2026 TALS Research and Teaching Conference
February 11 - 13, 2026 Philadelphia, PA
See Sponsors, Committees, and Volunteers Acknowledged Below
2026 Sponsors
TALS Conference Committees and Volunteers
Conference Planning Committee:
1. Mary Ann Devine (Kent State University)
2. Ellen Drogin Rodgers (George Mason University)
3. Lauren Duffy (Pennsylvania State University)
4. Edwin Gómez (Chair, East Carolina University)
5. Toni Liechty (University of Illinois)
6. W. Tommy Means (University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse)
7. Kristin (KP) Pastva (Pennsylvania State University)
8. Harrison Pinckney (Pennsylvania State University)
Fellows Committee:
1. Mary Ann Devine (Kent State University)
2. Charles Hallo (Clemson University)
3. Stephanie West (Chair, James Madison University)
Future Scholars Committee:
1. Cindy Hartman (Chair, University of New Hampshire)
2. Sammie Powers (Past Chair; George Mason University)
3. Bob Barcelona (Clemson University)
4. Corey Johnson (North Carolina State University)
5. Fenton Litwiller (University of Manitoba)
6. Hongping Zhang (University of Tennessee-Knoxville)
TALS Awards Committee:
1. Brooke Burk
2. Liselle Milazzo (Pennsylvania State University)
3. Harrison Pinckney (Chair, Pennsylvania State University)
Global Relevance Committee:
1. Xin Du (Western Michigan University)
2. Heather Gibson (University of Florida)
3. Shintaro Kono (CALS Representative, University of Alberta)
4. KoFan Lee (University of Mississippi)
5. Cristina Ortega Nuere (World Leisure Organization)
6. Mona Sadat Mirehie (Indiana University)
7. Ingrid Schneider (Minnesota State University)
8. Iryna Sharaievska (Chair, Clemson University)
Communication Committee:
1. Hung-Ling (Stella) Liu (George Mason University)
Newsletter:
1. Andrew Kerins (Newsletter Co-Editor, Eastern Illinois University)
2. Nick Pitas (Newsletter Co-Editor, SUNY-Brockport)
Membership:
1. Augustus (Gus) Hallmon (James Madison University)
Historian:
1. Mary Parr (Kent State University)
Treasurer:
1. Toni Liechty (University of Illinois)
Abstract Review Committee:
1. Justin Harmon (University of North Carolina-Greensboro)
2. Brian Kumm (University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse)
3. Toni Liechty (University of Illinois)
4. Sammie Powers (George Mason University)
5. Xue Yan (Coordinator of Abstracts, University of Illinois)
Abstract Reviewers:
1. Damian Cavanaugh (Winona State University)
2. Xin Du (Western Michigan University)
3. Cindy Hartman (University of New Hampshire)
4. Incheol Jang (University of Southern Indiana)
5. Eric Legg (Arizona State University)
6. Stella Liu (George Mason University)
7. Jeff Rose (University of Utah)
8. Zafar Waziha Sarker (University of Illinois)
9. Callie Schultz (Western Carolina University)
10. Darrien Watson (Geogia Southern University)
11. Mina Woo (University of Southern Indiana)
12. I-Chun (Nicky) Wu (George Mason University)
13. Xingxing Wu (University of Arizona)
Graduate Student Representatives:
1. Sasha Mador (University of Mississippi)
2. Kshitij Tewari (University of Illinois)
Graduate Student Volunteers
1. Juan Acevedo (University of Illinois)
2. Olatunji Aminulai (Clemson University)
3. Brianna Blassneck (University of Florida)
4. Sarah Farrar (North Carolina State University)
5. Dalton Grimes (University of Illinois)
6. Marie Haidara (Clemson University)
7. Chunyan Hua (Arizona State University)
8. Olivia Huang (University of Illinois)
9. Carly Knudson (University of Utah)
10. Darcy Lu (University of Illinois)
11. Sasha Mader (Co-Coordinator of Volunteers, University of Utah)
12. Kayla Patterson (North Carolina State University)
13. Chloe Phillips (North Carolina State University)
14. Haeyoun Min (University of Illinois)
15. Kshitij Tewari (Co-Coordinator of Volunteers, University of Illinois)
16. Zoe Reep (Arizona State University)
17. Mandy Schenkemeyer (University of Utah)
18. Alayna Schmidt (Clemson University)
19. Xue Yan (Coordinator of Abstracts, University of Illinois)
20. Wenzhe Zheng (University of Illinois)
For questions regarding conference details or logistics, please contact Edwin (Ed) Gómez (gomeze17@ecu.edu).