Auburn College of Liberal Arts Year in Review 2025-2026 Annual Report
“President’s Garden” by Sherrell, BCPP Community Ambassador“We invite you to take a meaningful look at the ways in which our students, faculty, staff and alumni lived out the spirit of excellence that defines this college. As we celebrate the College of Liberal Arts’ 40th anniversary in 2026, this reflection captures the momentum that will carry us into our next decade of impact.”
Jason Hicks Dean, College of Liberal Arts
Cover image photographed by Sherrell, a BCPP community ambassador, titled “President’s Garden.”
WE BROKE RECORDS.
Students
OUR STUDENTS RAISED THE BAR.
Auburn’s War Eagle Women – Orange Team placed third nationally in the intercollegiate class of the 2025 Air Race Classic, showcasing high-impact experiential learning, elevating Auburn’s national profile in aviation and STEM, and advancing inclusion in the profession.
Graduating history major Sofia Foradori served as marshal for the College’s spring graduation and will intern this summer with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. At Auburn, she co-founded the “It’s All History to Me” podcast.
History alumnae Sofia Foradori ’26 and Victoria Ashley ’25 co-founded the “It’s All History to Me” podcast, which airs Thursdays on WEGL.
Victoria Ashley, current MPA student and spring 2025 graduate in political science and history, was named a Rhodes Scholarship finalist, one of the world’s most prestigious international academic honors.
Health Services Administration students Miller Smith, Madisyn Eddins and Matthew McMeans earned second place at the MUSC Healthcare Case Competition. Bella Martin also won second place in the Richard J. Stull Healthcare Essay Competition and presented at the 2026 ACHE National Congress on Healthcare Leadership in Houston.
John Murray, senior double major in International Studies and Political Science, was awarded a Hertog Humanities Fellowship.
Vivian Gates, a junior majoring in Law & Justice, was selected as Alabama’s representative for the Henry Clay Center’s College Student Congress, a competitive two-week program held in Kentucky and Washington, DC.
Jack Sears won the Department of Music and Lucky Man Studio’s first Clayton Recording Arts Honors. The program – backed by donors, alumni and cross-campus faculty and students – selected four students to receive professionally-produced, commercially-released singles, with one overall winner earning a fully produced and marketed EP.
Will Lewis, a 2025 German and economics graduate, earned a spot in the highly competitive Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program, one of only 75 students selected nationwide. He will spend the next year in Germany, engaging in a transformative cultural immersion experience.
Faculty
OUR FACULTY DEFINED EXCELLENCE.
Associate Professor of History Heidi Hausse was invited to serve as faculty for the Center for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance’s summer institute in Pisa, Italy. The website for her Kassel Hand project received a 2026 Digital Innovation Award from the Renaissance Society of America.
Aviation hired Director of Flight Education David Bottomlee and completed a major reorganization of flight operations. The changes strengthen oversight of one of the nation’s largest collegiate flight programs, reinforcing safety and operational excellence while supporting growth in enrollment and flight activity.
Professor of Philosophy James Shelley is currently the president of the American Society of Aesthetics, the leading academic society in the U.S. and globally for the study of aesthetics and the philosophy of art.
Communication and Journalism Professor Brigitta Brunner Johnson received three major teaching honors: Auburn’s 2025 Gerald & Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Southern Speech Communication Association’s 2026 John I. Sisco Excellence in Teaching Award and the National Communication Association-Public Relations Division’s PRIDE Outstanding Contribution to Public Relations Education Educator Award.
Assistant Professor of Journalism Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah received the 2025 Emerging Creative Research and Scholarship Award from Auburn University and was a recipient of an Athena Fellowship from the Heidelberg Academy of Humanities and Sciences in Germany.
Assistant Professor of Journalism Brian Delaney received the 2025 Alumni Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award from Auburn University.
Associate Professor of Anthropology Arianne Gaetano is a 2025–26 U.S. Fulbright Scholar (Taiwan) and research expert at National Cheng Kung University. She has conducted ethnographic research on never-married women and changing family patterns, presented in Singapore and has additional talks planned through NCKU and the Fulbright Scholarly Exchange.
Endowed Alumni Professor of French Evelyne M. Bornier was named a Knight in the Order of Academic Palms, one of the highest honors awarded by the French Republic, and inducted into the Parlement des Écrivaines Francophones.
Joseph Haslag became head of the Department of Economics. He spent nearly three decades as an economics faculty member at the University of Missouri and worked for the Federal Reserve Banks in St. Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas.
Programs
OUR PROGRAMS BROKE NEW GROUND.
Psychological Sciences’ online Master of Science in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology is number one in the country, according to Forbes’ list of the best online master’s in organizational psychology of 2025.
The Psychological Sciences clinical PhD and ABS MS programs maintained their respective national accreditations. The clinical program maintained a 100% match rate for predoctoral internship placement.
The Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences will expand its academic offerings in fall 2026 after the approval of a new Doctor of Philosophy program.
Aviation supported the airport’s groundbreaking of a 109-foot, state-of-the-art air traffic control tower at the Auburn University Regional Airport. This investment improves safety and efficiency for record student training operations and supports academic instruction, applied research, military activity, business aviation and community use.
Aviation launched Physics for Aviators (PHYS 1400), a purpose-built, cross-college collaboration between the School of Aviation and the Department of Physics. The course aligns core physics concepts with aviation-specific applications, directly connecting classroom learning to flight training and real-world operational decision-making.
The fully online Master of Public Administration (MPA) launched, designed for professionals with three or more years of public service experience. The program offers flexible, online delivery to support working professionals, while Auburn’s nationally ranked, globally recognized residential MPA program continues to serve pre-career students on campus in Auburn.
Auburn’s Epsilon Nu chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha earned a 2024–2025 Best Chapter Award, chosen from 830+ chapters nationwide and among only six similarly sized institutions. The chapter was honored for student professional development, undergraduate research and community engagement, including its work with the City of Auburn on pedestrian safety.
The Department of Music was named a Top Music Business School by Billboard Magazine for the second consecutive year.
The Auburn Symphonic Winds and Chamber Choir was selected to perform a joint showcase concert at the Alabama Music Educators Association Conference. The ensembles were selected through submission of recordings by an independent panel of music educators from across Alabama.
Auburn University hosted the Alabama/Mississippi Social Work Education Conference and the Alabama School Social Work Conference.
Social Work education celebrated 50 years at Auburn, Expressions of a BraveHeart celebrated its 16th anniversary and the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work celebrated 10-plus years of participating in the Interprofessional Education (IPE) program, training students from multiple health-related majors.
The College of Liberal Arts Career Trek Program continued to expand experiential learning opportunities by connecting students with leading organizations and alumni across diverse industries. Students gained firsthand insight into professional environments while developing key career competencies such as communication, critical thinking and networking. This year’s nine treks included visits to Southern Living, Delta Air Lines and Turner Studios during March Madness, among others.
Alumni
Bradley DeBose ’10, pursuit manager for Urbahn Architects in New York, spoke to students and young professionals around the country about defining their mission, building relationships and committing themselves to work that makes a difference.
Caleb Eason ’23 was nominated for two Emmy awards for his work on the NFL Slimetime Season 5 animation team at Nickelodeon.
Spanish alumna Susan Melton ’76, whose career spanned programming at the South Central Bell phone company to translating at the 1996 Olympics, established a scholarship for students studying language abroad.
Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer ’94 held the title of both Parade Grand Marshal and Honorary Mic Person for homecoming weekend. Spencer also held a Q&A session with Theatre and Dance students, where she offered candid stories and heartfelt advice to students hoping to pursue a career in the arts.
Video game producer Lauren Barnard ’15 led the creative teams that handle Diablo IV’s effects at gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment.
Mark Snell ’87, chief of experience officer at Harborview Creative, brought storytelling and creativity to brand experiences across the world. His clients have included Universal Studios, Disney and LEGOLAND.
Mike ’78 and Leann Rowe ’78 pledged $1.5 million to the School of Aviation, which will support scholarships, career services, student success and safety. The Rowes said their contribution is part of the Auburn mission to turn students into leaders.
Research
OUR RESEARCH EDUCATED THE COUNTRY.
Auburn Aviation was awarded an AUX Biggio Grant to study the use of immersive XR/VR technologies in pilot training, advancing research-informed, technology-enabled learning models that enhance safety, proficiency and training effectiveness.
Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences Sara Blaine was awarded a $3.8 million NIH R01 grant. The award will run from 2025 to 2030, titled “Multimodal assessment of neural, neuroendocrine and immune cue responses in binge drinkers in the laboratory and real world.”
Clinical psychology doctoral candidate Brandon Schermitzler was awarded an NIH F31 dissertation grant, a huge accomplishment for a graduate student. Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences Samantha Fede is serving as his mentor on the project.
Assistant Professor of Sociology Makeela Wells received a teaching grant from the American Sociological Association for “Exploring the Role of Generative AI as a Research Assistant in Undergraduate Sociology Research Methods.”
Assistant Professor of Sociology Tierra James’ article “My Debts to Society Paid in Full: An In-Depth Analysis of Volunteers’ Last Words” appeared in OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying. The study explored the final statements of death row inmates who waived remaining appeals to their death sentence.
Assistant Professor of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences Lauramarie Pope and her co-investigator received a $4.7 million grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research.
History doctoral student Johnathon Keller was selected for the highly competitive Rome Summer Archival Seminar program, which enabled him to spend last summer conducting dissertation research in Rome.
Associate Professor of History Xaq Frohlich held a 2025-2026 Distinguished Scholar in American Studies Grant through the Binational Commission for Educational Exchange between Denmark and the United States of America, enabling him to live and research in Denmark for the spring semester.
The Department of Philosophy published four books, 32 articles and presented 88 papers in 12 countries. Books included Eric Marcus’ “Thought and Expression: On Making Sense of Oneself,” Keren Gorodeisky’s “Beholden to Beauty: Aesthetic Value and the Authority of Pleasure,” Kelly Jolley’s “Chuck: Appearance and Reality” and Elay Shech and Michael Watkins’ “The Metaphysics of Color.”
Assistant Professor of Communication Victoria Ledford’s article “Autism stigma in communication classrooms” won the National Communication Association Basic Course Division’s Distinguished Article Award. Assistant Professor of Public Relations Brandi Watkins’s co-edited book “Digital Public Relations and Marketing Communication Trends in Africa” won the NCA Public Relations Division’s PRIDE Award for Outstanding Monograph.
Outreach
OUR OUTREACH PAVED THE WAY.
The Auburn University Psychological Services Center (AUPSC) continued to provide excellent clinical service to members of the community and train clinical graduate students. Two specialty clinics – CARTT and AEDC – celebrated another successful round of Tiger Giving Day fundraising, and AUPSC partnered with the USDA to provide telehealth services to rural communities in Alabama.
Six history department faculty members and one Ph.D. student collaborated to teach an OLLI class for the U.S. 250th, called “US 250: Perspectives from Auburn University History Faculty.”
The Institute for Election Administration Research and Practice delivered 70+ training courses nationwide, serving 1,000+ election and voter registration administrators. The Institute’s biennial national symposium in Auburn was attended by leading state and election officials, scholars and nonprofit leaders to discuss innovative election funding solutions.
The Auburn Speech and Hearing Clinic completed facility renovations, including a sensory gym which was funded by Tiger Giving Day support.
The Department of Music was the recipient of the 2025 Caroline Marshall Draughon Visiting Scholar program. The department engaged international jazz trumpet virtuoso Darren English for a series of lectures, performances and a listening session/discussion of his new album, “He Said, She Said,” which was recorded and produced in Lucky Man Studio.
Auburn Symphonic Winds partnered with Reeltown High School, composer Brian Balmages and the Make-A-Wish Foundation to record and perform “The Gift of Giving,” a composition to honor the life of Reeltown student Melody Jackson.
The Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities (CMDCAH) launched “William Bartram and Alabama: A Traveling Exhibit.” The exhibit tells the story of Bartram’s 1775 journey through Creek territory in communities across the state and is supported by endowed funds for excellence.
CMDCAH launched a self-guided audio tour of plants and trees at Pebble Hill, narrated by Coach Bruce Pearl. Visitors can discover the stories behind thirteen plants and trees, from familiar garden favorites to the rare Franklinia alatamaha, a species extinct in the wild.
In partnership with the Alabama Folklife Association, the Traditional Artists in Residence program brought artists to Pebble Hill for a weeklong residency. While in residence, artists conducted workshops in Auburn and nearby communities. The residency celebrated Alabama’s living cultural traditions while fostering intergenerational learning and community engagement across the region.
Caleb Johnson is the inaugural recipient of the Creative Writing Residency at Pebble Hill, a novelist whose work includes “Treeborne” and the forthcoming “Telegraph Road.” A native of Alabama and current creative writing faculty member at Appalachian State University, Johnson’s residency is made possible through the generous support of Auburn alumna and New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry ’86.
Order your custom College of Liberal Arts apparel and swag today!
10% of sales from this exclusive collaboration with Scarlet & Gold will be donated to the College of Liberal Arts scholarship fund.
Auburn University Theatre & Dance
2026-2027
Fall
Men on Boats
September 24-October 4, 2026
Telfair Peet Mainstage Theatre
The Revolutionists
October 27-30, 2026
Telfair Peet Mainstage Theatre
Ride the Cyclone
November 12-20, 2026
Telfair Peet Black Box Theatre
Spring
42nd Street
February 18-27, 2027
Telfair Peet Mainstage Theatre
The Squirrels
April 8-17, 2027
Telfair Peet Black Box Theatre
Check out the upcoming
theatre season!
Join our mailing list for information on tickets and subscriptions!
@AULiberalArts
To keep up with the latest news about the College of Liberal Arts, find us on social media.
Produced by the College of Liberal Arts Office of Communications & Marketing, 2026.
Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.
t: 334.844.4026 . cla.auburn.edu . clanews@auburn.edu
Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.
t: 334.844.4026 . cla.auburn.edu . clanews@auburn.edu