Scott Fowler
Scott Fowler is one of those rare Asheville natives, born and bred here. He owns a successful local PR firm, and represents an incredibly diverse range of clients – and he attributes his success, in large part, to the Humanities Program at UNCA.
After graduating high school, he planned to go to the Coast Guard Academy; but after realizing that was not a fit for him, he wondered what was next. His neighbor happened to be Shirley Browning, the highly regarded professor of Economics and the Humanities Program; Dr. Browning taught here for more than four decades (and recently passed away in May 2023). Dr. Browning, along with many other wise folks in Asheville, encouraged him to check out UNCA. Scott entered UNCA as a business major in the Fall of 1986.
Scott states unequivocally that “without UNCA and the Humanities Program, I do not think I would have the skills to do the work that I do” with his own PR firm, representing a wide range of clients, and therefore, a wide range of perspectives and experiences. He is extremely grateful for his education, and he emphasizes the huge change and evolution that he went through here at UNCA. As an entering freshman Scott was very confident in what was “true and right”, as he put it. By the time he graduated many of those opinions had greatly changed.
As an entering business major, he was doubtful about Humanities courses. But he said what excited and interested him was being surrounded by people with different ideas who did not necessarily agree with him. And he was challenged in classes by such favorite professors as Michael Ruiz and Shirley Browning to think, to discuss, to be willing to put his ideas out there, and to consider differing ideas. He said they wouldn’t let you off the hook; you had to think, and you had to contribute.
The most impactful part of the Humanities Program for Scott was the spirited and often challenging classroom discussions. He appreciated the deep analysis of ideas, and he said it could be tough; he did not always walk away from class feeling great about the state of affairs in the world. He was challenged to think about the world and where he was in that world, and in particular he was challenged to think, “what is my part in the future?” At that young age, he says, he did not believe he had “much of a part” to play in that future; but that the impact of those lessons stayed with him, and influenced him more as he got older.
At UNCA, he learned to be open, how to research, and how to find and consider ideas on both sides of any issue, and he uses these skills today. He learned to be willing to be wrong; or simply to work to understand all sides of any issue, and that his position is always only one position in any given situation. He also learned that there is always more to learn. Reflecting on his time at UNCA, Scott summed it up this way: “Being exposed to so much history, literature, ideas, conflicts, people – it opened my eyes that I was but one small part of an ever-expanding Universe. It made me look at the world with a more open mind and a more open heart”.
Liz Torres Melendez
Liz Torres Melendez, a 2018 alumna, loved UNCA from the start. Originally from Puerto Rico, raised in Raleigh area since age 4, she knew she wanted to stay in North Carolina and liked the welcoming and smaller feel of UNCA. The Liberal Arts, and the HUM program turned out to be added bonuses, says Liz. She discovered that her brain is in line with the Humanities; it’s how she naturally processes the world. It was a great serendipitous fit for her.
She fell in love with how the Humanities Program’s lens encourages students to look at connections; connection in the curriculum, between cultures, between history and contemporary events. It just made so much sense; and she called it “a beautiful shared language to have across campus with my peers.” One of her closest friends was an atmospheric science major, but because of the Humanities Program requirement for all students and the shared language this helped to develop, they could connect and talk about current events, things happening in the news and in the world. She remembers watching CNN with a bunch of students in the dorm, from across all disciplines, and they were able to engage and talk to each other about challenging current events, because of how the students were used to discussing things in classes using the Socratic seminar style. She said, “You learn how to talk to people. You learn how to talk about difficult things. You learn how to listen in a real way, instead of just listening to give a response. And I think that is a result of the Humanities Program.”
She also greatly valued that the courses bring people of all disciplines together to talk about similar topics, beyond one’s own specific major. “That shared campus experience has been really, really important in my life.” It created a great sense of community for her.
Liz graduated in 2018 with a History degree from UNCA and now works as the Assistant Site Manager at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown museum, a North Carolina historical site near Greensboro. One of her main duties is giving tours, and she credits the Humanities Program courses for giving her the communication skills to get a message across to anyone who might be visiting. She feels she is a better history professional because she started learning those skills at a young age, and is able to speak to anyone, from any background. Often in her work, she gets students on a tour who express disinterest. Liz sees that as an opportunity to tell them why they might care, to show them a way in to history, to figure out what a person’s particular buy-in might be. Her professors modeled this for her; they challenged her to engage with the content. She’s taken that forward and works to reach students that might otherwise have been disengaged.
Liz definitely has a naturally affinity for the Humanities, but as she says, that way of looking at the world became refined and sharpened here. She also felt the Humanities Program taught her that she doesn’t have to drill down deep into one subject; that “you can have diverse interests, and you can let yourself go in multiple directions.” She gained an appreciation for what every discipline brings to the table; that a topic can be viewed in many different ways, and “no one way is less valuable or less valid than any other. It just makes your understanding of that topic so much richer, and I think that makes me a better person and a better historian every day.”
She believes that colleges have the opportunity to fulfill their mission of developing students into whole people, and that UNCA and the Humanities Program does just that. She feels that studying the Humanities creates civically engaged and responsible adults who care about the community and the world around them.
Greg Garrison
Alumnus Greg Garrison, who with his wife (and fellow alum) Ashley own The Hop ice cream shops and Pop Bubble Tea, loves to sing the praises of the special place that is UNC Asheville. He is a fascinating and upbeat person, who clearly learned to love learning, and this has guided his life ever since.
He started at UNC Asheville in 2000 primarily to play soccer, a sport he excelled at during his time on campus. He says he really had no idea of what to expect from the curriculum. He signed up for classes, thinking perhaps he might major in creative writing.
Greg describes his Humanities 124 class as “a very eye opening and wonderful experience.” He was not a great student, but he excelled in his HUM 124 class. Dance instructor Connie Schrader taught that class, and she became an unexpected role model for him. That this course about ancient times was so engaging and highly interactive amazed Greg.
Professor Schrader drew him into reading the material by her dynamic class discussions. Greg sought to be part of those conversations. He emphasized how she encouraged the students to ask questions and express themselves. “She let me be myself.” Greg was trying to figure out who he was, and the framework of Humanities 124 allowed him to do that, while his other first year courses did not. He feels that the Humanities courses, and the liberal arts education of UNC Asheville in general, gave him that gift. He went on to major in math.
Greg recounted how his seven-year-old daughter asked him recently, “Why do people go to college?” He explained how in his mind college is a way to learn how to learn at an advanced level. In the Humanities Program he developed a great appreciation for many different subject matters and for life in general. He says he gained perspective, which allowed him to “appreciate more what you see and observe and experience…which leads to more happiness.” As he explains it, he is less burdened by things outside his control: “I’m less quick to anger because I understand there’s a lot more to the other person than just what is on the surface.”
The fire that was kindled in HUM 124 continues to burn bright. Besides owning the Hop shops and Pop Bubble Tea, he still tutors in the math lab at UNC Asheville, he coaches his children’s soccer teams, and engages in hobbies such as the continued study of philosophy. Greg’s advocacy for the university continues and was recognized in 2023 with the Thomas D. Reynolds Alumni Award for Service to the University. He and Ashley also received the Order of the Pisgah Award for Alumni Achievement in 2015.
Cameron Barlow
Cameron Barlow graduated from UNC Asheville in 2021 with a degree in Religious Studies before going on to earn an Masters of Arts in Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland last spring. Cameron values the education he got in the Humanities Program, citing it as foundational in expanding “my capacity to question disciplinary boundaries in my graduate research, as well as in pursuing work that does not shy away from difficult questions.” He has fond memories of his HUM 214 class with Ann Dunn in which she shared artifacts from her travels around the world in order to discuss the course readings in relation to material culture. Likewise, the discussions in Alvis Dunn’s HUM 324 class taught him the value of honesty and personal accountability for his views. Throughout the Program Cameron found great value in the opportunity to interact with students from other disciplines, who on occasion challenged his views and from whom he learned a great deal. This focus on, as he put it, “collective reasoning,” helped him to clarify his views and sharpened his ability to think critically. “The content, debate, and styles of each of the humanities courses I’ve taken have continued to inform my writing, my political and social activism, my career choices, the literatures I continue to read (which says a lot, since I work in libraries).” Despite continuing his studies in graduate school, Cameron sees his courses within the Humanities Program as distinctive: “I consider these and the other humanities-centered courses I took while at UNCA to be the highest quality education that I have ever received.”