Robinson, associate professor of American studies, is a two-time alumna of the College’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities’ programs.
This year, American Studies professor Michelle Robinson serves as the interim director for the Faculty Fellowship Program.
An alumna of the Faculty Fellowship Program (’18) and the Academic Leadership Program (’21), Robinson appreciates the scholarly community built by IAH fellowships. “I was meeting people from across campus whose offices and disciplines are distant from my own. I may have never encountered them otherwise,” she said. “With the Faculty Fellowship, I was able to be part of the intellectual life of their projects.”
“Art historian Lyneise Williams (FFP ’18) became pivotal for my project in religious history,” said Robinson. “It’s that kind of productive, serendipitous engagement with other folks that makes the fellowship program special.”
Besides learning about other disciplines in the Faculty Fellowship Program, Robinson applies inquiry from multiple fields in her own teaching and research. She teaches a course on the ethics of standup comedy that invites students to consider humor from different disciplinary vantage points.
“Not only do we engage in aesthetic analysis, we also study scholarship from legal experts, political scientists, sociologists, and social psychologists on the role comedy plays in contemporary life,” she said.
In her time as interim director, Robinson hopes to engage faculty by “shaping the contours of conversation to make it rich and rewarding for each person when their work is discussed.”
Also, these weekly seminars offer faculty the opportunity to bring their research project to the table, along with their ideas and concerns about their roles as faculty members at UNC.
Robinson is most excited about learning the research specialties of her peers. “I know many of the incoming Fellows! But I have no idea what they’re working on because we haven’t crossed paths in our scholarly endeavors. I’m looking forward to this opportunity to look closely at the cutting-edge research being undertaken in fields that range from dramatic art to philosophy.”
This year, Robinson will continue her own research and collaborate with campus partners and faculty on upcoming events. She’s in the midst of writing a social history that uses correspondence to identify the forms of intimacy and Christian fellowship evangelicals felt toward the Reverend Billy Graham and explores how evangelical communities framed Billy Graham Crusades as opportunities to affect not only spiritual but also social and civic transformation.
Additionally, she’s collaborating with Joseph Megel (FFP ’11) to produce a Process Series show running from Sept. 13-14, 2024. One production will include comedy skits written by SNL writer Brian Tucker and will feature the premier Asian American improv comedy group Asian AF. Another project involves the Ackland Film Forum, where Robinson will help curate a series of political, election-themed films to be played at Varsity Theater in October.
By Ruby Wang, Institute for the Arts and Humanities