Current Fellows
MEET THE 2025 NCAA FELLOWS
Ashley Feagin
Albion College, Department Chair
Ashley Feagin explores stories through photographs, installations, performances, and collaborations. Feagin’s work stems from an endless stream of internal questions. Feagin’s curiosities are filtered through her queer identity and Southern upbringing; she reimagines failure and questions all possibilities by embracing any medium that makes the most sense.
Feagin’s work is featured in several books published by Vermont Photography Workplace: “Poetic Objects: Still Life As Subject,”” Home… is Where the Camera Is”, and “Redefining the Self Portrait.” Her work was featured in the traveling group exhibition; “Spinning Yarns: Photographic Storytellers.” She has presented lectures for the Society for Photographic Education and the Mid-American College Art Association at regional and national conferences. Feagin received her BA in Photography from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 2009 and her MFA from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, in the spring of 2012. She is an active member of the Society for Photographic Education, the Texas Photographic Society, and the Houston Center of Photography. She is an Associate Professor of Art and Chair of the Art and Art History Department at Albion College in Albion, Michigan.
Matthew Hinçman
MassArt, Dean of Faculty
Matthew Hinçman has been creating works for the public sphere for over 25 years. By appropriating the language of the commonplace, his interventions aim to disrupt the everyday and affect how public space is experienced. Two of his better-known interventions - Jamaica Pond Bench, 2006, and STILL, 2014 - can be found in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. His first major commissioned work for the City of Boston, Wythe & Web, opened in Fall 2021. Matthew has been a professor in the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s 3D Arts program for over twenty years, and currently serves as the Dean of Faculty for the college.
Tori Hord
Methodist University, Division Head
Tori Hord is a graphic designer, educator, and arts administrator passionate about fostering creative spaces where people feel seen, supported, and inspired. She serves as Division Head of Fine & Performing Arts and Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Methodist University in North Carolina.
Tori’s work blends design, teaching, and leadership with a focus on collaboration, belonging, and meaningful student engagement. Her creative practice centers around visual storytelling and brand systems, often influenced by her Southern roots and a love for culture, history, and connection. She earned her Master of Graphic Design (MGD) from NC State University and has spent over a decade mentoring emerging designers and shaping student experiences both in and out of the classroom. In addition to her work in higher education and design, she enjoys working on her family’s small farm, spending time outdoors, and making memories with her husband and two young boys.
Deborah Hutton
The College of New Jersey, Chair, Department of Art & Art History
Deborah Hutton is Professor of Art History and Chairperson of the Departments of Art and Art Education at The College of New Jersey. She also holds an appointment with TCNJ’s Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her research explores art made for the Muslim courts of South Asia between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries, and she teaches a broad range of courses on Asian and Islamic art. Committed to making art education more accessible and inclusive, she also writes and teaches about global art history more broadly. Deborah’s first book Art of the Court of Bijapur won the American Institute of Indian Studies Edward Cameron Dimock Jr. Prize in the Indian Humanities. She co-authored (with Deepali Dewan) Raja Deen Dayal: Artist-Photographer in 19th-century India and co-edited (with Rebecca Brown) Asian Art: An Anthology; Blackwell Companion to Asian Art; and Rethinking Place in South Asian and Islamic Art, 1500–Present. She also co-authored (with De-nin Lee) The History of Asian Art: A Global View, and served as co-lead author (with Jean Robertson) of The History of Art: A Global View and The Concise History of Art: A Global View—all three are textbooks published with Thames & Hudson. Deborah’s scholarship has been published in a range of journals, including History of Photography, Art History, and Archives of Asian Art. She received her MA and PhD from the University of Minnesota and her BA from Pennsylvania State University.
Jim Jeffers
Indian River State College, Professor of Graphic Design & Digital Media, Endowed Chair in Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Jim Jeffers is a dynamic educator, artist, designer, and scholar with over two decades of leadership and teaching experience in higher education. Currently serving as Professor of Graphic Design and Digital Media at Indian River State College, he served as Department Chair of Design Technology for four years – through COVID – where he oversaw multiple academic programs and championed innovation in curriculum development.
A passionate advocate for equity, inclusion, and student success, Jim has taught over 300 course sections, logging more than 17,000 hours in front of students from diverse backgrounds and learning needs. His educational background includes a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Florida, a Master of Fine Arts from Rutgers University, a Master of Arts from New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts from UC Santa Cruz.
As an Adobe Faculty Fellow and recipient of Indian River State College’s Endowed Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Jim leads transformative projects in generative AI, 360° video, and UAV technologies. He co-chairs the Adobe Creative Campus Workgroup and advises IRSC’s Graphic Design and Digital Media Club. Beyond academia, Jim is an accomplished visual and performance artist, with numerous exhibitions, two published books, and collaborative projects spanning the U.S. and abroad. He is a founding member of the New Media Caucus and a dedicated community contributor. He lives in Port St. Lucie, Florida, with his amazing spouse Jean and their two sons, Jack and Henry. He enjoys cooking, homebrewing, ultimate disc (frisbee), and scouting.
Sam Mejias
Parsons School of Design, Dean of the School of Art, Media and Technology
Dr. Sam Mejias is Dean of the School of Art, Media and Technology and Associate Professor of Social Justice and Community Engagement at Parsons School of Design, where he has taught since 2020. He is a transdisciplinary teacher and scholar, collaborative researcher, and creative multi-instrumentalist and sound designer. Sam's current research focuses on young people, the arts, and learning, and on social justice and civic engagement in design, discourse, and communication practices. As a Principal Investigator, he has collaborated on projects exploring how arts and science and technology-led transdisciplinary practices can build equity in youth learning outcomes, and how community-based arts programs influence young people’s life and career trajectories. Work from these studies has been published in Leonardo, Educational Researcher, Science Education, and the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. Sam holds an MA in International Educational Development from Columbia University Teachers College and a PhD in Human Rights Education from University College London. Before joining Parsons, he was a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Meredith Starr
SUNY Suffolk County Community College, Assistant Chair, Arts and Humanities Department
Meredith Starr is an interdisciplinary artist living in NY. She earned her BS from NYU, and her MFA from LIU. Exhibiting works nationally and internationally, her artworks explore humanity’s impact on our environment and reveal evidence of a changed landscape in the Anthropocene. Recent exhibitions span venues including the Palazzo Albrizzi-Cappelo in Venice, Italy, the London Underground at Great Portland Street Station, The Hunterdon Art Museum in New Jersey, and the Far Northside Gallery in Chicago. She has attended residencies at Arts, Letters & Numbers, Two Cents Press, Playa Summer Lake, and Jen Tough Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. Her work has been published in Suboart Magazine, Art Seen: Curator’s Salon, and CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women. She recently had a solo show at Auburn University featuring her digital paintings and a new VR experience. Starr is an Associate Professor of Visual Arts at SUNY Suffolk County Community College and Assistant Chair of the Arts & Humanities Department. She collaborates with poet Sarah Kain Gutowski, and her former art school roommate, photographer Dayna Leavitt. When she’s not in the studio you can find her on a run, pausing to photograph a sculptural arrangement of trash at the curb.
Karen Zimmermann
University of Arizona, School of Art, Interim Dean
Karen Zimmermann is an artist, designer, and academic leader with a deep commitment to interdisciplinary education, creative research, and institutional advancement. She currently serves as Interim Director of the School of Art at the University of Arizona, where she also holds a professorship in the Illustration, Design, and Animation program. In her leadership role, Zimmermann oversees academic programs, faculty development, curriculum planning, and community engagement initiatives that support student success and innovation in the arts. Zimmermann brings extensive experience in program development and cross-disciplinary collaboration. She directs the Book Arts & Letterpress Lab, a creative research hub that bridges traditional and digital practices while fostering experiential learning. Her teaching and mentorship span Typography, Motion Graphics, Visual Narratives, and Design Theory, with a focus on critical thinking, equity, and inclusive design practices. Her leadership extends nationally through her work with organizations such as the College Book Arts Association, AIGA, and the Amalgamated Printers Association, where she has organized conferences and forums to advance dialogue around design education and creative scholarship. She is also a published author, with writing featured in The Education of a Graphic Designer, JAB (Journal of Artists' Books), Zed, and Adobe Magazine. Zimmermann’s leadership is rooted in a commitment to creative inquiry, community engagement, and the transformative power of the arts in higher education. She has been recognized with numerous grants and awards for both her creative and academic contributions.