Liberal Arts Experiences

Laine was named an inaugural Liberal Arts Teaching Professor in Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts. The new named professorship was created by the college to reward the outstanding contributions of teaching, research and clinical faculty members. Faculty were nominated by their department heads and assessed by a committee appointed by the dean’s office. Laine will receive up to $1,000 per year in professional development funds from the college to be used for teaching development, research, conferences, workshops and other professional projects. She is also eligible for one course release to be used to further enhance their teaching excellence. In the classroom, Laine strives to create an environment of meaningful engagement, where he and students can have conversations that are thoughtful and reflective. Beyond language proficiency, he wants them to develop intercultural awareness, cultivate empathy and build the kinds of transferable skills that prepare them to navigate a global context.

Drais-Parrillo was named an inaugural Liberal Arts Teaching Professor in Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts. The new named professorship was created by the college to reward the outstanding contributions of teaching, research and clinical faculty members. Faculty were nominated by their department heads and assessed by a committee appointed by the dean’s office. Drais-Parrillo will receive up to $1,000 per year in professional development funds from the college to be used for teaching development, research, conferences, workshops and other professional projects. She is also eligible for one course release to be used to further enhance their teaching excellence. “I don’t think any of us do our jobs as teachers because we seek awards or notice, but it is nice, of course, when our students and our peers see us. I appreciate the appointment and also respect the weight of it, the expectation to continue to grow.

Baker has been appointed a Mercator Fellow by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), also known as the German Research Foundation. As a fellow, Baker will spend the next four years making regular trips to Germany’s Goethe University Frankfurt to conduct research. He was selected because of his influential research on how the worldwide education revolution over the past century has dramatically improved society and spurred an explosion of scientific discovery at universities, according to the foundation.

Merkel-Hess was named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. A specialist in Chinese history, Merkel-Hess called the fellowship “an incredible honor.” “I’m humbled to have been chosen alongside so many outstanding scholars, writers and artists, and to be in the company of Guggenheim alums who I have admired for years,” she said. “It’s particularly meaningful to have been selected for an award that celebrates the breadth of human creativity and exploration. I’m grateful to the Guggenheim Foundation for its commitment to and celebration of that broad spectrum of inquiry and creation.”

Baderoon was recently awarded an honorary doctorate from South Africa’s Nelson Mandela University. “Her poems showcase the ordinary and the historical, providing readers with a platform of new ways of understanding the intersections of personal memory and collective history,” the award’s citation read. “Through her writing and teaching, she has contributed to a broader understanding of the diverse intellectual traditions that have shaped South African society. Her work foregrounds voices and histories that have often been marginalized, bringing them into dialogue with global conversations about race, religion, gender and belonging.”

Morrisson published his latest book, “Light on the Path: Advancing Occultism Through Esoteric Fiction, 1880-1940,” which traces how a group of modern occultists in the United States and Great Britain used the increasing popularity of mass-market genre fiction to influence a rapidly growing reading public.