Rachael Falu, an assistant professor of English at Chattanooga State Community College, was named as a 2017-2018 Maxine Smith Fellow by the Tennessee Board of Regents, following her nomination by Chattanooga State's president, Dr. Rebecca Ashford.
Falu has been employed by Chattanooga State for the last seven years, where she made significant contributions to the humanities and fine arts division. During the fall 2017 semester, she developed an honors section of African-American Literature for the Global Scholars Honors Program. The course focuses on 'revolutionary' writers from the early 18th century until present day. It included a field project where students worked with the curator and director of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center.
"Rachael has done an excellent job revitalizing Phi Theta Kappa and developing the Global Scholars African-American Literature class these past five years. She is a champion of diversity and is passionate about having a diverse body of students and faculty on campus. She possesses good people skills and students respond well to her instruction, mentorship and guidance," Darrin Hassevort, Dean and Associate Professor of Humanities and Fine Arts at Chattanooga State, said.
In 2014, Falu was chosen to teach a South African /African-American Literature course for three weeks in Cape Town, South Africa through the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies program.