Featured Post from Georgia Southern University

Georgia Southern professor receives national faculty mentor award

Jul 18, 2025

3 min


CaptionResizeWrap TextRemove

The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) named Georgia Southern University English Professor Olivia Carr Edenfield, Ph.D., the winner of the 2025 Arts and Humanities Faculty Mentor Award.


The award recognizes faculty who go above and beyond to nurture undergraduate research, scholarship and creative work.


Edenfield’s record of taking student research to new heights set her apart from a nationwide field of candidates. After joining Eagle Nation as a professor in 1986, Edenfield has helped her students become published researchers and presenters at local and national conferences. She said seeing those hardworking students excel has been her real reward.




“Receiving this award is deeply personal,” Edenfield wrote in her CUR nomination statement. “My greatest joy in teaching has come from my students’ successes.”


During her time as associate dean for Student Affairs in the former College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS), she launched the college’s undergraduate research symposium, now known as CURIO. She also helped establish a Center for Undergraduate Research for CLASS and set up residential interest groups to encourage students to share their love of different subjects with each other.


Edenfield has helped her students achieve access to opportunities on a national level. She has served as director of the American Literature Association (ALA) since 2019, where she started a unique program that places Georgia Southern English majors in high-level administrative roles for ALA conferences. Seven of Edenfield’s students have had their work published in The Richard Macksey Journal at Johns Hopkins University. Many of her students have also presented their research at national and international conferences.


Georgia Southern student Maegan Bishop’s presentation at the 2023 American Literature Association Annual Conference, based on research from Edenfield’s undergraduate class, was so impressive that she was invited to present her work at a conference on the short story at the University of Mainz, which covered all of her expenses.


“My own experiences with Dr. Edenfield are only a small example of the work she has done to mentor undergraduates at Georgia Southern,” said Bishop. “She is constantly doing everything in her power to assist her students with whatever they need, extending every opportunity to those who express interest in becoming more involved in literary scholarship and campus activities.”


David Owen, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, emphasized how much Edenfield cares for her students, noting that her passion to help them succeed is second to none.


“Mentoring is not a side note to Edenfield’s career, it is the throughline,” said Owen. “Her students succeed not just because of her guidance, but because she teaches them how to believe in their own voices.”


The Faculty Mentor Award is the latest in a distinguished line of recognition for Edenfield. In 2016, she was named both the CURIO Mentor of the Year and the Wells-Warren Professor of the Year at Georgia Southern. She is a three-time recipient of her college’s Award for Distinction in Teaching, winning in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Edenfield was also a member of the inaugural class of the Governor’s Teaching Fellows program in 1995.


___


If you're interested in learning more about Georgia Southern's College of Arts and Humanities and want to book time to talk or interview, let us help - simply contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.

Powered by

You might also like...

Check out some other posts from Georgia Southern University

World Cup 2026: Georgia Southern University Experts on the Game Behind the Game featured image

2 min

World Cup 2026: Georgia Southern University Experts on the Game Behind the Game

Atlanta is one of the World Cup's biggest host cities. Georgia Southern faculty across economics, health sciences and international studies are ready to speak to the stories behind the tournament. Featured Topic The Atlanta Advantage: Regional Economics of Hosting the World Cup What it means for local businesses, tourism, and the long-term economic legacy of a host city Atlanta's World Cup moment is as much an economic story as a sporting one. Georgia Southern University economics professors Michael Toma, Ph.D., and Anthony Barilla, Ph.D., can speak to tourism revenue, infrastructure investment and what host cities actually gain — and manage —- when the world comes to town. Experts Michael Toma, Ph.D. - Regional Economics and Development Anthony Barilla, Ph.D. - Economics and Public Policy Featured Topic Playing Across a Continent: The Physical Demands of a 48-Team Tournament What elite athletes face competing across climates, time zones and a month-long schedule 48 teams. Multiple cities. Almost no recovery time. Georgia Southern health sciences and kinesiology professor Samuel Wilson, Ph.D., and sports psychologist Brandonn Harris, Ph.D., can explain how a World Cup schedule affects the human body and how elite teams prepare for it. Experts Samuel Wilson, Ph.D. - Health Sciences and Athletic Performance Brandonn Harris, Ph.D. - Kinesiology and Exercise Science Featured Topic More Than a Match: The World Cup as Cultural and Political Exchange How the world's biggest sporting event becomes a stage for diplomacy, identity, and soft power When 48 nations converge on American soil, the game is only part of the story. Political science and international studies expert Christopher M. Brown, Ph.D., can speak to the geopolitical dimensions — national identity, soft power and what it means for the U.S. to host global soccer for the first time in a generation. Experts Christopher M. Brown, Ph.D. - Political Science and International Studies

National Tick Collection Provides Front-Line Defense Against Emerging Health Threats featured image

2 min

National Tick Collection Provides Front-Line Defense Against Emerging Health Threats

A recently published article in Grice Connect highlighted the national importance of the U.S. National Tick Collection, housed at Georgia Southern University's Statesboro Campus. Home to more than one million specimens representing nearly every known tick species, the collection serves as a critical resource for researchers, public health agencies, and disease surveillance efforts studying the spread of tick-borne illnesses. The collection, owned by the Smithsonian Institution and curated at Georgia Southern University, is one of the largest and most comprehensive tick collections in the world. Researchers use it to identify emerging threats, track changes in tick populations, and better understand the diseases these parasites can carry. As concerns about Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses continue to grow, the collection provides scientists with an invaluable resource for monitoring species distribution, studying disease vectors, and supporting public health preparedness. It also plays an important role in training future researchers in a field where specialized expertise is increasingly needed. Lorenza Beati, Ph.D., is curator of the U.S. National Tick Collection and associate professor at Georgia Southern University.  Her research focuses on tick taxonomy, genetics, evolutionary relationships, and the role ticks play in transmitting diseases that affect both humans and animals. View her profile The article underscores the collection's growing importance as researchers work to better understand the complex relationships between ticks, pathogens, wildlife, and human health. As environmental conditions change and tick populations expand into new regions, resources like the U.S. National Tick Collection are helping scientists stay ahead of emerging public health challenges. The collection has been entrusted to Georgia Southern since 1990 and includes more than 1 million specimens and more than 125,000 accessioned lots. Beati said the collection is probably the largest curated tick collection in the world. While she said there may be a larger collection elsewhere, she said Georgia Southern’s collection remains especially important because it is active, used for research, and supported by curatorial work. “By having two curators here, we really keep the collection very active,” Beati said. “We publish a lot, we do a lot of research on our samples. We have visitors coming from all over the world to work with us.”  June 13 - Grice Connect Covering? We can help! Lorenza Beati is available to speak with media about tick-borne diseases, tick identification, vector ecology, disease surveillance and the critical role scientific collections play in protecting public health. Her expertise can help audiences better understand the growing impact of ticks on human and animal health, as well as the research efforts underway to address these challenges.

Georgia Southern University expert available for interviews about Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday and her enduring legacy featured image

1 min

Georgia Southern University expert available for interviews about Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday and her enduring legacy

June 1 marks Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday. Despite her death in 1962, Monroe remains an icon of American pop culture. Amanda Konkle, Ph.D., researches film history, stardom and celebrity prominence. Konkle is an expert in Monroe’s rise to fame and her lasting relevance in modern style. She published the book “Some Kind of Mirror: Creating Marilyn Monroe,” along with several research papers detailing Monroe’s unique status in American history. Konkle can speak to how Monroe connected with audiences during her life by creating a new ideal of feminine power that defined an era. She can explore how Monroe’s acting methods mirrored society’s anxieties and desires, and why they still resonate today. Konkle is available virtually or for in-person interviews at the Armstrong Campus. Simply contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.

View all posts
Powered by