Wofford faculty and staff are involved across disciplines and programs in high-impact practices that bring together the Wofford and Spartanburg communities through research, coursework and service-learning.
Dr. Cynthia Fowler serves as a professor of sociology and anthropology. Her main areas of study occur where anthropology intersects with biosocial dynamics, freshwater and marine biology, and fire ecology. In 2022-23, Fowler received Fulbright U.S. Scholar support for community-based research about the ways Indonesian agropastoralists shape and respond to freshwater changes due to multidecadal natural and anthropogenic transformations in their home landscapes. Fowler has published her research results in journal articles and books, including Fire Otherwise: Ethnobiology of Burning for a Changing World (2018), Biosocial Synchrony on Sumba: Multispecies Interactions and Environmental Variations in Indonesia (2016), and Ignition Stories: Indigenous Fire Ecology in the Indo-Australian Monsoon Zone (2013). She co-edits the Contributions in Ethnobiology monograph series published by the Society of Ethnobiology.
Dr. Rhiannon Leebrick is an associate professor of sociology and anthropology. She earned a Ph.D. in environmental sociology from University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Leebrick’s research focuses on environmental gentrification in rural communities in south central Appalachia and community change.
Dr. Youmi Efurd, museum curator, is always finding ways to connect Wofford and the Spartanburg community through art. The curator teaches a community-based learning course, heavy on practical educational programming related to exhibitions. This course helps undergraduate students to develop critical thinking skills by integrating academic content into community experiences. The curator also conducts faculty-student collaborative research to develop and implement educational programs to increase literacy and comprehension of K-12 students through museum education or nonformal education. Interacting and working with diverse populations in the community from different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds helps the students better understand the civic responsibilities of the museum as a center of learning in the community. The museum develops art activities and programming for organizations that support local youth, cancer survivors and people with mental health issues.
Dr. Katie Putney, assistant professor of biology, conducts research with students related to tree phenology tracking as ecological health. In spring 2024, she and her students will track the timing of first leaf out and flowering time of a set of trees out at Glendale that were marked as a part of a summer research effort last summer. This research is generally focused on understanding how different tree species respond to the effects of climate change. One concern is that tree phenology changes might not match with insect pollinator phenology changes in response to climate change, which could have huge implications for the health of a given forest community. This will be long-term and single season data that is collected and submitted to a larger big-data effort called the National Phenology Network, so that our data can add to the nationwide data set for others to analyze.
Dr. Aaron Garrett, associate professor of computer science, and his colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory conduct automated building envelope calibration and energy modeling. They use an existing model of a building and apply custom software to make it match more closely to that building’s actual energy usage (so that the model is a more accurate representation of the actual building). This is useful because potential changes/upgrades can be made to the model prior to actual construction/retrofit to see if such changes would actually improve the energy efficiency of the building. This model is used as an input into a Department of Energy simulation program called EnergyPlus that produces a very detailed annual report of the energy use of such a building.
Dr. Timothy Terrell, Stackhouse Professor of Economics and Business, writes on environmental and regulatory economics and has testified on Capitol Hill on environmental regulation. Each summer, Terrell teaches in the Mises Institute’s Austrian economics program. Terrell, Timothy D. 2020. “Carbon Flux and N- and M-Shaped Environmental Kuznets Curves: Evidence from International Land Use Change,” Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy 10, no. 2: 155–74.from International Land Use Change,” Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy 10, no. 2: 155–74.
Dr. Jim Neighbors is a professor of English and the co-coordinator for the Africa/African American Studies program. Dr. Neighbors has been a leader in designing and launching The Back of the College Project which has worked to tell the history of the predominantly Black neighborhood that used to exist next to Wofford but was lost to the college’s expansion. The project has been collaborative and community-based during its six-year operation. Wofford students have worked alongside former residents, Spartanburg County Library researchers, Spartanburg city and county councilmembers, historians, sociologists, church leaders and activists working on promoting Black history and heritage. The project will publish a book called “North of Main” (Hub City Press) and an interactive website that will serve to allow ongoing community building activity.
Jen Bradham, assistant professor of environmental studies, has been actively involved in community-based research projects in Spartanburg for the last few years that have addressed community wellbeing by studying greenspace equity, housing and transportation. She is committed to connecting her environmental studies and data science students with experiential learning opportunities to put their quantitative skills into practice with community partners in Spartanburg.
Dr. Peter Brewitt, associate professor of environmental studies, researches the politics and policy of ecological restoration, focusing on how stakeholders work with and against each other to restore natural ecological features and flows and establish new land management regimes. He also helps oversee an internship program with a local nonprofit. Wofford students gain experience growing vegetables, educating local youth about nourishing food and helping run a nonprofit by working on the Hub City Roots Urban Farm each semester.
Dr. Amy Telligman, associate professor of environmental studies, is Wofford’s campus leader on environmental sustainability and the chair of the campus sustainability committee. She teaches about sustainable food systems and agroecology, combining disciplinary perspectives on food, agriculture and people to understand their roles in complex social-ecological systems. Her students grow food and other plants in the Chandler Center courtyard garden.
Dr. Laura Barbas-Rhoden serves as a professor of Spanish. Her research comprises two primary areas: (1) bilingual (Spanish and English) qualitative research in community-engaged contexts on topics related to well-being, environment and place, and (2) ecocritical and environmental humanities engagements with primary texts and cultural products from Ibero-American contexts.
Barbas-Rhoden is an environmental humanist who specializes in Latin American literary and cultural studies and place-based qualitative research. As a teacher-scholar, she offers community-engaged learning courses that offer students learning opportunities in multilingual Spartanburg, and she conducts place-based research undertaken collaboratively among students, members of communities beyond the campus community and faculty. Past projects reside at the intersection of health, environment and place; elevate and amplify the experiences and perspectives of residents, with particular attention to those who encounter structural barriers to participation; and seek to further co-flourishing in the community.
Dr. Nancy Williams is a professor of philosophy. Her research and teaching centers on ethical theory, including feminist philosophy, philosophy of food, and environmental and animal ethics. In those areas, Williams elucidates the human and ecological health concerns associated with traditional food production and consumption habits. Her work also uncovers the various social justice issues involved in animal protection and feminist theory debates. Sustainability, according to Williams, requires a radical shift in thinking about our place in the natural and social universe.
Dr. Kara Bopp’s research, teaching and community engagement are grounded in building intergenerational connections. Bopp, professor of psychology, has created the Intergenerational Connections Program that provides opportunities for Wofford students to interact with local older adults (65+ years old). Activities at community centers, Wofford’s Lifelong Learning, and senior living locations allow for fun interactions with the goal to improve socio-emotional and cognitive well being in both age groups.
Dr. Courtney Dorroll is an associate professor of religion. Her work on selfcare pedagogy revolves around creating a more sustainable classroom, syllabus and campus culture for both students and professors.
Dr. Douglas Clark, visiting assistant professor of religion, researches the history of religion in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements and reparations. His current book project is a biography of an African American minister/theologian/activist, Gayraud S. Wilmore, who advocated for churches to pay reparations in the late 1960s Black Power era.
Dr. Alysa Handelsman, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, has been engaged in ethnographic, participatory research for the last two decades that has been grounded in community sustainability. Since 2018, she has taught a year-long community sustainability seminar and has been involved in designing and implementing programming in Spartanburg alongside Wofford students and community partners. This programming has focused on building sustainable communities through educational and extracurricular opportunities for children and youth, in particular. Through this course, Handelsman’s students and their community partners currently run 20 programs on the north side and south side, and in the Highland, Una-Saxon and Drayton neighborhoods. She and her students work closely with resident leaders and neighborhood associations as well as with partners at Spartanburg Housing, Cleveland Academy of Leadership, Mary H. Wright Elementary, Meeting Street Academy, Carver Middle, Kids’ Club, Parks and Rec, Bethlehem Center, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, the City of Spartanburg, Oak and Ave Impact, among others.
For two years, Handelsman worked actively with an interdisciplinary Wofford team and community partners in the Una, Saxon and Arcadia neighborhoods to study the intersection of condemned properties and neighborhood wellness. Last summer, she formed part of a research team that looked at "development" in the Drayton community from the perspective of residents. She is currently working with the Spartanburg Housing Authority and Wofford students to better understand resident perspectives on employment across public housing communities in Spartanburg. She is also part of a mixed-methods research team engaged in a multi-year project across D7 schools that explores how youth imagine the future of their neighborhoods. This year, as part of the Youth Perspectives project, she and her team are working with third graders at Meeting Street Academy.
Matthew Newton ’21 works in the Center for Community-Based Learning as the human and community sustainability program manager. In this role Matthew works closely with professors and with partners in the Northside managing the Northside Living-Learning Community (NLLC). Through the NLLC, Matthew manages co-curricular programming for students engaging in a year-long sustainability and community engagement focused curriculum. Through linked courses taught over two semesters in combination with this co-curricular programming, students in the NLLC have the opportunity to live, learn, and work in the Northside while getting first-hand, real-world experience with topics they discuss in class.
Rev. Dr. Ron Robinson is Wofford’s chaplain as well as a professor of religion. The Office of the Chaplain at Wofford College upholds a strong commitment to sustainability as an integral part of its mission. "Developing Sustainable and Resilient communities" stands at the core of its dedication to environmental stewardship. Notably, South Carolina Interfaith Power & Light, an interfaith environmental advocacy group, was established within the Chaplain’s office and the office continues to play a significant role serving on the leadership team and actively participating in numerous interfaith environmental initiatives across South Carolina.
Jessalyn Story serves as director of the Center for Community-Based Learning. She is a native of Spartanburg and is passionate about connecting Wofford and Spartanburg.
James Stukes is the assistant dean of student success and college access. He directs Wofford’s Gateway Scholars program and is always finding ways to connect his students to the Spartanburg community. One of the programs is most closely connected to iCan Mentor.
Toria Teamer is the Bonner Scholar Program manager. In this role, she works closely with students and their community partners to develop multi-year partnerships.