Research

The groundbreaking research by UNC Charlotte psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun continues to influence other researchers and to help people navigate contemporary challenges, such as terrorism, natural disasters, deaths and other crises. Tedeschi and Calhoun identified a concept they called Posttraumatic Growth.

In a significant contribution to research, teaching and engagement at UNC Charlotte, faculty in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in 2015 published 30 scholarly and creative books that represented subjects as diverse as the College itself. Most of the books are intended primarily for classroom use or as resources for further research, while several of the books are intended for general audiences.

Atrocities can start with seemingly insignificant acts. UNC Charlotte students have learned this painful, yet powerful lesson through their in-depth study of the Holocaust. As scholars in the course “Bearing Witness to the Past: A Journey to Auschwitz,” they have traveled to the death camps of Auschwitz and Krakow. They have studied the photographs of the dead and read their names. They have seen the mute mountains of surrendered belongings – the shoes, the battered suitcases, the eyeglasses.

Allegations of brutal torture and abuse of suspected terrorists by the CIA and the U.S. military have heightened the debate about the effectiveness, morality and frequency of torture in the face of terrorist threats. Research centered at UNC Charlotte offers important insight into the agencies that engage in torture and the conditions under which they do.

UNC Charlotte and Gaston County are working together on an effort to protect and monitor a key portion of the county’s water supply. Funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the “Healthy Wells” program will establish a public digital database of the county’s wells and promote the protection of private well water supplies.

Ten years ago, just days after Hurricane Katrina barreled through New Orleans leaving in its wake chaos and devastation, researchers Cherie Maestas, now of UNC Charlotte, and Lonna Atkeson, of University of New Mexico, were preparing a national public opinion survey to understand the American public’s reaction to the intensely emotional news coverage of the storm.

Undiagnosed sleep disorders may be sabotaging students’ academic success, a study by UNC Charlotte psychology professor Jane Gaultney suggests.

As the new director for UNC Charlotte’s Center for the Study of the New South, Ashli Quesinberry Stokes will draw upon her research expertise and knowledge, along with her leadership and community engagement experiences, to lead the Center in its work.

In the wake of the shooting of nine black worshipers at historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, faculty from UNC Charlotte’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences are providing context and resources at the regional, national and global levels.

UNC Charlotte student scholars are researching diverse topics ranging from lightning strike patterns in the Southeast U.S. to the connection between Maya Angelou’s poetry and contemporary hip-hop to the impact of UNC Charlotte’s student-run food pantry.