Dr. Rhonda Knight, associate professor of English, and Dr. Mac Williams, assistant professor of Spansih, have been awarded a $1,500 mini-grant from The Humanities Council of South Carolina. This grant is in support of the Undergraduate Humanities Research Conference that Coker will host February, 19-20. The grant is specifically earmarked to provide funds for the keynote speaker, Dr. Geoffrey Galt Harpham, Director of the National Humanities Institute.

Business professor Melinda Norris has been awarded a Coleman Foundation Scholarship to attend the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Conference in 2010 in Nashville.

Psychology professors Tracey Welborn and Julia Fisher and a group of psychology majors recently traveled to the fall meeting of the South Carolina Psychological Association (SCPA) in Greenwood. They attended a panel discussion on careers in psychology, and heard author Dr. Keith Campbell speak on his book, The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement.  The students competed in the SCPA Quiz Bowl and finished in the semi-final round, missing only one question. Students were were Lani Burke, Josh Bittinger, Amy Hall, Kyrie Hoffman, and Rebecca Morrison.

Wadsworth Cengage Learning has released the second edition of School: An Introduction to Education by Dr. Edward Ebert, professor of education, and Dr. Richard Culyer, professor emeritus of education. The books presents a "compelling and timely approach that presents teacher-candidates with a thorough overview of what it means to be an effective professional educator."

Education Professors Dr. Sara Odom and Dr. David Blackmon have revised Becoming a Teacher in South Carolina released recently by Wadsworth Cengage. This guidebook is being marketed heavily in South Carolina as a resource text for education majors. One college in the state has already adopted the text for the spring semester and reviews from other institutions look very promising.

Dr. Sara Odom's second children’s book Precious Puddin’ is being released nationally by Tate Publishing on January 5. Pre-release copies are available in the Coker bookstore. Burry Bookstore downtown is sponsoring a pre-release book signing Friday, December 18th. In addition, this month Dr. Odom was offered a contract for her third children’s book, My Lucky Irish Ear.

Coker students Amber Phillips of Conway, S.C., and Kimberly Pierce of Hartsville, S.C., recently conducted a workshop at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics in Columbia, S.C. Their workshop, “Games as Problem Solving Opportunities,” was co-presented with education professor Dr. Joseph Rubinstein. Phillips and Pierce are seniors majoring in elementary education