School of Art to Launch Storytelling Lab Designed to Empower Campus Researchers

The University of Arkansas School of Art, housed in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, invites faculty, staff and students to the launch of the Technology Empowered Storytelling Lab from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Studio and Design Center in room 217. An invitation can be accessed on campus calendar.

TESL is a new interdisciplinary initiative supported by the School of Art and funded through the school's 2025-26 Faculty Fellowships. The lab's mission is to connect faculty and student researchers from across campus to leverage emerging technologies — such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and digital archiving — and transform the way stories are created, shared and preserved. TESL supports collaborative projects that blend creative practice with technological innovation, with a focus on accessibility and community impact. 

In addition, through programs and collaborations, the lab aims to connect faculty and student researchers from across campus and bolster interdisciplinary projects that blend creative practices with technological innovations. "TESL's goal is to begin conversations around how stories can be powered by technology, rooted in research and open to all disciplines," said Nadia Issa, director of the lab. "From reimagining settings using artificial intelligence (AI) to developing new tools for community storytelling, we're building a space where innovation and inclusion go hand in hand." 

Issa explained how, through the School of Art's fellowship support, the lab will offer unique resources to faculty for integrating storytelling into coursework and to mentor students on design, operations and archiving. "A key priority is addressing barriers to digital storytelling—such as limited access to tools and biases in technology by developing an open-access archive and pursuing strategic funding to ensure long-term sustainability," she noted.

The launch event this week will offer a first look at TESL's vision and highlight upcoming activities, followed by a lecture from professor of classical studies and director of the World Languages and Digital Humanities Studio David Fredrick.

Fredrick's talk is one example of how the lab hopes to engage with the research community on innovative research that leverages technology. His talk, Pompeii by the Numbers: Diverse Proxy Phenomenology in a City of Data, will explore space, art and experience in Pompeii, featuring the work of U of A faculty and students at the intersection of classics, art history, AI, computer science and game design. His research uses AI-driven spatial analysis and art-mapping tools to model how people may have navigated and experienced Pompeii's domestic environments, testing these models through human interaction with virtual reconstructions. The project's approach includes "Diverse Proxy Phenomenology," a method that leverages diverse modern participants as stand-ins for ancient Romans to explore how art and space influenced cognition and movement. Fredrick's keynote highlights a focus on the lab: discovering the broader potential of immersive storytelling in research and education. 

"The Virtual Pompeii Project is a great illustration of the research and teaching potential when students and faculty work across disciplinary boundaries, using digital means to tell new, immersive stories, in this case about the ancient city of Pompeii," Fredrick said. 

TESL aims to serve and collaborate with researchers across disciplines and departments at the university, and the team encourages campus community members interested in technology and storytelling to attend the launch event. A cross-disciplinary team, TESL's leadership consists of: 

• Nadia Issa, teaching assistant professor of graphic design at the School of Art, TESL director and faculty fellow. 
• Vincent Edwards, director of technology at the School of Art and TESL faculty fellow. 
• Bahar N. Pour, mechanical engineering Ph.D. student and TESL fellow. 
• Christopher Spencer, assistant director of marketing and strategic communications for University Housing, master's candidate at the U of A School of Journalism and TESL fellow.
• Sousan Samanifar, master of graphic design graduate student at the School of Art and TESL fellow. 
• Elizabeth Quinn, master of graphic design graduate student at the School of Art and TESL fellow. 

Interested individuals from all colleges and departments are welcome to meet the team members on Thursday, Oct. 23, to understand how they can interact with the collaboration-focused lab. 

About the Technology-Empowered Storytelling Lab: The Technology-Empowered Storytelling Lab, or TESL, at the University of Arkansas School of Art explores how emerging technologies shape the stories we tell and who gets to tell them. TESL connects students, faculty and community partners to experiment with AI, AR/VR and other digital tools that expand creative expression and cultural understanding, advancing inclusive access to storytelling technologies and preserving non-dominant narratives through research, mentorship and collaboration. Follow TESL on Instagram at @tesl.lab to see current projects and upcoming events.