6 professors honored as Lewis Honors College inaugural Faculty Fellows

The University of Kentucky’s Lewis Honors College (LHC) has selected six professors for its inaugural class of Faculty Fellows.

This program celebrates excellence in teaching and supports LHC students in the university’s degree-granting colleges through new opportunities in coursework, field trips and speakers.

The inaugural Faculty Fellows, who were selected during a competitive process, have been chosen to be ambassadors of the culture and community created at the Lewis Honors College, and include:

• Devyn Spence Benson, Ph.D. (College of Arts and Sciences)
• Abigail Firey, Ph.D. (College of Arts and Sciences)
• Marcelo Guzman, Ph.D. (College of Arts and Sciences)
• Joe Martin, Ph.D. (College of Communication and Information)
• Liz Swanson (College of Design)
• Elizabeth Williams, Ph.D. (College of Arts and Sciences)

The Faculty Fellows program is made possible through private philanthropy and leadership giving of Jim and Carolyn Halladay.

Meet the Faculty Fellows

Devyn Spence Benson is an associate professor of history and African-American and Africana studies. She earned her Ph.D., Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where she specialized in 20th-century Cuba. She seeks to share her “teaching and research interests in Afro-Latin America and Afro-Latinx history with a new constituency at the University of Kentucky and to engage honors students as they prepare for their futures.”

Benson’s teaching and administrative experience with small liberal arts colleges, such as Williams College and Davidson University, plus her expertise in antiracist movements across the Americas and the Caribbean, as evidenced by two book publications with a third in development, will help honors students explore the intersection of Africana studies and Latin American history. In addition, Benson’s passion for experiential education will broaden the classroom experience.

“I believe that students benefit from having the opportunity to engage in [a] variety of thematic study abroad/internship programs throughout the world where students can specialize in their major field of interest (such as medicine, public health, education or the humanities) as well as learn about contemporary African diaspora culture and global relations,” Benson said.

Professor Abigail Firey has a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, a Master of Letters from the University of Cambridge, a Master of Arts from the University of California Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr College. She looks forward to returning to her interdisciplinary training to teach honors students as she is “happiest when (she) can replicate that span of intellectual exploration.”

Firey found that one way to encourage students to develop intellectually was to study the European Middle Ages.

“Students bring enthusiasm to medieval history because of its permeation of popular culture, and in entering a different world, lose their presumptive bearings with respect to politics and culture,” Firey wrote in her application. “We can take fresh approaches to the complexities of social organization, religious beliefs, freedom and slavery, and our views on what constitutes superior and inferior conditions of living.”

Firey interests are not stuck in the Middle Ages, however, as she also won the Arts & Sciences Innovative Teach Award for using artificial intelligence in the “construction of a truly elaborate board game with the students to teach the impact and interplay of multiple forces (economic, political, religious, social and cultural) in an imperial context.”

Firey also received the University Research Professor distinction in the 2017-2018 academic year.

As a mentor to honors students in chemistry and chemical engineering during his 14 years at UK, Professor Marcelo Guzman hopes to extend his reach beyond one-on-one relationships. Guzman has a Ph.D. and a Master of Science from the California Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science from the National University of Tucumán.

“I aspire to design innovative courses and create opportunities for these exceptionally motivated students to thrive,” Guzman wrote in his application. “By sharing my research and expertise, I aim to ignite their passion for intellectual exploration and critical thinking.”

Guzman plans to develop an honors section of a standard departmental course and create at least one co-curricular enrichment event for honors students annually.

Senior Lecturer Joe Martin’s experience teaching honors students and serving on various committees within LHC and the Honors College Council provide him with familiarity with honors students and the college’s needs. Martin has a Ph.D. from UK, a Master of Theology and Master of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Kentucky University. Martin plans to strengthen the relationship between the LHC and the College of Communication and Information. One way he plans to support the engagement between colleges is to facilitate honors students who complete CIS 112 (Accelerated Composition and Communication II) to serve as teaching assistants earning “experiential/internship credit for Lewis students while strengthening their leadership, logistical, professional, and writing skills.”

In her capacity as the associate dean of student affairs for UK’s College of Design, Liz Swanson became increasingly aware of the “innovative academic, experiential, and social programming offered by the LHC.”

Swanson indicated her admiration of the “personal attention and care that each student receives while in the program…(which) elevates teaching to a position of true mentorship.”

This year, she will be facilitating a new series of “Design Honors Meetups” created to foster a connection between honors students and design faculty, while also promoting the existence of the LHC within the College of Design to encourage upper-level applications by high-achieving students. Additionally, she is teaching a new Honors section of DES 100  “Design in Your World,” a UK Arts & Creativity Core course developed for nondesign majors to deepen their appreciation of design at all scales. Associate Professor Swanson received her Master of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley and her Bachelor of Science in architecture from the University of Michigan.

Assistant Professor Elizabeth Williams, whose research examines race, gender and sexuality in the British Empire, plans to offer honors courses “focusing on sexuality in transnational contexts, including a course on ‘Sexuality and Empire’ and one on ‘Queer Theory beyond the US,’” plus develop Honors sections of existing courses taught for Gender and Women’s Studies.

As the recipient of the 2023 Provost’s Outstanding Teaching Award, Williams is “excited to collaborate with LHC students to create innovative classrooms.” Williams received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and her Bachelor of Arts from Smith College.

Lewis Honors College partners with colleges and units across campus, working to improve the Commonwealth and beyond through excellence in education, research and creative work, service and health care. For more information about the LHC and the Faculty Fellows program, visit honors.uky.edu.