DIGITALAPPALACHIA.ORG - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Professor
- Professor of American History, Symposium Director
Andrew Feight is an American historian, professor, and photographer. A native of Sandy Springs, Georgia, he completed his graduate studies in history at the University of Kentucky, receiving his Ph.D. in 2001. Andrew is the Developer and Editor of Scioto Historical, a digital history project for documentin g and touring the history of southern Ohio. He is a Professor of American History in the Social Science Department of Shawnee State University, where he directs the Shawnee Digital History Lab and coordinates the History and Digital Appalachian Studies programs.
Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme is a visual artist, illustrator, digital painter and novelist, whose work is mainly in the science-fiction, cyberpunk and dark fantasy genre. A native of Brittany, France, Bastien immigrated to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he serves as an Assistant Professor of Painting in the in the Fine, Digital, and Performing Arts Department of Shawnee State University.
Gabe Brown directs the Upward Bound Math Science Program at Shawnee State University and is a former facilities coordinator and Systems Administrator for the Homeless Management Information System at Compass Point Housing, an affordable housing service for adults in addiction treatment and recovery.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of English, Program Coordinator
Janet Feight is a native of southern Ohio and an Associate Professor of English at Shawnee State University. She completed her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees at Ohio University and received her Doctorate in English with concentrations in American literature, critical theory, and American Studies from the Pennsylvania State University in 2004. She has been teaching courses in American literature, critical theory, and American Studies at SSU for the past 12 years. Her published work has appeared in recent years in American Studies, the Journal of Appalachian Studies, and the Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of World Literature
Mich Yonah Nyawalo is an Associate Professor of World Literature. He earned his Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in English (with specializations in literature, sociolinguistics and cultural studies) at West University and Gothenburg University (respectively) in Sweden. He completed his second Master's as well as a Ph.D. in comparative literature with a focus on media and globalization studies at the Pennsylvania State University. He is fluent in French, English, Swedish, Swahili and Luo. His forthcoming article, "Syllabusing: Mapping Appalachian Texts onto a World Literature Curriculum," situates Appalachian writings within comparative and global perspectives.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Music and Media in the Fine, Digital
Michael Barnhart serves as Professor of Music and Media in the Fine, Digital, and Performing Arts Department of Shawnee State University. He offers courses in music, songwriting, and Sound Design with a focus on project based learning and creativity. He holds a doctorate from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he studied composition and electronic music with Brad Garton, Mara Helmuth and Allen Otte.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Social Sciences Department at Shawnee
- Assistant Professor of Political Science, Registration and Local Arrangements
Thomas Bunting is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Social Sciences Department at Shawnee State University. He completed his graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning his Ph.D. in political science while studying political theory and American politics. His research and teaching interests include ancient political thought, continental philosophy, democratic theory, agonistic theory, and the intersection between sport and politics. He has published work on Tocqueville and Xenophon and serves as the Coordinator of the Political Science major.
Whitney Folsom-Lecouffe is an Alcohol and Other Drugs Counselor, photographer, and amateur taxidermist. A native of West Portsmouth, Ohio, Whitney is finishing her graduate studies in mental health counseling. Her photography reflects the isolation effect of Appalachia, finding beauty in the forgotten, but works against the usual Appalachian current of regional social constructs, religious and gender expectations. Whitney has exhibited her work with the Women of Appalachia Project for the last two years.