By Brandi Wylie ‘24
Dr. Nancy Williams, professor of philosophy, has earned a 2024 South Carolina Independent College and Universities Excellence in Teaching Award.
Each year, SCICU picks one professor from each college or university in the state for this honor, which includes a certificate and a $3,000 professional development grant for each recipient’s institution. Williams was recognized at the SCICU’s awards dinner held on April 9 in Columbia.
Williams has taught at Wofford College since 2006. She became a teacher in 1998, following the advice of Dr. William “Bill” Gay, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Williams says that after she completed her master’s degree, Gay suggested she try teaching, and she never looked back.
“I just fell in love with philosophy and its impact on my life,” Williams explains. “It wasn’t that I thought one day I would be a philosophy professor. I was a first-generation student going to philosophy classes simply because it gave me the intellectual courage to be who I am, and the freedom and courage of thought to go against convention.”
Williams describes her teaching pedagogy as student-oriented, and she aims to teach her students to have the intellectual courage to become who they are too. “I want my students to know that their uniqueness is their strength,” says Williams. “So, if there are queer, vegan or feminist students reading this, please know your education is preparing you for a well-lived and authentic life.”
During her time at Wofford, Williams has taught Philosophy of Food, Environmental Ethics, Feminist Philosophy, and more. She received Wofford’s Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2019 and was named the Southern Conference Faculty Member of the Year in 2016.
Williams has served as chair of the college’s Department of Philosophy for three years and, since 2015, has been a board member of the Educated Choices Program, a nonprofit global organization advocating humane education and ethical eating. She also co-coordinates the Gender Studies Program at Wofford.
Her research interests include feminist philosophy and applied ethics, with a scholarly focus on feminist animal care theory. Some of her publications include, “Ethical Veganism as Quiet Resistance,” in the “Journal of Animal Ethics” and “Ethics of Care and ‘Humane’ Meat: Why Care is Not Ambiguous about ‘Humane’ Meat,” in the “Journal of Social Philosophy.”
Williams received her bachelor’s degree from Winthrop University, her master’s from the University of South Florida and her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.
“At SCICU we’re honored to recognize our campuses’ deep commitment to their students, embodied by these exemplary educators,” says SCICU President and CEO Jeff Perez, in a statement. “Faculty members don’t often have the chance to be honored in the presence of families and friends. We’re always delighted to provide that opportunity.”