Elise C Stephens is an educator and research artist who is interested in inventing new narratives through emerging technologies. 

A former broadcast journalist for nationaly affiliated WBIR Channel 10, in Knoxville, she edited the news for 16 years. During this time, she was part of Edward R. Murrow award-winning teams. The most memorable story she covered was the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Bay St. Louis, MS. Before working for Channel 10, she was a freelance production assistant and photo assistant who worked on projects for clients like MTV, the Scripps Networks, and Sports Illustrated.

In a career second-act, she returned to the University of Tennessee School of Art where she had begun her studies before entering the workforce to study Time-Based Art. After earning her Bachelor’s degree, she earned her MFA in Digital + Media at the Rhode Island School of Design. During her time spent at RISD, Stephens cultivated up a dual love for the sea and intense research. Versed in traditional as well as emerging media, she studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a brief period.

Stephens has exhibited since the 1990’s most notibly at Boston CyberArts, Woods-Gerry Gallery, and was part of a performance at Big Ears. 

She has taught at RISD and at New England College in New Hampshire. Leading students to discovery through research and narrative is a passion of hers. Stephens is happy to have returned to UT SoA to continue to do so.