Accomplishments - September, 2026
“Teaching African Literature in a Small American Town,” an essay by Qiyu Chen, an assistant professor in Africana Studies, recently earned first prize for non-fiction in the 2026 Second Global China-Africa Writing Competition, sponsored by the China-Africa Shanghai International Network.
Angela Upchurch, associate dean and professor of law, SIU Simmons Law School, was recently published in the University of Illinois Law Review. Her article, “Learning Beyond the Classroom: The Administrative Space as a Laboratory for AI Literacy,” explores how artificial intelligence literacy can be developed through professional communications, career services, bar admissions guidance, and other administrative experiences, and presents an “administrative space” framework model to help students build practical, ethical, and professional AI skills before entering practice.
SIU Carbondale faculty and staff will be featured during this weekend’s performances of “The Lifespan of a Fact,” Friday through Sunday, Sept. 18-20, at The Varsity Center in Carbondale. Trevor Thompson, with the SIU School of Medicine, and Lourdes Albuixech, emerita professor, School of Languages and Linguistics, are characters in the play, directed by Geoff Young, associate lecturer, in the School of Languages and Linguistics. Jaemin Park, an assistant professor in the School of Theater and Dance, is in charge of the lighting and sound design. In addition, three SIU faculty will participate in a panel discussion after Sunday’s 2 p.m. matinee — Alee Quick, Daily Egyptian faculty managing editor; Molly Parker-Stephens, assistant professor, Charlotte Thompson Suhler School of Journalism and Advertising, and Renée Branum, assistant professor of English.
Mark Kiesling of WSIU-TV recently received a regional professional Emmy nomination from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-America Regional Chapter for his work on the “Illinois Backroads” monthly television program in the “Program Host” category. The 50th annual regional award ceremony is Oct. 24 in Kansas City, Missouri.
John Reid Perkins-Buzo, associate professor, School of Media Arts, recently received certificates in the use of Anthropic Claude AI (artificial intelligence) in Design, Cowork, MCP (Model Context Protocol) and Code.
“Green empowerment: Meaningful decisions drive effortful recycling,” a paper co-written by Kristin Hurst, assistant professor, geography, was selected recently for the 2026 Editor’s Choice Award for the Journal of Environmental Psychology. Other collaborators were Atar Herziger of the Israel Institute of Technology and Grant Donnelly of Ohio State University.
Hui Li, assistant professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering (ECBE), and Spyros Tragouda, professor and director of the School of ECBE, had their research article, “Artificial Intelligence-Empowered Single-Cell Phenotyping for Rapid, Automated Pathogen Diagnostics,” published in Advanced Science. Li and Tragouda paired artificial intelligence (AI) with microfluidic technology and programmed the AI to monitor single-cell bacteria. In return, the technology can quickly detect the antibiotic response needed to fight the bacteria. This advancement could help toward faster infectious disease diagnosis.
