Evans School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences Faculty
Gabriel Barreneche is the Dean of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, here at Berry College. Prior to coming to Berry, Dr. Barreneche was a Professor of Spanish and Associate Dean for Advising at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where he taught for 18 years.
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Whitney Jordan Adams is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Rhetoric, and Writing. She studies the rhetorical construction of white supremacy, focusing on the Alt-Right, Accelerationism, and the rise in white nationalism.
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April Allen is the Visual and Performing Arts Department Assistant where she strives every day to keep things running smoothly.
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Sarah Allred, PhD is an associate professor of sociology. Her research on higher education in carceral settings involves a participatory approach, engaging people who are incarcerated as collaborators.
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Christine Anton is Professor of German at Berry College. In her research she focuses on nineteenth and twentieth-century German and Austrian literature and culture, Holocaust studies, migrant literature, as well as on second language learning and teaching methodology.
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Dr. Jonathan Atkins’ teaching interests specialize in American History 1607-1877, Southern History and English History.
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Ruth Powell Baker is a Senior Lecturer of Music.
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Dr. Julia Barnes is Associate Professor of Spanish and currently serves as department chair of World Languages and Cultures. Her research specialties are contemporary Spain, gender studies, film, and the novel.
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David Barr is a scholar of Christian social ethics, with a specialty in environmental ethics.
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Jennifer Bradford is a performer, teacher, and project manager from the Bay Area in California. She is a member of the Actors Reading Collective and previously taught theatre at her alma mater, Santa Clara University. Her focus is on acting, voice, and musical theatre. She is currently a visiting assistant professor in theatre at Berry.
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Alice Bristow received her MFA in Costume Design from Indiana University and her B.F.A. from Missouri State University. She has produced costumes for various theatres including La Jolla Playhouse, Indiana Repertory Theatre, University of Michigan, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Indianapolis Opera, University of Colorado at Boulder. Nationally and internationally, Alice’s designs have appeared on stage at the Pittsburg Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Central City Opera, Vancouver Opera, Shreveport Opera, and most recently Utah Opera’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida.
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Dr. Christina Bucher joined the Berry faculty in 1995 and is currently Associate Professor of English and serving a second term as department chair. Her teaching and research areas include American literature through the early 20th century, African American literature, lesbian/gay/queer literature and first-year writing.
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Dr. Campbell engages in the propagation, saving and distribution of open-pollinated, “heirloom” seeds and the care and observation of an array of small livestock through the ABC Project and in the documentation of environmental problems and solutions through film-making.
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Kris Carlisle is a professional pianist and educator. A native of California, he has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
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A reporter, editor and photographer before joining the academy, Brian Carroll is author of six books. His most recent book explores the role of Shakespeare in inventing a nation.
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Dr. Stefanie Cash is Director of Music Education at Berry College. Dr. Cash is responsible for teaching methods and techniques classes, conducting the Berry Women's Choir as well as supervising student teachers.
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Courtney Cooper holds a Ph.D. from the University of Idaho in the Water Resources Graduate Program (2020) and an M.A. in Geography and Planning from Appalachian State University (2015).
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Dr. Jen Corry received her PhD in Spanish medieval literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also holds an MBA from Berry College. Her interests include medieval and Golden Age Spanish literature, modern Spanish theater, translation, and Spanish for business, medical, and legal professionals.
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John David is Artist-in-Residence and Director of Jazz and Percussion Studies at Berry College in Rome, GA. Appointed to this position in Fall 2013, Mr. David is the director of the Berry Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo, Percussion Ensemble, Steel Band and Viking Drumline.
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Joining the faculty at Berry College in the Fall of 2022, Dr. Michael DeSousa is excited to be returning home to the North Georgia area. He has earned a Doctorate in Musical Arts and a Master of Music degree from the University of Kentucky.
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Christopher Diller began his Berry career as Assistant Professor of English, Rhetoric, and Writing in 1999 and then became an Associate Professor of English, Rhetoric, and Writing in 2005. He also directed the Writing Center from 2005-2015. He became a full professor in 2014.
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Mia Escott joined the faculty in 2022 as an Assistant Professor of English, Rhetoric and Writing after receiving her doctoral degree in English at Louisiana State University. Her research and teaching interests include early modern British Literature, Renaissance Drama, Shakespeare, Critical Race Theory, and Women’s and Gender Studies.
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Coleman Fannin directs the Honors Program at Berry, along with Dr. Lauren Heller. He regularly teaches the Honors core course in the humanities and an Academic Community Engagement (ACE) course in Christian ethics.
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Chris Ferebee is a composer, musicologist, and plucked string player. He holds degrees from the University of Durham (BA, MA) and the University of Oxford (DPhil).
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Dr. Kimberly Field-Springer is an Associate Professor in the Communication Department at Berry College. She graduated with her Ph.D. in 2013 from the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University with an emphasis on Health Communication and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
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Peter Friedrich's acting credits include the national tour of Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig, Saturday Night Live and Sesame Street and an LA Outer Critics Circle Nomination for Best Featured Actor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
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Dr. Vincent Grégoire is a native of Mansigné, France, and Professor of French. He holds a M.A. degree in history from the Université François Rabelais, Tours, France, and received his PhD in French literature from Rutgers University.
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Dr. Alyssa Grey is an active musician, educator, and conductor. She completed undergraduate degrees in Music Education and Music Theory & Composition from the University of Miami where she studied with GRAMMY-Award Winning composer Lansing McLoskey.
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Steven is a six-time Telly Award-winning producer, director, and editor, who spent 15 years at television stations in North Georgia. He is the 2016 recipient of the College Media Association’s Honor Roll Broadcast Advisor Award. Steven serves as Secretary for the College Broadcasters, Inc (CBI) Board of Directors.
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Eric Hanson has been a member of the Chattanooga Symphony since 1994. Prior to coming to Chattanooga Mr. Hanson served as Principal Bassist with the Huntsville Symphony and was an active musician in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, performing frequently as a substitute with the Milwaukee Symphony.
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Adam Hayes is an internationally recognized performer, educator and clinician.
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Curt Hersey teaches courses in American media history and in the Filmmaking and Cinematic Arts concentration, including film production, media criticism, and scriptwriting. His research focuses on humor and television news parody and on issues of media representation, including that of neurodiverse individuals and the depiction of addiction and substance abuse.
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Dr. Huggins is the College Chaplain and leads Mount Berry Chapel. He has Academic Graduate degrees from Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and the University of Stellenbosch. He is also an ordained Priest in the Anglican Church in North America.
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A native of coastal Georgia, Ellie Jenkins (horn) has been visiting Berry College since she was seven years old, and joined the faculty in 2009. She is an active performer, playing principal horn in the Carroll Symphony, second horn with the Rome Symphony, and performing frequently with the Chamber Players of the South.
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Melissa King is the Director of the Writing Center and a Lecturer in the Department of English, Rhetoric and Writing. Her research interests are in European fairy tales and folk texts, Illustration, and Translation Theory, as well as the role of Writing Centers in carceral settings.
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Kevin Kleine is a senior lecturer of communication and student publications advisor. During his years in higher education Kleine has been teaching students to communicate clearly, effectively and with purpose.
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I am an anthropologist interested in cultural aspects of communication, religion and the sciences. As a teacher, I'm passionate about empowering the students in my classes by mentoring them in how to conduct their own original social science research.
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I have done ethnographic field research in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania (on the coast of the eastern Africa). My research looks at how Tanzanians' expectations of city life and urban culture have transformed over the past 20 years as their society moved from African socialism to a liberalized, more globally-interwoven economy.
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Dr. Lidke earned his M.A. (1996) and Ph.D.(2000) in South Asia Religion and Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Colorado (1990). He was a Fulbright Dissertation Fellow to Nepal in the 1996-97 academic year.
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Dr. Lucia Llorente is a native of Bilbao, Spain. Philologist by training, she is interested in both linguistics and literature.
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Alexandra Maria Lossada is an Assistant Professor of American Ethnic Literatures. Her research focuses on literary representations of ongoing immigration trends.
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As Professor of History at Berry College, Laurence W. Marvin teaches both halves of the Foundations world history surveys (History 154 and History 155), as well as upper division level European history courses before 1300 (History 307: Meet the Romans and History 311: Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages).
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Sandra Meek has taught creative writing at Berry since 1996 and is the author of six books of poems, most recently Still (Persea Books, 2020), named a “New & Noteworthy Poetry Book” by The New York Times Book Review. Her creative work centers on the environment and travel.
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Timothy D. Miller completed his PhD in philosophy at the University of Oklahoma in 2007. His research interests include philosophy of religion, the history of early modern philosophy, and ethical theory, particularly in the rule consequentialist tradition.
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A native of Louisiana, Dr. Paul Neal is currently the Director of Choral Activities at Berry College where he oversees the choral program and serves as Associate Professor of Music.
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Kathryn Nobles holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Berry College, and did graduate studies at Georgia State University in Piano Pedagogy. She has been an Adjunct Lecturer in the Berry music department since August 1986, teaching class piano and private lessons. She birthed the Kindermusik program at Berry in 1989 where she serves as director.
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Michael Papazian has been at Berry since 1998. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1995 and specializes in ancient philosophy, logic, and the medieval Armenian tradition of translations of Greek philosophical and theological texts.
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Jonathan Parker teaches Bible and theology at Berry. He completed his Ph.D. in Old Testament at the University of Durham (England), with special emphasis on the Theological Interpretation of Scripture. His research interests include the use of the Bible's history of reception in comparative Jewish and Christian interpretation.
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Gary Paulo is Artist Affiliate of Saxophones at Berry College. Gary is a D'Addario Reserve Method Artist. He has performed with artists spanning many different genres of music. He is regularly called to play saxophone in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony and Albany Symphony.
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Sara Pecina received her MFA in Dance from the University of Oklahoma and graduated with a BA in Dance and minor in Arts Administration from Western Kentucky University. She has taught a variety of forms of dance in the university system and private sector in Indiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma, and guest taught at the American College Dance Association Regional Conference.
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Clinton Crockett Peters is the author of two books and over fifty published creative nonfiction essays, short stories, and long-form journalism articles. His teaching focus is creative writing, with an emphasis on nonfiction as well as environmental literature. He also teaches YA Literature and RHW courses.
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Dr. Kelsey Rice is a historian of the modern Middle East and Central Eurasia whose research focuses on the cultural history of Azerbaijan and Iran.
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Dennis Ritter received his MFA from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and his BFA from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. His work has been shown throughout the United States, including at MOCA Georgia, The Wassaic Project, The Clay Studio,and Kennedy Museum of Art, and is held in numerous private collections throughout the country.
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Jordan Rowan Fannin teaches theology at Berry. She completed her Ph.D. in theology at Baylor University, with special emphasis in theology and literature. In addition to literature (and in particular the work of Flannery O’Connor), her research interests include the significance of place and displacement in the Christian tradition and contemporary moral theology, as well as theology of material culture and the lived environment.
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Dr. Sipocz's research focuses on the representation of women and minorities in sports media as well as popular culture.
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Christy Snider has been teaching U.S. history at Berry College since 2000. Her research includes work on women’s involvement in transnational organizations, college life in the 1950s, and local Civil Rights history.
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Matt Stanard has been teaching at Berry College since 2006. He has published a number of books and articles about Europe’s relations with the wider world, with a particular focus on European culture, overseas empire and decolonization. He has lived in or traveled to Europe regularly since the early 1980s.
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Dr. Julee Tate is a Latin Americanist with a focus on twentieth and twenty-first century cultural productions. She is also interested in and practices community-engaged pedagogies.
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Kirsten Taylor is the Dana Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and faculty advisor to Berry’s Model United Nations club. Her teaching and research interests include international security, global environmental politics and law, US foreign policy, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She has co-authored textbooks on international relations and US foreign policy.
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She serves as Artist in Residence in Voice at Berry College in Rome, GA.
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Mandy Thomas serves as Artist in Residence in Theatre.
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Sean Thrower is a guitarist with interest and versatility in an eclectic mix of playing styles and genres, which has led him to perform in a wide variety of settings and venues across the world.
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Virginia Gardner Troy is a scholar of twentieth century art and design. She has a secondary field of expertise in Pre-Columbian art and architecture. She is particularly interested in textiles; her scholarship examines the role and significance of textiles, including non-Western textiles, in shaping modernism.
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Dr. Abbie Vegter is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Berry College. She studies religion and politics in the United States, with an emphasis on American gun politics. Her courses include American National Government, Urban Politics, Social Science Research Methods and more.
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Dr. Vespa considers himself a poetry teacher who works in the classroom as a literature and writing professor as well as on the air and onstage as Supernatural Radio.
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Professor of English, Dr. Jim Watkins, has been teaching at Berry since 1995 and specializes in American Literature and Autobiography Studies. Dr. Watkins also teaches courses in U.S. Southern Literature, Native American Literature, Environmental Literature and First Year Writing. He is also the advisor for Berry’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society.
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Dr. Emily Laminack Wetzel teaches violin, viola and chamber music at Berry College, where she joined the music faculty as an Artist Affiliate in 2020.
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