Faculty
Amid their quests for knowledge, our Department of English and Philosophy faculty have picked up a few stories of their own. They come from the United States, China, Korea and Ireland. They have volunteered for the Peace Corps and earned Fulbright Scholarships. They have collected beached marine animal carcasses, dug graves, repaired pool tables, delivered hair styling products, worked on off-shore oil rigs, painted dorm rooms, made chocolate bunnies. One was the first person to walk into Disney World in 2009. One grew up next door to the Gambino family. Yet another hitchhiked 8,000 miles on $125—in 1971. And yet another played the bagpipes at Jerry Garcia's funeral.
At the core of the search for knowledge is passion: for words, stories, ideas. Our faculty members are ready to share their expertise with you, and to set you on the path to your own adventures.
Meet our faculty
William R. (Rusty) Jones
Professor of English, Chair of the Murray Shakespeare Festival
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Shakespeare, English Renaissance Poetry and Drama, Renaissance and Restoration Satire
Josh Adair
Professor of English, Coordinator of Gender and Diversity Studies
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Modern and Contemporary British Literature, Gender Studies
Constance Alexander
Adjunct Faculty
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Humanities and Creative Writing
Kala Allen-Dunn
Lecturer
Department of English and Philosophy
Kevin Binfield
Professor of English, Coordinator of Graduate Studies
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: British Romanticism, 18th- and 19th-Century British Women's Literature, Laboring-Class Writing, Textual Scholarship
Andrew Black
Associate Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Critical Theory, History of Rhetorical Theory, Long 18th-Century Literature, Philosophy, Religion and Rhetoric; Media Studies
Tim Carter
Adjunct Faculty
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Creative Writing, Rhetoric and Composition, Humanities, American Short Story, Southern Literature
Alicia J. Carthell
Assistant Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Professional and Technical Writing/Communication; Writing and Rhetoric in the Social Sciences; Educational Leadership, Student Success and Retention in Postsecondary Education; Retention of High-Achieving African-American Undergraduate Students at PWIs
David Cignoni
Adjunct Faculty
Department of English and Philosophy
Gina Claywell
Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Rhetoric and Composition, Early American Literature, Nineteenth-Century British Literature
Sara Cooper
Assistant Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Composition, Rhetoric, Pedagogy, New Media
Judy Crofton
Senior Lecturer
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: English Composition, Humanities, American Feminist Literature
Visit Professor Crofton's Page
Julie Cyzewski
Assistant Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: 20th and 21st Century Transnational and Diasporic Literature, Postcolonial Theory, Media Studies
Laura Dawkins
Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: American Literature, Modernism, Race Studies, Gender Studies
Joshua Easterling
Assistant Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Late-medieval English Language, Literature and Culture
Warren Edminster
Professor of English, Director of the Honors College
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Medieval Literature, Professional and Technical Writing
Gwendolyn Edward
Assistant Professor of English (Creative Writing)
Department of English and Philosophy
Shimikqua Ellis
Assistant Professor of English (Graduate / DA Studies)
Department of English and Philosophy
Stephanie Fulcher
Distinguished Practitioner of English Education
Department of English and Philosophy
Zachary Garrett
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of English and Philosophy
Rory Goggins
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Coordinator of the Philosophy Program
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: History of Ancient Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Ray Horton
Assistant Professor, Coordinator of Undergraduate Literature, Faculty Advisor for
English Student Organization
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: American Literature, Literature and Religion, Secularization Theory, Contemporary Fiction
Carrie Jerrell
Associate Professor of English, Assistant to the Dean for CHFA, Coordinator of Undergraduate
Creative Writing
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Creative Writing (Poetry & Nonfiction), Modern and Contemporary American Poetry, Prosody
Timothy Johns
Associate Professor of English, Coordinator of the Jesse Stuart Fellowship
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: World Literature and Cinema, South African Writing, Post-colonial Studies
T.J. Martinson
Assistant Professor of English (Creative Writing)
Department of English and Philosophy
Cara Mathis
Lecturer
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Western Humanities, Composition, Research, Writing Across the Disciplines
Sally McIntosh
Lecturer
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Composition and Rhetoric
Visit Professor McIntosh's Page
Vince Medlock
Adjunct Faculty
Department of English and Philosophy
Michael Morgan
Associate Professor of English, Co-coordinator of the English Education and Racer
Writing Center
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: English Education, TESOL
John Muenzberg
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: British Empiricism, Early Modern Philosophy, Ethics, Humanities
Ann Neelon
Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Poetry and Poetics, Contemporary World Literature
Danielle Nielsen
Associate Professor of English, Dean of the Commonwealth Honors Academy
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Rhetoric and Composition, Professional and Technical Communication, Victorian and 20th-Century British Literature, Literature of the Empire, Gender and Language, Print Culture and New Media
Jeff Osborne
Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Early American Literature, Humanities
Michelle Panchuk
Assistant Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Visit Professor Panchuk's Page
Ho Ryong Park
Associate Professor of English and TESOL, Co-coordinator of the Racer Writing Center
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: TESOL, Computer-Assisted Language, Learning and Teaching Second Language Literacies, Reading Strategies
Visit Dr. Park's Personal Website
Juyoung Song
Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Sociolinguistics, Second Language Teacher Education
Sue Sroda
Associate Professor of English and TESOL
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: TESOL, Linguistics, ESL/EFL Teacher Training
Latricia Trites
Professor of TESOL and English, Director of the TESOL Program
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Reading and Writing Instruction and Assessment, ESL/EFL Teacher Training, Applied Linguistics
Tim Wallin
Adjunct Faculty
Department of English and Philosophy
Paul Walker
Professor of English
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: Professional and Technical Writing, Rhetoric, New Media
Clay Wyatt
Lecturer
Department of English and Philosophy
Saihua Xia
Associate Professor of English and TESOL
Department of English and Philosophy
Areas of Expertise: ESL/EFL Teacher Training, SLA, Pragmatics, Cognitive Approaches to Second Language Learning