News

School of Architecture Announces New Faculty
Four new professors bring broad expertise to the SoA.
   May 24, 2022

The School of Architecture will welcome four new faculty members in the upcoming academic year. Matthew Gin and Jonathan Dessi-Olive will join the faculty in tenure-track positions. Elena Vazquez-Peña and Julio Diarte will join as visiting scholars with two-year appointments. All will begin teaching this fall.

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Architecture Alum Named to CBJ “40 Under 40” List
Ian Patrick ‘07, ’09 is the founder of the Charlotte design firm biloba.
   May 18, 2022

Ian Patrick, who received a B.A. in Architecture in 2007 and a Bachelor of Architecture in 2009 from UNC Charlotte, is among the recipients of the Charlotte Business Journal’s 2022 “40 Under 40” awards. A council member for the Town of Harrisburg, Patrick is a founding partner, with his wife Erin, of the Charlotte design firm biloba Architecture.

Now in its 29th...

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Dean’s New Book Advocates for a Water-centric Approach to Architecture & Urban Design
"Blue Architecture" demonstrates how water stewardship can and must shape good building design.
   May 12, 2022

A new book by Brook Muller, dean of the College of Arts + Architecture, argues for the creative opportunities – and moral imperatives – of “embedding water-related concerns” into architectural design. Blue Architecture: Water, Design, and...

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Mint Museum Series Features Work by Professor/Former Art Department Chair
Lydia Thompson: Travelers is the new Constellation CLT exhibition.
   May 11, 2022

Professor of Art Lydia Thompson, former chair of the Department of Art & Art History, is the new Constellation CLT artist at the Mint Museum of Art. Constellation CLT is a solo exhibition series that features work by local artists. The installations rotate three times per year. Lydia Thompson:...

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AIA Charlotte Funds Two New Scholarships
Awards are intended to attract students from populations underrepresented in architecture.
   May 10, 2022

The Charlotte chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has established an endowment to fund in perpetuity two annual student scholarships in the School of Architecture. Committed on the occasion of the School’s 50th anniversary, the gift represents the largest single gift the AIA Charlotte section and its board have made to any organization.

The AIA Charlotte...

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Music Department Announces New Director of Bands
Dr. Hunter Kopczynski has taught in middle school, high school, and university programs.
   May 10, 2022

The Department of Music has announced that Hunter Kopczynski will join the faculty as Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music this fall.  He will conduct the UNC Charlotte Wind Ensemble, teach courses in conducting and music education, and oversee the university bands program.

Kopczynski comes to Charlotte after his role as Director of Bands at Mars Hill University (Mars...

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Architecture and Chemistry Students Join Forces for Pop-up Museum Project
MOFs get macro treatment in architecture students' designs.
   May 9, 2022

Over the past semester, architecture students have been working together with chemistry students to translate the nano scale of chemistry to the macro scale of architecture.

Five teams of students from Assistant Professor of Architecture Rachel Dickey’s spring Graduate Topical Studio, with guidance from Associate Professor of Chemistry Christopher Bejger’s graduate research assistants...

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Theatre Professor is Co-author of Bilingual Play
Tatas Tales/Los Cuentos de las Tatas tells breast cancer survivor stories.
   May 3, 2022

Associate Professor of Theatre Education Beth Murray has collaborated with local playwright and Certified Applied Poetry Therapy Facilitator Irania Macias Reymann to create a bilingual play in Spanish and English. Tatas Tales/Los Cuentos de las Tatas is based on the writings, drawings, ideas, and conversations of Charlotte...

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Memorial Recognizes Strength of Community After April 30
A sculpture designed by art professors Marek Ranis and Tom Schmidt stands in the Botanical Gardens.
   April 28, 2022

It’s quiet in the garden where the new memorial stands tall among the trees. Sometimes sunlight filters through the leaves to illuminate a message of hope.

You are strong enough. Always believe. We have each other.

“It’s such an environment of peace, of seeking silence,” says senior art major Vannah Mobley. “It invites you into the space.”

Mobley is one of 42...

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Theatre Professor Choreographs Intimacy for Broadway and TV
Kaja Dunn is a national leader in a new field in the theatre, film, and television industry.
   April 27, 2022

In the past three years, Assistant Professor of Theatre Kaja Dunn has developed a national career in the new field of intimacy choreography.

Dunn, who teaches acting at UNC Charlotte, is associate intimacy director for the Broadway production of A...

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