Education (Colleges & Universities)
Here's a look at documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
Featured Stories
TROY Students Win 17 Awards at Southeastern Journalism Conference
TROY, Alabama, Feb. 10 -- Troy University issued the following news:
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TROY students win 17 awards at Southeastern Journalism Conference
Students from Troy University's Hall School of Journalism and Communication won 17 awards, including first place for both Best Audio Program and Best TV Station, at the 2026 Southeastern Journalism Conference (SEJC) at Georgia Highlands College in Cartersville, Ga.
SEJC is an annual event that includes member colleges from across the Southeast and features two competitions. The "Best of the South Awards" highlight work that was published from the previous
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TROY, Alabama, Feb. 10 -- Troy University issued the following news:
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TROY students win 17 awards at Southeastern Journalism Conference
Students from Troy University's Hall School of Journalism and Communication won 17 awards, including first place for both Best Audio Program and Best TV Station, at the 2026 Southeastern Journalism Conference (SEJC) at Georgia Highlands College in Cartersville, Ga.
SEJC is an annual event that includes member colleges from across the Southeast and features two competitions. The "Best of the South Awards" highlight work that was published from the previousyear, while the on-site competitions challenge students to produce stories on a deadline.
Hanna Cooper, Lecturer and Student Publications Adviser, and Paige Ray, TV Production Coordinator for TrojanVision,
"The amazing work from our students at the Tropolitan, Troy TrojanVision, and Troy Public Radio was recognized at the Southeast Journalism Conference, and they represented Troy well," said Cooper. "I am always in awe of their poise, dedication, and drive as they continue to perfect their craft. I am incredibly proud of their accomplishments this weekend. These students are making the most of their time in the Hall School of Journalism and Communication, and that was evident this weekend."
"I'm so proud of what our students accomplished at SEJC," said Ray, "To be named SEJC's Best TV Station is a success I credit entirely to the hard work and dedication of our students. Although we don't do what we do for awards, I'm glad to know our students' efforts are being noticed and awarded."
The winners are as follows:
"Best of the South"
* 1st for Best Audio Program
* 1st for Best TV Station
* 5th for Best Video Newscast
* Ty Davidson, 5th for Best News Writer
* Jimmy Nichols, 4th for Best TV Journalist
* Simon Brown, 1st for Best Multimedia Journalist
* Reace England, 3rd for Best Radio Journalist
* Reace England, 1st for Feature Reporter
* Reana Wallace, 1st for Radio Journalist
* Jameson Speece, 1st for Radio News
On-site Competition
* Nathaniel Bliss, 1st for Current Events Quiz
* Kathryn Clark and Matilda Ziegler, 2nd for Media Law Challenge
* Caden Walker and Nathan Henderson, 2nd for PR Challenge
* Jameson Speece, Honorable Mention for Radio News
* Simon Brown and Ty Davidson, Honorable Mention for TV News
* Caden Walker, 3rd for Anchoring
* James Nichols and Nathaniel Bliss, 3rd for TV Sports
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Original text here: https://today.troy.edu/news/troy-students-win-17-awards-at-southeastern-journalism-conference/
Montana State Study of Turtle Fossil Narrows Timeline of Cretaceous Species Migration
BOZEMAN, Montana, Feb. 10 (TNSjou) -- Montana State University issued the following news:
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Montana State study of turtle fossil narrows timeline of Cretaceous species migration
By Diana Setterberg, MSU News Service
Before leaving on a fossil-hunting trip for a summer 2021 field paleontology class, a Montana State University junior made an apparently fate-tempting plea.
"I kept joking through that whole class, 'Oh, please, just anything but a turtle,'" said Jack Prall, now a doctoral student in MSU's Department of Earth Sciences in the College of Letters and Science.
Prall had prior field
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BOZEMAN, Montana, Feb. 10 (TNSjou) -- Montana State University issued the following news:
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Montana State study of turtle fossil narrows timeline of Cretaceous species migration
By Diana Setterberg, MSU News Service
Before leaving on a fossil-hunting trip for a summer 2021 field paleontology class, a Montana State University junior made an apparently fate-tempting plea.
"I kept joking through that whole class, 'Oh, please, just anything but a turtle,'" said Jack Prall, now a doctoral student in MSU's Department of Earth Sciences in the College of Letters and Science.
Prall had prior fieldexperience in his home state of Colorado, where turtle fossils are abundant, so he hoped to find something more novel to him in the Frontier geological formation near Lima in southwest Montana.
"Of course," he said, "one of the cooler finds on that class trip was this turtle."
At the time, Prall didn't know that "this turtle" would turn out to be the oldest confirmed specimen - by about 5 million years - of the Basilemys genus of meter-long, terrestrial turtles that lived in North America during the mid- to late Cretaceous. The journal Historical Biology recently published a paper by Prall and fellow MSU graduate student Brendan Clark, describing how they and their co-authors determined the specimen's age and discussing the scientific significance of the 89-million-year-old animal.
"Most of the oldest confirmed fossils of this turtle get up to 84 million years," said Clark, whom Prall describes as the "resident turtle specialist" among MSU's current group of earth sciences graduate students. "This is definitely the oldest directly dated fossil of Basilemys known so far."
Prall began studying the specimen for an undergraduate research project but, before finishing it, was ready to shift his focus to his unrelated Ph.D. research. In 2024, he invited Clark, who is preparing his master's thesis on another Montana fossil turtle from the mid-Cretaceous, to "fill in the gaps and get this project over the line." Clark agreed, hoping the Basilemys would offer insight into the formation of ecosystems in the Cretaceous. At the time, neither student realized what the fossil would reveal about the large interchange of animals between Russia and Alaska during that period.
The juvenile specimen, whom the students nicknamed "Donatello" in honor of the "nerdy" Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle of cartoon fame, did not disappoint.
To determine how long ago Donatello died, Prall and Clark sought help from fellow graduate students. One of them, Zak Hannebaum, analyzed sediment collected with the fossil in a geochronology class taught by MSU associate professor of geology Devon Orme.
"Once we started getting more and more interesting dates, we brought in Dr. Orme and were able to get a much closer idea of how old this rock is," Prall said. "It fell out to around 89 million, which was really, really exciting when we got those numbers back."
The genus Basilemys belongs to the extinct, Asian Nanhsiungchelyidae family of large, land-dwelling turtles, but Basilemys specimens have been found only in North and Central America, suggesting that the genus evolved after its ancestors migrated toward North America.
"Importantly, Basilemys is the only turtle in its family that is in North America - the rest are from Asia," Prall said. "We have family members going back about 112 million years, but we don't have a good idea of how that dispersal happened or especially when that dispersal happened. This fossil really helps to narrow down that time in which that migration could have occurred and helps strengthen the hypotheses out there about the migrations that are happening during this greenhouse event."
Scientists believe the ancestors of Basilemys began migrating during a period of increasing polar warming between 100 million and 113 million years ago. The paper states that Donatello's location in the Frontier formation indicates Basilemys rapidly colonized western North America south of what is now Alaska and Canada just over 90 million years ago. During that period, polar temperatures averaged 13 degrees Celsius, or 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Still, because they sometimes would have been exposed to freezing temperatures, it's unknown how the turtles survived in polar regions. The paper suggests they may have engaged in burrowing behavior or entered states of winter dormancy to survive.
Fossil turtles are representative of groups commonly seen later in the Age of Dinosaurs, which ended 66 million years ago. Clark and Prall said seeing them so much earlier in the fossil record sheds light on the origins of ancient ecosystems and provides insight into how turtles responded to a shifting climate in the past, thereby furthering understanding of the evolution of ecosystems in North America during the Cretaceous.
The authors are certain that Donatello lived a lifestyle similar to that of a modern tortoise in balmy conditions at the western edge of a vast, inland sea. But because only a small part of its shell was recovered, Prall said there was no way to determine whether Donatello represents a new, previously undiscovered species of Basilemys.
"Unfortunately, the fossil record gives us what it gives us, but we'll go out and look for more," said Prall, no longer wishing for "anything but a turtle."
Donatello is one of many scientifically significant fossils found in southwest Montana since the turn of the century, including an older turtle fossil that Clark is studying for his master's thesis. Near the Frontier formation lies the older Blackleaf formation, where, in 2004, an MSU graduate student discovered the 95-million-year-old bones of an adult and two juvenile Oryctodromeus cubicularis dinosaurs in a burrow. The fossils offered the first scientific evidence that some dinosaurs dug burrows and cared for their young in dens.
In the Blackleaf in 2021, MSU field paleontology students found the remains of a small, terrestrial crocodyliform, also about 95 million years old, later identified as a new species that shares particular anatomical features with distantly related crocs from the Cretaceous of Africa and South America. The similarities suggest that crocodyliforms were evolving similarly in different parts of the world at the same time.
The sites are managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, which MSU professor of paleontology David Varricchio credits for furthering scientific discovery by granting access to professional and student paleontologists.
"Allowing researchers and students to work on these specimens gets them preserved in public museums, protecting them for the common good," Varricchio said.
Erik Torgerson, a geologist with Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, said the agency appreciates the stewardship efforts of MSU to preserve paleontological resources on National Forest System lands.
"The work ethic and professionalism of Dr. Varricchio and his students has been exceptional," Torgerson said. "We look forward to continued work with MSU and their contributions, so the paleontological story of southwest Montana does not go unnoticed."
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Original text here: https://www.montana.edu/news/25095/montana-state-study-of-turtle-fossil-narrows-timeline-of-cretaceous-species-migration
Grant to IU's Media School Will Fund Learning Lab That Expands Local News Coverage
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, Feb. 10 -- Indiana University Media School issued the following news:
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Grant to IU's Media School will fund learning lab that expands local news coverage
The Indiana Newsroom, a new learning lab in The Media School at Indiana University Bloomington, will expand local coverage on underreported issues affecting communities across southern Indiana, while providing paid experiential learning opportunities for IU student journalists.
Launching this fall and funded by a two-year, $300,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County, the learning
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BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, Feb. 10 -- Indiana University Media School issued the following news:
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Grant to IU's Media School will fund learning lab that expands local news coverage
The Indiana Newsroom, a new learning lab in The Media School at Indiana University Bloomington, will expand local coverage on underreported issues affecting communities across southern Indiana, while providing paid experiential learning opportunities for IU student journalists.
Launching this fall and funded by a two-year, $300,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County, the learninglab will operate using a content-sharing model common across today's media landscape. Professional and student news organizations will partner with students under the guidance of a new Media School faculty member whose position will be supported by the grant.
"An important goal of this initiative is to expand the capacity for reporting that's already being done by student and professional media organizations in our region," said Suzannah Evans Comfort, associate professor in The Media School, who was instrumental in securing the grant.
"We're looking to develop coverage on communities and issues that haven't received as much news attention simply because of the limited resources facing our local news organizations," Comfort said. "We've felt for some time that there was a stronger role for The Media School to play in supporting our local news landscape, and students are going to gain valuable hands-on experience that will make them better-prepared journalists when they graduate."
Headquartered in dedicated space in Franklin Hall on the Bloomington campus, the program will employ up to 15 student reporters per semester.
The initiative will establish partnerships with both professional and independent student news organizations, beginning with Indiana Public Media, to strengthen the reach, credibility and real-world impact of student reporting.
"As a service of Indiana University, WFIU and WTIU have a long-standing mission to connect our community with the information and resources that improve Hoosier lives," said Mike Arnold, executive director of integrated public media. "This partnership with the Indiana Newsroom expands that mission, giving us the capacity to dig deeper into the stories affecting southern Indiana through the fresh eyes of student journalists. We are excited to see what this becomes as more partners are involved in this project."
Other news organizations will be invited to join as the program expands.
"At the heart of the Community Foundation is a vision for a vibrant Monroe County where every individual has the opportunity to thrive," said Tina Peterson, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County. "Access to trusted information is vital for residents to feel connected and empowered to participate in civic decisions that shape their daily lives. Strengthening local news is central to that work, which is why the foundation has been working in multiple ways to support a more resilient and collaborative local news ecosystem.
"Through this partnership with Indiana University, we're not only expanding coverage across the Indiana Uplands region; we're also helping build a stronger pipeline of journalists equipped with the skills and experiences necessary to report thoughtfully on local communities throughout their careers."
The grant will support student pay and travel as well as the hiring of a visiting professor of community journalism to serve as the lab's founding director.
Students will begin working through a three-credit community journalism course and become eligible for paid positions during their second semester of participation.
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Original text here: https://news.iu.edu/live/news/48857-grant-to-ius-media-school-will-fund-learning-lab-that-?_gl=1*16f83cj*_gcl_au*NjgwMjc2MTI5LjE3NzAxMTU4ODI.*_ga*MjA1NTgxNjcyLjE3NjE5OTAyMDM.*_ga_61CH0D2DQW*czE3NzA3MDk3NDgkbzMzJGcwJHQxNzcwNzA5NzQ4JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..
Christopher Newport University: Captains are in the Capitol
NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia, Feb. 10 -- Christopher Newport University issued the following news:
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Captains are in the Capitol
Students get inside look at lawmaking
By Jim Hanchett
It was a moment that three Christopher Newport University students will always remember. They were in state Del. Lee Ware's corner office overlooking the State Capitol in Richmond. First, he answered their questions during a friendly conversation. Then the Republican from Powhatan County stood up and summoned them to the big picture windows that are one of the perks of 28 years of service in the General Assembly.
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NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia, Feb. 10 -- Christopher Newport University issued the following news:
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Captains are in the Capitol
Students get inside look at lawmaking
By Jim Hanchett
It was a moment that three Christopher Newport University students will always remember. They were in state Del. Lee Ware's corner office overlooking the State Capitol in Richmond. First, he answered their questions during a friendly conversation. Then the Republican from Powhatan County stood up and summoned them to the big picture windows that are one of the perks of 28 years of service in the General Assembly.The students, mesmerized, listened as the former high school government teacher pointed to each building and shared a bit of its history. That sort of interaction, spontaneous and inspiring, is what Captains in the Capital is all about.
For six years now, the Wason Center for Civic Leadership has organized a daylong trip to Virginia's Capitol complex. It's an introduction to lawmaking, lawmakers, and lobbying at a breakneck pace. This year, 35 students with a range of academic interests filled the CNU bus. The group included members of the President's Leadership Program, the Student Government Association, and Wason Scholars Program. The Captains were all instantly visible throughout the day wearing their distinctive scarves in CNU colors.
First stop was a conference room on the top floor of the General Assembly Building. President William G. Kelly, Rector Christy Morton, and Board of Visitors Secretary Brent Archer briefed the students. They were to follow an agenda carefully constructed by Wason Center leaders Dr. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, Cami Castleberry, and Jillian Hamilton in partnership with Tom Kramer, associate vice president for external relations and the University's liaison with legislators.
"You have a great story to tell about Christopher Newport University," Rector Morton said as the students prepared to fan out and meet individually with delegates and senators. "As you walk around, don't forget to look around," said Secretary Archer.. "You will be walking the same stairs as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson."
A regular presence in the Capitol as an expert on Virginia's energy industry, Secretary Archer urged the students to admire the remarkable detail on the historic sculpture of Washington that has stood in the rotunda since the 1790s. Later in the day, the sculpture would be the backdrop for a group photo of the CNU delegation with Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi.
After their meetings with individual lawmakers, the students were on the move again. The delegation was divided into two groups, one attending the opening of the House session and the other in the Senate chamber where they were introduced by fellow scarf-wearing state Sen. Danny Diggs. The campus is located in his district.
With President Kelly and the students standing, Lt. Gov. Hashmi, in her role as presiding officer of the state Senate, said, "I see the Senator is sporting the CNU scarf proudly and if we do spot other scarves as we walk through the halls, we will know to acknowledge the representatives of CNU. Thank you for the work of the institution and all that you are doing."
As that unfolded in the Senate, state delegates Shelly Simonds and Jeion Ward '95 introduced the CNU group in the House of Delegates. As the action in the chambers continued, the students headed to lunch at the McGuireWoods law office with Wason Center Advisory Board Member Jackie Stone and Shannon Pierce, a member of the CNU Board of Visitors and President of Virginia Natural Gas. They were joined by eight Captains for Life who work at the Capitol complex and nearby.
Coincidentally, the extent of the University's connection with state government was on display on the same day as the Captains in the Capital visit. Social Work Professor Dr. Diane Griffiths was leading a delegation of social policy students for Social Work Advocacy Day. They had studied the legislative process, selected and researched a proposed bill, built an advocacy plan for it, and then arranged meetings with delegates and senators and their staff.
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Original text here: https://cnu.edu/news/2026/02/09-cnu-captains-in-the-capitol/#skipheader
California Baptist University: CAVAD Hosts Lecture About AI and Creativity
RIVERSIDE, California, Feb. 10 -- California Baptist University issued the following news:
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CAVAD hosts lecture about AI and creativity
In the 2025-26 academic year, the College of Architecture, Visual Arts and Design is hosting a lecture series in which guest speakers cover various topics relating to CAVAD's creative fields.
The most recent lecture on Jan. 29 focused on the issue of artificial intelligence.
"We wanted an expert to come in and share their perspective of how they think about (artificial intelligence) as a Christian," said Dirk Dallas, dean of CAVAD. "The world is treating
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RIVERSIDE, California, Feb. 10 -- California Baptist University issued the following news:
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CAVAD hosts lecture about AI and creativity
In the 2025-26 academic year, the College of Architecture, Visual Arts and Design is hosting a lecture series in which guest speakers cover various topics relating to CAVAD's creative fields.
The most recent lecture on Jan. 29 focused on the issue of artificial intelligence.
"We wanted an expert to come in and share their perspective of how they think about (artificial intelligence) as a Christian," said Dirk Dallas, dean of CAVAD. "The world is treatingAI as a god, as if it is going to be your savior to all your problems and you're never going to need to work again. We want to push back against that and put it in its proper context."
This lecture was given by Dr. Jason Thacker, assistant professor of philosophy and ethics at Boyce College. In his lecture, "Not Like Us: Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, and Human Dignity," he aimed to differentiate the creativity happening through AI as opposed to humans.
"What does it mean to be human? I think that is one of the key questions we ask in society across the board, no matter the political social issue," Thacker said.
He brought up a recent controversial AI artist named Solomon Ray.
"This AI generated singer climbed to the top of the Christian charts on Apple Gospel music as well as the top of the charts on the Billboard Christian music, but he does not exist," Thacker said.
The person behind Ray's music is Christopher Townsend. He used generative AI tools to build the singer's voice.
"These phenomena have raised significant questions about the nature and the future of artificial intelligence, particularly questions of authenticity, as well as fundamental understandings of what artificial intelligence is," Thacker said.
Thacker goes on to state that AI cannot truly be creative because it cannot convey authentic meaning.
"I'm not saying it's nothing and that it's valueless," Thacker said. "I'm saying it is not doing what we do when we create."
Thacker reminded listeners that humans are unlike any form of creation. He referred to Genesis 1:27 which says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."
"You are a human being," Thacker said. "You are infinitely valuable. Not because of the things you do but because of who you are."
One of the main fears regarding AI has long been the concern of job shortages, primarily in creative fields of work.
CBU alumnus Colton Dall ('22) works as the creative director for Christian singer-songwriter Phil Wickham. Although discussion of AI was slimmer during his CBU days, Colton has seen its rise in his industry. He attended Thacker's lecture in the hopes of receiving clarity regarding his conviction of AI in the workplace.
Following the lecture, Dall said he was inspired by Thacker's reminder to not simply repeat as creatives but to lean in and aim to do something new.
"If I just continue to iterate off the old idea, I'll never actually be better than AI," Dall said.
Kyra Hayden, a graphic design and visual experience senior, also attended the lecture to hear relevant discussion of AI in her field. She appreciated Thacker's reminder to take advantage of one's education.
"I like the idea of being in control of your work because rather than relying on quick fixes, or AI to do it, you're actually learning. You need to know what to do in case all else fails," Hayden said.
At the end of his lecture, Thacker argued that AI doesn't create but rather generates and produces. He reminds listeners that their value is not found in what they do or have done. It is found in who they are as image bearers of the almighty God.
"You, amongst the community at CBU, can do something that is big, that may be groundbreaking. If we're not careful in the age of AI, we can allow our creative gifts to become stagnant," Thacker said. "The process is part of the point. It's not just about what you produce at the end, it's about what you learn along the way and what type of person you're becoming."
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Original text here: https://calbaptist.edu/about/news-events/news/cavad_hosts_lecture_about_ai_and_creativity
CalState Poly-Pomona: 2026 Office of Academic Innovation Winter Institute Highlights Cross-Campus Collaboration for Inclusive Academic Excellence
POMONA, California, Feb. 10 -- California State Polytechnic University-Pomona issued the following news:
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2026 Office of Academic Innovation Winter Institute Highlights Cross-Campus Collaboration for Inclusive Academic Excellence
Caitlyn Kubulan
The 2026 Office of Academic Innovation Winter Institute brought together faculty and staff across campus for a two-day interactive experience focused on advancing inclusive academic excellence through collaboration and mentorship.
Hosted by the Office of Academic Innovation, the January 14-15 institute centered on the theme "Cultivating Partnerships
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POMONA, California, Feb. 10 -- California State Polytechnic University-Pomona issued the following news:
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2026 Office of Academic Innovation Winter Institute Highlights Cross-Campus Collaboration for Inclusive Academic Excellence
Caitlyn Kubulan
The 2026 Office of Academic Innovation Winter Institute brought together faculty and staff across campus for a two-day interactive experience focused on advancing inclusive academic excellence through collaboration and mentorship.
Hosted by the Office of Academic Innovation, the January 14-15 institute centered on the theme "Cultivating Partnershipsfor Inclusive Academic Excellence," spotlighting the Kellogg Honors College as a model for fostering cross-campus partnerships that support equitable student success.
Since its founding in 2003, the Kellogg Honors College has advanced learning through a strong emphasis on community, honors coursework, civic engagement, and undergraduate research, contributing to high student outcomes. Using the Honors College as a case study, the Winter Institute explored how intentional collaboration across academic and student service units can create inclusive environments where both students and educators are empowered to thrive.
Throughout the institute, participants engaged in hands-on sessions and facilitated discussions exploring themes such as inclusive mentorship and advising, engaged learning, connection and belonging, and undergraduate research and faculty partnership. These sessions encouraged attendees to reflect on their own practices while identifying transferable strategies that can be applied across disciplines and programs.
The Winter Institute also emphasized strengthening collaboration between academic and student service units and examining ways to expand mentoring capacity and program resilience through student leadership. Participants shared examples of effective partnerships, explored opportunities for innovation within their own departments, and considered how inclusive mentorship practices can be sustained at scale.
"We want to create an environment where all the students can get the most out of their CPP experience, and we want to support strong outcomes and post-graduation," said Claudia Garcia Des-Lauriers, Kellogg Honors College director.
The Office of Academic Innovation encourages faculty and staff to stay tuned for updates on the upcoming Summer Conference, scheduled for Wednesday, June 3 through Thursday, June 4, which will continue last year's exploration of artificial intelligence in higher education.
For information on the Winter Institute or the Summer Conference, please visit the Office of Academic Innovation website (https://www.cpp.edu/ai/index.shtml) or contact the team at ai@cpp.edu.
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Original text here: https://www.cpp.edu/news/content/2026/02/2026-office-of-academic-innovation-winter-institute-highlights-cross-campus-collaboration-for-inclusive-academic-excellence/index.shtml
University of South Carolina: Painting With Purpose
COLUMBIA, South Carolina, Feb. 10 -- The University of South Carolina issued the following news:
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Painting with purpose
USC Brain Health launches student-driven arts program
By Nicole Carrico, Nicole.Carrico@uscmed.sc.edu
Junior Ansley Martin came to the University of South Carolina with plans to major in neuroscience and become a doctor. As a freshman, she jumped right into neuroimaging research, investigating biomarkers for stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.
But Martin also loves art, and she's been able to embrace her creative side through the humanities and culture minor at the
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COLUMBIA, South Carolina, Feb. 10 -- The University of South Carolina issued the following news:
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Painting with purpose
USC Brain Health launches student-driven arts program
By Nicole Carrico, Nicole.Carrico@uscmed.sc.edu
Junior Ansley Martin came to the University of South Carolina with plans to major in neuroscience and become a doctor. As a freshman, she jumped right into neuroimaging research, investigating biomarkers for stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.
But Martin also loves art, and she's been able to embrace her creative side through the humanities and culture minor at theMcCausland College of Arts and Sciences. She's also looked for creative ways to bring art into her work with patients - in the future and right now.
"Understanding psychology and culture around patients is really important, so I wanted to bring creativity into my education as well," she says.
Since last year, Martin has been working with USC Brain Health to launch a program called Vibrant Minds, an expressive arts initiative that combines neuroscience, creativity and social interaction to support older adults living with Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other neurological conditions. The program helps adults facing cognitive challenges connect with their memories and each other through art and creative projects.
Brain Health is committed to improving access to cognitive care for underserved residents throughout the state of South Carolina. In addition to operating clinics, Brain Health also supports patients and their caregivers through services and programs, which made the idea for a creative arts program a good fit for a pilot program in the spring of 2025.
Drawing from personal inspiration
Martin had been mulling over an idea for a patient-centered arts program for some time before it became a reality. She knew firsthand how important art can be for a person's well-being, but she had also seen the impact when someone loses their creative abilities.
"My Oma -- my grandmother -- was an incredible artist," she says. "After she developed dementia and began taking medication, tremors kept her from painting, which was heartbreaking."
In hopes of helping people like her grandmother, Martin began researching the benefits of creating art for people with dementia and neurological conditions.
"What I found was amazing. It can improve mood, reduce anxiety, aid motor skills and even slow cognitive decline," she says.
While she knew the science, and she loved art herself, Martin needed someone with more expertise on the art education side. One afternoon at a student government event, she met Stella Tew, who would become her co-leader of Vibrant Minds.
"I asked Stella about her major, and the moment she said, 'art education,' I immediately told her I had a proposition to discuss with her," Martin says.
"A week later, we sat down at the library and mapped out a plan," says Tew, a senior in the South Carolina Honors College. Like Martin, Tew's interest in creating Vibrant Minds came from personal experience.
"My great-grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Watching what she went through was very difficult. As a future art educator, I've always believed creativity is essential to being human. But people often lose touch with that part of themselves as they get older," she says.
When Martin and Stew presented their concept for Vibrant Minds to Brain Health's leadership, the team immediately saw great potential. Alyssa Blickensderfer, a Brain Health program manager, became a mentor to the two students, guiding them through the process of turning their idea into a pilot program and launching it last spring.
"What impressed me was how quickly Ansley and Stella connected their passion for art and neuroscience to the broader mission of Brain Health," Blickensderfer says. "My role was to help them shape that vision into something impactful and sustainable."
Creating a brighter future for cognitive patients
What began as small, occasional sessions soon grew into a powerful model that combined evidence-based art activities with reflection, storytelling and conversation.
For Blickensderfer, the program represents what Brain Health aims to achieve.
"This work isn't only about positive outcomes for the residents," she says. "It's about building meaningful experiences that reduce isolation and encourage creativity, which can improve brain health."
Vibrant Minds sessions are designed to spark creativity and memory. Activities range from painting landscapes and scenes of meaningful life moments to decorating picture frames for photos of loved ones. Class participants are encouraged to share stories, making the process about connection as much as art.
The team has witnessed powerful moments along the way.
"There's a couple we work with who have been together for 64 years," Martin says. "The husband is a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. After a few sessions, his wife told me she could already see a positive impact on his quality of life."
Looking ahead, Blickensderfer is focused on expanding Vibrant Minds to more locations and developing a mentorship model to train future student leaders for the program.
"The students have incredible vision," she says. "My job is to help them realize their passion through the program so that it can become a permanent component of the services we offer our participants."
Even with the challenges of scaling up, Blickensderfer says the heart of the project never changes.
"At the end of the day, this is about making a real difference in lives through joy, creativity, connection and hope," she says.
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Original text here: https://www.sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2026/02/usc-brain-health-arts-program-vibrant-minds.php
