This issue marks the 15th year of my tenure as chief research officer and my last. What struck me when I looked at the issue we published in my first year is what still moves me in this latest issue – the depth, disciplinary breadth, interdisciplinarity, and quality of the research, scholarship, and creative activity produced by our faculty, staff, and students.
Recently UNCG was recognized again by the Carnegie Foundation for our excellence in community engagement, and we also received the APLU’s designation for excellence in innovation and economic prosperity. The scholarly heterogeneity you find in these pages feeds that larger context – these scholars, and many more like them, are co-creating new knowledge and transforming both our communities and our students.
In many ways, UNCG scholarship reflects what 2023 Research Excellence Award winner Dr. Christan Moraru terms “cosmodernism.” He says, “I want people to hear a number of things in this term, like ‘cosmos’ – the notion that we see ourselves as part of something bigger. No matter where we are, we are in visible – or not-so-visible – relationships with others. We have an obligation to the welfare of others. We are responsible for what happens on the other side of the planet.”
This responsibility to be part of something bigger is the fire in the belly of our researchers, scholars, and artists. It is the fuel that drives the resourceful faculty in our “Social Innovation” feature and the team at our Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships, who have served as a force for and with North Carolina’s youth and families for over a quarter of a century. It is foundational to the truth-telling impelling undergraduate artist Zaire Miles-Moultrie.
Awareness of our relationships to one another offers deep insights into true excellence and impact, as Dr. Heather Holian uncovers in interviews with Pixar artists, directors, and animators. “Artists would say to me, ‘If you took one person out of this team, you’d have a whole different dynamic.’ … Each person brings their own ideas, inspirations, life histories.”
And so it was and is at UNCG.
Despite the challenges we face, we must remain committed to what catalyzes the exceptional research, scholarship, and creative activity at UNCG – and what has made my time here so fulfilling. As Andrew Carnegie reflected, “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”
