Wabash College will welcome several new faculty and staff from the upcoming fall semester, including four who are featured below.
Dr. Chris Anderson will mainly work for the Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse. WDPD is an association founded based on the belief that the core of democracy is the right of free expression. Anderson is completing his doctorate work for the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma. His research focuses on democracy and public engagement, which is why he thinks that he was selected to work here at the WDPD. “It seemed like a good fit for my skills and a cool opportunity to build my research,” Anderson said of his applying to Wabash. He also will teach one rhetoric class.
“I am really excited as many things are returning in person,” he said. “If that maintains we will get to continue to build sort of this in person community, or get to kind of achieve some larger goals and grow WDPD.”
Dr. Ledina Imami will spend one year at Wabash College as a visiting assistant professor in psychology. She completed her graduate degree at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and did completed two years at Purdue University as a post-doctorate scholar.
She visited Wabash College before while she was exploring Indiana. When she heard that the college was looking to hire, she did not want to lose the great opportunity because she remembered that it was a beautiful campus.
“I am excited to be back in a teaching position where I can have more interaction with students and be able to teach the material that I love,” Imami said.
Imami decided to study psychology because she often came up with a big question wondering why humans behave in certain ways when she enjoyed reading books or being exposed to music.
“I am really hoping that students can find tips that can apply into their life in my lectures, and that can help them make the college experience worthwhile,” she said.
Dr. Jessica Mohl will be a visiting assistant professor in art. She will teach metal smithing, drawing and the sculpture class. Her husband Dr. Damon Mohl is the chair of the art department at Wabash College.
When Mohl went to college, she started off as a drawing and painting major. However, she could not get into a painting class at one time because it was full. Therefore, she signed up for a beginning jewelry class and she was so amazed that she changed her major to metal smithing.
“I have never wanted to quit making art or making metal work,” she said. “It is part of my reason for living.”
Dr. Jordin Clark will be a visiting instructor of rhetoric. After graduating from Elmhurst College in Illinois, she went to Colorado State University, where she earned her degree in rhetoric. Her dissertation was about urban development and to think about creating urban spaces for people who are included and not included in that.
Clark believes the pandemic absolutely changed the community dynamics since many people faced various types of separation. She thinks the lack of community or physical distance can threaten democracy because interaction with face to face is one of the important components of that.
Clark hopes students are ready and willing to ask and have difficult conversations to critically think about their everyday life.
“It is really important to me to use course concepts to understand their lives a little bit better, and to think more purposely or with a lot more intention about what they are doing in their everyday life,” she said.
Wabash College President Dr. Scott Feller welcomes them coming to Wabash College.
“I am very grateful for these young scholars who have moved to Crawfordsville to teach at Wabash College this year,” he said. “I am confident that they will find an excellent group of students to work with.”
