HWS Faculty Brochure

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FIND OUT WHY

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HWS Faculty Ranked 9th in the Nation among ALL colleges and universities*

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BEST IN THE FIELD

Faculty at Hobart and William Smith do more than convey information. They challenge students to achieve new heights of excellence as thinkers, scientists, writers and artists. They mentor students, providing advice and counsel as students explore their academic interests and career options.

Faculty take on ambitious and pioneering projects that advance research and pedagogy on a wide range of subjects, evolving our understanding of the human condition, the environment around us, the political and economic movements that shape our democracy, and the art forms that touch our souls.

For the faculty at Hobart and William Smith, there is no greater joy than to collaborate with students on their research, and to help launch them into graduate school or a career.

Most summers, Professor of Geoscience Neil Laird and Associate Professor of Geoscience Nick Metz travel more than 5,600 miles with students to chase severe supercell thunderstorms through the Central Plains. The trip is part of a field-study course that offers students the opportunity to develop skills in predicting, observing, documenting and analyzing thunderstorms. Here, the group poses for a photo

98% FAC U L TY @ HW S with the highest degree that can be earned in their field

with mammatus clouds in the background.

10:1

Student to Faculty Ratio

16

average class size

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number of classes taught by teaching assistants

PHOTOS IN THIS BROCHURE INCL UDE THOSE TAK EN PRE- AND POST-PA N D E M IC .

The Princeton Review relies on survey responses from current students. In naming HWS faculty 9th in the nation, the Princeton Review cites student respondents who note small class sizes that “make it really easy for professors to know who you are” as well as faculty members who “work hard to facilitate meaningful discussions and provide thought-provoking and challenging questions.” Students report that HWS faculty are “engaging, dynamic and truly interested in fostering the next generation.”

Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature Nicola Minott-Ahl studies Jane Austen, 19th century British and French literature, Adaptation Studies, and the architectural/historical novel.

“ My professors believe in me, support me and share their passion in pursuit of me finding my own.”

PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, CHAIR OF ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDIES

TOM DRENNEN

Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies Tom Drennen works with students one-on-one.

BIG IDEAS How does an idea transform into reality? If that idea is sparked on the Hobart and William Smith campus, chances are it’s fanned into a flame with the help of Drennen.

Standing at the nexus of environmental, energy and economic theory, Drennen teaches courses on natural resources and energy economics, sustainability and quantitative methods, and has helped lead campus sustainability efforts. He also chairs the entrepreneurial studies department, leading our student incubator and collaborative workspace — The Bozzuto Center for Entrepreneurship — where startups, nonprofits and businesses are born.

“I want students to be able to see social, environmental and economic problems, and have the skills and confidence they need to solve those problems,” he says. “This generation has to tackle the challenges of a changing climate, and entrepreneurial studies helps them design solutions that will benefit the whole world. Helping them do that is what excites me.”

Assistant Professor of History Janette Gayle teaches a class in

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY

JANETTE GAYLE

Demarest Hall.

HISTORY OF THE PRESENT Classes with Janette Gayle are a catalyst for social dialogue.

As a historian of race, slavery, labor and civil rights, with a particular focus on women, Gayle’s courses engage with the most pressing topics of our time. That’s right — history classes that actually connect the past with the present.

In Gayle’s classroom, students challenge dominant historical narratives and explode myths, bringing sharply into focus how the power of the idea of race has shaped America.

“For me, whatever work I do in the classroom and outside of it is about being a conscious individual and putting that consciousness into practice,” says Gayle. “I strongly believe that knowledge is useless unless you pass it on. In this way, I hope to help create and make use of opportunity for change.”

Meghan Brown takes students to collect samples of Hemimysis anomala, an invasive species prevalent in the

“At HWS, working one-on-one with faculty is not the exception,” says Brown. “Having eye-opening, ‘wow’ experiences is not an anomaly. It is in fact our goal; it’s what we do here.”

Aboard the Colleges’ 65-ft. research vessel and under the direction of Brown and other faculty, Seneca Lake becomes a living laboratory, where students explore questions about climate change, water quality and other crucial topics related to our environment. An expert on invasive species, Brown teaches students to focus on the microscopic, asking questions about how organisms interact with and adapt to their environment. With an emphasis on field-research, Brown’s courses invite students to learn through action.

“The relationship between students and faculty here on the shores of Seneca Lake is really symbiotic,” says Brown.

“I get to be an active scholar, a great teacher and a mentor — and I don’t have to choose among those things. I pursue my research and teaching in collaboration with students.”

Finger Lakes. Averse to sunlight, specimens must be collected at night, even in a snowstorm.

MEGHAN BROWN

Professor of Biology

PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY

LIVING LABORATORY

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF SOCIOLOGY

JIM SUTTON

REPEAT OFFENDERS That’s what students who take more than one class with Jim Sutton jokingly call themselves. And their numbers are legion.

One of the few criminologists teaching at a liberal arts college, Sutton is an expert on criminology and criminal justice. He teaches students to recognize patterns surrounding crime, victimization and incarceration and then pushes them to understand why those patterns exist and how real people experience them. He teaches Criminology, Juvenile Delinquency, Penology, Social Deviance and the Sociology of Police and Policing.

His courses cover everything from gang behavior and sexual assault to prisons and white-collar crime.

“I take steps to help students understand what the data show, reinforcing an approach that moves beyond sensationalism, conventional wisdoms and media depictions,” says Sutton. “Ultimately, my approach is geared toward liberating students from their own experiences, which in my view is the goal of a liberal arts education.”

Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology Jim Sutton in his office in Stern Hall.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF MEDIA & SOCIETY

LEAH SHAFER

BRANDED CULTURE Have you ever wondered what Progressive’s “Flo” character conveys about women workers in the digital age? Why you find yourself watching cat video after cat video when you should be studying? Why “Seinfeld” and “Friends” continue to influence culture long after they’ve gone off air? Or how brands use Tik Tok, Snapchat and Netflix to sell products?

Then a class with Shafer is right for you.

An expert on advertising and branding, she says her work “focuses on the seductive circulation of objects in entertainment media with emphases on consumerism, exhibition practices, and the politics of spectator engagement.”

Associate Professor and Chair of Media & Society Leah Shafer teaches a course on advertising in Gulick Hall.

In a world replete with consumption masked as entertainment, Shafer’s courses are at the intersection of technology, advertising and entertainment, opening up new ideas about everything from sociology and psychology to economics and politics.

“My courses are designed to unsettle students’ notions of the status quo and to provide and provoke resistant and oppositional readings of popular culture and mass media texts,” Shafer explains.

Associate Professor and Chair of Art and Architecture Stan Mathews leads his students on a walking tour of Geneva.

BETWEEN IDEALISM + PRAGMATISM

STAN MATHEWS

From a beautiful setting on the Houghton House grounds adjacent to the main HWS campus, Mathews has mentored thousands of architecture students in his career, many of whom have gone on to the best graduate programs in the country and who are today designing the buildings and infrastructure that underpin our lives.

Why are graduate schools so attracted to HWS architecture students?

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE

In part, it’s Mathews’ unique approach to the field.

“I view the subject of architecture very broadly as a way of comprehending and shaping our surroundings, and as the quintessential convergence of disciplines,” he explains. “To me, architecture is inherently interdisciplinary discourse at the juncture between idealism and pragmatism, between art, physics, mathematics, psychology, anthropology, economics, politics and the environment, and I try to convey these convergences in my teaching.”

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH

Who better to teach students how to hone their creative writing skills than an acclaimed novelist?

While praise for Melanie Conroy-Goldman’s novel The Likely World continues to roll in from Vanity Fair and Publisher’s Weekly — the novel has been called “groovy, badass-smart, and totally trippy” — she can be found in the classroom, teaching courses on creative writing and the craft and theory of fiction. Her students also get the privilege of working side-by-side with distinguished national and international poets and fiction writers through the Trias Residency for Writers, established

by Conroy-Goldman in 2011 with emeritus colleagues Jim Crenner and David Weiss.

“There’s no predictable path to writing a poem or short story, no set of steps to go through to reach the desired outcome,” she says. “Students learn to attend to the conditions which help them create, to the kind of exploration and thinking that is required to shape language and make meaning. My role is to help them make a transition to this kind of thinking, to these encounters with the creative process.”

Professor of English Melanie Conroy-Goldman teaches creative writing in Coxe Hall.

MELANIE CONROY-GOLDMANN

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