College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences

Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society, has approved a chapter for UNC Charlotte. The University joins an elite group of just 10% of U.S. colleges and universities approved to shelter a chapter.

Professor Emeritus David Hartgen passed away on May 22, 2021. From 1989 to 2006, Dr. Hartgen was Professor of Transportation in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at UNC Charlotte.

UNC Charlotte alumna Estella Patterson ’96 is the new police chief for the city of Raleigh, N.C., chosen following a competitive national search. Patterson, who graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science from UNC Charlotte and was a member of the Army ROTC, has risen through the ranks with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) over the past 24 years.

As a student attending rural North Carolina grade schools and a Raleigh high school that is majority white, Candace Silver saw just a few other Black faces in her classes, if any. Lessons and books paid little attention to telling Black people’s stories, she recalls. Now, as the inaugural recipient of the new Gregory Mixon-Sonya Ramsey Black Lives Matter Scholarship, Silver continues to grow her understanding and appreciation for a broader view that includes the contributions and struggles of Black people throughout history.

Annie Burchill has distinguished herself at UNC Charlotte as she completed majors in religious studies and criminal justice and a minor in urban youth and communities, graduating in May 2021 with ambitious plans to make a difference in the world. “I recently submitted my intent to enroll at UNC Charlotte for my M.A. in religious studies,” Burchill says. “After that… who knows?…. because my mentors, friends, and UNC Charlotte as a whole have equipped me with everything I need to change the world.”

UNC Charlotte Professor of Spanish Michael Doyle has received the top international award of the Hispanic honor society Sigma Delta Pi, with his induction into the Order of Don Quijote. Each year, the organization chooses no more than three people worldwide for the honor. Doyle’s work has significantly advanced Hispanic scholarship, particularly in translation studies and in shaping the field of business Spanish throughout the U.S.

CLAS faculty members are leaders among those throughout UNC Charlotte who persevered during the pandemic to provide their students with global learning, partnering with the Office of International Programs to pilot a new initiative called Globally Networked Learning (GNL).

Through one of the most competitive fellowship programs in the world, UNC Charlotte Africana Studies scholar Oscar de la Torre has been named the Anthony E. Kaye Fellow at the National Humanities Center in the coming academic year. De la Torre will join 35 other leading scholars chosen as fellows from 638 applicants from universities and colleges in 16 U.S. states and from Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Nigeria, and Taiwan.

UNC Charlotte alumna and former faculty member Brenda Tindal ’04 has been named executive director of Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. She earned bachelor’s degrees in History and Africana Studies with University Honors distinction from UNC Charlotte in 2004 and was a visiting faculty member in the Department of History and the Honors College.

UNC Charlotte faculty member and alumna Dina Massachi has followed a long and winding road to build her extensive knowledge and understanding of L. Frank Baum, author of the enduring classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. She is one of the experts chosen to provide insights on Baum in a PBS documentary “American Oz,” which premieres on April 19.