Fellows
CODES Fellows
Aidan Ferguson
Aidan Ferguson obtained her BSW, MSW, and PhD from Florida State University. Additionally, she has an MS in GIS from FSU and an MS in Bioethics from Albany Medical College. She is an LCSW in the State of Florida and the State of Illinois. Prior to returning to school for her PhD she worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs providing crisis intervention, intensive case management, and medical social work at a VA Outpatient Clinic in Florida. Her current research interests include, understanding campus climate related to victimization and perpetration of sexual violence, sexual identify assertion related to development and testing of a tool she created called the Ferguson Sexual Identity Classification Instrument whose purpose is to provide better representation of nonmonosexual identities in research, and applied ethics education in social work. She developed and runs the Narcan Education and Access Program at SIUE whose purpose is education and overdose prevention on campus. In her off time she enjoys hanging out with her partner, and fellow social worker Aaron, and beagle named Russet “Tater” Potato.
Jennifer Yoder
Jen Yoder is an instructor in the English Language and Literature Department, where she teaches first-year writing courses, primarily for SIUE's non-native English speakers. Her dual MA degrees in English focus on Teaching of Writing and Teaching English as a Second Language, resulting in research interests in the use of generative AI in composition and language learning classrooms and well as, the globalization of the American university and how that impacts the ethical inclusion of international students on campus. In her free time, Jen enjoys cooking, biking, tending her house plants, and watching British crime shows and Kdramas.
Kevin Wamalwa
Kevin Wamalwa, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology. He earned a joint Ph.D. in Anthropology and African Cultural Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on post-violence memory, land conflict, local epistemologies, and forms of reconciliation in East Africa. As a published Dr. Swahili and literary expert, Dr. Wamalwa is passionate about incorporating creative expression into his teaching to help students ethically and empathetically engage with stories of suffering and trauma in the community.
Laura Soderberg
Laura Soderberg is an assistant professor of English at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. She specializes in nineteenth-century comparative multiethnic literature. Her first book, Vicious Infants examines race and narratives of childhood, and her current project explores how Black and Native writers combine data and literary methods to use hostile records in creative ways.
Manuel Robles
Manuel Robles, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History, specializing in modern Latin America, with a focus on Afro-Mexican and Afro-Latin American experiences. His research spans a variety of methodologies, and he is actively engaged in the fields of digital humanities and public history. He is the producer of Generaciones en Resistencia, a documentary that explores the roles and experiences of Afro-Mexican women in the Afro-Mexican movement. Through his work, he seeks to amplify the perspectives and contributions of historically overlooked communities.
Expansion Fellows
Rachel Childers
Rachel Childers is an advisor and instructor for the Honors Program at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Their teaching interests include incorporating local history and service learning into freshmen level orientation coursework and utilizing City as Text methodologies to explore how national trends impact local communities. Their research interests include Oklahoma history and the role of local authors in preserving memory and place.
Dr. Prince Duren
Dr. Prince Duren is currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Grambling State University. He is from the great city of Itta Bena, MS by way of Muskegon MI. Prince is a graduate of Jackson State University with a degree in Mass Communications and English. After graduating from JSU, Prince pursued his MFA in Play and Screenwriting at the University of Arkansas. In the Spring of 2023, he received his Ph.D. in Urban Higher Education Administration. Prince has written several stage plays with many receiving local and national recognition. Even though he enjoys acting, Prince garnered his most notable success as a playwright. Among his awards are the Lorraine Hansberry award from The Kennedy Center for American College Theatre Festival, Mississippi Theatre Association Award, and Stage Black One Act Festival Award, among many others. When he's not writing, Prince has appeared in several plays including, Stick Fly, A Time to Kill, Sweat, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Drums of Sweetwater just to name a few. When it comes to the arts, Prince feels he has yet to construct his greatest dialogue, create his most memorable character, or conceive his greatest play. Therefore, he is always working towards that ultimate goal. Prince is a 2025 recipient of the Mellon Foundation Race and Social Transformation fellowship grant. Prince lives by the saying “In a world where you can be anything, why not be yourself?”
Carolina Fernandez Branson
Carolina Fernandez Branson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Professional Communication at Metro State University. Her research explores how communication can be used to alleviate health disparities, with a special focus on the Latino community. She has received several grants to fund her work, including a $2,000 grant from the Institute onCommunity Engaged Scholarship and Research (ICES) at Metro State and a $600,000 grant over four years with her community partner, HACER, from the Minnesota Department of Health, to study how communication can alleviate cultural stressors within immigrant Latino families to improve youth mental health and well-being. She is also the PI on a $25,000 grant from the University of Minnesota C2DREAM program which explores improving provider communication with diabeticSpanish-speaking patients who need a translator. In addition to her research, Dr. Fernandez Branson teaches courses in Health Communication and Communication for Health Equity at Metro State.
Edward L. Holt
Edward L Holt is an Associate Professor of History and holds the Benjamin A. Quarles Endowed Professorship at Grambling State University. He currently serves as the Department Head of History, whose department received the AHA Equity award in 2024. As a recipient of over $800,000 in institutional grants, he has experience administering large-scale project initiatives. He is a historian of the pre-modern Mediterranean, whose peer-reviewed articles on medieval Iberian liturgy, leadership, crusade, and geospatial analyses of power have received several national awards. He is also the PI of the "Voices of Grambling," a multi-phase digital and public humanities initiative whose mission is to record and interpret the African American experience in Northern Louisiana. An advocate for experiential learning, he collaborates with students throughout the university on his various projects and has worked with QA Commons to be the only department in the state of Louisiana certified for its embedded essential employability qualities. He previously served as the chair of GSU’s University Curriculum Committee.
Kyle C. Lincoln
Kyle C. Lincoln is Associate Professor of Pre-Modern European History and Interdisciplinary Humanities and Founding Director of the Office of Study Abroad at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. His most recent research book is A Constellation of Authority: Castilian Bishops and the Secular Church during the Reign of Alfonso VIII with Penn State University Press. He co-authored, with John Giebfried, Remaking the Medieval World: 1204, the Fourth Crusade and is actively (co-)developing classroom simulations on Bronze Age Greece (with Mary Beth Arendash), the Investiture Controversy (with Matt Parker and Andrew Larsen) and (as sole author) the Conquest of Granada in 1492.
Angel Taylor
Angel Taylor is a Composition Instructor III at Florida Gulf Coast University, where she teaches Composition I and II, Introduction to Literature, and Creative Writing. With over a decade of experience in higher education, she teaches with an emphasis on critical thinking, collaborative learning, and student-centered pedagogy across traditional, hybrid, and virtual formats. Her courses often explore themes of identity, voice, and contemporary literature, particularly women’s writing. Ms. Taylor is actively engaged in professional development and pedagogical innovation, including work with AI in the classroom and participation in faculty learning initiatives. She has presented at regional and national conferences, including the College English Association and the Florida College English Association. Her service includes mentoring new faculty and contributing to institutional committees focused on curriculum development and student success.
Kristine Washko
Kristine Washko is a College Composition and Creative Writing instructor at Florida Gulf Coast University, where she has taught for over 15 years. She is passionate about helping students develop confidence, voice, and critical thinking through engaging, real-world writing experiences. Kristine is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Education, where her research focuses on Sentipensante pedagogy, belonging, and student success in first-year composition. She actively participates in UDL initiatives, serves as an Honors College thesis advisor, and supports student engagement through innovative classroom practices. Kristine is committed to creating supportive, inclusive learning environments that emphasize both academic rigor and human connection. Her headshot includes her golden retriever service dog, Cali, who joins her classes and has become a friendly and familiar presence for students.
