Entering medical school is a highly competitive process, and fewer than half who apply are admitted. Fewer still are able to finish.����

For those wanting to pursue a career in medicine, the cost and the rigor of medical school can be daunting. That’s why ��ҹ�糡 and AnMed, along with sponsorship from South Carolina Upstate AHEC (South Carolina Area Health Education Centers), established a partnership in 2022 which created an intensive two-week camp offering resources and advice to South Carolina undergraduate students to become better prepared to enter medical school.����

Earlier this year, the was awarded a $50,000 grant from , the philanthropy of Corporation, to support the Upstate Pre-Med Bootcamp—for the second year in a row.

The additional grant funds enabled the participants to receive stipends and assistance with the expenses associated with taking the MCAT. It also enabled the camp��to provide lunches for its participants, camp alumni volunteers, and the physicians who volunteered their time to serve on panel discussions. One of the camp organizers, Dr. Carrie Koenigstein of the ��ҹ�糡 College of Arts and Sciences, is grateful for this grant, commenting that financial constraints can prevent students from participating in opportunities like the Upstate Pre-Med Boot Camp. She commented that, even though the camp is offered to them for��free, students still lose time from their summer jobs and have to provide their own transportation and any food not covered by the camp activities.��

This year’s camp, now in its fifth year, benefited 24 college upper classmen from across South Carolina. The group represents a multiethnic population of individuals from urban and rural areas.�� ��

In its four-year existence, the��Upstate Pre-Med Boot Camp��has opened the door of medical school for many students, helping them to stand out as candidates while instilling in them much-needed confidence.��

“This camp has been eye opening, inspiring, and has fueled my fire for my career,” said Ashka Raval, a Clemson University student. “I was feeling very down about myself after the past semester, but being able to see what I fell into love with medicine for made me fall in love with it again.”��

The Upstate Pre-Med Boot Camp, which took place in May on the ��ҹ�糡 campus, offered students hands-on experiences not often encountered outside of medical school—at no cost to them.����

“Pre-Med Boot Camp was an amazing opportunity that made the dream of becoming a physician more real and attainable,” said ��ҹ�糡 student Zoe Calloway. “Keeping the camp free and accessible has greatly helped me and my peers get a taste of medicine and has deeply grown my passion for the field.”��

At this year’s camp, students shadowed AnMed medical professionals in multiple specialties, learning the day-to-day of a medical practice while working alongside other medical school-bound students.������

“This program connected me with some amazing people that I never would have met otherwise,” said Adrienne Williams from USC Beaufort. Tommy O’Quinn of Erskine College concurs, commenting, “This camp has given me both applicable skills in a medical setting and extremely valuable information about med school applications and what the next years of my life will look like as I go down the path of becoming a physician.”����

The��Upstate Pre-Med Boot Camp��gives students a realistic glimpse into the day-to-day life of a physician while offering valuable interaction all the way. Also valuable are skill-based workshops that cover suturing, reading EKGs, intubation, catheterization, joint injection, and working in the cadaver lab on the ��ҹ�糡 campus (cadaver labs are rarely encountered anywhere outside medical school).����

The camp gave Kadine Beckford of Benedict College her first hands-on medical experiences.����

“I have never shadowed, sutured, intubated or been in a cadaver lab,” Beckford said. “The camp helped me to be better prepared for and more sure of my passion and determination to pursue my dream.”��

��ҹ�糡 student Stella Miller said, “Doing the SIM lab was extremely helpful because it gave me a sense of actually being a physician interacting with a patient instead of just observing when shadowing.”��

There were also discussion panels with physicians, current med school students, and representatives from the admissions committees from the four South Carolina medical schools.������

“This camp not only helped me learn how important a physician’s life is but also helped me prep and be ready for the future,” said Khushi Jain of the University of South Carolina, whose older sister, Rashi Jain, attended the 2025 camp and came back this year helping with the camp as a volunteer.��

Logan Bamonte, who attended the 2025 camp, also returned this year to work as a camp intern. She feels the Upstate Pre-Med Bootcamp was a game changer and is happy to help other medical school-bound students.��

“This camp gave me the opportunity to connect with other pre-med students across the state and form lasting, supportive relationships. It also gave me the confidence to continue pursuing medicine when I was still considering switching paths,” Bamonte said. “I think this program is so impactful, so I was thankful to get the opportunity to return to the camp as an intern and play a role in creating a supportive environment for more students.”��

��ҹ�糡 student Emily Priest said, “I came into the experience with a fire for healthcare, but the experiences and connections have shaped my motivation into a clear direction so I can pursue my goals with confidence and the necessary tools to be successful. I would make the decision to participate again in a heartbeat and hope that many more people can share in this unique adventure.”��

Applications for the 2027 camp will be accepted from fall 2026 through mid-January, 2027. Information about the��Upstate Pre-Med Boot Camp��and an application can be found online here.��

��

The post Upstate Pre-Med Boot Camp Helps Students Gain Advantage Entering Medical School appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.

Dr. Privette is a professor in the Department of History and Political Science of the ��ҹ�糡 College of Arts and Sciences. Her book takes a unique look at the Civil War through the lens of healthcare. Rather than focusing on Washington and battles in the east, Dr. Privette’s book pulls things farther west.����

Dr. Privette’s fascination for the Civil War came at an early age when she grew up in Vicksburg, Mississippi, site of the historic Siege of Vicksburg, a crucial campaign. She recalls many family trips to the historic battlefield and even worked briefly as a ranger at the Vicksburg National Military Park.��

At Vicksburg, in addition to battle-sustained injuries, there were illnesses related to Union soldiers being in an environment they weren’t accustomed to, as they dealt with southern heat and humidity as well as mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria. Despite it all, Union forces prevailed over the Confederate Army in the end.��

In Dr. Privette’s book is an exploration of the interrelationship and tensions that often arose between medical professionals and Union Army leadership. Lessons learned early in the war and their impact on the effectiveness of rendering medical aid in the field and at military hospitals are examined in the book.����

“I think medicine in the Civil War is something that really intrigues people when they stop to think about it, and one of the things I’m noticing is that a lot of people haven’t�� stopped to think about it quite yet,” Dr. Privette said. “What my book is really doing is creating some of these conversations.”��

While Dr. Privette points out that the germ theory hadn’t yet been established, medical officials were starting collect information to help practitioners understand how different surgical techniques affect their patients and codify prognoses to make more informed decisions at the operating table. William Hammond, a career medical officer who became surgeon general during the war years, helped spur on improvements in the medical care of soldiers.��

“This particular book intersects at a lot of different places that people would find interesting,” she said. “Even though I talk to other scholars, it’s written for a general person who just enjoys Civil War history or enjoys reading history.”��

Dr. Privette adds, “One of the things I think so interesting about studying Civil War history is that no matter how bleak some current day things may be, we’ve seen some pretty dark times in our nation’s history in the past and we’ve recovered and were�� unified on the back end of that.”��

The Surgeon’s Battle: How Medicine Won the Vicksburg Campaign and Changed the Civil War has been reviewed by Library Journal (American Library Association) and other reviewers specializing in Civil War history.��

“Based on a wide range of military correspondence, surgeons’ reports, and other records, this concise book will fascinate and educate readers interested in the U.S. Civil War and medical history,” said an online review in the Library Journal.��

A review in Emerging Civil War (emergingcivilwar.com) concludes, “Privette offers readers interested in Civil War medicine and Vicksburg a valuable work that medical adaptability was central to Union success in compelling the Confederates to surrender on that Independence Day morning.”��

Civil War Books and Authors, an independent, non-fiction American Civil War book review journal, calls Dr. Privette’s book “a noteworthy addition” to the history of Civil War medicine.��

“Keeping in mind the environmental extremes within which the Vicksburg Campaign was fought as well as period limitations in the scientific knowledge of disease processes and transmission,” the review states, “Privette’s study nevertheless successfully argues that Grant’s Army of the Tennessee incorporated improvements in medical department organization and practices that were numerous and significant enough to mitigate the effects those unavoidable factors had on soldier health and fighting efficiency.”��

Dr. Privette hopes in the future to look further at medical providers in terms of how they emotionally dealt with things they saw and did during the war; also how those experiencesimpacted them, both professionally and personally as they transitioned into their postwar lives.��

The Surgeon’s Battle: How Medicine Won the Vicksburg Campaign and Changed the Civil War is published by and can be found online at , and other major retailers in printed and eBook versions. It’s also available at many retail bookstores.��

The post History Professor’s Book Exploring Civil War Medicine Gaining Attention appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.

Students in the class, titled “Dragons, Knights and Wardrobes: The Medieval Imagination in J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis,” tried their hand at Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA). The class is offered by the English Department of the ��ҹ�糡 College of Arts and Sciences and is taught by Dr. Katherine Wyma.��

The swords weren’t real, but the techniques were true to swordplay in the historical sense. Adjunct faculty member Amy Bright led in the activity, which contained elements of choreography in the form of defensive postures and some fancy footwork.��

Of course,��nobody was hurt.��

Students can explore this and other topics through an interdisciplinary minor in Medieval and Early Modern Studies offered by the ��ҹ�糡 College of Arts and Sciences.��

The post English Class Engages in Historical European Martial Arts appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.

Pictured at the presentation of a $50,000 grant from��Power:Ed��to support the Upstate Pre-Med Bootcamp program at ��ҹ�糡, from left to right: Ray Jones, Thornton Kirby, Neil Grayson, Ann Skinner, Trey Simon, Dr. Renee��Mognahan, Dr. Stoney Abercrombie, Tim Self,��Gautum��Ghatnekar, Claire Gibbons, and Willie Jeffries.��

This is the second grant award from��Power:Ed��in support of this��program.��

Camp co-founder and Associate Dean of Natural Sciences at ��ҹ�糡, Dr. Carrie Koenigstein,��said, “The goal is to keep talented students from falling through the cracks. Some might realize they do not want to be physicians, so the partners can connect those students to alternate paths such as dental, physician assistant,��pharmacy��or physical therapy schools.”������

Dr. Koenigstein is proud of the project because of the connections students make.��

“Mentorship is vital to all students, but especially those who are the first in their family to strive to become a physician,” she said.��

The experience helps confirm career choices before students invest in another eight years in training,��possibly incurring��debt. Funding increases access for low-income students by providing stipends to cover out-of-pocket expenses such as travel and make up for lost wages. Students who complete the program receive ongoing career guidance and��assistance��paying for application costs, such as the MCAT.��

Participants will engage with ��ҹ�糡 faculty at the Center for Medical Simulations and access the University’s cadaver lab to��observe��and learn.��

A unique feature of the annual event is the participation of veteran physicians, current medical��students��and a dozen bootcamp alumni who encourage pre-med majors to explore opportunities.����

Nationally only 16��percent��of��freshmen��pre-med students go on to apply to medical school;��fewer��than half of those are selected. First-generation students, underrepresented��populations��and students from rural high schools are less likely to become physicians. The��AnMed and ��ҹ�糡 Pre-Med��bootcamp gives students exposure to a teaching hospital and networking introductions.����

“We appreciate this generous grant through��Power:Ed��as it helps talented students gain insight into the application process leading up to medical school, the journey to licensure and what it means to be a doctor,” said Renee Monaghan, MD,�� associate dean for the MUSC AnMed Clinical Campus. “Our alumni, many now currently in medical school or in other health-related post-graduate training, are proof that this camp is making a positive impact to the state.”����

South Carolina is expected to have a deficit of 3,000��doctors by 2030 with the greatest need: primary care physicians. Since its��inception��in 2022, the bootcamp has served attendees from 24 colleges and universities across the state.����

The grant spurred ��ҹ�糡 to��identify��nearby college pre-med advisors and invite them to form a group. Upstate AHEC will ensure advisors have up-to-date information on scholarships, fee��waivers��and resources. All four of the state’s medical schools take part in the Upstate camp.��

“Power:Ed and SC Student Loan are proud once again to support this innovative program to help diversify and strengthen the Upstate’s medical talent pipeline. It’s crucial for students to find the right career pathways for them before incurring debt,” said Power:Ed Executive Director Claire Gibbons.��

In FY 2025-26��Power:Ed��will award $1,300,000 in grants to South Carolina education and career readiness organizations. In��this its��third quarter,��Power:Ed��has awarded seven grants (including this grant to AnMed)��totaling $270,000.��Grants are administered quarterly, and the next grant funding deadline is April 1, 2026.����

About��Power:Ed��

Founded in 2019,��,��the philanthropy of��,��is dedicated to creating opportunities for South Carolina’s youth and adults by supporting low-income,��underrepresented��and first-generation students; improving access to college and degree completion; and creating pathways to quality workforce opportunities. Organizations serving middle school through post-college talent who are interested in applying for a grant or partnering with��Power:Ed, should visit��.����

About AnMed Foundation��

AnMed Foundation helps ensure that the people served by AnMed have access to quality health and medical services. Its mission is to inspire generous charitable giving that strengthens and sustains exceptional health care throughout the area. Guided by core values of compassion, innovation, integrity,��accountability��and collaboration, AnMed was named one of the nation’s “Great Community Hospitals” by Becker’s Hospital Review. Learn more at��.��

About ��ҹ�糡��

��ҹ�糡 is a “more selective,” comprehensive Christian university offering bachelor’s,��master’s��and doctoral degrees on campus and online. It is South Carolina’s largest private university. ��ҹ�糡 is the #2 private university in South Carolina, according to Niche.com, is among U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Regional Universities South,” and is on the publication’s “Best Value,” “Best Schools for Veterans,��“Best��First-Year Experience” and “Best Online Programs” lists. Anderson is a five-time Apple Distinguished School and on the honor��roll��of the prestigious Great Colleges to Work For® program.����

The post AnMed and ��ҹ�糡 Receive Grant Funding for Pre-Med Bootcamp appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.

Dr. Noble’s��new book, Booker T.��Washington��and the Bible: How the Tuskegee Leader Shared His Faith and Envisioned a Better America,��was��released in January 2026 by Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. The work examines the religious rhetoric of Washington through his influential leadership at Tuskegee Institute in the latter period of Reconstruction and into the Progressive Era along with its impact on his audiences and followers.��

Drawing on select speeches and writings of Washington,��Dr. Noble’s��book explores the religious nature of Washington’s rhetoric previously neglected by scholars and aims to contribute to ongoing scholarly conversations surrounding the comingling of race and religion in the message of racial uplift for African Americans. It employs an ideological, interdisciplinary approach centering on historical and religious themes, and is written for historians, scholars of religion and history, and general readers with an interest in the role Christian faith played in Washington’s life and work.��

Booker T. Washington and the Bible is currently available for purchase through Kendall Hunt Publishing Company and Amazon.����

The post Booker T. Washington and the Bible: Noble’s Book Explores Race and Religion appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.

“I came in my freshman year as a worship leadership major because I’m super passionate about singing and leading worship and still am,” Ada said, adding that she investigated several degree programs before ��ҹ�糡 caught her attention.��

When Ada auditioned with ��ҹ�糡 and was offered a place on the worship band with a scholarship, she immediately accepted. She knew without question that Anderson was where she wanted to be.��

Although she later switched from being a Worship Leadership major to Human Development and Family Studies, Ada continued leading worship at Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) and at Upstate Church, where she attends.��

At the start of her junior year, Ada started noticing bumps on her head, so she went to a dermatologist who told her they were pilar cysts and not cancerous. When Ada began experiencing pain around her stomach accompanied by fever and night sweats, she went to Thrive, ��ҹ�糡’s student health service. After checking Ada out, the Thrive staff advised her to go to an ER immediately.��

Arriving at a Greenville emergency room, Ada recalls, “They took me back for some tests finally and did a CT scan and saw that my appendix was fine. It was my ovaries and my kidneys that were super swollen and inflamed.”��

Ada’s parents, Nick and Heather Dooley, brought her home to Charlotte for more tests, which included multiple CT scans, ultrasounds, blood work, biopsies and a PET scan. All signs pointed to cancer, but getting treatment had to wait until a specific type of cancer could be identified.��

After enduring long, painful days of waiting in uncertainty, Ada received a preliminary diagnosis of T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia/Lymphoma. She began receiving treatments at Atrium Health’s Levine Children’s Hospital.������

Looking back on her hospital stay, Ada said, “When I first went in the hospital, I didn’t realize how serious it was. I was confused on what is happening, thinking ‘Why am I feeling this way? I’ll be back at school in no time,’ when in reality, I didn’t realize it was going to be an eight-month-long journey, that I was going to be in and out of the hospital, that I was going to be getting treatments twice a week for months, that I wouldn’t be going back to school. I didn’t know what I was in store for, and, honestly, I’m thankful for that because I would’ve been too overwhelmed if I knew.”��

At the same time, Nick and Heather were trying to get their heads around what was happening with their daughter, while trying to understand cancer treatment terminology. While hospital staff administered meds to ease Ada’s pain, Nick and Heather were enduring a pain of their own.��

“Ada was relying on Nick and me to try to understand what was happening because she just felt so overwhelmed. She was on pain meds and was kind of out of it. She probably doesn’t remember a lot of her hospital stay because she was sedated,” Heather said. “I feel she has a very different perspective because we saw her hurting.”��

During the darkest days of Ada’s illness, the Dooleys were encouraged when they saw their neighbors showing up in loving and supportive ways.��

“God has shown up for us over and over, when we’re like, ‘God, why?’ We have a dinner club Bible study in our neighborhood,” Heather said. “One of Ada’s hardest days was when she was in her room and couldn’t get out of bed. She was crying and Nick and I were praying over her. We stood up, and saw one of our neighbors taking a walk and just had her hand stretched out and was praying over our house… She didn’t know we could see her out of the bedroom window. The Christian community, they’ve taken care of us, whether it’s helping with medical bills or bringing a meal train. They redecorated Ada’s room when she was in the hospital for a couple of weeks. They redid Ada’s bathroom when we were in the hospital.”����

Now in remission, Ada explains, “I have a year and a half of maintenance, which is monthly visits and chemo pills that I’m taking,” Ada said. “That started in July, so from July until March 2027 I’ll be taking chemo pills and going in for monthly treatments.”��

From day one, Ada an her parents have experienced an outpouring of support from the ��ҹ�糡 community consistent with all of the institution’s pillars—Great Academics, Great Faith, Great Hospitality and Great Purpose. They are grateful to the ��ҹ�糡 Center for Student Success and her professors who stepped up and helped her complete her assignments that fall and stay on track to graduate this May.����

Center for Student Success Assistant Director Molly Bray describes Ada as a wonderful student and a strong, resilient person. Bray and the center staff worked with Ada’s professors to make sure she stayed on track academically, while at the same time encouraging her to focus on getting well and not be burdened over keeping up with her studies.��

“When all of this happened,” Molly said, “she had so much going on and so many things to worry about and think about, and still is a perfect straight ‘A’ student who really cares deeply about her academics… We would contact a lot of the faculty on her behalf, but also Ada did a really great job of staying on top of the assignments that she could do, in the coursework that she could do, in contacting her professors as well.”��

Molly and the center staff were able to help Ada obtain credit even for some of her high school coursework, helping her stay on track, even during the spring semester when she couldn’t yet carry a full courseload.����

“It’s great to see how the Lord has provided for her,” Molly said.��

“I’m so grateful for how my professors really cared for me during that time,” Ada said. “I was able to finish all five of my classes that semester and get credit for all of them, which is a huge blessing, because now I’m able to stay on track and graduate on time.”��

When Ada was lying in a hospital bed, she received a call from President Evans P. Whitaker expressing he and Diane’s support and prayers for her recovery.��

Because a healthy diet is essential to Ada’s recovery, Diane saw to it that the house she lives in was equipped with a stove to help in meal preparation.����

Heather said she saw Ada’s roommates and friends come alongside her in amazing ways.����

“When she couldn’t shave her legs, one of them shaved her legs, and her friends threw a wig party for her. They all wore wigs… so she wouldn’t stand out. They came up with the most creative ways to love and care for her. They have a depth at age 21 to their relationships that a lot of us adults don’t,” Heather said. “She is in remission, but she’s still in treatment for another year and a half. She’s on chemo calls every day and comes home once a month. Her journey’s not over and we’re praying and believing she’s not going to relapse.”��

Looking back on Ada’s college choice, Heather couldn’t be happier.����

“Ada chose Anderson and now, looking back, God knew that’s where she needed to be. And the teachers were so caring for her,” Heather said. “Watching your kids struggle—it’s the hardest thing to see, but she loves Jesus and has a super close relationship with Him… She was strong and steady when I was in the waiting room and hallway, crying and a mess. She has a strong, steady faith.”��

Ada hopes to become a counselor like her mom, but specifically working to help children and their families overcome the fear and anxiety of hospital stays.��

“I’m starting to look into maybe being a child life specialist, which works with children in hospitals just helping them navigate their diagnosis and helping the parents navigate the medical side of things,” Ada said.” I feel like I can use what I’ve gone through to help kids who are scared and don’t know what’s going on… Or maybe even social work, because my social worker in the hospital has been really just a huge support to me.”��

Reflecting on her experiences over the past months, Ada made note of several things the Lord has revealed to her.��

“One of them is ‘I may not always be happy with my situation, but I can be joyful if I seek the Lord daily.’ Happiness is so fleeting; it’s an emotion that comes and goes, but joy is a choice. I had to choose to be joyful despite what I was going through,” Ada said, adding, “I also learned to not be afraid to ask for help. I felt like I was a burden to the people who were trying to help me… I lost all my independence. I needed someone to help me walking up and down the stairs. I needed someone to feed me. I did feel like a burden, but my parents truly love me and truly want to help me, so I shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help.”����

Ada is grateful to those who have come alongside her.��

“I feel like the Lord has just provided so many people to come around me and support me, and just seeing the church come together and love my family and love me,” Ada said. “It was definitely an adjustment coming back and learning how to be independent again, without my parents taking care of me, and living on my own again, but trusting the Lord and trusting that I can do this and that I have a great year ahead of me and I have friends who are going to support me and my fiancé is going to be there for me.”��

By the way, Ada was crowned 2025 Homecoming Queen October 4.��

Ada and her family appreciate your prayers and support. A Caring Bridge has been set up for Ada. Here is a for more details.��

��

The post AU Community Important Part of Student’s Healing appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.

By centering soldiers’ health and medical care in the Union army’s fight to take Vicksburg, Lindsay Rae Smith Privette offers a fresh perspective on the environmental threats, logistical challenges, and interpersonal conflicts that shaped the campaign and siege. In doing so, Privette shines new light on the development of the army’s medical systems as officers learned to adapt to their circumstances and prove themselves responsible stewards of soldiers’ bodies.����

Dr. Privette is a faculty member in the Department of History and Political Science of the College of Arts and Sciences.

The book was published by UNC Press. More information and ordering information can be found online .��

The post History Professor’s Book Explores Civil War Soldiers’ Health Issues appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.

The conference theme is “Imaginative Reading: Walking into the Wardrobe.”��

According to Dr. Katherine Wyma, conference director and associate professor of English in the ��ҹ�糡 College of Arts and Sciences, the conference theme is a nod to the 75th anniversary of the printing of the C.S. Lewis children’s classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.��

Featured conference speakers include New York Times, USA Today and Globe and Mail Bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry, presenting “Through the Wardrobe: The Alchemy of Grief, Imagination and Story. She has published historical fiction works that include Becoming Mrs. Lewis and Once Upon a Wardrobe. The public is invited to hear Henry, who will speak Friday, October 24 at 7 p.m. Details on this ticketed event can be found .��

Conference speakers also include Dr. Rachel Roberts, chair of the English Department at North Greenville University; and Rev. Austin Carty, pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church in Anderson.��

Dr. Roberts, whose academic specialty is early British literature, coauthored the book Deep Reading: Practices to Subvert the Vices of our Distracted, Hostile, and Consumeristic Age. Rev. Carty is the author of High Points and Lows: Life, Faith and Figuring it All Out. He also wrote The Pastor’s Bookshelf: Why Reading Matters for Ministry, which received the 2023 Christianity Today Award of Merit and was named Book of the Year by Preaching Magazine.����

Dr. Wyma commented that regional meetings take place every October at a different location in the Southeast—usually CCCU institutions.��

College professors and other scholars have submitted paper proposals to be included among the meeting’s scholarly presentations.��

Details, including a schedule are available online.��

The post Southeast Regional Meeting of the Conference on Christianity and Literature appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.

A creative writing class Updegraff took in high school sparked his interest initially. When he entered college, Updegraff set his sights on a writing career.��

This fall, Dr. Updegraff is entering his fifth year at Anderson, leading the creative writing program in the English Department of the College of Arts and Sciences.����

“I’ve been publishing poetry and short stories for many years now and it’s my sixth book, but my first novel,” he said. “As a fiction writer, I always kind of saw myself as a short story writer and didn’t really have any aspirations to write a novel. I just loved working in the short story form.”��

The origin of his novel, titled Whole, started out as a short story he planned to include in his second short story collection. As he gave more thought to the story, he felt it needed more space to play out. But in what form? He thought about possibly expanding the story into a Novela at one point.��

Dr. Updegraff continued, “I didn’t feel like it was quite done and so I pulled it out of that book and just kept it on the back burner. It’s the only short story I’ve ever worked on where I felt like I couldn’t get to an ending. I needed to spend more time with the characters, so I spent a few more years on it here and there… It just never went away.”��

Described as a complex novel dealing with fable, romance, theology, life, death, love and heartbreak, Whole follows the life of Joe, a young man in his late 20s who lives in the Inland Empire of Southern California and works at a local ������é. Joe is an aimless, somewhat introspective poet who provides a first-person narrative in the story. He is dating Ashley, a writer and a poetry professor at a small Christian College. Distracted by a text from Ashley, Joe inadvertently runs his car into Ronnie, a homeless man on a bicycle. The bike is crushed and the aluminum cans he collected were scattered, but fortunately Ronnie’s injuries were minor. In the pages of the novel unfolds an unlikely relationship between Joe and Ronnie.����

Throughout Whole, short vignettes pop up that are written in the third person—mini short stories within the story—what Updegraff refers to as flash fiction pieces.����

Updegraff explains, “As the reader keeps reading the book, they’ll figure out that those short pieces were actually written by the narrator, so they give insight into his upbringing, past his psychology. It was really experimental—short, bizarre, almost fairytale like little mini stories that pop up throughout the book—that was really fun to do.”��

For the novel’s setting, Updegraff, a native Californian, chose the San Bernadino-Riverside areas.����

As for Joe and Ashley, Updegraff said, “Parts of me came out in these characters in the very beginning, but then I want to make it very clear that I allowed them to develop their own identities, and they become people very different from myself.”��

What happens next? Updegraff said there’s one clear resolution at the ending, but some things are left open at the end.��

“I think that’s what literary fiction wants to do—in a sense leave some stuff open for the reader to contribute meaning and predict things without closing every avenue off completely.”��

Since the publication of Whole, Updegraff has started work on another novel. He also plans to publish his third collection of short stories.��

Whole, published in 2024 by , is available at and other major book outlets.��

The post Updegraff Publishes Novel appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.

The 2025 C.S. Lewis Summer Institute, organized by the C.S. Lewis Foundation, looked at faith through the metaphor of a journey, paying special attention to our contemporary world, to C.S. Lewis’ own journey and to biblical models.

Dr. Katherine Cooper Wyma, associate professor of English in the ��ҹ�糡 College of Arts and Sciences, was among a group of leading scholars, artists and others presenting at the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute.

This past July, Dr. Wyma traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland—the city of Lewis’ birth where he often returned to seek inspiration and spiritual refreshment—to present her paper titled The Gift of Finitude: How C.S. Lewis Presents the End of Our Journey as a Warning Against Digital Disembodiment.

“I presented on my work about how C.S. Lewis encountered knowledge and the way we can use those ideas and how we encounter knowledge on digital devices—it’s part of the book that I’m writing. The book looks at theological anthropology—how has God designed us to be human? What are the limits that He is placed upon us as human beings?” Dr. Wyma said. “And then what kind of theological framework did the Inklings have and how do we apply that to digital spaces now? I’m arguing that even though our digital devices make us feel like we can know everything, we really can’t, and we have to set��limits and recognize the limits that God has given us.”

Dr. Wyma also visited sites that would be familiar to Lewis, including St. Mark’s Church of Ireland Dundela (pictured above), where his grandfather served as rector; also, C.S. Lewis Square.

At Anderson, Dr. Wyma teaches classes devoted to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien in both the English Department and the Honors College.

Dr. Wyma is the Conference Director bringing the Southeastern regional meeting of the Conference on Christianity and Literature to ��ҹ�糡 October 23-25.

Conference details are available online.

The post Wyma Presents in UK at CS Lewis Institute appeared first on ��ҹ�糡.