The realization hit him one day on the job. This project �鶹��Ʒ S�s legacy and impact were going to outlive him.

�鶹��Ʒ S�When I think back on every cool thing I �鶹��Ʒ S�ve gotten to do so far in my career, it does all kind of lead back to Orlando Family Stage, �鶹��Ʒ S� Lowe says.

Lowe was 6 years old when his cub scout troop attended a show at the stage, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary �鶹��Ʒ S� the last 25 of those years in partnership with UCF.

He eventually went through its Youth Academy, interned as a UCF theatre student on site, made industry connections and now regularly contracts work at the stage as a full-time lighting designer for Clair Global, a tech company that specializes in live production services.

Lowe �鶹��Ʒ S�s story is just one example of the countless ripple effects that have materialized from ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s longstanding, collaborative partnership with a nationally recognized leader in the theater industry.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I �鶹��Ʒ S�ve watched kids come in and they �鶹��Ʒ S�re so shy and they can �鶹��Ʒ S�t do anything. But by the time they leave, they �鶹��Ʒ S�re not only signing up for the next show, they �鶹��Ʒ S�re leading the next show, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Paul Lartonoix, assistant dean for the College of Arts and Humanities and longtime Orlando Family Stage board member. �鶹��Ʒ S�Sometimes it �鶹��Ʒ S�s amazing at what it does. There �鶹��Ʒ S�s no reason to not be proud of it. It �鶹��Ʒ S�s doing great things for families. It �鶹��Ʒ S�s doing great things for kids. It �鶹��Ʒ S�s doing great things for our students, and it �鶹��Ʒ S�s awesome that it �鶹��Ʒ S�s being run by Knights. �鶹��Ʒ S�

A Partnership That Builds Community

Orlando Family Stage, founded in 1926 as part of the City of Orlando �鶹��Ʒ S�s Recreation Department, has evolved over the past 100 years while persevering through historic challenges including the Great Depression, World War II, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.

UCF entered the picture in 2000 when former Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood and UCF President John C. Hitt formed a community coalition to bring the stage under ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s oversight. At the time, the theater needed a major overhaul �鶹��Ʒ S� both to its physical home at Loch Haven Park and in programming �鶹��Ʒ S� to ensure it could thrive in the new millennium.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I know with great confidence we would not be sitting here today without UCF on board. We wouldn �鶹��Ʒ S�t have survived. �鶹��Ʒ S� �鶹��Ʒ S� Chris Brown �鶹��Ʒ S�05, Orlando Family Stage executive director and UCF theatre alum

�鶹��Ʒ S�We wanted it because we thought that space was an exceptional, it had tremendous potential, and UCF should be a part of it. That really was the driving force, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Lartonoix, who served as executive director on-loan and was instrumental in leading the early years of the partnership. �鶹��Ʒ S�And when things worked, it was fantastic. �鶹��Ʒ S�

The intervention proved to be a major catalyst for its impact in the community today, and for the world at large through the countless children and UCF graduates who have been affiliated with its programming and education.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I know with great confidence we would not be sitting here today without UCF on board. We wouldn �鶹��Ʒ S�t have survived, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Chris Brown �鶹��Ʒ S�05, Orlando Family Stage executive director and UCF theatre alum. �鶹��Ʒ S�To think that leaders came together and said, �鶹��Ʒ S�We don �鶹��Ʒ S�t want to lose a vital theater organization in our town, and we want to create an active and engaged partnership with the university where we can collectively do good things to serve young people in the world. �鶹��Ʒ S� It �鶹��Ʒ S�s very special. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Florida �鶹��Ʒ S�s Only Professional Theatre for Young Audiences

A major part of that partnership is ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s MFA in theatre for young audiences program, which launched in 2004. The program has operated for the past two decades as Florida �鶹��Ʒ S�s only professional theatre for young audiences and is one of the most distinctive programs in the country with its unique graduate-training residency.

In addition to learning from the university �鶹��Ʒ S�s esteemed faculty, students gain practical experience with opportunities to work with professional artists and teach in Orlando Family Stage �鶹��Ʒ S�s award-winning Youth Academy, which offers camps, classes and experiences for every age level from infancy through teens.

The MFA program has seen graduates go on to work at some of the most prestigious theaters in the country, become educators at universities as far as Dublin and help run community theaters across the United States.

In addition to his leadership role, Brown teaches theatre management courses on ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s campus. He says he believes an important part of his responsibility as an educator is to expand his students �鶹��Ʒ S� idea of where a career in the arts can take them.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We �鶹��Ʒ S�re helping them recognize that arts administration is creative work, �鶹��Ʒ S� he says. �鶹��Ʒ S�Writing a grant narrative, crafting a brand voice, planning a touring route or stewarding a donor relationship all require the same storytelling skills they bring to performance and production roles. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Instilling Bravery in Children

The stage �鶹��Ʒ S�s mission is to empower young people to be brave and empathetic.

Sure it sounds good, but more importantly, there �鶹��Ʒ S�s truth to the claim. Recent research by the UCF Department of Psychology provides evidence to support it.

The Orlando Family Stage �鶹��Ʒ S�s education team collaborated with associate professor Valerie Sims and senior lecturer Matthew Chin and more than a dozen undergraduate students from the Applied Cognition and Technology Lab along with associate professor of musical theatre Tara Deady �鶹��Ʒ S�07MFA on a study, which they are currently working on publishing. The study aimed to determine if the stage �鶹��Ʒ S�s programming delivers on its promise to promote creative engagement and bravery in children ages 1-5.

Because of the young age of the participants, traditional survey tools and written questionnaires wouldn �鶹��Ʒ S�t work. The team needed to get creative in a research approach that matched how children experience theatre.

The research team meticulously observed second by second footage of children and parent engagement during performances of Yo, Ho, Ho! Let �鶹��Ʒ S�s Go! �鶹��Ʒ S� an interactive, multi-sensory original production created by the stage �鶹��Ʒ S�s senior director of education Jennifer Adams-Carrasquillo �鶹��Ʒ S�11MFA.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We have evidence that theater participation really is beneficial to these very young kids. �鶹��Ʒ S� �鶹��Ʒ S� Matthew Chin, UCF psychology senior lecturer

They logged and quantified data through body language and audience responses. Early on, Sims and Chin say, children needed to be prompted by their parents to participate. However, as the show progressed, you can clearly see children initiating the participation on their own and parental involvement decreasing.

�鶹��Ʒ S�With this study we are able to say that it isn �鶹��Ʒ S�t just this thing that we think is true �鶹��Ʒ S� we have evidence that theater participation really is beneficial to these very young kids, �鶹��Ʒ S� Chin says.

In 2024-25 alone, more than 4,770 audience members attended Theatre for the Very Young productions like Yo, Ho, Ho! Let �鶹��Ʒ S�s Go!. Multiply those numbers year after year and the impact to the youth in our community is monumental.

The Next 100 Years

As the stage commemorates this special milestone in its history, it also acknowledges the scope of possibilities and impact ahead.

This year, when Gershwin Entertainment Group, who owns the theatrical rights for A Charlie Brown Christmas, needed a national touring partner to bring the show to life on stage around the country, they turned to the Orlando Family Stage to deliver. It became the highest revenue-generating show in the history of the organizatoin �鶹��Ʒ S�s performances in Orlando �鶹��Ʒ S�without counting the 32 cities it visited from New York City to Vancouver, Canada.

A partnership with the UCF Department of History is enabling the stage to create an archive of its materials from the last century as part of the RICHES Mosaic Interface, an online resource dedicated to collecting and sharing the stories of Central Florida.

Another is the inaugural Florida Children �鶹��Ʒ S�s Book Festival in partnership with Writer �鶹��Ʒ S�s Block Book Store and WUCF, which they hosted in February and plan to host annually to celebrate literature and the link between books, storytelling and live theater.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We all need to be aware of how special this place is. And we need to be so proud that our community has something like this. �鶹��Ʒ S� �鶹��Ʒ S� Chris Brown �鶹��Ʒ S�05, Orlando Family Stage executive director and UCF theatre alum

They look to expand the reach of Mind Matters, a program the stage initiated with ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s psychology department and national playwrights to produce 10 original short plays about geared for teens about depression, anxiety, loneliness, isolation and other mental health challenges they face today. The plays serve as an educational resource for teachers to spark honest conversations on these topics with their students.

Brown envisions one day expanding the footprint of the building with more theater space, new classrooms and offices to help alleviate their bursting-at-the-seems infrastructure, so they can keep delivering on all the dreams they want to turn into reality and continue creating meaningful experiences for children and the audiences of tomorrow.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I can �鶹��Ʒ S�t get past the energy and the faces of busloads of kids coming in here every day, �鶹��Ʒ S� Brown says. �鶹��Ʒ S�We all need to be aware of how special this place is. And we need to be so proud that our community has something like this. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Celebrates the Arts Programming

You can catch live performances from the Theatre for Young Audiences program during April �鶹��Ʒ S�s UCF Celebrates the Arts festival at the Dr. Phillips Center in downtown Orlando.

Thursday, April 2 �鶹��Ʒ S� 7:30 p.m.
Hosted by Ashley Eckstein (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Her Universe, HypeFriend!), this concert features performances that span musical styles and theatrical traditions, reflecting the many creative paths that begin at Orlando Family Stage.

*Featuring Micheal James Scott (Disney �鶹��Ʒ S�s Aladdin on Broadway), Leslie Carrera-Rudolph (Emmy Award-winning performer for Abby Cadabby, Sesame Street), Jack Griffo (Nickelodeon �鶹��Ʒ S�s The Thundermans), Davis Gaines (Broadway �鶹��Ʒ S�s longest running Phantom of the Opera), Michael Andrew (Composer and one of America �鶹��Ʒ S�s greatest interpreters of the American Songbook), Paul Vogt (Broadway �鶹��Ʒ S�s Hairspray and Chicago). Video appearances by Mandy Moore (This Is Us), Jasmine Forsberg (Broadway �鶹��Ʒ S�s Six and Here Lies Love), Clayton and Bella Grimm (Blippi), Broadway legend Norm Lewis and more.

*Artist lineup is updating and is subject to change.

Tuesday, April 7 �鶹��Ʒ S� 10 a.m.
When best friends Squiggle and Square move away from each other, they must find creative ways to keep communicating! Told through clowning, puppetry and music, Pen Pals is a 30-minute interactive play designed for 5 to 10-year-olds.

Saturday, April 11 �鶹��Ʒ S� 10 a.m.
Yo, Ho, Ho! Let �鶹��Ʒ S�s Go! is a 30-minute adventure designed especially for children ages 1 to 5 as a multi-sensory experience that invites them to help a pirate navigate the high seas. Together, they follow a treasure map, solve clues and chart the course forward.

Beiler, an associate professor of history, is leading the People, Religion, Information Networks and Travel (PRINT) project to trace communication and migration networks of lesser-known 17th and 18th century European religious groups and expand access to historical records for everyone.

She is working with co-leads from ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s Center for Humanities and Digital Research Amy Larner Giroux, associate director, and Brook Miller, applications developer; ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s librarians; a team of students; and about 1,800 citizen scholar volunteers to bring these stories to life and develop deeper connections to history.

For this work, Beiler also utilizes the resources of ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s Center for Humanities and Digital Research (CHDR), which is a collaborative research hub within the College of Arts and Humanities that provides specialized technical support to faculty and students.

PRINT isn �鶹��Ʒ S�t simply transferring text from a letter into a dull database. The researchers are creating a publicly accessible archive that better visualizes movements and connections of letter writers and linking them to other people and places. The historians say they are confident that this can help further both scholarly and personal genealogical research.

Visualizing the Past to Enrich the Present

Translating and transcribing correspondence from groups such as Anabaptists, Quakers and Pietists requires careful international collaboration and access to repositories in Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Kingdom.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We �鶹��Ʒ S�re working with archivists in each of those repositories, and they are sending us images of the letters and the metadata we need in order to be able to make them accessible, �鶹��Ʒ S� Beiler says.

In some cases, they are scanning the images and creating metadata themselves.

The letters were not necessarily the musings of monarchs or other figureheads, but of common people who we today may still find relatable, she adds. For this reason, the PRINT project is a worthy endeavor, Beiler says.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T��� people in these letters are mostly ordinary people, and they �鶹��Ʒ S�re going through things just like we are today, �鶹��Ʒ S� she says. �鶹��Ʒ S�Seeing that sort of human story is one of the things that I think is really important about this project �鶹��Ʒ S� we are making those stories accessible by making these personal letters widely available. �鶹��Ʒ S�

PRINT �鶹��Ʒ S�s history began in 2016 as Beiler became intrigued as she noticed patterns of people and groups corresponding and the networks increasingly became complex. Seeing religious, economic and social connections inspired her to apply for a grant to take things a step further.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I was finding all of these connections between people that were overlapping and intersecting, and they functioned much like a kaleidoscope, �鶹��Ʒ S� Beiler says. �鶹��Ʒ S�I couldn �鶹��Ʒ S�t visualize them on a two-dimensional page. �鶹��Ʒ S�

The project is entering its third year of funding by the U.S. National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

�鶹��Ʒ S�In 2023, we received the award to actually work with the archives to make the letters accessible and use digital tools to analyze and visualize them, �鶹��Ʒ S� Beiler says. �鶹��Ʒ S�Now, we �鶹��Ʒ S�re starting to plot them on a map and use social network analysis to better understand the connections between these ���DZ����. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Bridging Technology and the Past

Once the letters are compiled and transcribed by volunteers, CHDR researchers, Giroux and CHDR applications programmer Brook Miller work to synthesize them with network analysis and mapping tools.

So far, the PRINT model is one of the most complex and interesting models CHDR has designed, Miller says.

�鶹��Ʒ S�Whether you �鶹��Ʒ S�re viewing the data in map format, whether you �鶹��Ʒ S�re seeing how the different groups interacted with one another over time or whether you’re actually looking at the network connections between people, it �鶹��Ʒ S�s really exciting to be able to see not just individual data points, but to see the connections and the changes over time within the data, �鶹��Ʒ S� he says.

Miller and the CHDR staff will harness and maintain a database containing open data links to where all the letters are hosted to depict them in a more visually appealing and organized format. They �鶹��Ʒ S�re also working on creating an automated metadata pipeline where future users will be able to add to PRINT.

The evolution of digitization and database management technologies allow work such as PRINT to become reality, Miller says.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I think that the sophistication of the network analysis and mapping tools means that you can look a lot more granularly, and you can actually extract some quantitative information about the relationship between various entities within the data, and then see how that data changes through time, �鶹��Ʒ S� he says.

Surprise Discoveries and Student Research

Graduate student researcher Kailey Freeman-DePelisi �鶹��Ʒ S�25 and history master �鶹��Ʒ S�s alum Adaeze Nwigwe �鶹��Ʒ S�25MA are part of the PRINT digital archiving team. Through the project, they have further enriched their understanding of public history as they pursue their degrees.

Since Spring 2024, Freeman-DePelisi is working to illuminate the lives of Dutch Anabaptists through the Amsterdam repository.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I have had a really great experience, �鶹��Ʒ S� she says. �鶹��Ʒ S�You get to see history at a much smaller scale and see everyday life you may have never seen otherwise. You can actually follow them from places like Switzerland to the Netherlands and you can see who they are as a person. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Freeman-DePelisi says the research is preparing her to continue to public history education and provide her with the skills she can translate into a successful career.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I �鶹��Ʒ S�ve had a chance to do an undergraduate thesis here, which will prepare me for a graduate thesis later, �鶹��Ʒ S� she says. �鶹��Ʒ S�Learning how to communicate with other people and work in a team is valuable too. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Nwigwe was perusing Quaker letters and incidentally found a will dispute that contained a surprising revelation.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I found out the man, Ralph Smith, was the gardener to William Penn, [founder of Pennsylvania], so he had more significant connections than I initially thought, �鶹��Ʒ S� Nwigwe says. �鶹��Ʒ S�T���re were all these people involved in his will who were trying to settle what happened after his death. They were so interconnected in this small community. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Navigating the letters revealed a network of people who shed light on the legal history of different groups in Britain and America and how they deviated from what was considered traditional at the time.

The number of irregularities prompted Nwigwe to delve deeper into the dispute, which culminated in a forthcoming research paper on the topic.

�鶹��Ʒ S�I was trying to piece it all together and I discovered that it was more complicated than it seemed, �鶹��Ʒ S� she says. �鶹��Ʒ S�That �鶹��Ʒ S�s what inspired me to look at further records �鶹��Ʒ S� death records, marriage records and further books and genealogies. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Nwigwe says her work with PRINT has helped her become a better researcher, and it deepened her connection with history. She even visited Pennsbury Manor, where Penn lived and Smith worked, to better contextualize her research.

�鶹��Ʒ S�It �鶹��Ʒ S�s great that I was able to get such an experience here, �鶹��Ʒ S� Nwigwe says. �鶹��Ʒ S�When it comes to research for my career, it helped me realize that you have to use critical thinking to see what �鶹��Ʒ S�s most probable when looking at primary sources. This project was able to combine a lot of these skills and give me a way to find such a great story within history, and it was great in a career-building sense. It showed us what we can do as public historians. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Beiler says she estimates that it will take about two more years to build out the database and refine it enough so that it �鶹��Ʒ S�s user-friendly. She encourages people interested in learning more or volunteering to visit printmigrationnetwork.org.

Researcher �鶹��Ʒ S�s Credentials
Beiler is an associate professor of history at UCF. Her publications include Immigrant and Entrepreneur: The Atlantic World of Caspar Wistar, 1650-1750 (2008) and articles about migration within early modern Europe and to the British colonies. Her current research is about the communication networks of religious dissenters and the dynamic ways they shaped migration flows. She has been a fellow at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University; a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the Free University, Berlin; a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the Library Company of Philadelphia; and a visiting professor at the International Research and Training Group at Trier University.

To honor their legacy and ensure their stories aren �鶹��Ʒ S�t forgotten, the (FFSS) project, through ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s , recognizes the Floridians who fought and died in Europe during World War II and are now buried in the American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries in France.

The project, which intends to memorialize Gold Star Floridians from World War II, also teaches history students how to conduct research and construct a historical narrative. This year 10 new biographies are being published through the project in honor of VE Day on May 8 and Memorial Day on May 26.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T��� young men whom our UCF students learn about died [around] the age [they] are when they research these stories. [Students] learn valuable research and writing skills, as well as about an individual who paid the ultimate price during World War II, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Amelia Lyons, leader of the FFSS project and an associate professor in the UCF history department.

�鶹��Ʒ S�[FFSS] is bringing back all these men who died in service, �鶹��Ʒ S� says history graduate student Marie Oury. �鶹��Ʒ S�Today they teach students how to be better historians. Without their willingness to serve again, we couldn �鶹��Ʒ S�t do the project. It �鶹��Ʒ S�s a bridge between Florida and France, where local histories in two places become one. �鶹��Ʒ S�

FFSS graduate students verify all sources, edit biographies written by undergraduates and manage the FFSS website. In the process, they develop a range of professional skills they can carry into their careers after graduation.

Michael Richardson ’22, a U.S. Navy veteran and history graduate student, recently edited the biography of Steward �鶹��Ʒ S�s Mate Second Class Charles Stripling. Stripling is the FFSS �鶹��Ʒ S�s first biography from the Normandy American Cemetery and one of the African American sailors to pay the ultimate price during the Allied invasion in June 1944.

�鶹��Ʒ S�Charles is FFSS �鶹��Ʒ S�s first U.S. Navy biography, and to tell my brother �鶹��Ʒ S�s story means a lot, �鶹��Ʒ S� Richardson says. �鶹��Ʒ S�[He] served at the front of the ship, right where the sea mine hit his Landing Ship Tank on June 11, 1944. The fact that he was reported missing and never recovered really hits home. It lets students share the veteran �鶹��Ʒ S�s perspective. �鶹��Ʒ S�

This summer, Oury and Lyons will travel to Alsace in eastern France to meet with U.S. Consulate representatives, officials from France �鶹��Ʒ S�s Ministry of Culture, and regional officials and WWII museums that have expressed interest in featuring UCF student-authored stories of American soldiers in their exhibits.

�鶹��Ʒ S�Marie and I are excited to meet with so many people in Alsace who care about the Floridians who liberated their hometowns. In addition to local interest, WWII museums along the Rhine River get many American tourists who want to know more about the American experience in WWII, �鶹��Ʒ S� Lyons says. �鶹��Ʒ S�Our project provides these personal narratives through our rigorously researched biographies. This summer Marie and I will be working where this project started in 2015, with the first biographies our students wrote about Floridians buried in the Epinal American Cemetery. �鶹��Ʒ S�

This project is deeply personal for Richardson, past president of ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s Student Veterans of America chapter.

�鶹��Ʒ S�It gives me a mission in peacetime. It allows me to serve my community by ensuring that these stories are told professionally and with respect for the men whose stories we tell, �鶹��Ʒ S� Richardson says. �鶹��Ʒ S�A lot of our students have not even been in the same room as a veteran, and this project helps history and veterans’ experiences come to life. �鶹��Ʒ S�

As we pay tribute to our nation �鶹��Ʒ S�s fallen on Memorial Day, we invite you to read some of the newly published biographies by the Florida France Soldier Stories project. Many of these men never had the chance to start families, and those who did often didn �鶹��Ʒ S�t live to see them grow up. Memorial Day is a time to reflect and honor those who are no longer with us, but whose sacrifice allows us to celebrate this holiday weekend.

New Florida France Soldier Stories

*Cities in parentheses indicate where the veterans are buried.

• (Rhone)
• (Lorraine)
• (Rhone)
• (Epinal)
• (Lorraine)
• (Lorraine)
• (Normandy)
• (Epinal)
• (Lorraine)
• (Epinal)

The clay tablets are the first of their kind found in the region and are still being interpreted. Early findings indicate they provide a greater insight about the people who lived there and the significantly consequential events they encountered.

Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, an associate professor of at UCF, and a team of researchers have been carefully uncovering culturally significant Middle Bronze Age (1800 BCE) discoveries at Mesopotamian site of Kurd Qaburstan, which is situated in the Erbil region in northeast Iraq.

A significant portion of human development and history may be traced back to the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia, in and around present-day Iraq.

The study of these new tablets could reveal important details about the city �鶹��Ʒ S�s connections with its neighbors during the Middle Bronze Age and its historical significance. For example, by studying people �鶹��Ʒ S�s names, word choice and writing styles, scholars may better understand literacy in the region and the city �鶹��Ʒ S�s cultural identity, Earley-Spadoni says in her .

Hidden History

The Middle Bronze Age in northern Iraq is poorly understood due to limited prior research and the inherent biases of the available historical sources, she says.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We hope to find even more historical records that will help us tell the story of [the city] from the perspective of its own people rather than relying only on accounts written by their enemies, �鶹��Ʒ S� Earley-Spadoni says. �鶹��Ʒ S�While we know a great deal about the development of writing in southern Iraq, far less is known about literacy in northern Mesopotamian cities, especially near Erbil where Kurd Qaburstan is located. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Mesopotamia, with its dense network of ancient cities in the fertile plains along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers near the Persian Gulf, is often regarded as the birthplace of urban civilization. These cities, preserved as towering tells, mounds formed by centuries of accumulated cultural debris, have captivated scholars for generations.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We know quite a bit about Mesopotamian cities in the south, and that’s considered the traditional heartland of cities, �鶹��Ʒ S� Earley-Spadoni says. �鶹��Ʒ S�When people think about where cities first arose, they imagine cities in southern Iraq, like Uruk. We seek to fill in this gap in the scholarship by investigating a large urban site, one of the few that’s ever been investigated in northern Iraq. �鶹��Ʒ S�

New Areas Uncovered, New Questions Raised

Earley-Spadoni and researchers have been working in two primary areas: the northwest residential neighborhoods and a newly discovered administrative complex identified as a lower town palace, which was theorized to exist based on findings made in 2022.

Researchers used technologies such as magnetometry, which allows researchers to peer through the ground to see architectural plans, to help excavate the site.

The research is valuable its own right and helps shed light on regional history and worldwide heritage, she says.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T��� focus of the research is the organization of ancient cities, and it’s specifically the organization of Kurd Qaburstan, �鶹��Ʒ S� Earley-Spadoni says. �鶹��Ʒ S�You may have heard of King Hammurabi, who erected the famous law code. So, this is about that same time almost 4,000 years ago. We decided that this would be an interesting place to investigate what it was like to be an everyday person at a city during the Middle Bronze Age, which has been an understudied topic. People like to excavate palaces and temples, and very few residential areas have been excavated. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Excavations in the palace revealed monumental architecture, human remains and evidence of destruction, suggesting a significant historical event. The complex, identified through geophysical surveys, is being excavated to establish its characteristics and better understand its function.

In the northwest neighborhoods, exterior courtyards, clay drainpipes, and household refuse were uncovered. Excavated pottery included everyday items such as cups, plates, bowls and storage jars. Some of the pottery was surprisingly well-decorated and carefully made, hinting that private wealth may have been more common than expected, Earley-Spadoni says in her fieldwork summary report.

Animal bones found with the pottery suggest that residents enjoyed a varied diet, including domesticated meat and wild game. This level of variety of diet is unexpected for non-elite populations in Mesopotamian cities, based on limited current evidence.

These findings may challenge ideas about sharp divisions between elite and non-elite lifestyles in ancient cities. The material culture and dietary practices reflect a community where some people lived relatively well and suggests that further research and analysis is needed to answer lingering questions, Earley-Spadoni says.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We �鶹��Ʒ S�re studying this ancient city to learn very specific things about the ancient inhabitants, �鶹��Ʒ S� she says. �鶹��Ʒ S�First, to what degree did they plan their environment, or was it just the result of an organic process? We also want to know how social inequality worked in this ancient city. Were there very poor people and very rich people? Or was there possibly a middle class? �鶹��Ʒ S�

Encouraging Findings and a Promising Future

The city �鶹��Ʒ S�s historical importance could be even greater if it is identified as Qabra, a major regional center referenced in Old Babylonian monuments like the famed Stele of Dadusha, according to Earley-Spadoni.

There are many clues that give credence to the theory that Kurd Qaburstan was the prominent city of Qabra that has been referenced in Old Babylonian steles �鶹��Ʒ S� or ancient monumental slabs. One such clue is that there are ample signs pointing to Kurd Qaburstan serving as a major regional administrative hub, she says.

�鶹��Ʒ S�Kurd Qaburstan is believed to be ancient Qabra, an important regional center mentioned in the records of other city-states, �鶹��Ʒ S� Earley-Spadoni says. �鶹��Ʒ S�T��� presence of writing, monumental architecture, and other administrative artifacts in the lower town palace further supports this identification since the site must have been an important city of its time. �鶹��Ʒ S�

The tablets are still being interpreted but there are some early encouraging findings that help illuminate the greater identity of the people of Kurd Qaburstan and the era they inhabited, she says.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T��� first of the three tablets was discovered in a trash-filled deposit along with building rubble and human remains, �鶹��Ʒ S� she says. �鶹��Ʒ S�Its context suggests dramatic events, possibly evidence of ancient warfare. We hope our work in 2025 will tell us more about this story. �鶹��Ʒ S�

The research and excavation efforts are funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation and in partnership with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The work occurred from May to July 2024, with previous work conducted from 2013 to 2023 by a team from Johns Hopkins University that included Earley-Spadoni.

Researcher �鶹��Ʒ S�s Credentials:

Earley-Spadoni joined UCF in 2016 and became an associate professor in 2022. She earned her doctoral degree in near eastern studies in 2015 from The Johns Hopkins University. Earley-Spadoni �鶹��Ʒ S�s research consists of spatially oriented investigations of expansionary state development in the ancient Near East and she directs the Kurd Qaburstan Project in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Founded in 1963 with the mission to provide talent for Central Florida and the growing U.S. space program, the university �鶹��Ʒ S�s extensive involvement in space research and education not only drives innovations in space technology but also prepares the next generation of leaders in the field.

With more than 40 active NASA projects totaling more than $67 million in funding, UCF continues to push the frontiers of space research, and its contributions promise to help shape the future of humanity’s presence in the cosmos.

����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s cutting-edge areas of space expertise include:

Space Medicine

����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s College of Medicine is pioneering new frontiers in aerospace medicine, positioning itself as a leader in space health research and education. Spearheaded by initiatives to create an interdisciplinary curriculum, UCF is integrating expertise from engineering, medicine and nursing to address the unique health challenges of space exploration.

The college is building on existing research in space health, including innovative studies on the effects of microgravity on bone health, which could lead to improved protection for astronauts. Collaborations across disciplines, such as testing therapeutics for radiation protection and developing antimicrobial solutions for space station environments, highlight ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s commitment to advancing astronaut health and shaping the future of space medicine.

Space Propulsion and Power

UCF is advancing space propulsion with groundbreaking research that could make space travel more efficient and viable for future missions. Researchers are developing innovative hypersonic propulsion systems, such as rotating detonation rocket engines, which harness high-speed detonations to increase propulsion efficiency and reduce fuel consumption �鶹��Ʒ S� an advancement that could significantly lower costs and emissions associated with space travel, creating new commercial opportunities in the industry. UCF is taking its hypersonics research even further with its recently launched Center of Excellence in Hypersonic and Space Propulsion �鶹��Ʒ S� the HyperSpace Center.

Additionally, UCF teams are exploring novel power systems for spacecraft venturing far from the sun, where solar energy becomes impractical. With funding from NASA, researchers are creating storable chemical heat sources capable of providing essential heat and power in extreme environments, from the icy surfaces of distant moons to the intense heat of Venus.

Space Technology and Engineering

UCF is forging the future of space technology with innovations that push the boundaries of lunar and deep space exploration. Through advancements in lunar resource utilization, UCF has developed methods to efficiently extract ice from lunar soil so that it can be transformed into vital resources like water and rocket fuel, while new techniques for processing lunar soil drastically reduce construction costs for infrastructure such as landing pads.

UCF researchers are also pioneering 3D-printed bricks made from lunar regolith that withstand extreme space conditions, setting the foundation for resilient off-world habitats. Lunar regolith is the loose dust, rocks and materials that cover the moon �鶹��Ʒ S�s surface.

����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s Exolith Lab, part of the , continues to lead in space hardware testing, advancing resource extraction and lunar construction technologies. Meanwhile, FSI’s CubeSat program is opening new doors in space exploration with compact, affordable satellites that give students and researchers access to microgravity and beyond.

Space Commercialization

UCF’s new space commercialization program �鶹��Ʒ S� led by , College of Business professor of practice and associate provost for space commercialization and strategy �鶹��Ʒ S� positions the university as a leader in space-related business education.

Autry will guide the college �鶹��Ʒ S�s efforts to deliver Executive and MBA programs in space commercialization, driving curriculum development and establishing space-focused programs that equip students to lead in the growing commercial space industry.

In addition to the space commercialization program, Autry will be working with external stakeholders, including NASA, the U.S. Space Force and commercial firms like Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, to develop opportunities to advance mutual interests in space.

This includes working with Kennedy Space Center to lead a State University System partnership with the state of Florida to develop the necessary talent to maintain and expand Florida �鶹��Ʒ S�s leadership in space exploration and commercialization.

Autry will also be leading ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s effort to develop and execute a roadmap for the university �鶹��Ʒ S�s SpaceU brand through targeted investments in talent and facilities.

Space Domain Awareness

UCF is advancing space domain awareness research to protect critical assets in orbit by developing sophisticated algorithms for tracking and predicting the movement of objects such as satellites and asteroids, so they don �鶹��Ʒ S�t collide with spacecraft. Under the guidance of aerospace engineering expert Tarek Elgohary, UCF researchers are creating a computational framework to rapidly and accurately track space objects in real time. This initiative is backed by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Dynamic Data and Information Process Program.

UCF is also addressing the growing issue of orbital debris through a NASA-funded study that includes researchers from ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s FSI and . This project seeks to increase public awareness and support for managing space debris, a hazard to satellites and potential space tourism ventures.

Workforce Development

UCF is propelling students toward dynamic careers in the space industry with hands-on programs and sought-after internship opportunities. Through the new engineering graduate certificate in electronic parts engineering, developed in collaboration with NASA, students are gaining essential skills in testing and evaluating space-ready electronic components �鶹��Ʒ S� a key advantage for aspiring space professionals.

Additionally, UCF students can benefit from hands-on internships at Kennedy Space Center, where they gain real-world experience in various fields, from engineering to project management.

At the , students gain direct experience in microgravity research and robotics. The center embodies ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s commitment to democratizing space access, offering pathways for students from all backgrounds to participate in and contribute to the growing space industry.

FSI �鶹��Ʒ S�s CubeSat program further immerses students in satellite design and operation, offering direct involvement in active space missions.

Planetary Science

UCF’s planetary science program is driving breakthroughs in space exploration with projects spanning the moon, Mars and beyond. The NASA-funded Lunar-VISE mission, led by UCF, will explore the Gruithuisen domes on the far side of the moon to understand their volcanic origins, potentially unlocking insights crucial for future space exploration.

Complementing this, UCF researchers are contributing to NASA �鶹��Ʒ S�s Lunar Trailblazer mission, which will map water ice deposits on the moon �鶹��Ʒ S� an essential resource for sustained stays in space. On another front, UCF scientists are studying dust behavior in microgravity through experiments that flew on Blue Origin �鶹��Ʒ S�s New Shepard rocket, potentially leading to strategies for mitigating lunar dust, a challenge for electronics and equipment on future missions.

Expanding its reach beyond the moon, ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s planetary science research involves asteroid studies, including the high-profile OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu and examining seismic wave propagation in simulated asteroid materials to understand asteroid evolution and early planetary formation. UCF is also home to the , a node of NASA �鶹��Ʒ S�s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, which facilitates NASA �鶹��Ʒ S�s exploration of deep space by focusing its goals at the intersection of surface science and surface exploration of rocky, atmosphereless bodies.

Additionally, UCF researchers are studying trans-Neptunian objects and using the James Webb Space Telescope to explore the solar system’s outer reaches, analyzing ancient ices to uncover clues about the solar system’s history, while also investigating exoplanets to advance our understanding of other planets and to search for life beyond Earth.

In parallel, UCF researchers are also advancing bold ideas for terraforming Mars through nanoparticle dispersion to create warming effect, making the Red Planet potentially more habitable.

UCF researchers have also contributed their expertise to multiple high-profile NASA missions, including Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Curiosity, and New Horizons.

Advancing Astrophotonics, History and Policy

����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s space research spans pioneering astrophotonics technology, studies in space history and critical analyses in space policy, each offering unique insights into the universe. The within CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, is pushing the boundaries of photonics and astronomy, using tools like photonic lanterns, fiber optics, and hyperspectral imaging to detect cosmic phenomena and address profound questions about dark energy.

Meanwhile, delves into space history, exploring the cultural and scientific impacts of milestones like the Apollo missions and the Space Shuttle program, helping illuminate humanity �鶹��Ʒ S�s journey into space.

The contributes to this comprehensive approach with its broad studies of space policy, both domestically and internationally, including examining military space policy and rising space powers. The work involves studying space law, international agreements, and policy frameworks that guide space activities, which is essential for addressing the governance and strategic planning needed for space exploration and utilization.

Pioneering Tomorrow �鶹��Ʒ S�s Space Exploration

UCF is pushing the frontiers of space research and education, tackling today �鶹��Ʒ S�s challenges while preparing for the demands of future space missions. As the new space race continues, ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s forward-thinking approach will continue to drive progress, inspire new possibilities and expand humanity �鶹��Ʒ S�s reach into the universe.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T��� perfection of a circle symbolizes entering the new year with a clean slate, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Rabbi Sanford Olshansky, UCF adjunct professor of Judaic studies. He describes the Jewish High Holy Days as a time of �鶹��Ʒ S�spiritual accounting. �鶹��Ʒ S�

�鶹��Ʒ S�It �鶹��Ʒ S�s a time of self-examination, self-evaluation, �鶹��Ʒ S� he says. �鶹��Ʒ S�How do we feel about where we �鶹��Ʒ S�re at in our lives? How do we feel about where we stand in terms of the moral and ethical principles by which we ought to be living? �鶹��Ʒ S�

Within ����� �鶹��Ʒ S�s Department of History, Olshansky teaches Judaism and Science, a course that deals with the perceived conflict between science and Judaism, as well as Western religion in general. Through thought-provoking discussions about topics such as the Big Bang, DNA, Einstein �鶹��Ʒ S�s Theory of Relativity and subatomic particles, students explore how one can reconcile major scientific questions with biblical creation stories.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T��� purpose of the course is not to prove that religion is true, �鶹��Ʒ S� Olshansky says. �鶹��Ʒ S�But it �鶹��Ʒ S�s to show that there is some common ground �鶹��Ʒ S� more than many people realize �鶹��Ʒ S� between science and religion. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Yom Kippur �鶹��Ʒ S� which begins at sunset on Oct. 11 and concludes at nightfall on Oct. 12 this year �鶹��Ʒ S�  falls at the end of the Jewish High Holy Days and is also known as the Day of Atonement. Fasting is traditionally observed �鶹��Ʒ S� although children, elderly adults, ill people, and pregnant women are forbidden from partaking �鶹��Ʒ S� and the shofar is sounded to mark the conclusion of the fast at nightfall. Afterwards, it �鶹��Ʒ S�s traditional to enjoy a �鶹��Ʒ S�break-fast �鶹��Ʒ S� meal of typical breakfast and brunch foods.

The traditional Hebrew greeting on Yom Kippur is G �鶹��Ʒ S�mar chatimah tovah: �鶹��Ʒ S�May you complete a good sealing. �鶹��Ʒ S� This refers to completing the process of reflecting on the actions of the past year, confessing and seeking forgiveness for wrongdoing, and planning to improve in the new year.

�鶹��Ʒ S�Whatever Jewish denomination you look at, from the most traditional to the most liberal, confessions are moral and ethical failings, not ritual failings, �鶹��Ʒ S� Olshansky says.

When you think of confessions, you may picture a one-on-one conversation with a religious leader, such as in the Catholic tradition. But in the Jewish tradition, confessions are traditionally done in a group setting rather than in a one-on-one environment. Confessions are written out anonymously and phrased in the plural �鶹��Ʒ S� �鶹��Ʒ S�We have been deceitful, �鶹��Ʒ S� for example �鶹��Ʒ S� so that no one feels singled out.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T���re �鶹��Ʒ S�s a comfort level of being surrounded by people who are all flawed, �鶹��Ʒ S� Olshansky says. �鶹��Ʒ S�We could all do better, and we help each other to start the year with a clean slate. �鶹��Ʒ S�

For Olshansky, teaching Judaism and Science and serving as a rabbi both provide an opportunity to invite self-examination �鶹��Ʒ S� in himself and others �鶹��Ʒ S� which he describes as the �鶹��Ʒ S�spiritual heart �鶹��Ʒ S� of the Jewish High Holy Days.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T���re �鶹��Ʒ S�s a joke that I �鶹��Ʒ S�ve used from the pulpit in the past, �鶹��Ʒ S� he says. �鶹��Ʒ S�A person is praying on New Year �鶹��Ʒ S�s morning: �鶹��Ʒ S�God, I �鶹��Ʒ S�ve been really good so far this year. I haven �鶹��Ʒ S�t spoken harshly to anybody. I haven �鶹��Ʒ S�t taken anything that wasn �鶹��Ʒ S�t mine. I haven �鶹��Ʒ S�t been mean to my family members. But now God, I �鶹��Ʒ S�m going to get out of bed, and then I �鶹��Ʒ S�m going to need lots of help. �鶹��Ʒ S� �鶹��Ʒ S�

Central Florida Hillel at UCF serves as a center for Jewish life on campus enriching the lives of Jewish students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world (contact Executive Director Hunter Gold for more info). Chabad UCF is an organization dedicated to encouraging individuals of all backgrounds and degrees of observance to explore their Jewish heritage (contact Rabbi Chaim Lipskier for more info). Both organizations are hosting Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur observances and meals this year.

Why did delegates to the Constitutional Convention struggle so much deciding upon the best method for selecting the president that they needed to postpone the debate several times?

Fear.

They feared a strong executive. They feared Congress controlling the president. They feared men with �鶹��Ʒ S�talents for low intrigue and the little arts of popularity �鶹��Ʒ S� charming ill-informed voters (). They feared voters only supporting local candidates. They feared that the president would be subservient to any group that selected him, so instead they ended up with a cumbersome process that used specially chosen electors to elect the president.

To further complicate things, the process immediately unraveled and almost never worked as intended. Their plan was that voters would select prominent men as electors.  These men (and they were, of course, all elite white men) would have a greater breadth of knowledge of gentlemen from other states, and they would be free to choose anyone they wished. Theoretically, every four years, the electors would vote for the best candidates and the nation would prosper from their wise choices.

There were a litany of things the delegates did not anticipate: political parties (they feared these, too), joint tickets for president and vice president (they planned for the person who came in second place to be vice president), candidates actively running for office, improved communication and a growing trust in democracy (The Constitution allows each state to decide how to select its own electors. So, for a time, some voters did not even get to choose the electors let alone vote for president.)

Some of these problems have been resolved. The 12^th amendment ended the idea that the person who comes in second becomes the vice president. Since 1868, in every state, people vote for the president, and the state electors are generally bound by their decision.

Neither of these changes, however, have resolved the biggest complaint against the Electoral College. With electoral votes based on the number of congressmen and senators a state has, a candidate �鶹��Ʒ S� with victories in the correct combination of states �鶹��Ʒ S� can win the presidency while losing the popular vote.

Since the Constitution �鶹��Ʒ S�s ratification, there have been over 1,000 amendments proposed to change or eliminate the Electoral College. These proposals generally offer the obvious solution; the president should be the candidate who gets the most popular votes. Given that, according to most polls including a 2023 Pew Research Center study, approximately two out of three Americans  support this change, why haven �鶹��Ʒ S�t we just amended the Constitution to have the president popularly elected? As is often the case, the easy solution is not as easy as it seems. The problems include:

• Amending the Constitution. It is not easy to amend the Constitution. An amendment needs the support of two-thirds of each branch in Congress and three-quarters of the states. Getting congressional support has proven problematic (in 1969, Congress came close �鶹��Ʒ S� the House approved a popular vote amendment, but the Senate did not).While two-thirds of Americans might favor a change in the Electoral College, the current leadership of the Republican Party does not. Why not? Well, in the last 24 years, two Republicans (George W. Bush and Donald Trump) have won the presidency with fewer votes than their Democratic opponent (and 2020 almost made it a third time.)

  While the electoral college currently skews Republican, that has not always been the case. In the 19 elections since World War II, it has favored Democrats nine times and Republicans ten times. Based on the 2022 midterm results and recent polling in 2024 swing states, studies also show that it might be trending towards Democrats in the upcoming years.

• Vote fraud. Nearly every election produces allegations of vote fraud. In the current system, however, those allegations are often muted. How? The electoral college successfully smooths over most minor vote fraud. Right now, the relevant question is not whether there was any vote fraud but whether there were enough fraudulent votes to change a state �鶹��Ʒ S�s electoral vote and potentially change the results in the Electoral College.In a popular vote world, where every vote counts, so does every fraudulent vote. Does anyone truly believe there has ever been a presidential election without fraudulent votes? Not even one or two? Unlike the Electoral College, a popular vote system encourages, albeit unintentionally, overzealous partisans to take every edge they can.
• Close races. The 2000 presidential election is one of the elections where the popular vote winner (Al Gore) lost. It was the first time that it had happened since 1888. The race came down to a few hundred votes in Florida. Popular vote supporters use this an example of the flaws in the Electoral College, but that election also demonstrates some of the potential complications in using popular vote totals. For one thing, Gore didn �鶹��Ʒ S�t win a majority of the popular vote. No one did. He won a plurality. Because of third party candidates, Gore received 48.4% of the popular vote. Is that enough? Or would we have a runoff? How would a runoff work?Neither party was happy with the recount procedure. Florida law stipulated it must be completed in a week, but it quickly became apparent that accurately recounting votes by hand took much more time than that. Plus, there was a sense that the recount was no more accurate than the original results. Imagine a situation where this occurred at a nationwide level. A national recount would be an incredibly complex and divisive event involving competing and unprovable sets of numbers as well as lengthy legal challenges. And, it would undoubtedly be unsatisfying as even a cursory dive into studies on the Florida vote count reveals the futility of trying to finding the exact numbers of votes that either Bush or Gore received.

We are the only nation that still uses an Electoral College. If other countries have figured out how to run a national popular presidential election, should the United States consider making a change? The nation, or maybe a new Committee on Postponed Parts, would have to come up with a plan which resolves some of these potential pitfalls. Given that this discussion has already lasted well over 100 years, we may be in for 100 more.

The event, which is sponsored by the Office of Research and , drew more than 40 guests, including Vice Provost for Faculty Excellence Jana Jasinski and Interim Vice President for Research and Innovation Winston Schoenfeld.

Schoenfeld spoke about the importance of creativity and scholarship in a thriving academic environment.

�鶹��Ʒ S�In a time when we see significant emphasis placed on metrics such as research expenditures, it is important to recognize that societal impact is not always reflected in research dollars spent, �鶹��Ʒ S� Schoenfeld says. �鶹��Ʒ S�And in particular, scholarship and creative works are core tenants of a high impact academic institution and represent significant value toward society that should be celebrated.”

Pegasus Professor of Luis Martínez Fernández delivered the keynote address that shared insights into his recent book, When the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019- 2022, that comprises 66 essays drawn from syndicated columns he wrote during that period.

Motivated by significant global events, Martínez-Fernández emphasized the interconnectedness of these events and the need for a more creative approach to historical writing.

The authors and their works honored were:

• Salvador Almagro-Moreno, College of Medicine, Vibrio spp. Infections.
• Mindi Anderson, College of Nursing, Holograms & High Technology: Could Technology Bridge the Gaps in Simulation Education?
• James Bacchus, College of Sciences, Trade Links: New Rules for a New World and Truth about Trade: Reflections on International Trade and Law
• Cori Baill, College of Medicine, Why is Mommy Crying? -Explaining Early Pregnancy Loss to Young Children
• Melody Bowdon, College of Arts and Humanities, Ethical Considerations of Virtual Reality in the College Classroom
• Wayne Bowen, College of Undergraduate Studies, Spain and the Protestant Reformation: the Spanish Inquisition and the War for Europe
• Sarah Bush, College of Community Innovation and Education, Success Stories from Catalyzing Change
• Li-Mei Chen, College of Medicine, Protastin in Human Health and Disease
• Jim Clark, College of Arts and Humanities, Lost Attractions of Florida
• Ilenia Colón Mendoza, College of Arts and Humanities, The Broken Body as Devotional Mediator in Seventeenth Century Spain
• Fayshonda Cooks, College of Nursing, Goal Lean Health and Weight Management Lifestyle Plan (a series)
• Sai Deng, UCF Libraries, Translations of: Sketches of China: with Illustrations from Original Drawings
• Lauryn De George, College of Business, Instructors Manual and PowerPoint Slides for Principles of Management and Multiple Case Studies on Compensation, Customer Expectations, Inclusivity, Ethics, Performance Management, Quiet Quitting, Supply Chain Issues, Employment at Will and Other Pertinent Topics
• Desiree Díaz, College of Nursing, Chapter 8: Holograms and High Technology: Could Technology Bridge the Gaps and Incorporating Concepts of Diversity and Cultural Humility in Simulations
• Erin Doggette, Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, ChatGPT Assignments to Use in Your Classroom Today
• Sara Duff, UCF Libraries, Zines in Libraries: Selecting, Purchasing, and Processing
• Chloë Rae Edmonson, College of Arts and Humanities / School of Performing Arts, America Under the Influence: Drinking, Culture, and Immersive Performance
• Martha Garcia �鶹��Ʒ S�97 �鶹��Ʒ S�00MA, College of Arts and Humanities, Sense and Art of the Textual Pilgrimage. Stories & Auto Sacramental in Bilingual Key.
• Enrique Guerra-Pujol, College of Business, Business Law and Strategy
• Steve Haberlin, College of Community Innovation and Education, Meditation in the College Classroom: A Pedagogical Tool to Help Students De-stress, Focus, and Connect.
• Keith Harrison, College of Business, Circle Inside of a Box: The Business of Hip Hop Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• David Head, College of Arts and Humanities, A Republic of Scoundrels: The Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers Who created a New American Nation
• Elizabeth Brendel Horn �鶹��Ʒ S�10MFA, College of Arts and Humanities, Activated Script Analysis: An Integrative Approach to Play Analysis through Creative Expression and Devised Theatre
• Michael Jablonski, College of Arts and Humanities, Dance in Musical Theatre: A history of the Body in Movement Chapter 14
• Bruce Janz, College of Arts and Humanities, African Philosophy and Enactivist Cognition: The Space of Thought
• Christina Kwapich, College of Sciences, The Guests of Ants: How Myrmecophiles Interact with their Hosts and Die Gaste der Ameisen
• Peter Larson, College of Arts and Humanities, Rethinking the Great Transition: Community and Economic Growth in County Durham
• Julia Listengarten, College of Arts and Humanities, Visual and Performing Arts Collaborations in Higher Education: Transdisciplinary Practices
• Luis Martinez Fernandez, College of Arts and Humanities, When the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019-2022
• Ty Matejowsky, College of Sciences, Smothered and Covered: Waffle House and the Southern Imaginary
• Jonathan Matusitz, College of Sciences, From Child Terrorism to Peace Activism and Fundamentals of Public Communication Campaigns
• Barry Mauer, College of Arts and Humanities, Reimagining the Humanities and Strategies for Conducting Literary Research
• Lisa Nalbone, College of Arts and Humanities, Negotiating Discursive Spaces: Censorship and Woman’s Novels in Spain
• Fevzi Okumus, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Contemporary Research Methods in Hospitality and Tourism and Advanced Research Methods in Hospitality and Tourism
• Hakan Ozoglu, College of Arts and Humanities, Cumhuriyet’in Kuruluş Savaşları (Foundation Struggles in the Early Turkish Republic) and Decline of the Ottoman Empire and the Rise of the Turkish Republic
• Irene Pons �鶹��Ʒ S�00, College of Community Innovation and Education, Why I Encourage my Students to Experience Reality
• Roberto Hugh Potter, College of Community Innovation and Education, Human Trafficking: A Systemwide Public Safety and Community Approach (second edition)
• Cecilia Rodríguez-Milanés, College of Arts and Humanities, Dancing Danny
• Lee Ross, College of Community Innovation and Education, Music Lyrics and Domestic Violence: The Soundtracks of Our Lives
• Deanna Sellnow, College of Sciences, Before Crisis: The Practice of Effective Risk Communication
• Timothy Sellnow, College of Sciences, Before Crisis: The Practice of Effective Risk Communication
• Audra Skukauskaite, College of Community Innovation and Education, Interactional Ethnography: Designing and Conducting Discourse-based Ethnographic Research and Engaging Students in Socially Constructed Qualitative Research Pedagogies
• Laurie Rachkus Uttich �鶹��Ʒ S�09MFA, Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning / English department, ChatGPT Assignments to Use in Your Classroom Today and Somewhere a Woman Lowers the Hem of Her Skirt
• Marcy Verduin, College of Medicine, Kaplan & Sadock’s Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (fifth edition) and Mental Health for Spiritual People
• Kimberly Voss, College of Sciences, Newspaper Fashion Editors in the 1950s and the 60s and Vivian Castleberry: Challenging the Traditions of Women’s Roles, Newspaper Content and Community Politics
• Jennie Wagner, College of Nursing, Conception and Fetal Development
• Linda Walters, College of Sciences, Please Keep Plastics Out of My Lagoon!
• Keri Watson, College of Arts and Humanities, This is America: Re-viewing the Art of the United States and Routledge Companion to Art and Disability
• Shannon Whitten, College of Science, Psychology, Art, and Creativity
• Amanda Wilkerson �鶹��Ʒ S�16EdD, College of Community Innovation and Education, Best Practices and Programmatic Approaches for Mentoring Educational Leaders
• Bruce Wilson, College of Sciences, El Agua como Derecho Humano: Reconocimientos y Disputas en Costa Rica
• Kevin Yee, Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, Ethical Considerations of Virtual Reality in the College Classroom: Cross-Disciplinary Case Studies of Immersive Technology Implementation and ChatGPT Assignments to Use in your Classroom Today
• Margaret Ann Zaho, College of Arts and Humanities, Art is an Endangered Species: A History of Western Art, Paleolithic-Romanesque (second edition) and Art is an Endangered Species II: A History of Western Art Renaissance-20th Century (second edition)

Library Acquisitions has acquired many of these books, and they can be found either physically on the 4th floor Reading Room of John C. Hitt Library or .

Name: Marie Oury
Major: �ᾱ���ٴǰ�����

Why are you interested in this research?
This research has many layers for me:  It links France, my home country, and Florida, where my children were born and where I live now. It explores the regions of France where French people still live with the reminders of American troops’ passage and sacrifice. It investigates World War II, a period for which many questions remain unanswered. It impacts communities in Florida, helping heal family and community wounds opened eighty years ago. But most of all, it changes UCF students who participate in this research. Once our undergraduate students start working on the biography of a soldier, they not only dive into the man or the woman’s life and learn about his/her social and economic environment, but the students also humanize periods such as the Great Depression and World War II. Through their soldier’s life, students understand the impacts of major events or periods on Florida families in a way that no historical account can. It is a powerful way for students to learn about and relate to their communities’ history.  And they learn that American soldiers still matter to in France, in the communities they died to liberate.

Are you a faculty member or student conducting research at UCF? We want to hear from you!

How did you get started in research at UCF?
I started researching history at UCF with the Veteran Legacy Program (VLP), a grant program sponsored by the VA �鶹��Ʒ S�s National Cemetery Administration (NCA). In 2018, during the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, I researched Floridians who served in World War I and who died and are buried in France in the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) cemeteries. I traveled with Drs. Amelia Lyons, Amy Giroux and Connie Lester to France to visit the cemeteries, and the Veterans we studied. This VLP program led me to work in 2022 for the Florida-France Soldier Stories project, also led by Dr. Amelia Lyons.

Who is your mentor? Who inspires you and how?
Dr. Amelia Lyons took me under her wing when I started at UCF. I was not sure I would find my place in a History MA program at an American university. I came from a business background, from another country, and had not been in school for years. Dr. Lyons trusted me and gave me the opportunity to change my career path. Through her classes and the two Veterans research projects she leads, Dr. Lyons and the UCF history department taught me the techniques and skills historians need. I witnessed how she inspired her students to become better historians in every project in which I have participated; she is always looking at new ways to involve, teach, and challenge them �鶹��Ʒ S�and expecting the best of them in return. I am very grateful to have Dr. Lyons as my advisor, and I am confident that the day I graduate, she will have prepared and equipped me very well to work as a historian.

How does UCF empower you to do your research?
UCF empowered me to do research thanks to the funding, the resources, and the communication platform it provides for this project. UCF, the History department, and the UCF library offer tools, research material, support, and a nurturing environment for researchers to gather, exchange, work together, and learn from each other competencies. Such a public history project is not the result of one person; it can only be successful thanks to teamwork.

Why is this research important?
This research helps students and Florida communities to remember the sacrifices men and women made during World War II. These soldiers, buried in France, had their lives cut short and left behind devastated families and communities in Florida as well as in France. In a world where intolerance and tensions grow, as in our world today, I believe it is important, especially for the young generation, to learn and reflect on the consequences of a war. Even if the fighting happened thousands of miles away, the ripple effects touched every Florida community one way or another, leaving long-term impacts we can still feel eighty years later. As time passes, fewer people will personally remember these soldiers or even say their names, but thanks to our project, we are bringing these men and women back to service and to life.

Are you a faculty member or student conducting research at UCF? We want to hear from you!

�鶹��Ʒ S�What we learn about history depends on who was able to write down firsthand accounts and preserve them, �鶹��Ʒ S� says UCF Associate Professor of History Rosalind Beiler. �鶹��Ʒ S�As we discover more information, it can change our perspective. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Beiler teaches the history of New England, including the landing of the Mayflower, which happened on Nov. 11, 1620. Some students said they �鶹��Ʒ S�d only learned one thing about the events in grade school: The Pilgrims sailed to the New World, made friends and enjoyed the first Thanksgiving feast.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We �鶹��Ʒ S�ve learned, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler, �鶹��Ʒ S�that it wasn �鶹��Ʒ S�t so easy. �鶹��Ʒ S�

Here is what her research tells us:

1. The story we �鶹��Ʒ S�re most familiar with comes from one dominant source.

William Bradford was among the Puritans who wanted to break from England �鶹��Ʒ S�s rule over the way Christians could worship and raise their children. Bradford kept a journal documenting before, during and after the Mayflower �鶹��Ʒ S�s Atlantic crossing.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We have bits of information from other diaries, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler, �鶹��Ʒ S�but for the most part, a lot of what we know has been filtered through Bradford �鶹��Ʒ S�s accounts. �鶹��Ʒ S�

We know what we know because he wrote it down.

2. The Pilgrims tried living in the Netherlands before coming to America.

The Puritans and the Pilgrims (a cross-section of Puritans) first traveled to the Netherlands to establish a Christian church that would be free of government influence. There, they had to learn a new language and new customs. Many of them labored as textile workers when they had been farmers at home. They also became concerned that their children were not growing up English �鶹��Ʒ S� they were being integrated into Dutch society.

�鶹��Ʒ S�One of my students said this part of the story helped her understand what it �鶹��Ʒ S�s like to be an immigrant, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler. �鶹��Ʒ S�T���y left behind everything they knew and had to find their way in a new place. �鶹��Ʒ S�

After 12 years, in 1620, they decided to sail to the New World, where they could worship freely and develop an English culture.

3. The Mayflower originally was set to sail with a sister ship.

The Pilgrims initially sailed from the Netherlands back to England on a ship called the Speedwell. In England, they met up with other passengers before leaving for the long trip to North America on the Speedwell and the Mayflower. The Speedwell didn �鶹��Ʒ S�t get far before it started to take on water and all passengers had to then board the Mayflower, though some on the original passenger list stayed home.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T��� Mayflower was crowded, �鶹��Ʒ S� Beiler says of the 102 passengers and 30 crewmembers on the 100-foot ship. �鶹��Ʒ S�But they found out later they actually could have used more ���DZ����. �鶹��Ʒ S�

4. Delays forced them to sail as winter approached.

It took nearly three months to secure supplies and manually load supplies. Instead of crossing the ocean in June, they wound up battling the storms and cold of late fall.

�鶹��Ʒ S�We can �鶹��Ʒ S�t imagine what it was like for them to arrive in a brutally cold and strange place, to be sick and to have loved ones dying, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler. �鶹��Ʒ S�And remember, they had no time to rest. They had to immediately start building a community so they could survive. �鶹��Ʒ S�

5. Many famous Americans can be traced to Mayflower

John Howland, an indentured servant on the Mayflower, almost flipped overboard during a storm, but miraculously grabbed a rope on his way into the sea. Howland lived, got married and had a number of children who continued a lineage to the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson and George Bush (both of them). In fact, at least nine U.S. presidents could follow their genealogy to Mayflower passengers.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T���re �鶹��Ʒ S�s no telling how many people can trace their ancestry back to the few dozen passengers who survived illness and danger on the Mayflower voyage, �鶹��Ʒ S� Beiler says.

6. Nearly half of the Pilgrims and Puritans died during the voyage.

Only 50 of the original 102 passengers survived the first winter. �鶹��Ʒ S�T���y weren �鶹��Ʒ S�t thinking about colonizing, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler. �鶹��Ʒ S�T���y were simply figuring out how to eat and stay warm in this new place. �鶹��Ʒ S�

7. An epidemic had just decimated Native Americans.

The English settlers found what they probably considered a blessing from God: an area of cleared land suitable for a village. Actually, it had already been a village known as Pautuxet. From 1616-19, an epidemic killed about 2,000 Wampanoag people who lived there. But when the Pilgrims arrived in November 1620, Tisquantum (Squanto) was the only one lone survivor in the village.

�鶹��Ʒ S�He brought Massasoit, a Wampanoag Sachem from another village, to make an alliance with the Pilgrims, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler. �鶹��Ʒ S�T���y all needed each other as allies during a time of tremendous loss for both groups. �鶹��Ʒ S�

8. Yes, corn probably did save lives.

It �鶹��Ʒ S�s true that Tisquantum taught the immigrants from Europe a new form of agriculture: controlled burns to clear portions of land so they could grow beans, squash and maize (corn).

�鶹��Ʒ S�T��� Pilgrims and Puritans had no choice but to do what the Wampanoag Indians taught them, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler. �鶹��Ʒ S�We �鶹��Ʒ S�re also pretty sure they stole some seed from a Native American village during that first year and later went back to make reparations. �鶹��Ʒ S�

9. The first Thanksgiving was held a year after the Mayflower

How could the Mayflower passengers lose more than half of their community, even entire families, and a year later set aside a day for a �鶹��Ʒ S�harvest celebration? �鶹��Ʒ S�

They didn �鶹��Ʒ S�t, at least not exactly.

�鶹��Ʒ S�T��� first Thanksgiving in 1621 was an expression of gratitude, but not just for an abundance of food, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler. �鶹��Ʒ S�T���y were grateful to be alive while also mourning the loss of so many loved ones. �鶹��Ʒ S�

10. The lessons of Thanksgiving were quickly forgotten.

Once the Pilgrims began to settle, they sent word back to England for others to come join them. The later arrivals, however, didn �鶹��Ʒ S�t value the local wisdom of the Wampanoag.

�鶹��Ʒ S�As more people arrived, tensions between the English and Native Americans grew, �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler.

The new settlers brought domesticated animals to help with farming. They fenced in their crops and allowed the animals to roam outside those fences. The animals decimated the Native Americans �鶹��Ʒ S� fields. This would be among the early signs of English groups forcing their cultural will on Native Americans.

11. North America was really a New-ish

By the time the Mayflower arrived, French and Dutch colonies were already fishing and gathering along the East Coast. The Spanish had settled in Florida decades earlier. So, if the Mayflower �鶹��Ʒ S�s passengers weren �鶹��Ʒ S�t the first Europeans to arrive, why are they so prominent in our history books?

�鶹��Ʒ S�We call where they landed �鶹��Ʒ S�New England, �鶹��Ʒ S� in part, because guess who won the subsequent wars? �鶹��Ʒ S� says Beiler. �鶹��Ʒ S�T��� English also did something very important, thanks to William Bradford. �鶹��Ʒ S�

They told their story.