Archives: Staff Members

Ostrander, Kathryn

Dr. Kathryn Ostrander

Assistant Professor of Health Science

Education
DAT in Athletic Training, A.T. Still University
MPH in Public Health, Bryan University
MSEd in Kinesiology, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
BS in Kinesiology, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
My teaching and research interests focus on the integration of exercise science, health promotion, and behavioral strategies to improve overall wellness and performance. I am particularly interested in exploring the physiological and psychological determinants of physical activity and how evidence-based interventions can foster sustainable health behavior change. Additionally, I support students in applying biomechanics and strength and conditioning principles through internships and in-the-field training to optimize human movement and enhance athletic performance.

Tigani, Lori

Lori Tigani

Tigani, Lori

Lecturer of Chemistry

Education
Master of Arts in Teaching, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD
Master of Science in Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Committed to fostering scientific literacy and critical thinking through structured, engaging, and inquiry-based instruction. Skilled in curriculum development, laboratory management, and student-centered learning.

Carpenter, James

James Carpenter

Assistant Professor of Biology

Education
M.S. Zoology, University of Maryland
B.S. Biology, Oberlin College
M.L.T., College of Coastal Georgia

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Neurocytoarchitectonics, neuronal morphology and developmental neuroanatomy across metamorphic transition, using the dragonfly optic lobe visual system as an ontogenetic-phylogenetic model.

Pomerleau, Lainie

Dr. Lainie Pomerleau

Dr. Lainie Pomerleau-College of Coastal Georgia

Assistant Professor of English

Education
Ph.D. English, University of Georgia
M.A. English, University of Tennessee
B.A. English, University of Southern Maine

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
My research explores how speculative narratives and digital writing environments produce new models of authorship, embodiment, and collaboration at the intersection of literature, rhetoric, and technology. Grounded in posthumanism and new materialism, my work investigates how multimodal composition, adaptation, and machine intelligence foreground hybrid forms of agency that reshape how authorship, responsibility, and mediation are understood in speculative and digital contexts By placing speculative fiction in conversation with digital rhetorics, I argue that these texts and platforms function as sites where cultural understandings of creativity, responsibility, and mediation are actively renegotiated.

SCHOLARLY OUTPUT

PUBLICATIONS

Co-editor with Dr. Richard Utz, special issue of Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching, Introduction, “Teaching the Middle Ages and Renaissance to STEM Students,” Expected Spring 2026.

Co-author with Dr. Franziska Tsufim, “More is Less?: Using Generative AI for Idea Generation and Diversification in Early Writing Processes,” Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions, Utah State University Press, 2024.

“Beaufort, Lady Margaret,” Palgrave Encyclopedia of Women’s Writing in the Global Middle Ages, expected 2023-2024 (digital), 2025 (print).
“Part I: The Middle Ages,” Editor and Author, British Literature: Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century and Neoclassicism, University of North Georgia Press (delayed due to Covid).

“A Necessary Evil: The Inverted Hagiography of William Shakespeare’s Richard III,” Renaissance Papers, 2015.

Book Reviews & Public Facing Articles:

Review of Women and Magic in Medieval Romance, Jane Bonsall, 2025. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (forthcoming 2026).

Review of Popular Memory and Gender in Medieval England, Bronach C. Kane, 2021. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (2025).

Review of International Medievalisms, ed. Mary Boyle, 2023. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (2025).

Review of Ethics in the Arthurian Legend, Melissa Ridley Elmes and Evelyn Meyer, Boydell and Brewer, 2023. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (2024).

Founding faculty member and content creator, “The Role of Inclusivity in Digital Storytelling,” in conjunction with Richard Utz (Georgia Institute of Technology), John Lyon (Georgia Institute of Technology), and Julie Ann Crommett (CEO and Founder, Collective Moxie. Fall 2023.

“Integrating AI into College Writing and Communication Classes,” published in TechStyle, Georgia institute of Technology’s public form for multimodal and digital pedagogy, May 2023.

CONFERENCE & PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS
2
“‘The Monster Stands at the Threshold … of Becoming’: Death, Beginning-Ends, and Hybrid Entanglements in Terry Pratchett’s Reaper Man” in Monsters, Monstrosities, & the Monstrous, 2026 Pop Culture Association National Conference. April 8-11, 2026.

Invited panel speaker and co-chair, “Cyborg Pedagogy: How AI LLMs Re-Define Our Relationship with Information and Digital Literacies,” in “New Ways of Creating Knowledge in the Technologically Integrated Classroom” panel. 2026 Intersectional Studies Remote Conference at South Carolina State, March 27, 2026.

“Outside-and-inbetween: Interrogating Early Career Professional Development and Success,” in “Career Counterstories: Pivots, Fallbacks, and Early Academic Identities (and Why CCCC Needs an Early-Career Special Interest Group)” panel. Conference on College Composition and Communication, Cleveland, OH, March 4-7, Cleveland, OH.

Panel Organizer, “Career Counterstories: Pivots, Fallbacks, and Early Academic Identities (and Why CCCC Needs an Early-Career Special Interest Group).” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Cleveland, OH, March 4-7, Cleveland, OH.

“Cyborg Pedagogy: How AI LLMs Re-Define Our Relationship with Information and Digital Literacies,” in “New Ways of Creating Knowledge in the Technologically Integrated Classroom” panel. South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 6-8, 2025.

Panel Co-Chair, “New Ways of Creating Knowledge in the Technologically Integrated Classroom.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 6-8, 2025.

Chair, “Medieval Literature and Knowledge.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 6-8, 2025.

Chair, “Epic Continuities: From Homeric Voyage to Middle-Earth.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 6-8, 2025.

“Memorial Horror and Haunted Texts: Rhetorical Ghosts and the (Re)creation of Harley Quinn’s Poison Ivy and The Bride from Creature Commandos” in the “ Ghost in the Machine: Naming, Rhetoric, and Storytelling Across Media Afterlives.” Literature/Film Association, Savannah, GA, Sept. 25-27, 2025.

“Immersive Fantasy Game Narrative and the Collaborative Construction of Ethos in College Composition,” in the “Coarticulating Pedagogies: Multiauthorship and Multimodality in the STEM Composition Classroom” Roundtable. Conference on College Composition and Communication Annual Convention, Baltimore, MD, April 9-12, 2025.

“Student ‘Belonging’ Across Disciplines: First Year Writing and STEM Students,” in the “Interrogating a “Sense of Belonging” in the First-Year Writing Classroom” Roundtable. South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Jacksonville, FL, Nov. 15-17, 2024.

“Academic Integrity and the Ethics of Communal Play: Research Perspectives on Tackling Administrative Dilemmas in AI Use Policies,” Co-Presented with Dr. Franziska Tsufim, Machine Writing and the Work of Rhetoric and Composition, Conference on College Composition and Communication, Oct. 23, 2024.

“Ignored Pasts and Neglected Futures: Memory, Time, and Environmental Change in The Awntyrs off Arthure at the Terne Wathelyn.” Southeastern Medieval Association, Augusta, GA, Oct. 10-12, 2024 (accepted, conference canceled due to Hurricane Helene).

“The Lone Medievalist and Popular Medievalism in the College Writing Classroom.” Georgia Medieval Group, Augusta, GA, Oct. 12, 2024 (accepted, conference canceled due to Hurricane Helene).
Invited Speaker, “Tolkien and Asia,” part of the “Tolkien in Asia” symposium hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Modern Languages, November 3, 2023.

“A New Era for Peer Review?: Using Chat GPT as Drafting Support in University Writing Classes.” Co-presented with Dr. Franziska Tsufim. Teach With AI Conference, University of Central Florida, Sept. 24-25, 2023.

“Old, Old School Revival: Teaching Multimodal College Composition With High Fantasy, Neomedieval Role Playing Games.” Comics and Popular Arts Conference at DragonCon, Atlanta, GA. Aug. 31-Sept. 4, 2023 (accepted, panel canceled).

“Communicating Interdisciplinary Research to Diverse Audiences.” Invited talk for UGA’s Center for Integrative Conservation Research and its Integrative Conservation PhD program, Sep. 30, 2021.
“Anglo-Saxons and other Medieval Misuses: Revising Medieval Introductory Material in an Open Access Anthology.” Open Education Conference, Virtual Event, Nov. 9 – 12, 2020.

“Graphic Romance: Teaching Medieval Romance Through Graphic Novels and Comics.” Southeastern Medieval Association, Greensboro, NC. Nov. 14 – 16, 2019.

“Common Places for the Uncommonly Placed: Medieval English Queens and their Books of Hours.” New Chaucer Society 2018 Congress, Toronto, Ont. July 10 – 15, 2018.

“This Life, The Afterlife, and the Lake in Between: The Awntyrs off Arthure at Terne Wathlyne.” Southeastern Medieval Association, Charleston, SC. Nov. 16 – 28, 2017.

“Generative Violence, Violently Unregenerative: Captive Spaces as Inverted Bedchambers in Henry VI, Part Three.” Bedchamber Scenes/Scènes de lit, University of Georgia/ Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier III, Athens, GA. Apr. 12 -13, 2017.

“ ‘A Great Voice out of Heaven’: Christina Rossetti’s The Face of the Deep as Public Sermon.” British Women Writers Conference, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. June 2 – 5, 2016.

Panel Co-Chair, “Women’s Words: Female Instruction in the Medieval British Isles.” International Congress on Medieval Studies Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI. May 16 – 20, 2016.
“Dynastic Translation and Communion: Lady Margaret Beaufort, The Imitation of Christ, and the Establishment of the Tudor Dynasty.” International Congress on Medieval Studies Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI. May 16 – 20, 2016.

“Beyond (and Behind) Invasions: The Nostalgic Apocalypse of the Sermo Lupi ad Anglos and Beowulf.” Southeastern Medieval Association, Little Rock, AR. Oct. 22 – 24, 2015.

“A Parody of the Sacred: The Inverted Hagiography of William Shakespeare’s Richard III.” Southeastern Renaissance Association. Chapel Hill, NC. Oct. 2 – 3, 2015.

“From Angel to Anchorite in the House: The Religious Mystery of Ada Clare’s Ascetic Domestic Piety in Bleak House.” Victorian Institute. Charlotte, NC. Oct. 24 – 25, 2014.

“The (Weak) Ties That Bind: Female Agency in Malory’s ‘Deth of Arthur.’” Southeast Medieval Association. Boone, NC. October 3 – 5, 2013.

PUBLIC HUMANITIES, DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT & PEDAGOGY
President and Founder, Media Res: Research & Narrative Strategies for Fantastical & Speculative Film, Television & Video Games – Integrating academic expertise into popular fantasy and speculative entertainment. Founded September 2025.

Invited participant, University System of Georgia Teaching and Learning Conference, Athens, GA. April 16-17, 2026.

Invited Speaker, ““The Once and Future ‘Once and Future’: Death, Beginning-Ends, and Adaptation in Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword.” Coastal Scholars, College of Coastal Georgia (open to the public). Feb 5, 2026.

Invited Speaker, “Cyborg Pedagogy: How AI LLMs Re-Define Our Relationship with Information and Digital Literacies,” 2026 Intersectional Studies Remote Conference at South Carolina State, March 27, 2026.

Invited Speaker, “Disciplinary Integration and the New Humanities.” Open to
public. College of Coastal Georgia, spring 2026 (dated TBD).

Invited Participant, State of the Entertainment Industry in Georgia, Trilith Studios, Oct. 23, 2025.

Invited Speaker, “The Monster Stands at the Threshold: Mutation, Hybridity, and Posthuman Fear.” Open
to Public, College of Coastal Georgia, Oct. 27, 2025.

Invited Speaker, “Cyborg Ethics: AI and the Human-Machine Relationship.” Open to the public. Gould
Memorial Library, College of Coastal Georgia, Oct. 17, 2025.

Invited Speaker, “In memoriam: Memory and Murder in Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club.” Public lecture, past of Coastal Georgia Reads, Glynn County Libraries, March 2025. (canceled).

Invited Speaker, “Rhetorical Ghosts and the Changeless Future in the Arthurian Legend’s Awntyrs off
Arthure at the Terne Wathelyn.” Open to the public. College of Coastal Georgia, Feb, 6, 2025.

Invited Speaker and Co-presenter, “AI and Faculty Workload: Using AI for Faculty Evaluations.” Open to
the public. College of Coastal Georgia, Feb, 6, 2025.

Invited Participant, State of the Entertainment Industry in Georgia, Trilith Studios, Oct. 17, 2024

Co-chair and Organizer, “Science Fiction and the Future of Space: National Astronomy Day 2024.”
Tellus Science Museum, Cartersville, GA, May 15, 2024.

Co-organizer, Georgia Medieval Group Spring Meeting. Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, Georgia Institute of Technology, April 20, 2024.

Co-Chair and Co-organizer, “The Challenges and Ethics of Space Exploration Symposium. Georgia Institute of Technology, in conjunction with the School of Literature, Media, and Communications and the School of Modern Languages, April 4, 2024.

Co-Chair and Co-organizer, “Postcolonialism and Media: An Interdisciplinary Symposium.” Georgia Institute of Technology, in conjunction with the School of Literature, Media, and Communications and the School of Modern Languages, March 8, 2024.

Co-organizer, “Integrating Art, Literature, Science, and Public Policy.” Invited speaker Dr. Jay Clayton, hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, in conjunction with the School of Literature, Media, and Communications, School of Modern Languages, and School of Public Policy, February 5, 2024.

Co-Chair and Co-Organizer, “Teaching the Middle Ages and Renaissance to STEM Students,” hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology and Studies for Medieval and Renaissance Teaching, Digital Symposium, December 4, 2023.

Co-Chair and Co-Organizer, “Multilingual Composition Pedagogy Symposium,” hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology and its Writing and Communications Program, September 15.

Co-organizer, JA Crommett faculty, staff, and student seminar, “Inclusivity and Digital Storytelling,” hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology, Fall 2023

Co-Organizer, “Out and About,” an event featuring conversations about the experience of LGBTQ+ students, staff, faculty, and alumni/ae in Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology. April 19, 2023.

Co-Organizer, “Inclusive Storytelling and Technology,” an all-day event with sessions for students and faculty featuring guest speaker Julie Ann Crommett, who has worked in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) space for over thirteen years across media and tech, including at Google, NBCUniversal, and Disney. April 3, 2023.

Co-Organizer, “Humanizing STEMM for the 21st Century,” an event exploring how Georgia Institute of Technology might develop future integrations with HASS (humanities, arts, and social science) similar to those suggested by the National Academies featuring guest speaker, Dr. Lisa Margonelli.

GRANT AWARDS

In Process: Open AI Researcher Access Program
Author and $5,000 grant recipient, “Seeing Ourselves: The Role of Inclusivity in Storytelling and Story Creation at Georgia Tech.” Awarded by the Digital Integrative Liberal Arts Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, Summer 2024.

Co-author and $3,000 grant recipient, “The Challenges and Ethics of Space Exploration Symposium,” hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Literature, Media, and Communications, Spring 2023.

Co-author and $5,000 grant recipient, “Life Beyond Earth: Bridging Science Fiction and the Ethics of Astrobiology with Interdisciplinary Digital Resources.” Awarded by Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology, May 2023.

Downing, Savannah

Savannah Downing

Assistant Professor of Communication

Education
Ph.D., Communication Studies (Rhetorical Studies), University of Georgia
M.A., Communication Studies (Rhetoric and Civic Engagement), Colorado State University
B.A., English and Women’s Studies, University of Georgia

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Rhetorical theory and criticism, memory studies, new materialist thought

McNeal, Lisa

Dr. Lisa McNeal

Lisa McNeal

Director of e-Learning

Education
Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, Appalachian State University
M.S. in Instructional Systems, Florida State University
B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication, Samford University

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Dr. McNeal has worked in instructional technology since 1999 and taught college students since 2007. She teaches courses in student success, social media, food studies, and interdisciplinary research methods. Her research centers on online course design, online learner engagement, qualitative methods, and food studies.

Selected Presentations and Publications:

McNeal, L. (2025). LMS Integrations and Third-Party Tools: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Presented at Distance Learning Administration Conference.

Brooks, K. B. & McNeal, L. (2025). Hunting rather than Fishing: Using Direct Messaging to Engage Online Learners. Presented at Meaningful Living and Learning in the Digital World.

McNeal, L., Gray, J. P. & Conner, S. (2024). Students in the intersection: Interconnectivity and the impact on RSI in online spaces. Presented at SoTL Commons Conference.

McNeal, L., Payne, G. & Cieszeski, J. (2023). You’ve got this: Lessons Learned from Adopting and OER for First Year Students. Presented at All Things Open.

Gray, J. P. & McNeal, L. (2025). Supporting students and faculty in the online classroom: Slow down and simplify at the end. Faculty Focus.

McNeal, L. (2023). Time to tidy up: Start the new year by decluttering your physical and digital spaces. Faculty Focus.

McNeal, L. & Gray, J. P. (2020). Beyond tickets and comma splices: Using writing center coaching techniques to support online learners. Georgia Educational Researcher. (18)1.

McNeal, L. & Gray, J. P. (2019). A new spin on quality: Broadening online course reviews through coaching and slow thinking. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, (22)4.

Conner, Stephanie

Dr. Stephanie Conner

Dr. Stephanie Conner

Associate Professor of English

Education
Ed.D. in Leadership, Valdosta State University
M.A. in English, Valdosta State University
B.A. in English, Valdosta State University

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Dr. Stephanie B. Conner is a tenured associate professor of English with a focus on composition and Interdisciplinary Studies at the College of Coastal Georgia with over 25 years of experience. She has presented at nearly 40 conferences including the Conference on College Composition and Communication and published her work in journals such as Response to Writing. Her research is grounded in pedagogical best practices in college writing instruction as well as professional development in teaching and learning. Her most recent work includes a collaborative, dual-institution IRB-approved study with three other composition professors exploring faculty emotional responses to plagiarism and AI in writing courses and is due for publication at Composition Forum in spring 2026. Other research areas include incorporating Writing Center coaches into peer review activities and using weak examples as instructional material to bolster students’ critical thinking about citation and AI use. Dr. Conner has also worked collaboratively to develop a discipline-specific first-year writing course for students interested in the nursing program and has presented on this work at conferences such as Arizona State’s Writing in the Health Professions. She has served as a faculty senator and as chair of the Advising, Faculty Development, and Active Learning committees.

Pope, Aurora

Aurora Pope

Aurora Pope

Associate Professor of Visual Arts

Education
M.F.A. Studio Art, East Tennessee State University
A.B. Anthropology, University of Georgia

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Aurora Pope teaches both studio and lecture classes. The studio classes are 2-D Design, 3-D Design, Drawing 1 & 2, and Advanced Drawing. She also teaches Art Appreciation, Art History Surveys 1 & 2, and Topics in American Art. In the studio, Aurora often incorporates elements from her natural surroundings into her work, either as materials or representations. In the last few years, she has been reacting to prints left on paper from mushroom spores, building upon them with graphite, charcoal, and soft pastel. These have been recently included in juried competitions with Upstream Gallery and Ten Moir Gallery. Aurora also makes artist’s books that include ecoprinted and handmade paper and other organic materials. In 2023, she installed a solo exhibition of these drawings and books at Glynn Visual Arts. The show was entitled _Elementals_.

Gray, Jennifer

Dr. Jennifer Gray

Jennifer Gray

Professor of English
Writing Center Coordinator

Education
Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with Composition and Rhetoric Specialization, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
M.A. in English, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia
B.A. in English, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Dr. Jennifer P. Gray is a professor of English and the creator and director of the Writing Center at the College of Coastal Georgia. She has taught writing courses for more than 20 years. Jennifer has authored or co-authored over 30 articles focused on either composition pedagogy or writing center practices, and she has presented at over 75 conferences. Her most advanced active research project is a collaboration between four compositionists across two institutions and focuses on college faculty experiences with plagiarism and AI within writing-intensive courses. Her other active research projects focus on procrastination in writing classes and the use and revision of weak mentor texts to help students effectively learn about citation and AI use. Jennifer is the Vice-Chair of the College’s Institutional Review Board, and she was a former Executive Committee member for the respected Conference on College Composition and Communication. She is also a Teacher Consultant (TC) for the National Writing Project.