{"id":77961,"date":"2026-07-06T08:01:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=77961"},"modified":"2026-07-20T07:47:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:47:19","slug":"the-people-of-utc-get-to-know-shawn-bingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/the-people-of-utc-get-to-know-shawn-bingham\/","title":{"rendered":"The people of UTC: Get to know Honors College Dean Shawn Bingham"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shawn

Dr. Shawn Bingham is the dean of the UTC Honors College. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga\u2019s new Honors College <\/span>dean<\/span>, Dr. Shawn Bingham, has spent more than two decades working in university <\/span>honors<\/span>programs. Most recently, he served as director of the University Honors Program and Mykles Endowed Chair of Honors at Colorado State University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A\u00a0<\/span>Bingham is a sociologist whose research has taken him from disability advocacy and consumer culture to the tiny house movement and political art. He\u2019s also passionate about working closely with students and <\/span>creating interdisciplinary<\/span> classes that don\u2019t fit into a single department.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did you get into <\/span><\/b>honors<\/span><\/b> education?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in and out of honors full time since about 2003, and honestly, I still think it\u2019s the best job on campus. It\u2019s one of the few administrative jobs where you\u2019re shaping interesting programs every day, but you never lose touch with students. I\u2019vecontinued teaching, traveling abroad with students and finding ways to connect with them outside the classroom, and that\u2019s what I love most about this work.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What drew you to UTC\u2019s Honors College?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI actually met UTC Honors students at a conference probably 10 years ago. It was obvious they had been really well mentored and prepared, so I\u2019d been following UTC from afar ever since.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Linda Frost<\/span><\/b><\/a> is also really well known in the Honors community. It\u2019s a pretty small world, and I had a couple of colleagues who were close friends with her, so I already knew the program\u2019s reputation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe more I learned about Chattanooga, the more excited I became. I knew about the city\u2019s renaissance over the last couple of decades, but what really stood out was the relationship between the University and the community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPrograms like Innovations in Honors are things universities across the country are trying to build, but they can\u2019t always get the traction with community partners or the right faculty to make them happen. To come somewhere that\u2019s already doing that was really exciting.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are you hoping to bring to the Honors College?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are already great things happening here, so I\u2019m not coming in thinking there\u2019s something to fix. I\u2019m excited to build on what\u2019s already here and bring a few new ideas into the mix.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInternational experiences are a big part of what I enjoy. I\u2019ve led students abroad two or three times a year throughout my career, and I\u2019d love to continue building those opportunities here.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI also really enjoy helping faculty imagine courses they might not be able to teach anywhere else. Honors can be a place where those ideas get started and eventually grow into something bigger.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve created some unique Honors courses over the years. Where do those ideas come from?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love asking faculty, \u2018What\u2019s the dream class you\u2019ve always wanted to teach?\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had a dean once who told me he didn\u2019t drink coffee and he didn\u2019t drink alcohol, but he loved chocolate. He traveled with students and kept journals about chocolate because he was a soil scientist. I said, \u2018Can you teach a class on chocolate?\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly you\u2019ve got biology and chemistry, economics, history and even religion because chocolate was used in ritual ceremonies. A week later he sent me a syllabus.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI emailed him back and said, \u2018This looks great. Can we make it a travel course? Can we take students to Costa Rica?\u2019 And that\u2019s exactly what we did.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the really fun parts of Honors. You throw ideas out there and see who wants to riff with you. Sometimes the most interesting classes are the ones that don\u2019t fit neatly into a single department.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve taught a course that explores happiness. What do students learn from that experience?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favorite courses is called \u2018The Myths and Science of Happiness.\u2019 Students arrive on campus, spend a couple of days together, and then we go to Copenhagen before the semester even starts. Imagine being 18 years old, traveling abroad with 20 people you don\u2019t know and then coming back to begin college together. The bonding that happens is pretty amazing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut the course isn\u2019t really about travel. It\u2019s about asking students what they think will make them happy. We unpack where those ideas come from, whether it\u2019s grades or careers or something else, and then we look at what the research actually says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany Honors students are highly driven and highly anxious, so it creates a space where it\u2019s <\/span>OK<\/span> to talk about those things right from the beginning.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell me about your research interests.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a sociologist, so they\u2019re kind of all over the board.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy research has explored comedians with disabilities who use stand-up as a form of activism, the tiny housing movement, political art, consumer culture and Henry David Thoreau.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI also teach a course on consumer culture that\u2019s almost the flip side of a marketing class. We look at how we\u2019re marketed to, why we buy the things we buy and what we\u2019re really solving for. It\u2019s not about making students feel guilty. It\u2019s really abouthelping students slow down and think about what a well-lived life looks like.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why should students consider joining the Honors College?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think Honors gives students the best of both worlds. You get the experience of a small college, but you also have all the opportunities and resources that come with a <\/span>University<\/span> this size.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, the biggest benefit is being around other students who care about the same kinds of things you do. Maybe they\u2019re two years ahead of you and already doing the things you hope to do. That\u2019s an amazing resource.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen there are the faculty relationships. In a really large class, it\u2019s hard to get to know your professor. Honors gives students those smaller classes, but also opportunities outside the classroom\u2014whether it\u2019s traveling together or attending events\u2014where those mentoring relationships can really develop. I think that kind of community is really important.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you want students to know about you?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want them to know I\u2019m approachable. If my office door is open, come on in.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had thousands of students over the years who maybe didn\u2019t get into Honors at first but reached out anyway. We\u2019d grab coffee, talk about what they wanted to accomplish and figure out a path forward.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI also don\u2019t take myself too seriously. I think the best part of this job is getting to know students.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve heard someone else is joining the Honors College, too. Can you introduce us to Mr. Pickles?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Pickles is my rescued French bulldog, and yes, he came with the name.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI drove to Chattanooga with him, and I\u2019m excited to bring him to campus now that I know UTC is such a dog-friendly place.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that maybe if we do something like Coffee with the Dean, I\u2019ll bring him because he\u2019ll be the real draw. People won\u2019t care that I\u2019m there. They\u2019ll just say, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s Mr. Pickles.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anything else you\u2019d like the UTC community to know?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very grateful to be here. The first person who picked me up from the airport was <\/span>(Gary W. Rollins College of Business) Dean<\/span>\u00a0Robert Dooley, and hearing him talk about UTC and his long dedication to the University, I immediately felt like this was a good fit.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to become part of this community. This feels like the right scale, the right size university and the right kind of city to do this work.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very fortunate to be here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UTC’s new Honors College dean, Dr. Shawn Bingham, is a sociologist whose research has taken him from disability advocacy and consumer culture to the tiny house movement and political art. He\u2019s also passionate about working closely with students and creating interdisciplinary classes that don\u2019t fit into a single department.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2000,"featured_media":77966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12745,70,12746,3,122313,7712],"tags":[124544,127069,12896,127088],"class_list":{"0":"post-77961","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-brock-scholars-honors-college","9":"category-community","10":"category-experiential-learning","11":"category-faculty-and-staff","12":"category-honors-college-2","13":"tag-get-to-know-the-people-of-utc","14":"tag-goal-1-2-enhance-learner-success-strategic-plan-2030","15":"tag-robert-dooley","16":"tag-shawn-bingham","17":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nThe people of UTC: Get to know Honors College Dean Shawn Bingham | UTC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UTC's new Honors College dean, Dr. Shawn Bingham, is a sociologist whose research has taken him from disability advocacy and consumer culture to the tiny house movement and political art. 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