The multi-phase Upward Project is a collaboration of writing faculty and librarians. Researchers involved in any phase of the project include:
Project Director and Co-Primary Investigator Donna Scheidt is Assistant Professor of English and Co-Director of the Pre-Law Professional Program at High Point University. Her research and teaching involves language and decision making (especially judicial opinions); law and literature; and undergraduate research and library-writing program collaborations. When not teaching, researching, or advising undergraduates on law school or independent research projects, she enjoys playing the violin with area orchestras, hiking, and hanging out at the dog park with her labraheeler.
Co-primary investigator Holly Middleton is Associate Professor of English at High Point University, where she directs the first-year writing program and teaches courses in composition, literature, and writing studies. Her research on student learning and the politics of literacy can be found in College English, WPA Journal, and edited collections. She is also a founding co-editor of Literacy in Composition Studies.
Jenny Erdmann is the Head of Library Reference Services at High Point University. She has studied International Relations and Music as well as Library Science. Jenny continues to play viola and pursues interests in instrumental music, foodways, place studies, geopolitics, and government information.
Leanne Jernigan is the Wanek Center Librarian at High Point University. She has an undergraduate degree in English with minors in history and philosophy and a Master’s in Library and Information Studies. Leanne is an NCLA and Phi Beta Kappa member; her areas of expertise include children’s literature and virtual reference.
Cara Kozma is an Associate Professor of English and the Assistant Director of Service Learning and. Her research interests include service learning, community literacy and publishing, and composition pedagogy. She works with faculty across the disciplines to integrate service learning effectively into their teaching and codirects a university-sponsored community writing center that facilitates interdisciplinary service learning classes and community publishing projects.
Kathy Shields is the Research and Instruction Librarian for History and Social Science at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University. In this capacity, she serves as the liaison to History, Psychology, and the Latin American and Latino Studies program and teaches for-credit courses in the library’s information literacy program. Prior to coming to ZSR, Kathy was the Head of Reference and Instructional Services at High Point University. Her research interests include faculty-librarian collaboration and credit-bearing information literacy instruction.