Annual Feast of Words Celebrates Emory Faculty Authors and Editors of Recent Books

On Tuesday, December 9, the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, Emory Libraries, and the Emory Barnes and Noble Bookstore hosted The Feast of Words, an annual event to celebrate the Emory faculty who have written or edited books in the prior year. This year’s list, for 2024-25, totals 87 titles, including 66 authors and 18 edited or co-edited volumes on the list. Four of the titles on this list were brought into publication with help from the CFDE’s Scholarly Writing and Publishing Fund, which provides small grants to faculty to hire an editor to help take a manuscript from one stage to the next. Two of the projects were supported by the CFDE’s Public Scholarship Advancement Fund.  

To view the full list with more details, visit this link.

Emory's Nia Project Receives $2.5 Million Grant to Advance Women's Mental Health 

A $2.5 million grant from the Action for Women’s Health initiative will support the expansion of the Nia Project in Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences enhancing trauma-informed mental health care and research for women. Based at Grady Health System, the Nia Project will use the funding to strengthen clinical programs, deepen research and broaden access to care for women affected by violence, trauma or suicidal behavior.  

Launched in 2024, Action for Women’s Health is a $250 million global initiative funded by Pivotal, a network of impact organizations founded by Melinda French Gates. The initiative supports innovative organizations around the world working to advance women’s mental and physical health. More than 4,000 organizations in 119 countries applied for funding and 80 were selected through a rigorous peer and expert review process. 

As the program expands, its leaders say the investment will not only strengthen direct services but also amplify the Nia Project’s impact on women’s health and well-being across communities.

For more information about Action for Women’s Health and its awardees, visit Lever for Change.

Curiosity and the Scholar's Journey 

Your lesson to me has been how to follow my curiosity. That is the main reason I'm retiring, so that I can follow my many curiosities. You all have shown me how to do that in the most beautiful and gratifying way. I have been [at Emory] since 1994, and except for the position I held when I first arrived -- I was assistant editor of Emory Magazine -- I've been the first person to hold every job I've ever had at this university. It's given me a lot of room for creativity. Over and over I have gotten to dream things up, invent them, and then reinvent them. In nearly 32 years, it's just been me in conversation with all of you: finding out what you're struggling with and what's really working for you, and then building structures to navigate and support those things. I've never, ever been bored. It's always been fun: I've had the time of my life. But even more fun and more significant has been the pleasure and the privilege of walking your scholarly journeys and your writerly journeys with you. It's been the delight of my career to be with you to see the spark of an idea catch, and then to tend that flame over years. To keep the intellectual passion burning, and to stay in focus. And then to celebrate you when the book is published or the grant funded or the article receives accolades. You've trusted me with some really vulnerable moments in that process. I've never taken that lightly, and I'm very grateful for and humbled by your trust.           

-- Allison Adams, Director, Research & Scholarship, Center for Faculty and Development and Excellence, Emory University, at her retirement gathering on December 5, 2025

The Scholarly Writing and Publishing Fund

This fund is open to applications for the 2025-26 academic year. 

The CFDE offers the Scholarly Writing and Publishing (SWAP) fund, a grant program designed to help faculty seeking professional editorial support for projects in development across a range of serious scholarly works, including book manuscripts, article manuscripts, grantwriting, and digital scholarship.

A limited number of grants from this fund for up to $3000 are available. These grants are intended to support Emory faculty members facing the often-difficult challenges of scholarly writing at any stage of their careers and to provide funds for hiring editorial support or a writing coach.

For more information, please visit this webpage.

Jason Ashe, Assistant Professor, Department of Religion

Jason Ashe is a health disparities researcher. His work engages the intersection of African American Christianity, Black psychology, structural racism, and cardiovascular health. He earned a BS in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; an MDiv and ThM from Duke University Divinity School, where he was awarded the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Fellowship; and a PhD in community psychology and behavioral medicine from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in epidemiology and population sciences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has received funding support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the NIH, and the Association of American Medical Colleges. Much of his work examines how religion and spirituality “get under the skin” to influence the onset of aging-related diseases and racial health disparities. He studies how engagement in religious practices and coping behaviors might either diminish or worsen the impacts of stress on our biological health. Some of his research can be found here.

Also, his forthcoming book considers racial health disparities a theological problem, relying on public health research, Black theology and Womanism, and historical episodes of medical racism as conversation partners. He reflects on the implications of traditional Christian language surrounding health, suffering, and illness, and how the Black Church has responded to pervasive health inequalities in America. He teaches courses on topics that include religion and health, the psychology of religion, and the Black Church. Outside of his work, he enjoys singing, playing tennis, and visual arts.

Monday, December 15                                       

At 1 p.m. at the Psychology and Interdisciplinary Sciences Building (PAIS) room 561, the Department of Data and Decision Sciences Speaker Series presents Christopher Dancy with Meera Ray (Penn State University, Center for Black Digital Research) who will give a talk titled "A Framework for the Human in Human-AI Interaction." For more information, please visit this webpage.  

At 3 p.m. online, Emory Human Resources presents Goodnight, You!, a webinar on simple and effective tools to improve your ability to rest, relax, and sleep. For more information, please visit this webpage.

Tuesday, December 16                                    

At 10 a.m. on Zoom, the Academic Production Team presents a Video Production Team Drop-In. For more information, please visit this webpage. 

At noon on Zoom, the Atlanta Center for Microsystems Engineered (ACME) Global Lecture Uniting Everyone (GLUE) webinar presents Lokesh Guglani, pediatric pulmonologist, CHOA, and W. Hong Yeo, Peterson Professor in Pediatric Research, Georgia Institute of Technology, who will give a talk titled "The Language of Innovation: When Clinicians and Engineers Talk, Patients Benefit." For more information and to register, please visit this webpage.   

At 1 p.m. at the Rose Library Danowski Seminar Room, the Rose Library Open House Series presents Miscellaneous Monthly: Striking Characters. For more information, please visit this webpage.  

Wednesday, December 17

At 8 a.m. at Arthur M. Blank Hospital Robert M. Campbell Conference Room and on Zoom, the Jay E. Berkelhamer, M.D., Pediatric Research Grand Rounds presents José F. Cordero, College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics Patel Distinguished Professor of Public Health, University of Georgia, who will give a talk titled "Preterm Births: From Discoveries to Prevention." For more information, please visit this webpage.

Thursday, December 18 - Friday, December 19 

No events currently scheduled.

Saturday, December 20

At 10 a.m. at the Carlos Museum, the Carlos Museum presents Relaxed Mornings for anyone who would appreciate a calmer visit to the museum. For more information, please visit this webpage.     

At 10 a.m. at the Carlos Museum Tate Room, the Artful Stories Reading Series presents Many Shapes of Clay: A Story of Healing (for ages 3-4). 

At noon at the Carlos Museum Tate Room, the Artful Stories Reading Series presents Many Shapes of Clay: A Story of Healing (for ages 5-6).

At 2 p.m. at the Carlos Museum Level One Galleries, the Carlos Museum presents Student Guide Tours: Insistent Presence. For more information, please visit this webpage.

Sunday, December 21   

At 2 p.m. at the Carlos Museum Rotunda, the Carlos Museum presents Sunday Public Tour, a drop-in docent-led tour. For more information, please visit this webpage. 

Monday, December 22

No events currently scheduled.

ThoughtWork: Emerging Knowledge and News in Emory's Intellectual Community

Monday, December 15, 2025, Volume 26, Issue 17

ThoughtWork is a publication of the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, which is supported by the Office of the Provost. This electronic newsletter list is moderated; replies are not automatically forwarded to the list of recipients. Please email aadam02@emory.edu with comments and calendar submissions. Calendar submissions are due 5:00pm the Wednesday before the week of the event. Dates and details of events on calendar are subject to change; please confirm with organizers before you attend.

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