Kristy Howell

Education

• Ed.D, Northern Illinois University
• MA, History, Pittsburg State University
• MA, Social Responsibility and Sustainable Communities, Western Kentucky University
• BA, History, University of Southern Mississippi
• AA, Music, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

Research & Service

In addition to my work in the Institute, where I focus on working with faculty and researchers to connect their work to the broader Greensboro community, facilitating holistic assessment opportunities for our campus and community, and supporting data collection for our Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, I serve UNCG in several ways, including as a representative of the Division of Research and Engagement to the UNCG Staff Senate, and as a member of the Executive Council for the UNCG Sustainability Committee.

My current research focuses in two directions: on the history of integration and student experiences in community colleges in Mississippi during the 1960s, and on the preservation of community engaged faculty, staff, and student oral histories at UNCG. Both continue my career-long commitment to creating richer and more inclusive educational communities and enriching our knowledge of those who have led the work in the past.

Selected Invited Research Talks

1. “‘They Didn’t Any More Want a Black Junior College Than a Man in the Moon’: Post-Brown Planning and Community Leadership Against Segregated Education on the Mississippi Gulf Coast” accepted Paper Presentation, Southern Historical Association annual meeting, November 2025, St. Petersburg, FL.
2. “Incorporating Sustainability and Community Engagement across the Curriculum” Workshop and Canvas Module, Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program Faculty Workshop, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, October 2025, Greensboro, NC.
3. “Remembering Well: Oral Histories as Methodology” accepted Pre-conference Workshop, on oral history skill-building for community engagement professionals in higher education with Erica Wrencher, Elaine Ward, and Emily Janke, Engagement Scholarship Consortium annual meeting, October 2025, Roanoke, VA.
4. “Hearing, Healing, and Humanity,” accepted Presentation on techniques for close listening and connection in community with Erica Wrencher,
5. “Plays Well With Others” accepted Panel Discussion on using community-engaged teaching principles across the curriculum with Jennida Chase, Hassan Pitts, Lalenja Harrington, and Marian Taylor Brown, and
6. “Stewarding Safe Passage in Perilous Times: Memory and Resistance in the Preservation and Growth of Community Engaged Work,” accepted Presentation with Erica Wrencher, all at Imagining America Gathering October 2025, Las Cruces, NM.
7. “Ripple Effects Mapping” facilitated Strategic Planning Session with Erica Wrencher, North Carolina Campus Engagement Regional Network Meeting (East) August 2025, Graham, NC.
8. “Ripple Effects Mapping” facilitated Strategic Planning Session with Erica Wrencher, North Carolina Campus Engagement Regional Network Meeting (West) August 2025, Charlotte, NC.
9. “Finding our Why Among… Everything Else: Exploring What Keeps Community-Engaged Scholars of Color Inspired to Do the Work” Paper Presentation with Erica Wrencher, Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning and Community Engagement Conference March 2025, Nashville, TN.
10. “Listening to Connect: Introducing Arts and Somatic Practices” Paper Presentation with Emily Janke and Erica Wrencher, Pathways to Achieving Civic Engagement Conference, NC Campus Engagement February 2025, Guilford Technical and Community College, Colfax, NC

Selected Publications

Howell, Kristy Wittman, Emily M. Janke, Erica J. Wrencher, and Madeline Kujabi. “Continuity and Change in Community Engagement at UNCG.” Excellence in Community Engagement and Community-Engaged Scholarship. Greensboro: University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 2024.

Howell, Kristy. “Theodore Roosevelt Augustus Major Poston.” In The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia, edited by Smith, Gerald L., Karen Cotton McDaniel, and John A. Hardin. University Press of Kentucky, 2015.