Matthew Cowin
Contributing Writer
Kathryn Morgan is a current professor of Psychology at the University of the South. She received a B.A. in English and Education from Millsaps College before obtaining her M.Ed. in Community Development and Action and Ph.D. in Community Research and Action from Vanderbilt University. In between her M.Ed. and pPh.D. years, Prof. Morgan taught high school and middle school students in math and english courses. In the interview, she heavily details her upbringing, undergraduate, postgraduate, and current Sewanee years and their formative impact on her passion for Psychology and Community Development.
Before her postgraduate move to Tennessee, Morgan was born and raised in her native Mississippi. She credits its embedded history of civil rights in response to segregation as a site of social change and activism. “Martin Luther King would venture to Mississippi,” she said. The various sit-ins, freedom marches, freedom rides, speeches, and other non-violent protests synonymous with The Civil Rights Movement held a strong base in her home state. “It’s inspiring to see good things happening, goods of what there is to offer,” she remarked. She additionally mentioned its reputation as a “national scapegoat” for the lowest national rankings in areas of income, infrastructure, climate, education, etc. Despite this, she credits the state’s legacy in civil rights reform and modern reforms such as Big House Books – a non-profit organization delivering books to educate the incarcerated – as inspiration for her dream of “working in community and development” and establishing a “sense of community and possibility.”
While teaching in Nashville, Morgan began her first active step to Community Development through her commitment and contribution to Design Your Neighborhood and the Nashville Youth Design Team – two major youth participatory programs. Design Your Neighborhood introduces middle school classrooms to project development through simulated neighborhood construction projects, while the Nashville Youth Design Team serves as a high school internship program transferring elementary skills from Design Your Neighborhood to the real-world department of architecture and city development. Morgan cites her co-worker’s M.Ed. in Architecture as inspiration for her use of Building Science as a medium for community development among youth. She credits “building cities for young people, parks, open spaces” in the Nashville and Chattanooga areas as an incentive to her overall goal to “promote positive social change.”
Her early teaching years were largely transformational in her views on education and commitment to her students. She notes the 2012 killing of teenager Trayvon Martin in the Miami Gardens, Florida neighborhood and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to similar murders of African Americans as significant societal activist subject matter while teaching high school in the early 2010s. Limited classroom discussion and prioritization of test scores as evidence of educational success contribute to her passion of Community Development to poignantly and creatively make a difference in the lives of young people. She lists the standardized test score and projects preferred but denied by state administrators as conclusive to her argument that “schools should be a place open to discussion.” This goal – harbored by her involvement in youth participatory programs in the Nashville and Chattanooga areas in addition to her M.Ed. and Ph.D. degrees – persists today in her role as a Psychology professor at Sewanee.
Her journey to The University of the South began during her college days at Millsaps when she and other students would ride the football bus to Sewanee. In Nashville, Morgan would often venture to Sewanee on the weekends to camp as well as hike the perimeter trail. It was at this time that she began to think, “I wish I could live like this.” Her transition from metro Nashville to the rural domain began in 2022 when she received word of an opening position to teach Psychology for public good in the Psychology program. The position, strongly resonating with her background in community development and service to youth, was one she couldn’t turn down. After 2 years, she labels Sewanee “a perfect fit” and states that it “feels like a dream.”
Morgan continues to generate “energy to the classroom” through her curriculum commitment to Action Research Labs, which are centered in the research and development of current problems. These include a variety of subjects pertinent to daily student life such as “safely walking around on campus” and “arguments for more diverse and better McClurg food options”. Her Action Research Labs strongly parallel her previous programs in Nashville through the general theme of community action in relation to solving current problems. She continues to foster community development in her free time on the plateau, such as her involvement in the Health Builds Environmental Program – a non-profit organization seeking to further the stable construction of Hospitals in nearby Tracy City. Apart from organization through environmental reform, Morgan gives mention to the upcoming 2024 election as a source of community action. She says her community development surrounding politics are “mostly grassroots – through using voice for regular citizens.” Anticipating Sewanee involvement and election turnout primarily through Sewanee Votes and other get out the vote platforms on campus, Morgan connects the election to the importance of general turnout on traditional campus reform.“I want the students to feel comfortable going to the Vice-Chancellor of their college if there is an issue,” she says. Her vision of connecting with others who see general interest serves to facilitate campus inclusivity and involvement.
In reflection on her career, Morgan places value on students of all ages who have impacted her. She projects special emphasis on college students, as it is “a special time for very specific careers”. She enjoys connecting with them on the deepest level as she can “give them insight into career ideas” and direct them toward “discovering their passion.” Annie Beth Clark (C ‘24) dedicates her gratitude to Morgan and her desire to inspire her students. “Since I first met Dr. Morgan,” Clark says, “it was clear that she carries herself with the intention of empowering others to do their very best in the world. Dr. Morgan leads in a way that makes students and colleagues believe in the full potential of themselves to do good. I’m confident Sewanee is and will continue to be a better place because Dr. Morgan is here.”
As for the future, Morgan wants to “keep working with nonprofits across the Plateau” and “continue to support students in their work.” She intends to continue positively impacting students and others through community development and hopes to leave lasting roots on the domain.