Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Names New Cohort of Faculty Fellows for Mentored Research, Scholarship, and Creative Work
March 2, 2026
The Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS) has announced that Associate Professor of German Liesl Allingham, Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition Sarah Rimkus, and Teaching Professor of Psychology Maria Falikman will serve as the next cohort of faculty fellows for mentored research, scholarship, and creative work.
As fellows, the selected faculty will work to create pathways for their colleagues to begin mentoring students in research and scholarly activity, provide faculty colleagues with additional training and knowledge to support student vocational exploration through research and scholarship, and advocate for increased offerings for Sewanee students to benefit from this high-impact practice. The group of fellows will also facilitate workshops for Sewanee faculty and examine practices within the institution that might be adapted to better serve the strategic goal of enhancing undergraduate research experiences.
Established in 2025, the Faculty Fellowship for Mentored Research, Scholarship, and Creative Work engages College faculty in examining and expanding the mentored research opportunities available to students. A high-impact practice, undergraduate research is a key element of the Mind pillar of Sewanee’s most recent strategic plan, which emphasizes the importance of increasing the number of students who benefit from the building of close relationships with faculty, access to professional networks, and engagement with big questions that involvement in research promotes.
The 2026 fellows will approach this work through varied disciplinary lenses—representing the humanities, arts, and sciences—reflecting how undergraduate research opportunities can and do occur across the whole array of College academic programs. Over the course of their one-year term, they will work closely with Elise Kikis and Ross Sowell, co-directors of OURS, to study and communicate best practices for mentored research.
