Emma Morris

Welcome to my portfolio! Thank you for viewing my work. I am a writer who has a heart for uncovering stories in everyday life in every corner of the earth. My time as an English: Creative Writing major at Anderson University in South Carolina has taught me to dig deep into the craft of piecing words together, and my Public Relations minor and experience in communications have taught me to find the stories that every person I meet inevitably holds. School and internships have taken me everywhere from the hills of Appalachia to the coast of South Africa to write. Whether I am writing a feature story, news release, public relations plan, social media post, academic essay, or poem, my heart is to tell people, places and organizations' stories lucidly and eloquently.

Feature Stories

MLK Day Speaker Recalls Lost Sister's Impact on Civil Rights Movement | Anderson University

On Sept. 15, 1963, a tragedy in Birmingham, Ala. hit headlines across the nation. Four young girls — Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair — were killed when white supremacists bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church. Denise McNair, the youngest of the four girls at 11-years old, was Lisa McNair’s older sister. The world was shocked by such evil and injustice. The grief is still nauseating.
Anderson University •

College of Education Graduate Finds Her Calling in Zambia | Anderson University

For many vulnerable children at community schools in Zambia, any day could be their last day of school. Impoverished families who can’t pay the standard education fee often send their children from school to school until they are kicked out for missing payments. That’s why Savannah Turner, a 2018 Anderson University College of Education graduate, spent two summers during college at schools in Zambia. Turner knelt by children’s desks and helped them study words and numbers.
Anderson University •

Anderson University to Celebrate International Education Week | Anderson University

Anderson University is joining colleges and universities across the world in celebrating International Education Week, November 18-22. The Anderson University Center for Global Engagement, International Student Organization and Connect Club are partnering to host events to throughout the week. International Education Week is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education...
Anderson University •

Conference Inspires University's Efforts at Diversity and Inclusion | Anderson University

Earlier this month, a team of five Anderson University senior leaders, faculty and staff flew across the country for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Diversity Conference. At the diversity conference, which was held at George Fox University near Portland, Oregon, AU leaders learned from influential keynote speakers and participated in breakout sessions with representatives from other Christian universities.
Anderson University •

From Kinesiology Graduate to Bank Executive: Luis Martinez’s Unlikely Journey After AU | Anderson University

Luis Martinez II proudly displays a framed Anderson University diploma on the wall of his executive office at TD Bank in downtown Anderson. Nearly 10 years ago, Martinez shook hands with President Evans P. Whitaker and received a kinesiology degree. On the front lawn that May day in 2010, Martinez was unaware that his kinesiology degree would lead him to become a vice president and commercial relationship manager at one of the nation’s largest banks.
Samaritan's Purse •

Shoeboxes Become an Answer to Children’s Prayers in South Africa | Samaritan's Purse

Children in and around Durban, South Africa, received Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts earlier this year. God brings Operation Christmas Child gifts to just the right child. South Africa is a bustling nation of 55 million people nestled at the southernmost tip of the continent, surrounded on three sides by the sea. Only 25 years removed from apartheid, the country continues to recover from that traumatic chapter in its past.
Anderson University •

AU Leading Effort to Support Affordable Housing in Local Community | Anderson University

Tiny houses may be all the rage, but some at Anderson University see in the trend something more: the opportunity to meet a growing need for affordable housing in Anderson County. Anderson Leadership Class 35 and the LOT Project are partnering to build the first tiny house in the city of Anderson, and its members have sought the talent of Anderson University School of Interior Design to make the house a home.
Anderson University •

Mims Lecture Series Brings Ron Rash Back to Campus | Anderson University

Anderson University recently welcomed New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash to campus as part of the annual Mims Lecture Series. Students, faculty and local literature enthusiasts filled Chapman Multimedia Classroom in Thrift Library on March 19 to hear Rash read selections of his fiction and poetry. “This series is vital because it allows students to hear a living writer,” Rash said. “In college, that meant a lot to me, and I hope that it meant something to students tonight too. In an age of technology, exposure to literature is important.”
Anderson University •

Southeast Asia Study Abroad Trip Changed Perspectives | Anderson University

Professor Robert Homer-Drummond, a professor of theatre at the South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University, was born to a missionary family in the war-torn nation of Vietnam in 1969. He was the first American born in the 95th Army Evacuation Hospital in Danang. He said that soldiers who missed their own children him passed him around for a morale boost, making him an honorary member of the 80th General Support Group.
Anderson University •

AU Begins Martin Luther King Jr Day Celebration with Message About Courage | Anderson University

“It was June, 1961,” said Cladys P. Harrison on stage during Anderson University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. She paused, remembering that landmark summer day. The phone rang at 5 a.m. “The voices on the other end pleaded for me to come and make that bus ride,” she said. The bus ride was a 1961 Freedom Ride. In protest of segregated public buses, groups of civil rights activists boarded buses throughout the south seeking racial equality.
Anderson University •

Nursing Professor's Passion in Serving Immigrant Community | Anderson University

Sanquinette Brownlee, a professor the Anderson University School of Nursing, is confident that everything happens for a reason. Her life has been a series of unexpected and often difficult situations. Now, as an educator and medical professional, Brownlee sees how all broken pieces of her past fit together. When she isn’t teaching, Brownlee serves as a family nurse practitioner and medical director for La Clinica Gratis, a free community clinic in Greenwood, South Carolina.
Anderson University •

Doctoral Graduate Ministers to Native Hmong People | Anderson University

On any given Sunday at Hmong Christian Alliance Church in Winder, Georgia, Dr. Shahlahng Herr is found preaching to his congregation in two languages—Hmong and English—at the same time. A doctoral graduate of Anderson University, Herr has an unconventional way of preaching and a story that exudes God’s faithfulness. “I want to be able to present the Gospel in a way people can understand and open their eyes to Scripture through preaching,” Herr said. “Preaching is one of the gifts God gave me.”

News Releases

Anderson University •

Cancer Center Director, Students, Publish Research Manual | Anderson University

A team from the Anderson University Center for Cancer Research published an iBook research manual this year that provides insights into sterile techniques and data analysis during cancer research efforts. Dr. Diana Ivankovic, a professor of biology and the center’s director, wrote the manual; Anderson University seniors Michael Stevens and Isaac Daffron, both cancer research fellows, formatted and published the iBook. Students previously followed a print manual, but the new iBook provides digi
Anderson University •

Graduate Nursing Students Receive CVS Foundation Scholarship | Anderson University

Five Anderson University graduate family nurse practitioner students were awarded a significant scholarship funded by the CVS Foundation. The CVS Foundation chose Anderson University as a qualified school to receive a scholarship grant to equally distribute to five students. Graduate nursing students Irina Shatanko, Kynni Jones, Heather Shaw, Ashley Buchanan and Brianna Hodges were recipients of the $1000 scholarship.
Anderson University •

Simulation Technician Earns Distinguished Certification | Anderson University

An Anderson University technician with the College of Health Professions is one of fewer than 300 people in the world to receive a Certified Healthcare Simulations Operations Specialist (CHSOS) certification. Jean Foltz, a simulation technician for Anderson University’s Center of Medical Simulationsand a graduate of AU, recently earned the certification to become one of only 262 people from 11 countries who have passed the CHSOS exam since May 2014.
Anderson University •

Professor Beth Schultz Awarded Nursing Scholar Grant to Pursue Doctoral Studies | Anderson University

An Anderson University professor is one of just a handful of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future Nurses grant recipients nationwide, a prestigious scholarship that she’s using to complete doctoral studies at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Beth Schultz of Anderson University’s College of Health Professions is one of two USC doctoral students to receive the grant, created to increase the number of nurses who hold doctorate degrees.

Creative Writing

Public Relations


Academic Writing

Devotional Writing

(in)courage •

So Be It | (in)courage

In the heat of a South Carolina August, I arrived at my new home with too many boxes of clothes and hopeful aspirations for the year ahead. I felt like someone had turned me inside out, jittery from iced coffee, nervousness, and excitement. That night, as I snuggled into a new bed in a new place, I felt small. I didn’t have a name and nobody knew my story. I was starting over. The blank canvas was an exciting reminder of the adventure awaiting, but the unknown felt daunting.
(in)courage •

Choosing Him | (in)courage

My eyes heavy, I read over the same line again and again trying to concentrate. In frustration I repeated to myself, “Just one more chapter. Read, pay attention, stay awake.” Reading through Leviticus felt more like reading a boring history textbook than digging into God’s word. I knew deep down that this was an important part of God’s living word, but I felt like the heart of God was buried beneath 27 chapters of not-so-exciting words like “procedures” and “instructions” that seemed to have no application to my faith today.
Anderson University Women's Ministry •

Flourish | Anderson University Women's Ministry

God’s very nature is proclaimed through His creation. Bright petals and green succulents burst with the glory of God. Life springing from the dirt is a wonderful reminder of God’s delight in life. Unfortunately, the joy I find in growing plants is always combatted by my incompetence in keeping them alive. Despite my best efforts, plants seem to respond to my care with fading color, drooping leaves, and falling petals.

Emma's Blog

Emma's Book

Who Emma has Worked With

Anderson University •

Anderson University Department of Marketing and Communications

The Office of Marketing and Communications supports the mission of Anderson University by developing and protecting the brand of the institution and projecting the brand in a consistent and effective manner to external audiences. It is vital that Anderson University be known as a rapidly emerging private Christian university where academic excellence and faith combine in a supportive environment where faculty, staff and students are dedicated to learning and service.