Celebration of A&S Community Engagement Faculty Fellows

Pictured: Standing (L-R): Thomas Jennings (Faculty Fellow), Sherri L. Wallace (Associate Dean, International, Engagement, and Access Programs), and Shelby Pumphrey (Faculty Fellow). Andrea Gaughan, Associate Dean, Research and Innovation, was in attendance, yet is not pictured here. 

December 1, 2025 

By Dr. Sherri L. Wallace, Associate Dean and Professor  

Thursday, November 13, 2025, marked the end of the pilot cohort of the Office of Community Engagement's Community Engagement Faculty Fellows Program. This inaugural program was the brainchild of Dr. Henry Cunningham, Assistant Vice President for Community Engaged Scholarship, who is the recipient of prestigious awards and recognized as a leading scholar-practitioner in the discipline. It was his desire and dedication that led to development of the two-semester program to train faculty in each College to learn, lead, and share their knowledge of community engaged research and instruction in their respective units. The College and Arts and Sciences was honored to have two faculty fellows: Dr. Thomas Jennings, Associate Professor, Anthropology and Director of the Center for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (CACHe) and Dr. Shelby Pumphrey, Assistant Professor, Pan-African Studies and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.  

Program participants explored the breadth and depth of authentic community-engaged research and instruction through readings and assessments of the literature, by creating public and scholarly presentations for multiple audiences, and by drafting reports and manuscripts for publication and dissemination. Some of the requirements for participation were that each participant must write a grant for submission, collaborate with their community partners to present their work publicly, and draft reports or articles for peer-reviewed venues. Both Jennings and Pumphrey satisfied these requirements. The College of Arts and Sciences now have two faculty members who are well versed in community engagement and will be a valuable resource to advance and promote engaged scholarship within the College.  

At the celebration, both Jennings and Pumphrey shared insights on their community-engaged research projects and highlighted their scholarly products developed through the program. Both expressed gratitude to the Associate Dean Wallace and Dean Touron for their support and funding, and to Dr. Cunningham for creating this collaborative opportunity to foster and build on- and off-campus partnerships and to expand their collective knowledge in the generation and application of community-engaged scholarship at UofL, which is both a Carnegie Foundation "R1" and "Community Engaged" designated urban and metropolitan institution that is well-positioned for this work.  

As our designated and authenticated A&S Community Engagement Faculty Fellows, both are ready to engage, lead, and share with colleagues in A&S!  

Well done, Dr. Jennings and Dr. Pumphrey, and much continued success to you!