College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences

At age 27, UNC Charlotte alumnus Reverend Brandon Fisher is the youngest pastor in his AME Zion Church district, and also is licensed to practice law in North Carolina and Washington, D.C. He has embraced social activism, recently challenging a new generation of leaders.

UNC Charlotte historian Shepherd W. McKinley’s book, “Stinking Stones and Rocks of Gold: Phosphate, Fertilizer, and Industrialization in Postbellum South Carolina,” has been named the best book of South Carolina history published last year.

Students go hungry every day at UNC Charlotte. To address this critical need, a team of students, faculty and staff have opened a campus food pantry. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences faculty and students are leaders in the effort.

Roslyn Arlin Mickelson has been named the 2014 University Professor of UNC Charlotte in recognition of her outstanding scholarly achievement in a professional field, as well as demonstrated ability to excel in interdisciplinary research, teaching, and service. The University Professor is recommended to the Board of Trustees by the Chancellor and holds this title for life.

In a work that explores the influence of literature on Walt Disney and his creativity, Mark West, chair of the English Department, has co-edited and contributed to the recently released “Walt Disney, from Reader to Storyteller: Essays on the Literary Inspirations.”

As a boy, UNC Charlotte alumnus David Gwilt perched on his family’s Syracuse, N.Y. porch, listening to stories shared by his great-aunt Peggy, who lived to age 99, and other relatives. Decades later, he has tapped his interest and knowledge of psychology and gerontology as the host of Radio 4 the Ages™,

In recognition of his distinguished research and dedication to others’ scholarship over an almost 50-year career, UNC Charlotte sociology professor Murray Webster has received the national 2015 Cooley-Mead Award from the American Sociological Association’s Social Psychology Section.

As positive reviews continue to come in for UNC Charlotte’s University Writing Program’s first community-wide writing conference in 2014, planners are looking toward a fall 2015 event.

For his work in helping to revitalize a challenged Charlotte neighborhood through urban design and planning, Dylan McKnight, a UNC Charlotte urban design and community planning graduate, received a top honor.

Meteorology student Ricky Matthews seeks to understand why people heed or ignore warnings and forecasts, making it his goal to improve the warning and information dissemination process so that lives can be saved during severe weather.