The UCF College of Arts and Humanities welcomes new faculty members joining our college in fall 2026!
Department of English
Conner Dylan Bassett, Assistant Professor
Conner Dylan Bassett received his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and his Ph.D. in Creative Writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Before joining the University of Central Florida, he taught at the University of Iowa, Albright College, and Xavier University.
Bassett is the author of the novels Gad’s Book (2023) and the forthcoming Nearest Exit (2026), as well as The Invention of Monsters (2016), a hybrid collection of prose poems and plays. With Emma Winsor Wood, he also translated the plays of Daniil Kharms in A Failed Performance (2018). His short fiction has appeared in journals such as Chicago Review, Gulf Coast, Ninth Letter, Cincinnati Review, and Bennington Review.
His creative work and research explore histories of the novel, histories of the avant-garde, narratives of disability and madness, and translation theory. He is excited to join the UCF community while continuing work on a new novel and several translation projects.
Lillian Campbell, Assistant Professor
Lillian Campbell holds a Ph.D. in English (Language & Rhetoric) from the University of Washington and a B.A. in English from Villanova University. Prior to joining UCF, she was an Assistant Professor of English at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI where she also directed the Foundations in Rhetoric program for four years. She’s eager to leave Wisconsin winters behind her and thrilled to join the Technical Communication program at UCF!
Campbell’s research focuses on rhetorics of health and medicine, feminist rhetorics, and professional and technical writing, as well as the impact of technology on how we communicate and learn. Her recent book, Patient Sense: Rhetorical Body Work in the Age of Technology (Ohio State UP, 2025), examines how new providers leverage their intuitive patient sense in the face of increasingly technology-mediated healthcare in nursing simulations, physical therapy labs, and a virtual intensive care unit. She has two current research projects underway: 1) Exploring the role of embodiment in instructors’ and students’ literacy experiences with Large Language Models and 2) Improving communication with emerging health technologies in interprofessional health education. She has recently published scholarship in Pedagogy, Composition Forum, and College Composition and Communication.
James Davis, Assistant Professor
Siew Hii, Assistant Professor
Siew Hii (she/they) is the author of Entered Some Aliens (University of Wisconsin Press 2026). Her prose and poetry appear at AGNI, Electric Lit, Story, Georgia Review, and elsewhere. Originally from Mobile, Alabama, Hii now lives in Orlando, where she teaches creative writing at the University of Central Florida. Her parents hail from Sibu, Malaysia and Kentucky, USA.
Phillip Hurst, Assistant Professor
Phillip Hurst is the author of a novel, Regent’s of Paris, as well as two books of creative nonfiction, Whiskey Boys (winner of the 2021 Monadnock Essay Collection Prize), and The Land of Ale and Gloom. His stories and essays have appeared in journals such as The Missouri Review, Gettysburg Review, Post Road, and River Teeth. He taught previously in the MFA programs at Bowling Green State University and New Mexico State University.
Emma Winsor Wood, Lecturer
Emma Winsor Wood is a poet, essayist, and scholar of creative nonfiction. Her creative and scholarly work are united by an interest in autobiographical, diaristic work and an obsession with form. In her recent scholarship, she introduced the concept of the “lyric diary” as a feminist counterpart to the essay tradition.
She is the author of the poetry books, Preferred Internal Landscape (Ornithopter Press, 2025) and The Real World (BlazeVOX, 2022). Her writing has appeared in American Poetry Review, The Missouri Review, ZYZZYVA, The Drift, FENCE, and elsewhere. She earned her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and her Ph.D. in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Before joining UCF, she taught writing and literature at Xavier University and previously served as Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief of Stone Soup, one of the nation’s oldest literary magazines for young writers.
Department of History
Gramond McPherson, Visiting Assistant Professor
Gramond McPherson is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of History. A proud UCF alumnus, he returns to the university after earning his Ph.D. in History from the University of Virginia in 2026. He previously received his M.A. in History and Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from UCF.
Gramond is a scholar of twentieth-century U.S., urban, and African American history whose research examines the relationship between urban development, economic change, and inequality in the modern South, with a particular focus on Orlando and Central Florida. As a teacher, he is committed to helping students connect historical scholarship to contemporary issues while developing the critical thinking and research skills central to the study of history.
In addition to his teaching and research, he is an active public historian. He has collaborated with the National Park Service, the Veterans Legacy Program at UCF, and community heritage organizations on digital history projects, exhibitions, and educational initiatives that bring historical scholarship to broader audiences.
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Yamile Silva, Professor and Chair
Dr. Silva holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with specializations in Spanish American Literature and Culture and Hispanic Women’s Literature and Culture, and a B.A. in Modern Languages and Linguistics from the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. Prior to joining UCF, she served as Professor and Chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures at the University of Scranton, where she also directed the Latin American and Latinx Studies Program. She has held visiting professorships at the Universidad de Navarra (Pamplona, Spain) and the Universidad Iberoamericana (Puebla, México) and has taught at Smith College and Colby College.
Her scholarly contributions have been recognized with fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Association of University Women, the Gail and Francis Slattery Center for Ignatian Humanities, and the GEMELA Collaborative Project Award, among others.
Wenhong Teel, Instructor
Wenhong Teel was born and raised in Beijing, China. She has a BA in English Literature from Peking University, and an M.A. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). Wenhong has experiences teaching both Chinese and Japanese languages since 2006. Prior to UCF, she taught at Western Illinois University and Monmouth College. Wenhong believes that a teacher’s value lies in her ability to empower students to find and realize their potential. She is committed to incorporating authentic cultural materials into students’ language learning, making the learning process a pleasant and enriching experience. For Wenhong, students’ achievements in their studies and careers are the best reward for her teaching career.
School of Performing Arts
Esther Ahn, Assistant Professor
Internationally acclaimed for her artistry, Dr. Ahn has earned praise for performances that combine extraordinary technical command with profound musical insight. The Boston Musical Intelligencer has lauded her “interpretive coherence and grace,” and she has appeared at some of the world’s most distinguished venues, including Lincoln Center, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Seoul Arts Center, and the Moscow Conservatory.
A sought-after soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Ahn is recognized for performances of exceptional imagination, expressive depth, and artistic versatility. Her work spans the great pillars of the piano repertoire while embracing contemporary music and innovative interdisciplinary collaborations, reflecting a creative vision that is both expansive and deeply personal.
Beyond the concert stage, Dr. Ahn is a dedicated educator and mentor. She holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory, maintains an active international career of performances, residencies, and recording projects, and has served for several summers on the faculty of Bay PianoFest at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has also held leadership roles with both the Music Teachers National Association and the Utah Music Teachers Association.
Hank Willenbrink, Professor
Hank Willenbrink is a scholar/artist joining UCF as a professor in the School of Performing Arts. His monograph, Performing for the Don: Theatres of Faith in the Trump Era (Routledge), explores religious performances in support of Donald Trump. His essays have been published in Ecumenica, Theatre Journal, Contemporary Theatre Review, Theatre Forum, and online. Hank’s play The Boat in the Tiger Suit premiered at The Brick Theater (NYC) and is published by Original Works Publishing. His work has been seen and developed at Sala Beckett (Barcelona), Performance Highways, WordBRIDGE, quiet, and World Interplay International Festival of Young Playwrights (Australia). Hank’s monologues have been featured in Monologues for Men by Men, More Monologues for Men by Men, and Best Men’s Stage Monologues of 2014. He holds degrees from the University of Tulsa and University of California, Santa Barbara. Hank is the editor-in-chief of Ecumenica: Performance and Religion and was previously a professor at the University of Scranton.
School of Visual Arts and Design
Timothy Banks, Assistant Professor
Timothy Banks is an illustrator, designer, and educator whose work spans children’s publishing, editorial illustration, educational publishing, and advertising. Prior to joining the University of Central Florida, he served as Associate Professor of Art at Charleston Southern University, where he taught illustration, drawing, painting, professional practice, and portfolio development.
Banks holds an MFA in Illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design and a BA in Painting from Bob Jones University. His professional clients have included Nike, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Adult Swim, Faber & Faber, Holiday House, and numerous trade and educational publishers. His work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, Spectrum, 3×3 Magazine, and Creative Quarterly.
At UCF, Banks teaches illustration while maintaining an active professional practice. His creative and scholarly interests include visual storytelling, narrative illustration, picture books, and preparing students for careers in the contemporary illustration industry.
Tyler Holden, Assistant Professor
Tyler Holden is an artist, animator, and educator whose work explores the use of real-time technology to create emotionally engaging and immersive visual experiences. Working at the intersection of cinematic storytelling and interactive media, he develops projects that invite audiences to step into compelling worlds while demonstrating the evolving creative possibilities of real-time production.
Holden’s artistic practice is rooted in the belief that powerful storytelling is the foundation of every visual medium, whether in film, animation, or games. His work combines cinematic composition, animation, and emerging technologies to create experiences that blur the boundaries between traditional filmmaking and interactive entertainment.
His professional career has spanned feature film, game development, and higher education. As a previs / postvis artist at Day For Nite, he contributed to feature films including Haunted Mansion, Lyle Lyle Crocodile, and Cary – On. collaborating with production teams to develop cinematic sequences through an iterative process focused on visual storytelling, camera design, and narrative clarity. Later, as the lead animator at Perfect Storm Studios, he established an animation style that balanced expressive character performance with the technical demands of gameplay, further reinforcing his interest in iterative, process-driven creative development.
Keidra Navaroli, Instructor
Keidra Daniels Navaroli is an instructor in art history for the School of Visual Arts and Design. For over eighteen years, her work in arts management, scholarship, and curation, has focused on addressing how museums broadly (and the medium of textiles specifically) can be utilized to question cultural divisions, foster intergenerational dialogue, and enhance the understanding of traditionally-underrepresented communities of practice.
Keidra received a Ph.D. in Texts and Technology (with a concentration in Public History) from UCF, an M.A. in Art History from Florida State University, and a B.A. in Art History from the University of Florida. She completed internships with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Sotheby’s Auction House in New York and is an alumna of the Museum (Getty) Leadership Institute’s NextGen Program. Her award winning-curatorial work has been featured in Forbes, Culture Type, and numerous media outlets. In 2024, Keidra was inducted into UCF’s Order of Pegasus, the university’s highest academic honor. Currently, she serves on the editorial board for Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art as well as the boards of the Mennello Museum of American Art, Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, and the Surface Design Association.
Department of Writing and Rhetoric
Xaria Arthur, Instructor
Xaria Arthur is a researcher and educator in writing and rhetoric with special attention to cultural and digital rhetorics. She recently earned her M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Central Florida, where she taught first-year composition.
Her latest project “Rhetoric of Opportunity: An Analysis of Gullah Geechee Histories Through the Lens of Counterstory,” uses a combined methodological framework of oral history and counterstory to share the stories of six Gullah Geechee descendants with ancestral roots in the unincorporated community of Nesmith in Williamsburg County, SC.
Xaria is also an experienced organizational and community leader with several years of experience supporting and leading development and service projects within non-profit organizations. She is currently serving as the President of the Central Florida chapter of SISTUHS, Inc, a non-profit organization committed to service and professional development for underrepresented communities.
Emma Weis, Instructor
Emma Weis recently earned her M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Central Florida, where she taught first-year composition as a Graduate Teaching Associate. She also holds a B.A. in English Education from Stetson University. Before entering the classroom, Emma worked in writing centers at both Stetson and UCF, which continues to shape her approach to writing instruction and student support.
Her most recent research, “The Lifecycle of the Educator: Bridging Fragmented Pathways Across Writing Center and Composition Pedagogy,” explores the intersection of writing center and composition studies and examines how writing center pedagogies influence the development of first-year writing instructors.
She views writing as a collaborative process of inquiry and reflection. Her course places group discussion and intentional revision at the forefront of the classroom.
She structures her courses with the philosophy of producing better writers, not just better writing and is excited to continue supporting UCF students as they develop their confidence as writers.