Programs
Faculty and Staff Development Opportunities
The Institute offers opportunities for faculty and staff from across the disciplines to connect under a shared mission of transforming and integrating the paradigms and pedagogies of liberal arts and the professions. Faculty and staff can make these connections through:
- participating in reading groups,
- participating in lectures, seminars and events,
- applying for upcoming teaching and research fellowships,
- attending professional development opportunities, and more.
Research and Scholarship Support
2024-2025 Mini-Seminar Cohort
Determining Exposure to Recruitment and Self-Perceived Risk to Human Trafficking Among U.S. Population
- Sarbinaz Bekmuratova, PhD, MS, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy
- Yongyue Qi, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy
- Daniela Ameijeiras Mena - OT student, Regis campus
- Nick Nondorf - Heider student
- Rochelle Dalla, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln - Professor and Graduate Education Chair, Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies
Beyond the Rational: Tracing an Interdisciplinary Vocabulary of the Intangible
- Surbhi Malik, PhD, Associate Professor, English Department
- Britta McEwen, PhD, Associate Professor, History Department
- Jill Brown, PhD, Professor, Psychological Science Department
Addressing Mental Health Needs via Occupational Therapy Integration into Group Prenatal Visits
- Diva Wilson, MD, Assistant Professor Clinician Educator, School of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine; Family Medicine Physician, CHI Health
- Andrea Thinnes, OTD, OTR/L, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy; Academic Mentor in the Occupational Therapy Gerontology Fellowship Program, School of Pharmacy & Health Professions; Co-Director of Faculty Development, Center for Interprofessional Practice, Education, and Research (CIPER)
Summer 2025 Book Club
The Malcolm X Memorial Foundation and the Kingfisher Institute are co-hosting a summer book club to align with the 100th anniversary of Malcolm X’s birth in Omaha (as Malcolm Little). The book is called Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, By Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith. JoAnna LeFlore-Ejike, executive director of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation, will lead the discussions. All students, faculty/staff, alumni, neighbors, and friends!
The group will meet twice in June and twice in July, alternating Wednesdays and Saturdays. In-person and Zoom participation will be available. Limited free books will be available. To be notified when dates are finalized, please email kingfisher@creighton.edu.
Curriculum Innovation
To integrate content related to our initiatives into courses at all levels, the Institute invites Creighton faculty members to apply for curriculum development grants.
Call for proposals is now open.
Proposal submission form
Deadline: May 1, 2025
Fall 2024 Grantees:
- Shawn Magrum, PhD, assistant professor, Exercise Science & Pre-Health Professions, for OTD 342: Clinical Human Anatomy
- Jacob Rump, MA, PhD, associate professor, Philosophy, for PHL 433: Philosophy and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
- Peggy Rupprecht, PhD, associate professor, Computer Science, Design and Journalism, for "Focused on feedback: Introducing “ungrading” in an upper-level public relations course" (JRM 445)
- Tyler Talbott, PhD, assistant professor of English, for ENG 220: Queer Literature and Cinema
Visiting Fellows Program
Fall 2025: Eric Avery, MD: Artist, retired psychiatrist, public health activist
- Visiting fellowship: week of Sept. 21, 2025
- Art exhibition: Sept. 4-Oct. 5, Lied Art Gallery
Spring 2025: Sarah Blanton, PT, DPT
Our visiting fellows program brings prominent scholars, artists, and leaders to Creighton to engage intentionally with students, faculty and staff. Our Spring 2025 Visiting Fellow was Sarah Blanton, PT, DPT, a professor in the Division of Physical Therapy at Emory University School of Medicine; and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation.
From March 17-19, 2025, she met with various groups and classes at Creighton, bringing her expertise to complement Creighton's focus on whole-person, humanistic healthcare.
Dr. Blanton is an NIH-funded researcher, with several grants exploring the integration of family care partners into the rehabilitation process. Dr. Blanton’s DISCOVER Lab (Digital Scholarship Enhancing Rehabilitation) explores various ways digital scholarship can enhance rehabilitation research, education, and clinical practice and promote interdisciplinary collaboration. She is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation (JHR), an international and peer-reviewed journal using a collaborative model with scholars, clinicians, patients, and their families to gain a greater understanding of the lived experience of disability.
Reading Groups
Keep an eye out for periodic reading groups, such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Reading Group each fall. Want to start a reading group? Email us: kingfisher@creighton.edu
