Troy University selects Mellon Fellows

Troy has chosen six individuals to represent 2026 Mellon Fellowship

Troy University selected its first six Mellon Fellows for 2026 as part of its Mellon-funded initiative, “(Re)reading Alabama’s Cultural Archives: Connecting Place to Its Multitudes.”  

Those fellows include Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor Dr. Shari Hoppin, Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor Will Jacks, Undergraduate Fellow Jacob Frye, Undergraduate Fellow Tyquavious Deundre Hurley, Community Fellow Kevin King and Community Fellow Laura King.  

The initiative will provide faculty, students and community partners the resources to research topics that are important to Alabama’s cultural heritage and build a publicly accessible digital archive of their work to be held by Troy University’s Library.   

“The project creates a dynamic platform for engaging with Alabama’s diverse cultural histories in ways that are both scholarly and publicly accessible,” said Dr. Priya Menon, director of the University Honors Global Scholars Program at Troy University and project lead for the Mellon-funded initiative. “For the university, it expands interdisciplinary research, enriches the honors curriculum, and provides students with hands on learning experiences through archival work, field research and community engagement. 

“For the community, it offers meaningful opportunities to share and preserve local histories that are often overlooked. By building a digital archive and supporting public programming, the project fosters dialogue, representation and a deeper understanding of place.”  

The Mellon Foundation awarded $449,000 to the College of Arts and Humanities for the initiative, making history as the biggest grant the college has received. The grant, delivered through the University Honors Global Scholars Program, will allow the fellows to expand their research into the lesser documented stories of Alabama’s history over a span of three years.  

Associate Professor of Communications Dr. Shari Hoppin is one of two faculty Mellon Fellows, and her research is titled “Indigenous Narratives in Alabama.” Hoppin is currently teaching a special topicscommunications course by the same name.  

“The Indigenous Narratives project explores the stories, traditions and creative expressions of Indigenous communities in Alabama, from oral histories to modern media,” Hoppin said. “Through research, community partnerships, the new undergraduate course and archiving, the project lifts up Indigenous voices and helps connect people across communities.”  

In the course, students have been able to meet Indigenous leaders and artisans from across the state and engage with key texts that are important for understanding the rich story telling traditions of Alabama’s Indigenous peoples.   

Assistant Professor of Art and Design Will Jacks is the second faculty fellow and his work is titled “Echoes of Place: Provenance and Memory in the Troy Art Collection.” 

His research focused on the history and importance of the art that is on campus at Troy University and what stories those pieces come together to tell.  

“I saw this as an opportunity to invite more engagement with the permanent art collection to where we could understand that collection better as an institution, but use that artwork not just to put on the walls and say, ‘Hey, look at this piece,’ but to actually learn more about the culture in the history of this region through the artworks, while also teaching applicable skills,” Jacks said. 

Jacks will be teaching a course in the fall titled “Art, Memory and Cultural Documentation.”

It requires no prerequisites and is open to anyone who is interested in learning how to document cultural history through photography, text and audio/visual recordings.  

Those who are interested in taking Professor Jacks’ or Dr. Hoppin’s courses this fall and would like more information can contact them at wjacks@troy.edu or shoppin@troy.edu.