College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Faculty
At the University of South Carolina Upstate, we take pride in our dedicated faculty members, recognized as some of the best in the region. Our faculty, experts in their fields, represent all academic areas and are committed to academic excellence.
Our faculty are focused on helping students succeed and grow in their chosen fields of study. With a combination of real-world experience and academic rigor, they provide hands-on learning opportunities, preparing students for successful careers.
Explore our faculty below and discover how their expertise and dedication make the University of South Carolina Upstate a leader in higher education across the Upstate South Carolina region.
Brock Adams | Senior Instructor of English and Creative Writing
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
Andrew Beer | Professor of Psychology
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)
Peter Caster | Professor
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 | Associate Professor of Psychology
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. Michele White Covington | Executive Director of Greenville Programs/Professor of Criminal Justice
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)
Bob Daly | Senior Instructor
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)
Dr. Jason Hannay | Assistant Professor of Psychology
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 | Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
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
Allison Ellis | Professor of Political Science
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
Derek Fenner | Assistant Professor, Art Education – Director, FOCUS Gallery
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)
Dr. Ann Hoover | Professor of Psychology and Department Chair
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 | Professor of Psychology
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 | Associate Professor of Sociology
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
Celena Kusch | Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Academic Innovation and Faculty Support
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)
Alexander Lorenz | Associate Professor of German & Director of Global Engagement
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)
Robert McCormick | Professor of History
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 | Associate Professor of Criminal Justice
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)
Maria Monteso | Senior Spanish Instructor / El Centro Assistant Director
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: Media Building, 306
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:
- Spanish Translation and Interpreting Studies
- Spanish Language and Cultures
- Linguistics
Resume (PDF)
Lee Neibert | Professor of Theatre
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 Obrien | Professor
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
Calvin Odhiambo | Assistant Professor of Sociology
Calvin Odhiambo | odhiambc@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Sociology
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)
Dr. Renu Pariyadath | Associate Professor of Communication
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)
Tammy Pike | Senior Instructor of History and Civic Engagement Coordinator
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)
Laura Rikard | Associate Professor of Theatre
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)
Trevor Rubenzer | Professor of Political Science
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
Robert Sarver | Associate Professor
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, 306
Resume (PDF)
Dr. Marlon Smith, Ph.D. | Director of the Center for Africana & African American Studies, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
Dr. Marlon Smith | marlons@uscupstate.edu
Director of the Center for Africana & African American Studies, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
864-503-5634
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)
Nolan Stolz | Professor of Music
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)
Tasha Thomas | Director of Composition
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 | Assistant Professor of Psychology
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)
Tracey Woodard | Associate Professor
Tracey Woodard | twoodar@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor
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)
Dr. Griffin Woodworth | Associate Professor of Popular Music Studies
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)