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Gaines Center Affiliated Teaching Faculty 2025-2026: Our Year on Origins

Trey Conatser — Trey Conatser, Ph.D

Assistant Provost for Teaching & Learning
Director of CELT
Dr. Trey Conatser is assistant provost for teaching and learning and director of CELT. In this role he represents UK’s educational mission within and beyond the University, and he oversees CELT operations in pursuit of innovative, effective, and engaging teaching and learning at UK. In his leadership roles Trey has participated in a range of initiatives around institutional priorities such as pandemic-era education and operations; transdisciplinary education; and the rise of generative artificial intelligence (for which he co-chairs the University task force on generative AI). Over the past few years, he has overseen a significant growth and diversification of CELT's reach and impact to meet the evolving needs of instructors and students.
Trey holds a PhD in English from The Ohio State University with a specialization in writing, rhetoric, digital humanities, and pedagogy. At Ohio State he began working in educational development as part of the storied Digital Media and Composition (DMAC) Institute. Broadly, Trey’s research has examined technology-enhanced learning in the humanities and writing-based scenarios, and can be found in venues such as College Teaching, Computers and Composition Online, the Journal of Digital Humanities, and the Palgrave Handbook of Digital and Public Humanities, with forthcoming work on the unessay and generative AI, student engagement with generative AI, and teacher and student motivation during the early years of the pandemic.
Recent or forthcoming presentations include venues such as the POD Network Annual Conference, the SACSCOC Annual Meeting, Times Higher Education's Digital Universities US and Student Success US, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Teaching and Learning with AI Conference, and the Higher Education Partnership Network. He contributed to coverage of higher education in Forbes, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and The Atlantic. Trey has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in digital humanities, technical and professional writing, first-year/college writing, literature, and college teaching and learning.

Jennifer Cramer — Jennifer Cramer, Ph.D

Professor
Department of Linguistics
Dr. Jennifer Cramer is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Kentucky, where she brings her passion for language and communication to the classroom. With a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience in the field. Her research interests span a wide range of topics, including sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, with a particular focus on language variation and change in Appalachia, the American South, and Kentucky. Dr. Cramer is known for her engaging teaching style, fostering critical thinking and inquiry among her students. She currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Kentucky Humanities Council and as Senior Associate Editor of American Speech.

Julian Dupuis — Julian R. Dupuis, Ph.D

Assistant Professor
Department of Entomology

Brandon Erby — Brandon M. Erby, Ph.D

Assistant Professor
Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies

Reinette Jones — Reinette Jones

Special Collections Librarian and African American Studies Affiliate
Special Collections Research Center

Tanya Whitehouse — Chef Tanya Whitehouse

Chef and Program Manager, The Food Connection
Chef Tanya is both the heart and brains of The Food Connection's culinary programing. As the former Sous Chef of Holly Hill Inn for Ouita Michel, she brings both her culinary expertise and a passion for Kentucky-grown foods to our programing. You’ll find her both in our learning kitchen and out in the community inviting students and professionals, children and adults to gain new skills, explore new flavors, and enjoy new experiences. Chef Tanya passionately believes that we are inexorably tied to what we eat and that sitting down to a meal together can connect you with other people in a way nothing else can. Tanya’s favorite Kentucky food is her grandma’s recipe for ketchup, and her favorite tool is her 10” chef’s knife. Tanya leads a number of programs for our community members throughout the year.

Gaines Center Faculty of Record

Ben Arnold — Ben Arnold

Ben Arnold is a Professor in the College of Fine Arts. He is the Director of the School of Music and is affiliated faculty for the Lewis Honors College.

Melanie Goan — Melanie Beals Goan

Melanie Beals Goan is a Professor in the College of Arts & Sciences. She is the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of History and the Director of UK BLUE Bachelor to Law undergraduate program. She is affiliated with the Appalachian Center and the Health, Society, and Populations program.

Dan Halgin — Dan Halgin

Dan Halgin is an Associate Professor of Management in the Gatton College of Business.

Julie Human — Julie Human

Julie Human is an Associate Professor in the College of Arts & Sciences. She is the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Modern & Classical Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, and she is the Director of the French Language Program. She is affiliated with the Folklore & Mythology program, French & Francophone Studies, and the Department of Gender & Women's Studies.

Shauna Morgan — Shauna Morgan

Shauna Morgan is an Associate Professor in the College of Arts & Sciences. She is the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Creative Writing Division in the Department of English. She is affiliated with African American and African Studies and the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies.

Stephen Parsons — Stephen Parsons

Stephen Parsons is a Gaines alum and the Technical Lead for the Digital Restoration Initiative in the Pigman College of Engineering.

Rebecca Radtke — Rebecca Radtke

Rebekah Radtke is an Associate Professor in the College of Design, School of Interiors.

Sherelle Roberts — Sherelle Roberts

Sherelle Roberts is a lecturer in the Lewis Honors College.

Carlos Rodriguez Lopez — Carlos Rodriguez Lopez

Carlos Rodriguez Lopez is an Associate Professor in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, Department of Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology.

M. Sara Rosenthal — M. Sara Rosenthal

M. Sara Rosenthal is a Professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Behavioral Science and the Founding Directorof the Program for Bioethics and the MCC Oncology Ethics Program

The Gaines Board

Humanities Foundation, Inc. Board Members

Humanities Foundation, Inc. UK Internal Board Representatives

President, University of Kentucky
- Eli Capilouto
Provost, University of Kentucky
- Robert DiPaola
Interim Dean, Lewis Honors College
- Laura Bryan
Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
- Ana Franco-Watkins
Director, Gaines Center for the Humanities
- Michelle Sizemore
Gaines Fellows' Student Representative
- Amica Snow