities, Dance in Musical Theatre: A history of the Body in Movement Chapter 14
• Bruce Janz, College of Arts and Humanities, African Philosophy and Enactivist Cognition: The Space of Thought
• Christina Kwapich, College of Sciences, The Guests of Ants: How Myrmecophiles Interact with their Hosts and Die Gaste der Ameisen
• Peter Larson, College of Arts and Humanities, Rethinking the Great Transition: Community and Economic Growth in County Durham
• Julia Listengarten, College of Arts and Humanities, Visual and Performing Arts Collaborations in Higher Education: Transdisciplinary Practices
• Luis Martinez Fernandez, College of Arts and Humanities, When the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019-2022
• Ty Matejowsky, College of Sciences, Smothered and Covered: Waffle House and the Southern Imaginary
• Jonathan Matusitz, College of Sciences, From Child Terrorism to Peace Activism and Fundamentals of Public Communication Campaigns
• Barry Mauer, College of Arts and Humanities, Reimagining the Humanities and Strategies for Conducting Literary Research
• Lisa Nalbone, College of Arts and Humanities, Negotiating Discursive Spaces: Censorship and Woman’s Novels in Spain
• Fevzi Okumus, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Contemporary Research Methods in Hospitality and Tourism and Advanced Research Methods in Hospitality and Tourism
• Hakan Ozoglu, College of Arts and Humanities, Cumhuriyet’in Kuruluş Savaşları (Foundation Struggles in the Early Turkish Republic) and Decline of the Ottoman Empire and the Rise of the Turkish Republic
• Irene Pons ’00, College of Community Innovation and Education, Why I Encourage my Students to Experience Reality
• Roberto Hugh Potter, College of Community Innovation and Education, Human Trafficking: A Systemwide Public Safety and Community Approach (second edition)
• Cecilia Rodríguez-Milanés, College of Arts and Humanities, Dancing Danny
• Lee Ross, College of Community Innovation and Education, Music Lyrics and Domestic Violence: The Soundtracks of Our Lives
• Deanna Sellnow, College of Sciences, Before Crisis: The Practice of Effective Risk Communication
• Timothy Sellnow, College of Sciences, Before Crisis: The Practice of Effective Risk Communication
• Audra Skukauskaite, College of Community Innovation and Education, Interactional Ethnography: Designing and Conducting Discourse-based Ethnographic Research and Engaging Students in Socially Constructed Qualitative Research Pedagogies
• Laurie Rachkus Uttich ’09MFA, Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning / English department, ChatGPT Assignments to Use in Your Classroom Today and Somewhere a Woman Lowers the Hem of Her Skirt
• Marcy Verduin, College of Medicine, Kaplan & Sadock’s Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (fifth edition) and Mental Health for Spiritual People
• Kimberly Voss, College of Sciences, Newspaper Fashion Editors in the 1950s and the 60s and Vivian Castleberry: Challenging the Traditions of Women’s Roles, Newspaper Content and Community Politics
• Jennie Wagner, College of Nursing, Conception and Fetal Development
• Linda Walters, College of Sciences, Please Keep Plastics Out of My Lagoon!
• Keri Watson, College of Arts and Humanities, This is America: Re-viewing the Art of the United States and Routledge Companion to Art and Disability
• Shannon Whitten, College of Science, Psychology, Art, and Creativity
• Amanda Wilkerson ’16EdD, College of Community Innovation and Education, Best Practices and Programmatic Approaches for Mentoring Educational Leaders
• Bruce Wilson, College of Sciences, El Agua como Derecho Humano: Reconocimientos y Disputas en Costa Rica
• Kevin Yee, Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, Ethical Considerations of Virtual Reality in the College Classroom: Cross-Disciplinary Case Studies of Immersive Technology Implementation and ChatGPT Assignments to Use in your Classroom Today
• Margaret Ann Zaho, College of Arts and Humanities, Art is an Endangered Species: A History of Western Art, Paleolithic-Romanesque (second edition) and Art is an Endangered Species II: A History of Western Art Renaissance-20th Century (second edition)

Library Acquisitions has acquired many of these books, and they can be found either physically on the 4th floor Reading Room of John C. Hitt Library or online by searching UCF Libraries.

Story from 53 Faculty Scholars Honored at 4th Biennial Faculty Authors’ Celebration by Robert Wells for UCF Today