Spanish Program News

Leaders at Western Carolina University certainly knew that interest from prospective students was on the rise, but this fall’s enrollment is shaping up to be historic.

Following a national search and competitive review process, three Western Carolina University faculty members have been selected for the inaugural cohort of the Deliberative Citizenship Network.

A new book from executive director of Western Carolina University’s Highlands Biological Station and professor of biology James Costa sheds new light on a classic work of evolutionary theory from famed naturalist Charles Darwin. “The Descent of Man: An Annotated Edition of Darwin’s Classic Work” was published this April by Princeton University Press, coauthored by Costa and University of Iowa history professor Elizabeth E. Yale.

Western Carolina University will award an honorary Doctor of Education to Joyce Conseen Dugan in recognition of her leadership, lifelong commitment to education and contributions to the Cherokee people and Western North Carolina.

Western Carolina University has appointed Shalana Yates as director of the Cherokee Center, bringing to the role a strong background in nonprofit operations, tribal government, and leadership.

Ammon Hottensmith has always been interested in critters. Growing up on a small farm in Ohio, the Western Carolina University junior has always been surrounded by them. Everyone is, whether you’re in the hills of the Midwest or the mountains of Appalachia.

This February, Brian Byrd, Western Carolina University’s professor of environmental health sciences and resident “skeeter man,” was awarded the 2026 University of North Carolina System Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Western Carolina University is home to students from many different backgrounds, boasting a high percentage of first-generation students and a number of learners with disabilities. Thanks to a pair of federal TRIO Student Support Services grants, WCU is now better set up to support them.

Unearthing history is nothing new to Cherokee Language Program director and associate professor Sara Snyder Hopkins. Thanks to a federal grant, she and a group of colleagues will continue to do so.

Western Carolina University’s College of Engineering and Technology is expanding its engineering programs again this fall with the launch of a new bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a new industrial engineering concentration.