The leaves are beginning to change around the Quad, signaling that the vibrant (and, hopefully, chillier!) fall season is finally arriving. I love this time of year, for it is full of exciting traditions for our campus community.
This week, we will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of URECA Day on Friday. It’s incredible to think that, as we peruse the display of independent and mentored work at URECA Day, we are witnessing the College’s longstanding — and I would say, outstanding — commitment to student research and creative work. For 20 years, our students have investigated new ideas, entered into new conversations, and forged new collaborations across disciplines.
Looking ahead, please mark your calendars for the upcoming Alumni Hall Open House on Monday, October 5 (RSVP for the Open House by Thursday, October 1). You are invited to stop by for a self-guided tour to explore the multi-use classrooms, study areas, flexible third spaces, and really nifty skylights. Each time I walk through, I am thrilled to see the academic hub come to life, and I recognize anew the extraordinary work that went into the renovation. Even if you cannot make it to the open house, please make some time to spend in the building and take note of the many ways our new academic hub invites interdisciplinarity.
This edition also includes updates on upcoming faculty programming, funding opportunities, and the winners of the College Board of Visitors’ Faculty and Staff Leadership Awards.
Sincerely,
Jackie Krasas
Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dean’s Office Announcements
20TH ANNUAL URECA DAY THIS FRIDAY
Come celebrate two decades of discovery, creativity, and collaboration at the 20th Annual URECA Day on Friday, Oct. 2, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Sutton Center’s lower basketball court. Students from across the disciplines will present posters and oral presentations on their mentored or independent scholarship. Faculty, friends, family, and members of the Wake Forest community are welcome. We hope you’ll join us for this special milestone and help us recognize the outstanding work of our student scholars.
COLLEGE FACULTY MEETING
The next College Faculty Meeting will be on Monday, Oct. 19, at 3:30 p.m. with a hybrid format in Broyhill Auditorium and online via the Zoom link that will be sent prior.
SUMMER 2027: NEW ONLINE COURSE APPROVAL AND RENEWAL PROCESS
All instructors planning to offer a new course in an online or blended format in Summer 2027 must submit an initial application by Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. All details regarding the new course approval process and links to the application forms can be found on the OLEC website.
All instructors who have offered an online or blended course, but have not yet received long-term approval from OLEC must complete the renewal application by Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. The renewal application and process can be found on the OLEC website.
Please check the OLEC website for a list of OLEC Approved Courses.
Please reach out to OLEC chair Jarrod Atchison, , if you have any questions.
MAJOR & MINOR FAIR
The Office of Academic Advising invites you to the 2026 Major & Minor Fair. The year’s event will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Tribble Courtyard, with our rain site in Benson 401.
Based on feedback from last year, OAA added an additional hour to this year’s fair so that even more students can attend. If you need help with coverage for part of the event, OAA staff are available to assist. This would also be a great opportunity to invite a couple of your best upper-division students to join you at the booth and spread the word about your programs.
Please indicate your department’s attendance by filling out this form.
Responses received by Wednesday, Sept. 30 will give us ample time to reserve the tables needed for your booth.
Contact the Office of Academic Advising with questions.
NEXT WEEK: ALUMNI HALL OPEN HOUSE
The College invites faculty, staff, and colleagues to the Alumni Hall Open House on Monday, Oct. 5, from 4-5:30 p.m. The event includes self-guided tours and refreshments, and offers a chance to talk directly with our faculty, students, staff, and alumni who benefit from purpose-built academic space. RSVP on this Google Form.
For Faculty & Staff
FIRST FIVE: ZSR EARLY CAREER FACULTY WORKSHOP SERIES
ZSR Library invites you to First Five, a workshop series for early-career faculty. Workshops are open to faculty at all ranks who are in their first five years at WFU. The next workshops are:
- “Uncovering ZSR Resources for Your Courses,” held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in ZSR 665
- “Designing Research Assignments with AI in Mind,” held on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in ZSR 665
Lunch will be provided. Register and view the full workshop schedule on the ZSR website.
SAFE ZONE TRAINING UPCOMING DATES
Safe Zone is an interactive, 2-hour educational workshop designed to introduce LGBTQ+ identities, examine prejudice, and build active allyship skills. Participants will gain foundational terminology and practical tools for inclusive communication.
Three sessions for faculty and staff will be offered this fall semester, and all are available for registration through Workday Learning. After completing the session, participants will receive a digital Safe Zone badge for their email signature and a physical sticker for their door or office space.
Remaining Dates:
NEW RETIREMENT PLAN ADMINISTRATOR: FIDELITY INVESTMENTS
Fidelity Investments will become the retirement plan’s provider of recordkeeping services and custodian for WFU, replacing TIAA. A transition guide will be emailed to current employees and posted on the WFU website. Please review your personal information and update your beneficiary designations and home address with TIAA online.
REMINDER: DEACON BOOK BUNDLE OPTION FOR UNDERGRADUATES
Wake Forest is launching the Deacon Book Bundle for Spring 2027 to provide undergraduate students with all required course materials by day one of classes at a fixed program price based on class level, potentially reducing the total cost of course materials for students. To ensure maximum availability for students, please submit your course material adoptions by the priority deadline: Oct. 15, 2026. If your teaching assignment is confirmed later, please submit your course material adoptions as soon as possible, and no later than Nov. 15, 2026. For full details, please visit the FAQ page on the Hospitality & Auxiliary Services website.
RESOURCES AND SUPPORT FOR ENGAGED LEARNING
Are you a faculty member interested in incorporating disciplinary-specific sustainability guest lectures, campus tours, or place-based projects into your courses this fall? Contact the Office of Sustainability’s Assistant Director of Engaged and Experiential Learning, Krista Stump to schedule a consultation. Krista will help identify and plan engagements that fit your course’s learning outcomes and connect you with the campus resources to bring them to life. Visit the Office of Sustainability website for more information.
FACULTY FUNDING
NCFDD FACULTY SUCCESS PROGRAM APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN
Funds are available to support faculty for either the Spring (Feb. 1, 2027 – April 11, 2027) or Summer 2027 Faculty Success Program. This comprehensive 10-week virtual program is designed to empower faculty members with the skills and strategies to increase research and writing productivity while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Applications received by Thursday, Oct.1, will receive priority consideration. You can use the same form to request support for other NCFDD programs, including Department Chair Success and Rethinking Your Research Funding.
Use this Google Form to apply. Contact Mary Muchane with questions.
NATIONAL HUMANITIES CENTER RESIDENTIAL FELLOWSHIPS 2027-2028
The National Humanities Center (NHC) invites applications for academic-year or semester-long residential fellowships. Mid-career, senior, and emerging scholars with a strong record of peer-reviewed work from all areas of the humanities are encouraged to apply.
Applications are due on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. Visit the NHC website for more information.
W. M. KECK RESEARCH PROGRAM: NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS
The W.M. Keck Research Program is now accepting nomination applications for Basic Science Research projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach, question the prevailing paradigm, or have the potential to break open new territory in their field. The Keck Research Program provides between $1M and $1.3M over three years. The internal deadline is Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. The external application deadline is Monday, Dec. 7, 2026.
PRG APPLICATIONS DUE ON THURSDAY
The Pilot Research Grant (PRG) deadline is Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.
HUMANITIES INSTITUTE
HUMANITIES INSTITUTE TO HOST BOOK DISCUSSIONS: PERSPECTIVES ON AI
To study a range of humanistic perspectives on AI and big tech, the Humanities Institute will sponsor a Big Tech Big Read over the course of this academic year. The groups will meet twice each semester to discuss one book each session. These conversations will be informal and open to faculty, staff, and students, who are looking for a community to talk and think with about the political economies of AI.
This semester, the group will meet at 12:30 p.m. in Reynolda Hall 301 on Friday, Oct. 23, and Friday, Dec. 4. The sessions will begin with the oldest book on the list, Yanis Varoufakis’s Technofeudalism, and end with the forthcoming book, End Times Fascism and the Fight for a Living World, by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor. Register via this Google Form.
The HI can order up to 10 copies of each book, so please register if interested. And please share information on the Big Tech Big Read with students who might be interested.
JUST WRITE
Do you need a change of scenery from your campus and/or home office? Are you looking for a writing community, but not another critique group? Are you looking, in other words, for a space to “just write”?
If so, join us for Just Write. throughout the Fall 2026 semester on Fridays, from 2 to 5 p.m.
This fall will include a virtual accountability option. If you cannot attend in person but would like to check in via Zoom, you can register here.
Academic Resources Awareness Week – October 19-23
Academic Resources Awareness Week (ARAW) returns Oct. 19 -23. Please share ARAW events with your students to remind them of the free on-campus academic resources available to them and normalize their use. This year, on Oct. 20, CLASS is highlighting Faculty as an Academic Resource by encouraging students to attend office hours and engage with professors around their learning. Visit the CLASS website for a schedule of events.
Fall CLASS Café to be Held on Oct. 21
Students, faculty, and staff are invited to the fall CLASS Café on Wednesday, Oct. 21, in front of Reynolda Hall on Hearn Plaza. Drop in anytime between 3 and 4:30 p.m. to celebrate Academic Resources Awareness Week (ARAW) with seasonal treats, fun conversation, and activities with the Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success (CLASS), Office of Academic Advising, and the Office of the Registrar.
Technology
5TH ANNUAL TECHNOLOGY DO’S AND DONUTS
Information Systems will host the 5th annual Technology Do’s and Donuts on Monday, Oct.19, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Tribble Courtyard.
Stop by for donuts and coffee while learning more about campus WiFi, tech support, software resources, high-performance computing (HPC), cybersecurity safeguards, and mobile apps. IS staff will be available onsite to answer questions.
This event is hosted in partnership with CLASS’ Academic Resources Awareness Week.
ITG Tech Tip: Meet Ollama — AI That Lives on Your Computer
Ollama is a free AI app that lets you download and run large language models, usually called LLMs, on your own computer. It can work with a number of sophisticated tools, but in essence is a local AI chat agent. While it has less power than online Gemini and ChatGPT, it can work entirely offline and does not share details with outside your laptop. Read the Tech Tip on ITG’s blog.
Research Funded
Dr. Brittany Battle, Associate Professor of Sociology, received an NSF award for “Comunidades Confined: Examining Compliance, Criminalization, and Carcerality in the Immigration and Criminal Legal Systems through Participatory Action Research.”
Dr. Shannon Brady, Associate Professor of Psychology, received funding from Psi Chi for “Decoding Institutional Influence: How Institutional Messages Shape Advisors’ Responses to Students on Academic Probation.”
Dr. Tin Leung, Associate Professor of Economics, received funding from the Institute for Humane Studies for “Measuring AI-Human Feedback Loops in Public Knowledge.”
For more faculty funding, visit Inside WFU.
Publications
Dr. Amy W. Clark, Assistant Professor of English. Navigating Landmarks of Identity in Pre-Conquest English Literature. Cambridge University Press, 2026.
Article Published
WFU students Brandon Eberl and Julia Sullivan co-authored a study with Dr. Erin Henslee, Associate Professor of Engineering, titled “Exploring Electrophysiology as a Biomarker for Human Red Blood Cell Monitoring in Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.” The article was recently accepted into the nature journal, Scientific Reports.
In the News
RETIRED FACULTY MEMBER WILLIAM “BILL” CONNOR HAS PASSED AWAY
The University recently learned that William “Bill” Conner passed away on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Bill served the University for nearly 34 years, retiring in 2022 as a professor in the Department of Biology.
The Wake Forest community extends its condolences to Bill’s family and friends. An obituary is available here.
RECENT WFU GRAD NAMED NCACTE STUDENT TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Rachel Rosen (MA, ’25, MAEd, ’26) recently received the NCACTE Student Teacher of the Year Award, recognizing the most outstanding student teacher across North Carolina.
Rachel student taught this past spring at Reagan High School, and she is currently a first-year English teacher in Charlotte at Providence High School.
WFU RAISE CENTER HOSTS INAUGURAL RESEARCH INITIATIVE IN THE UK
The RAISE Center (Global Wake Forest) hosted the inaugural research residency in Cambridge, UK to interrogate education abroad scholarship as a research discipline. Thirteen participants from colleges, universities, and study abroad providers in the US and the UK took part. This joint initiative was developed by W. Patrick Bingham, RAISE Center Director and Research Assistant Professor of Contemporary Global Studies; Elaine Meyer-Lee, Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at Goucher College; and Amelia Dietrich, Senior Director for Research & Publications at The Forum on Education Abroad. Read the full story on The Forum on Education Abroad.
DR. BROWN RECEIVES CBOV FACULTY LEADERSHIP AWARD
Dr. Hana Brown, Professor of Sociology, has been awarded the 2026 College Board of Visitors Faculty Leadership Award. Established in 2017, the award recognizes a Wake Forest College faculty member who demonstrates an outstanding commitment to the mission of the College through academic leadership and dedicated service toward positive institutional change. Read the full announcement on the College website.
SANDY KOKKONOS AND LESLEY WHITENER RECEIVE CBOV STAFF LEADERSHIP AWARDS
Sandy Kokkonos, Executive Assistant to the Dean of the College, and Lesley Whitener, Academic Coordinator for the Department of Economics, have been awarded the 2026 College Board of Visitors Staff Leadership Awards. Established in 2020, this award is the Board’s most prestigious honor given to an individual staff member. Read the announcements on the College website.
Selected Events
FREE MOVIE SCREENING: THE AI DOC
Mark your calendars for a free screening of The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist on Monday, Oct. 5, at 5:30 p.m in Broyhill Auditorium, Farrell Hall. The 2026 film from director Daniel Roher features interviews with Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Yoshua Bengio, Liv Boeree, and Peter Diamandis. The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist is a hand-made, eye-opening documentary about the most powerful technology humanity has ever created…and what’s at stake if we get it wrong.
The screening is open to the entire campus community and is made possible with support from the Provost’s Office and the Center for the Advancement of Teaching. No registration is needed for this event, but please email Megan Hobbs at with any accommodation requests.
ACTORS FROM THE LONDON STAGE TO PERFORM “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING”
On Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Brendle Recital Hall, Scales Fine Arts Center, experience the wit and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing as brought to life by Actors From The London Stage, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious touring Shakespeare companies. Co-founded by Sir Patrick Stewart and featuring elite talent from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Globe, this ensemble delivers a high-energy, actor-driven tour de force that makes the Bard’s work feel immediate and accessible.
Just before the performance, Dr. Leah Roy, Teaching Professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance, will lead a talk exploring how actors play detective — sleuthing through history, text, and language to uncover hidden clues within the verse. The talk will be held at 6:40 p.m. in M201 (Band Room) just off the Brendle Recital Hall lobby.
Tickets are free for WFU and Medical School students, faculty, staff and retirees. Pre-registration is encouraged. Visit the Secrest Artist Series website for an overview of the 2026-2027 season.
WGSS FALL COLLOQUIUM TO DISCUSS FILTHY FEMINISM: ON RACE, MEDIA REPRESENTATION, AND RESISTING BEING CLEAN
All are invited to attend the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Fall Colloquium, featuring Dr. Robin Boylorn. Robin M. Boylorn, Ph.D. is the inaugural Holle Endowed Chair of Communication Arts, the founding Executive Director of the Holle Center for Communication Arts, and Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Communication Studies in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at The University of Alabama.
Her book, Filthy Feminism: On Race, Media Representation, and Resisting Being Clean considers how the ubiquitous digital landscape influences racial representation by locking black women into predictable and stereotypical roles. Dr. Boylorn argues that black feminism and a lens of black-lived experience can offer a more critical and nuanced perspective of representation that complicates notions of respectability, identity, and perception.
The lecture will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 5 p.m. in the ZSR Auditorium, followed by a book signing and reception. Visit the WGSS website for more information.
INAUGURATION OF WFU’S 15TH PRESIDENT: DR. PETER RODRIGUEZ
The Wake Forest Board of Trustees invites you to the inauguration of our 15th president, Dr. Peter Rodriguez. On Friday, Oct. 30, the Wake Forest community will gather in Wait Chapel for the installation of President Rodriguez. Academic delegates, faculty, students, staff, and alumni from across the Wake Forest community will join together to honor Wake Forest’s vibrant history and exciting future.
Following the ceremony, guests are invited to return to Hearn Plaza for an elevated evening of joy and celebration at 6:30 p.m. Register online.
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September 30, 2026
Columbus, OhioWake Forest Men's Tennis competes at the ATP Challenger 75k. -
September 30, 2026 | 10:00am
Lam Museum of AnthropologyDía de Muertos is a festive time when families remember their dead and honor the continuity of life. The celebration has roots in both ancient pre-Hispanic celebrations and medieval Spanish Catholic practices and has evolved to feature a blend of elements from both traditions. The Lam Museum&… -
September 30, 2026 | 10:00am
Lam Museum of AnthropologyCoins like those in your pocket have helped shape empires for thousands of years. This exhibit showcases more than six dozen coins, focusing on East Asia and the Mediterranean, and spanning more than two millennia. Each coin is both an artifact and a historical document, allowing numismatists (or coin collectors) … -
September 30, 2026 | 12:00pm
Worrell Professional CenterAt the height of the AIDS crisis, injection drug use was driving the majority of new HIV infections in New York City. However, state law criminalized the possession of a syringe without a prescription, which meant it was illegal to distribute clean needles to drug users. Activists did … -
September 30, 2026 | 12:00pm
Wake Forest University School of BusinessGet an inside look at the Wake Forest MBA — a program built for professionals who value excellence, collaboration, and principled leadership. During your visit, you’ll experience the academic environment, connect with our community, and see how Wake challenges students to grow with intention. -
September 30, 2026 | 12:00pm
Levine Center for Education at The PearlGet an inside look at the Wake Forest MBA — a program built for professionals who value excellence, collaboration, and principled leadership. During your visit, you’ll experience the academic environment, connect with our community, and see how Wake challenges students to grow with intention.
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