The Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry is pleased to announce the appointment of three distinguished faculty to begin two-year terms as Virginia Ball Center Fellows this fall. Dr. Ashley Donnelly (Department of Media), Dr. Emily Johnson (Department of History), and Professor Silas Hansen (Department of English) will collaborate in a cohort dedicated to offering transdisciplinary experiences, team-teaching across departments and colleges, and developing cutting-edge pedagogical practices that engage with complex societal problems in collaboration with Ball State undergraduates.
During their two-year fellowships, VBC Faculty Fellows teach two transdisciplinary experiences to Ball State undergraduates. In the first year, VBC fellows team-teach a transdisciplinary University Core Curriculum seminar on creative inquiry for up to ninety students from a variety of majors. In the second year, VBC fellows collaborate with each other and a smaller cohort of thirty students on a deep-dive into a complex societal issue, culminating in a major project and presentation for a university and community audience.
The Virginia Ball Center experience is made possible by continued support from the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation, and the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. For more information about the VBC and its programs, please contact Kristin Ramsey at karamsey@bsu.edu or 765-285-0114.
Congratulations to our newly appointed Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry Fellows:
- Dr. Ashley Donnelly, Department of Media – Dr. Ashley Donnelly is a Full Professor of Telecommunications at Ball State University. She is the author of Renegade Hero or Faux Rogue: The Secret Traditionalism of Television Bad Boys (2014) Subverting Mainstream Narratives in the Reagan Era: Giving Power to the People (2017), and co-author of Michael Mann’s Manhunter (2021). She has published numerous articles and given a variety of presentations around the country. A media theorist, her work is based in cultural and critical theory and focuses on contemporary American popular culture, primarily in regard to gender, capitalism, and socio-political criticism. Her interest in the queer community and LGBTQ+ issues has led her to become more involved in not only the quickly evolving academic issues surrounding identity and representation of gender and sexuality, but also given her the desire to become a hands-on member of the community to help develop a more inclusive, actively aware city that creates safe and fun spaces for all its citizens.
- Dr. Emily Johnson, Department of History - Dr. Emily Suzanne Johnson is an Assistant Professor of History and Women’s and Gender Studies. Her research and teaching focus on cultural and political histories of the 20th century United States. She is also the director of the Muncie LGBTQ+ History Project, an ongoing effort to uncover and preserve the LGBTQ+ history of our city.
- Professor Silas Hansen, Department of English – Silas Hansen is an associate professor in the Department of English. His literary essays about the intersections of place and identity have appeared in Colorado Review, The Normal School, Slate, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and other journals. He is currently the nonfiction editor of WaxWing.