LAS Faculty
John Barrington
Professor of History
| | Training: Ph.D., History, William and Mary
Interests: Religion and the Origins of Nationalism
Courses: HST 141
Visit Dr. Barrington's website |
David Bost
Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures
| | Training: Ph.D., Spanish, Vanderbilt
Interests: Colonial Literature, Liberation Theology, Latin American Historical Narrative
Courses: SPN 210, SPN 361, SPN 440, SPN 460 (García Márquez) |
Jeremy Cass
Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures
| | Training: Ph.D., Hispanic Studies, Kentucky
Interests: Latin American Literature, The Caribbean, Cuba, Afro-Hispanic Studies
Courses: FYW 1186, FYW 1187, SPN 210, SPN 240, SPN 361, SPN 440, SPN 448, SPN 460 (Plantation), LAS 470
Visit Dr. Cass's website |
Maurice Cherry
Carey Shepard Crantford Professor of Modern Languages
 | | Training: Ph.D., Spanish, Northwestern
Research interests: Latin American Culture and Civilization
Courses: SPN 210 and SPN 240 |
Erik Ching, LAS Chair
Professor of History
 | | Training: Ph.D., History, California-Santa Barbara
Interests: Modern Latin America, Central America, 20th-Century El Salvador
Courses: HST 142, HST 352, LAS 470
Visit Dr. Ching's website
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Cleve Fraser
Professor of Political Science
| | Training: Ph.D., Political Science, Northwestern
Interests: Latin American Politics
Courses: PSC 230, PSC 244
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Ron Friis
Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures
| | Training: Ph.D., Spanish, Penn State
Interests: Contemporary Mexican Poetry, the avant-garde in poetry and painting
Courses: SPN 210, SPN 361, SPN 460 (Neruda), SPN 460 (Poetry and Art), LAS 470
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David Gandolfo
Associate Professor of Philosophy
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| Training: Ph.D., Philosophy, Loyola Interests: Latin American Philosophy Courses: PHL 260, LAS 470 |
Sofía Kearns
Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures
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| Training: Ph.D., Spanish, Illinois Interests: Contemporary Latin American Literature by Women, Ecocriticism, Feminism, Post Colonial Studies, Service Learning Courses: SPN 210, SPN 240, SPN 361, SPN 445 |
Greg Lewis
Associate Professor of Biology
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| Training: Ph.D., Ecology+Evolutionary Biology, Cornell Interests: Ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry, watershed studies Courses: BIO 342, BIO 424 |
Angélica Lozano-Alonso
Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures
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| Training: Ph.D., Romance Studies, Cornell Interests: Latin American Literature, 20th-Century Mexico, Latino Literatures Courses: FYW 1185, SPN 210, SPN 361, SPN 460 (Writing Women into Mexican History), LAS 470 |
Kristy Maher
Professor of Sociology
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| Training: Ph.D., Sociology, Yale Interests: global health inequalities, access to care issues, health disparities, gender Course: SOC 260
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Adrián Massei
Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures
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| Training: Ph.D., Spanish, Iowa Interests: Latin American Literature Courses: SPN 361, SPN 440, SPN 460 (Dissidence in Latin American Literature)
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Joe Pollard
Rose J. Forgione Professor of Biology
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| Training: Ph.D., Botany, Cambridge Interests: Plant ecology, including field research in Puerto Rico Courses: BIO 342, BIO 424 |
Brian Siegel
Professor of Religion
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| Training: Ph.D., Anthropology, Wisconsin Course: ANT 201, Mayan Archeology |
Diane Vecchio
Professor of History
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| Training: Ph.D., History, Syracuse Interests: Immigration |
Carolyn Watson
Professor of Art
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| Training: Ph.D., Art History, North Carolina Course: ART 260 |
Wade Worthen
Professor of Biology
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| Training: Ph.D., Ecology, Rutgers Interests: community ecology, biodiversity Course: BIO 342
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LAS Faculty News
Dr. Ching hard at work on three book projects
with Hector Lindo of Fordham University, Modernizing Minds in El Salvador: Education Reform and the Cold War, 1960-1980. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2012.
Authoritarian El Salvador: Politics and the Origins of the Military Regimes, 1840-1940. Under review at the University of Notre Dame Press. Based largely on government documents housed in the National Archive in El Salvador, this study looks at the orgins of the first military regime in El Salvador (1931-1944) and argues that it functioned more similarly than differently with past regimes. Thus the manuscript advances an argument of continuity, laying the groundwork for better understanding how the miltiary then proceeded to stay in power for the next fifty years, until the outbreak of civil war in 1980.
Remembering the Civil War in El Salvador: Memoir, Testimonial and the Narratives of Conflict. A manuscript project underway during sabbatical leave 2011-2012.
Dr. Bost publishes two articles
Dr. Bost is currently at work on a research project that will examine the role of the new Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos in Santiago, Chile, as a living memorial of the "desaparecidos" during Pinochet's rule.
Dr. Pollard and students conduct research in Puerto Rico
In July 2010, Joe Pollard conducted research in Puerto Rico, with Furman students Catherine Stone, Lia Campbell, and Nadia Shamsedin. They were studying plants that accumulate abnormally high amounts of nickel, from soils in the Susúa State Forest. In June 2011, Pollard, Campbell, and Stone traveled to Coimbra, Portugal to present their work at the International Conference on Serpentine Ecology.
Dr. Friis publishes article on contemporary Mexican poet Blanco
The article, titled "Una telaraña de constelaciones: Alberto Blanco's Poetry of Communion," is set to appear in Revista de Literatura Mexicana Contemporánea.
Dr. Kearns wins major service learning award
Congratulations to Sofia Kearns, who received the SC Commission on Higher Education Service Learning Award for 2010 in the Independent Collages category for "TESOL support through a Latin American civilization class".
Dr. Cass publishes article on Cuban Abolitionist novel
The study, titled "Deciphering Sedition in Sab: Avellaneda's Transient Engagement with Abolitionism," appeared in Romance Quarterly 57.3 (2010): 183-204.
Dr. Bost publishes article on recent García Márquez autobiography
The article, titled "García Márquez and Gaitán: Vivir para contarla and the Personalization of History," appeared in The Latin Americanist 54.1 (March 2010).
Drs. Bost, Fraser, and Lozano-Alonso publish book chapters in Understanding Latin America
The latest (fourth) edition of the seminal Understanding Latin America includes chapters on politics (Fraser) and literature (Bost and Lozano-Alonso).