Our Faculty

Brock Adams | adamsdb3@uscupstate.edu
Senior Instructor of English and Creative Writing

864-503-5384

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 215
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Fiction

Warren “Wren” Bareiss | BAREISS@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Communication

864-503-5299

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 119
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Health, culture, and society
• He has written more than thirty journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, encyclopedia entries, book reviews, and editorials on topics including non-suicidal self-injury, representations of suicide in the media, men’s health, and telemedicine.
• His service includes membership on the Live Healthy Spartanburg Policy Committee, the Spartanburg Shares Governing Board, the Spartanburg Philharmonic Audience Development Committee, and institutional review boards for Spartanburg First and Wofford College.

• Warren Bareiss on Linkedin

Andrew Beer | BEERA@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Psychology

864-503-5762

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Arts and Sciences Building (CASB), 132
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Personality Psychology
• First Impressions and Person Perception
• Behavior in Natural Settings
• Intentional Behavior Change

Resume (PDF)

Sung-hun Byun | byuns@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice

864-503-7718

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building 313
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Quantitative Research Methods
• Intimate Partner Violence
• Repeat (Poly-) Victimization
• Theories of Crime

Peter Caster | caster@uscupstate.edu
Professor

864-503-5677

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center, 217
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Caster is the author of the book Prisons, Race, and Masculinity in 20th-Century U.S. Literature and Film (Ohio State, 2008), and he co-edited Fathers, Preachers, Rebels, Men: Black Masculinity in U.S. History and Literature, 1820-1945 (Ohio State, 2011). He teaches introduction to film, film genres and directors, film history, women and filmmaking, film adaptation, and select U.S. literature courses.

Resume (PDF)

Dr. Christa Christ | cchrist@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of Psychology

864-503-5172

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Arts and Sciences Building (CASB), 141

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Christ teaches coursework such as Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, Physiological Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Careers in Psychology. Her scholarly interests include stress reactivity, genetic susceptibility to adverse experiences, interpersonal reactive behaviors, and maladaptive coping strategies. She is also interested in the intersection of scholarship & teaching related to the impact of active learning, service engagement, and self-reflection.

Resume (PDF)

• Dr. Christa Christ on Linkedin

Dr. Michele White Covington | mcovingt@uscupstate.edu
Executive Director of Greenville Programs/Professor of Criminal Justice

864-503-5719

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Greenville Campus
Building and Room Number: Greenville Campus, Room 119

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Crime Analysis/Open-Source Investigations
• Human Trafficking
• Police-Community Relations
• Continuing Education

Resume (PDF)

• Dr. Michele Covington on Linkedin

Bob Daly | dalyjr@uscupstate.edu
Senior Instructor

864-503-5765

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 303

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Criminal Law and Procedure

Biography (PDF)

Michael DeLorm | MDELORM@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor

864-503-5621

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC) 130

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Theatre and live event design, specifically the effects of lighting color across a variety of skin tones and ethnicities.

Resume (PDF)

Allison Ellis | clark4@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Political Science

864-503-5752

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 135

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Political Behavior
• Campaigns & Elections
• Political Communication

Dr. Derek Fenner | dfenner@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor, Art Education – Director, FOCUS Gallery

864-503-7369

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Fine Arts and Communications Studies
Building and Room Number: KVAC 107

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Derek Fenner is an artist, educator, and researcher in the Carolinas. With 20+ years of experience in K-12 schools, his research interests include participatory action research as pedagogy, integrated thinking and learning, juvenile justice education, and arts-based research.

Resume (PDF)

• Derek Fenner on Linkedin

Dr. Esther Godfrey | GODFREEL@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Nineteenth-Century British Literature

864-503-5602

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC) 222

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Nineteenth-Century British Literature
• Victorian Literature
• Women’s and Gender Studies

Resume (PDF)

Dr. Jason Hannay | jhannay@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Psychology

864-503-5799

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Greenville Campus
Building and Room Number: Arts and Sciences Building (CASB), 142

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Hannay earned a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently teaches Introduction to Psychology, Social Psychology, Stereotyping/Prejudice, Research Methods, and The Psychology of Happiness. His research explores systemic inequality (both economic and racial) and how these inequities affect people in everyday life.

Resume (PDF)

Dr. Charles Harrington | harring7@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies

864-503-5545

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Arts and Sciences Building (CASB), 106

• Charles Harrington on Linkedin

Carmen Harris | cvharri@uscupstate.edu
Professor of History

864-503-5732

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 107

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• African American
• Southern Culture
• South Carolina
• United States of America

Resume (PDF)

Araceli Hernández-Laroche, Ph.D. | HERNAN49@uscupstate.edu
Director of South Carolina Centro Latino & Professor of Modern Languages

(864) 503-5221

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 206

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Araceli Hernández-Laroche (UC Berkeley PhD) speaks four languages and is USC Upstate Professor of Modern Languages and founding director of South Carolina Centro Latino, the state’s first university-based center for the study of Hispanic and Latino cultures. Its three pillars are Latinx Interdisciplinary Studies & Civic Leadership, the Multilingual Public Humanities, and Translation & Community Interpreting. She has several publications on world wars, existentialist writers, the public humanities, including “France in the Times of COVID-19: The Public Humanities as a Vaccine for Coexistence,” and immigration in the Americas. She served as the co-president of the Association of Department of Languages (ALD) Executive Committee and on the Modern Language Association (MLA) Ad Hoc Committee Valuing the Public Humanities. SC Humanities recognized her as 2023 Akers Prize winner for using culture and history to bring people together. 2020 SC Career Woman of the Year and 2024 Woman of Influence are examples of other distinctions.

• Araceli Hernández-Laroche on Linkedin

Dr. Monika Shehi Herr | mfshehi0@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of English

864-503-5972

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 213

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: A native of Albania, Dr. Herr holds a Master’s degree in American Literature, as well as Ph.D. degree in Rhetoric and Composition, both from University of South Carolina. Her research interests include writing pedagogy, rhetorical analysis, and intercultural communication.

Shuang Hundley | sliu2@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor

864-503-5646

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC) 113

Dr. Ann Hoover | HOOVER3@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Psychology and Department Chair

864-503-5686

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Fine Arts and Communications Studies
Building and Room Number: Arts and Sciences Building (CASB), 136

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Hoover received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Purdue University. Her primary research interests include prejudice, power, and gender roles. She teaches Statistics, Social Psychology, Psychology of Women, and Psychology of Happiness.

Dr. Stefanie Keen | keen@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Psychology

864-503-5784

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Arts and Sciences Building (CASB), 143
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Keen earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Indiana University and is a licensed clinical psychologist. She teaches classes in child advocacy, research methods, trauma and posttraumatic stress, human development, and psychological disorders. She is engaged in an active research program related to the psychological effects of traumatic stress including child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and military-related trauma.

Colby King | kingcr@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of Sociology

864-503-5760

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 314
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Social Inequality
• Urban Sociology
• Econonomic Development
• Regional Labor Markets
• Sociology of Art
• Scholarships of Teaching and Learning
• First-Generation and Working-Class People in Higher Education

• Colby King on Linkedin

Celena Kusch | kuschc@uscupstate.edu
Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Academic Innovation and Faculty Support

864-503-5850

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 248

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Kusch’s research focuses on issues of cosmopolitanism, transnationalism, anti-imperialism and inter-cultural encounter in modernist and contemporary literature. Dr. Kusch co-chairs the H.D. International Society, a scholarly association. Dr. Kusch is the author of Literary Analysis: The Basics (Routledge), which outlines strategies of literary analysis that apply to any kind of text in any language from any period of time. The compact book helps college students learn the fundamentals of English literary studies, while giving instructors flexibility in the books, poems, films, and stories they teach.

Resume (PDF)

• Celena Kusch on Linkedin

Alexander Lorenz | alorenz@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of German & Director of Global Engagement

864-503-5622

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Burroughs Building, 107

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Second Language Acquisition
• International Education
• Language Pedagogy
• Migration Studies

Resume (PDF)

• Alexander Lorenz on Linkedin

Jodie Martin | jm102@uscupstate.edu
Director of The Center for Child Advocacy Studies and The Child Protection Training Center

864-503-5482

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Languages, Literature, and Composition (LLC)
Building and Room Number: Arts and Sciences Building (CASB), 126

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Jodie Martin is a veteran and has extensive knowledge of Abuse and Neglect, Domestic Violence, and the family court system due to her time with the Department of Social Services and Early Head Start. Jodie has been a Licensed Professional Counselor since 2017 and understands the barriers families face. She is passionate about helping children and strives to make a difference in her community.

Resume (PDF)

• Jodie Martin on Linkedin

Robert McCormick | MCCORMRB@uscupstate.edu
Professor of History

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 105

864-503-5723

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. McCormick studies war criminality, World War II and the postwar era, as well as sports history. He is the author of “Croatia under Ante Pavelić: America, The Ustaše and Croatian Genocide” and “Founding the ACC: The Origins of a Major Collegiate Athletic Conference, 1951-1953.” He is the co-editor of “Distant Fronts: An International Rediscovery of World War One.”

Courtney McDonald | MCDONA95@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 309

864-503-5832

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Family Violence

Resume (PDF)

María Francisco-Montesó | francis4@uscupstate.edu
Senior Spanish Instructor / El Centro Assistant Director

864-503-5203

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Languages, Literature, and Composition (LLC)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 207

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Spanish Translation and Interpreting Studies
• Spanish Language and Cultures
• Linguistics

Resume (PDF)

• Maria Monteso on Linkedin

Andrew Myers | MYERSAN@uscupstate.com
Professor, American Studies and United States History

864-503-5833

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Department of History, Political Science, Philosophy And American Studies (HPPA)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 106

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: United States historian who specializes in the American armed forces as a domestic institution. Also have expertise in South Carolina and local history research techniques. Author of Black, White & Olive Drab (2006). Co editor of Historians in Service of a Better South (2017) and Recovering the Piedmont Past, Volume 2 (2019). Presently writing trilogy about the origins of the Spartanburg Freedom Flag and the occupation of the South Carolina Upcountry during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

• Andrew Myers on Linkedin

Lee Neibert | neibert@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Theatre

864-503-5987

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC) 131

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Theatre: Acting and Directing

Resume (PDF)

Colleen C. O’Brien | obrienc@uscupstate.edu
Professor

864-503-5678

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 210

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• African American Studies
• Women’s Studies

• Colleen Obrien on Linkedin

Calvin Odhiambo | odhiambc@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Women’s Studies

864-503-5658

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 308

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Medical Sociology
• Health Disparities
• HIV/AIDS
• Mental Health
• Sociology of Aging
• Sociology of Death and Dying
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Resume (PDF)

• Calvin Odhiambo on Linkedin

Dr. Renu Pariyadath | renup@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of Communication

864-503-5870

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 118

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Organizing for Social Change and Environmental Justice
• Non-Essential- Identity-based Organizing
• Neurodiversity in Higher Education
• Migrant and Diaspora Organizing for Sustainable Development

Resume (PDF)

• Dr. Renu Pariyadath on Linkedin

Tammy Pike | piket@uscupstate.edu
Senior Instructor of History and Civic Engagement Coordinator

864-503-5549

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 112

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Eugenics, World War II, Oral History, and Women’s History, and Public History. Courses taught at USC Upstate, include World History 101 and 102, Gender, Disability, and Eugenics: US and Germany, 1900-1945, Women in the U.S. since 1865, Unruly Women in the U.S. 20th Century, Women in Europe Since 1789, and Women and World War II. Courses focus on experiential learning, such as Service-Learning, various forms of community engagement, and oral histories. Research and scholarship focus on the intersection of community engagement, experiential learning in college courses, and the impact on historically marginalized communities.

Resume (PDF)

• Tammy Pike on Linkedin

Laura Rikard | lrikard2@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of Theatre

864-503-5697

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 232

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Consent in the Acting Classroom
• Performance, Theatrical and Film/TV Intimacy

Resume (PDF)

• Laura Rikard on Linkedin

Trevor Rubenzer | rubenzer@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Political Science; Chair: Department of History, Political Science, Philosophy, and American Studies

864-503-5633

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 103

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• U.S. Foreign Policy
• African Politics
• Security Studies
• International Relations

Susan Ruppel | ruppel@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Psychology

864-503-5786

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Arts and Sciences Building (CASB), 129

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Professor Ruppel’s main area of research is in the field of cognitive psychology, with an emphasis on representational momentum. Representational momentum is a well-documented phenomenon in both the visual and auditory domains. It was first examined by Freyd and Finke (1984) when they discovered that participants perceive the final position of a moving target as displaced forward along its path of motion. It has since been shown that this effect is influenced by factors such as target velocity, target direction, and target size.

Robert A Sarver III | sarverii@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor

864-503-5682

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 307

Resume (PDF)

Dr. Marlon Smith | marlons@uscupstate.edu
Director of the Center for Africana & African American Studies, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies

864-503-5339

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Burroughs Building, 116
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Marlon Smith’s research agenda examines the various ways social, political, and cultural factors influence how U.S. society speak to and address issues impacting black males. Topics specific to his areas of interest are: 1. The structural and systemic ways certain institutions overlook or marginalize black males particularly in education, employment, and healthcare; 2. A critical evaluation of criminal justice and educational policies from an intersectional and equity lens; 3. The impact that cultural bias and social stigmas have on black males, particularly public and cultural discourse in mass mediated spaces.

AREAS OF ACADEMIC INTEREST: Black radical intellectual tradition, Black Prison Intellectuals, Black Male Studies, 19th Century Black Political Radicals, Black Liberation Theology, Black History and Culture, Martin Luther King, Jr. Studies

RESEARCH INTERESTS: Frederick Douglass, Martin Delaney, W.E.B. DuBois, James Cone, George Jackson, Trans-Atlantic Black Liberation Movements, Prison Reform and Reentry, Community Development and Revitalization, Contemporary Black Protest, Black Male Achievement

Dr. Smith is the author of two books: Reshaping Beloved Community: The Experiences of Black Male Felons and Their Impact on Black Radical Traditions and Black Lives Houston: Voices of Our Generations.

Resume (PDF)

• Marlon Smith on Linkedin

Nolan Stolz | stolz@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Music

864-503-5263

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Fine Arts and Communication Studies (FACS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 107

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Composition
• Music Theory
• Popular Music Studies
• Drums

Resume (PDF)

Personal Website

Tasha A. Thomas | thomast8@uscupstate.edu
Director of Composition

864-503-5653

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Fine Arts and Communication Studies (FACS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 205

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Teaching of Writing

Dr. Justin Travis | travisja@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Psychology

864-503-5763

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Arts and Sciences Building (CASB), 131

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Justin Travis has worked as a scientist and practitioner for over 10 years, teaching courses in organizational leadership, personality, statistics, and business analytics. Justin received his B.S. in Experimental Psychology from
the University of South Carolina Upstate, his M.A. degree from the University
of Missouri St. Louis, and his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational psychology
from North Carolina State University. He currently serves as a professor of
psychology at his alma mater, USC Upstate, where his research broadly involves
personality and work behavior, and has been published in outlets like the
Journal of Educational Psychology, Microbiology Spectrum, Psychological
Reports, the Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene, College Teaching, and
Current Psychology. Through his consulting firm, he advises primarily large
corporate clients on leadership assessment, development, and internal research
projects.

Resume (PDF)

• Dr. Justin Travis on Linkedin

Dr. Tracey Woodard | twoodar@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

864-503-5606

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Women’s Studies
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 312

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Maternal Incarceration
• Death Penalty
• Corrections

Resume (PDF)

• Tracey Woodard on Linkedin

Dr. Griffin Woodworth | gwoodwor@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of Popular Music Studies

864-503-5352

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC), 117

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Griffin Woodworth earned his Ph.D. in musicology at UCLA. He is currently an Associate Professor of Popular Music Studies at the University of South Carolina Upstate, where he teaches music history and music technology classes.
In his research, Dr. Woodworth explores how popular music expresses
intersectional issues of gender, race, social class, and religion, as well as
the ways that contemporary music technology has impacted the aesthetics and
practices of modern musicians.

Resume (PDF)

• Dr. Griffen Woodworth on Linkedin

Dr. Griffin Woodworth | gwoodwor@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Sociology and Department Chair

864-503-5739

College: College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 306

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

• Political Sociology
• Social Movements
• Community Development
  

Resume (PDF)