Our heartiest welcome goes to our 2025-26 new faculty! It is our great pleasure to be able to welcome them to our community. We look forward to their contributions and getting to know them. 

Bhavesh Ramkorun (Physics)

Bhavesh Ramkorun was born and raised in Mauritius, a small island next to Madagascar. Upon completing his high school degree, he moved to Berea, KY where he earned a BA in Physics from Berea College. While at Berea, Ramkorun participated in several research projects, which spurred his interest to pursue graduate studies in physics. He began his graduate career at the University of Alabama in Birmingham where he implemented a direct current bias to increase the nucleation density of materials in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition as part of his M.S. thesis.  For his Ph.D., completed at Auburn University, Ramkorun began to focus more intently on plasma science and engineering that are relevant for materials processing. His current research interest is in experimental dusty plasma (plasmas that contain charged solid particles). Dusty plasma can be seen in Saturn’s ring as well as in semiconductor processing and fusion experiments. Throughout his time as a teaching assistant since his time at Berea, Ramkorun developed a passion for working with students on solving physics problems. 

 

Thomas Harris (Forestry)

Thomas Harris grew up exploring the forests of Southern Appalachia and brings a deep-rooted passion for forest stewardship. He earned a BS in Forest Management from North Carolina State University and an MS in Forest Biometrics from the University of Georgia. He is completing his PhD in Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University.

Before entering academia, Thomas worked in industry as a forestry professional, gaining hands-on experience in forest operations and land management. His research and practice focus on forest management strategies, particularly on forest systems in the southern United States and Brazil.

Sarah Rimkus (Music)

Sarah Rimkus is an award-winning American composer of choral, vocal and chamber works.

She brings a wide range of influences to her music, from ars antiqua and ars nova polyphony to Balkan folk traditions. Her work often explores themes such as communication, belonging, and relationship to the environment through use of musical layering and contradiction. Her music has been described as “always powerful and well-judged,” with a language that “ranges from uncluttered lyrical poignancy to denser textures that suggest a holy clamor.” 

 

Her choral works have been commissioned and performed extensively across the USA, the UK, and elsewhere by ensembles including The Crossing, The Esoterics, and The Gesualdo Six. Her works have been professionally recorded by ensembles on both sides of the Atlantic, featured on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM, and published by GIA Publications and Walton Music. Much of her inspiration in her choral works comes from her inventive text choices, from scientific writing to multi-lingual translations of sacred texts and many other sources.

 

She is currently based in Sewanee, TN where she lives with her husband, fellow composer Thomas LaVoy and their daughter Marin.

 

Daniel Burnfin (Philosophy)

Daniel Burnfin completed his PhD in philosophy and Germanic studies at the University of Chicago in 2022. His research concerns the history of modern German philosophy, social and political philosophy, the philosophy of economics, and the works of Hegel, Marx, Keynes, and Sohn-Rethel in particular. In his teaching, he tries to bring the history of philosophy and real-world problems as close to one another as possible. Outside of the university, Daniel tries not to worry too much about politics; sometimes he goes for long jogs. In the 2025-6 academic year, he will serve as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Sewanee.

Durell Cooper (Theatre)

Dr. Durell Cooper  is a native of Montgomery, AL. He is currently a Visiting Professor at Sewanee University as well as an adjunct instructor at New York University. He has taught at various institutions including The City College of New York & the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Durell graduated from the Impact Program for Arts Leaders (IPAL) at Stanford University in 2018. He is also a member of the Diversity Scholars Network at the National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan. In addition to his academic pursuits he is also the Founder and CEO of Cultural Innovation Group; a boutique consulting agency specializing in systems change and collaborative thought leadership. He is also the creator, producer, and host of the PBS/WNET 13 network series, Flow and the podcast Fluency w/ Dr. Durell Cooper and a co-Host/co-producer on season 3 of WNYE 91.5 FM’s ArtMovez. He earned a B.F.A from Southern Methodist University, and both a M.A & Doctorate of Education from New York University.

Merisa Sahin (Politics)

Merisa Sahin received her doctorate in political science from the University of Michigan in 2025. She studies comparative and global political thought, with a special focus on Ottoman and Middle Eastern thinkers at the turn of the twentieth century. Her writing has appeared or forthcoming in the Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association and Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Erica Hussey (English)

E.E. Hussey was born in the Philippines, raised in Japan and Italy, and has lived in several US cities. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Johns Hopkins science writing program, and the University of Alabama’s MFA program. She has received support from Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference, Tin House, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Virginia G. Piper Center. Her work has been recognized as Notable in Best American Essays. She’s delighted to be teaching at Sewanee this academic year and will also be working on her novels-in-progress. You can read selected work online at eehussey.com.

Samuel (Sam) Johnson (Spanish)

Samuel Johnson is a PhD candidate in the Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies program in the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Miami. He has taught Spanish and Portuguese language courses for over decade to second language learners and is currently a faculty member at St. Andrew’s Sewanee School. Beyond second language teaching, his research interests include ecocriticism, climate change, Indigenous peoples, multispecies justice, coloniality, and the intersections of these themes in literature, film, and new media in Latin America. His dissertation, "Amazonian Transmedia: Seeking Epistemic and Ecological Justice in the Anthropocene" traces the role of literary, film, and media production emerging from the transnational, intercultural space of the Amazon that preserves, shares, and uplifts of Indigenous ways of knowing and being while seeking justice for the multispecies communities of the Americas.

Yoonjung Kang (Anthropology)

Yoonjung Kang is a medical anthropologist. She earned a B.A. degree in sociology and French language and literature, as well as an M.A. degree in sociology from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. She further pursued her academic journey and obtained her PhD in anthropology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before joining Sewanee, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the James Joo-Jin Kim Center for Korean Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research focuses on various aspects of health, care, medicine, childbirth, and reproduction, with a particular emphasis on gender, class, and ethnic/racial dynamics in South Korea and Korean diaspora communities. Currently, she is in the process of completing her first book manuscript, tentatively titled “A Plurality of Care: Women, Childbirth, and Health in Contemporary South Korea.”

Jisoo Kim (EES/Geology)

Jisoo Kim (she/her) is a volcanologist and igneous petrologist who earned her Ph.D. from Arizona State University in 2024. She uses field observations, petrography, microanalytical methods, and numerical methods to explore pre-eruptive processes in post-caldera volcanic settings and the development of distributed volcanic fields. She received an M.S. in Geological Sciences from ASU in 2020 and a B.A. in Earth Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2018. Jisoo looks forward to teaching mineralogy and field geology and living in Tennessee for the first time!

 

 

Charlie Kirchen (Music)

Charlie Kirchen is a theorist and maker of music, with roots in Chicago and New York. As a theorist, he will soon be awarded a PhD from Columbia University where, in his dissertation, he developed the concept of generic mobility in the context of the compositional process of the renowned hip-hop producer, Madlib. As a music maker he is active as a composer, improviser, and bassist in the realm of creative music. In this capacity, he leads an NYC-based sextet and a Chicago-based quartet, in addition to participating in a number of collectively led free-improvising units. At Sewanee, he looks forward to teaching courses on popular music and digital production as well as applied bass lessons.

 

Kevin Liu (Math/Computer Science)

Kevin (he/him) received his Ph.D. in Mathematics and M.S. in Statistics at the University of Washington. Prior to graduate school, he completed a B.S. in Secondary Education and Mathematics at Vanderbilt University and then taught high school mathematics at the University School of Nashville. His research interests are in discrete mathematics, including topics in graph theory, optimization, enumeration, and discrete probability. Outside of teaching and mathematics, Kevin enjoys staying active by going to the gym, climbing, running, hiking, and biking, as well as less-active hobbies such as board games, video games, and cooking.

Brian McCray (Earth and Environmental Systems)

Brian McCray is an anthropological archaeologist whose research focuses on social dynamics at ecological interfaces. He is especially interested in how researchers use models to integrate environmental data with human-scale analysis, and how archaeologists can engage a broader public. Brian received his PhD in anthropology from Vanderbilt University, where his dissertation work examined the way communal gatherings articulated Andean and Amazonian interaction between 1000-1500 CE. His research has been published in Boletín de Arqueología PUCP and Rethinking the Andes-Amazonia Divide. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball and walking the dog.

Patten Priestley Mahler (Economics)

Patten, a native of Sewanee (SAS ‘99), holds a B.S. in physics from Davidson College, an M.A. in economics from Duke University, an M.S. in strategic management from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia. Previously, she served as an Associate Professor at Centre College in Danville, KY, where she received the Kirk Award for Teaching Excellence. She has taught a variety of core and elective courses at all levels and introduced several new courses for majors and non-majors. Her research focuses on education policy, including identifying strategies for retaining effective teachers in high-need schools and addressing the root problems of “childcare deserts.” She also researches methods to enhance her teaching, such as exploring how individuals with diverse identities or values may struggle to relate to basic economic models. Patten involves students in her research, inviting them to give conference presentations and co-author articles. At Centre, she was involved in many service roles, including chairing the College Council, department chair, and leading strategic initiatives. She was active in the Danville community, engaging students in projects through community-based learning courses, serving on local and state boards, facilitating leadership and strategic planning workshops, and securing substantial funding to support early childhood care and education. Her husband, Joe, will teach physics and coach cross-country and track at SAS. They have two young children.

Caroline Minchew (Art)

Caroline Minchew is a lens-based artist and educator. She received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BA from Sewanee. Her work has been exhibited at various galleries, most recently at Candela Gallery (Richmond) and The Anderson (Richmond). She has attended residencies at NARS Foundation, Chashama, Penland School of Arts and Crafts, and Burren College of Art. She has photographic works housed in the permanent collections of the National Museum of American History and the National Gallery of Art Photograph Study Collection in Washington, D.C.

Claire Panetta (International and Global Studies)

Claire Panetta is an urban anthropologist who studies the contemporary MENA region.  Her research explores how urban development and architectural heritage are used to advance sociopolitical projects in Cairo, Egypt.  Her work has been published in the International Journal of Heritage Studies, City & Society, the Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, and Teaching and Learning Anthropology.  She is co-editor of Beyond the Square: Urbanism and the Arab Uprisings (Terreform, 2016) and is currently working on a book that analyzes urban transformations in Cairo after the January 25th Revolution of 2011.  She completed her PhD in anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center, and she holds an MA in anthropology from Columbia University and a BA in anthropology from Haverford College.  She was previously Term Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at Barnard College, where she received the 2023 Emily Gregory Award for excellence in teaching. At Sewanee, Professor Panetta looks forward to offering courses on the MENA region, cities and urban life, and cultural heritage.

Alexandra (Ali) Raeber (Chemistry)

Ali Raeber is theoretical chemist whose research focuses on using computational methods improve the speed and sustainability of designing new molecular catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction. Originally from St. Louis Missouri, Ali earned a BA in chemistry from Bryn Mawr College in 2013. She then completed a PhD in chemistry at the University of Chicago in 2020 before going on to do postdoctoral work at MIT. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting and spending time with her partner and her very chatty orange cat.

Emily Sharp (Anthropology)

Emily Sharp is an anthropological bioarchaeologist whose research addresses issues pertaining to health, identity, and social change within Indigenous communities in the past and present.  She earned her BA from Vanderbilt University and her MA and PhD from Arizona State University. Sharp has conducted extensive archaeological fieldwork in Peru, examining how ancient communities in the highland Andes experienced conflict during a period of state collapse and significant climate change. Some of this research has been published in the Journal of Field Archaeology and American Anthropologist. Recently, Sharp has focused on the ethical stewardship of cultural resources and engagement with descendant communities in the US. She has worked to return Native American ancestors and cultural items to Native Nations in the Southwest. Having grown up in Nashville, she looks forward to living in Tennessee again and getting to know the Sewanee community.

 

Brittney (Britt) Threatt (English/African American Studies)

Dr. Brittney Threatt received her Ph.D in Africana Studies at Brown University. She specializes in Black Women’s Intellectual History, Black Literary Theory, and Black Performance. She also received her MA from Brown, and her BA, in English and Theatre, from Rhodes College. Her dissertation, “Monstrous Fugitivity: Reading Slave Legacies in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction,” explores the ways in which speculation, in both science fiction and literary fiction, produces arenas for emancipation amid the monstrous history of slavery. Dr. Threatt is a passionate teacher who advocates for students’ rights to their own languages and encourages them to bring the full spectrum of their experiences to the classroom.

Li-Chun (Richard) Tung (Physics)

Dr. Li-Chun “Richard” Tung earned his Bachelor degree from the National Central University and Master degree from National Hsin Hua University in Taiwan, and then a Ph.D. degree from the University of California-Riverside in US. Dr. Tung, have been doing research at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the University of North Dakota and Texas Tech University, and teaching college physics at the University of North Dakota and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Dr. Tung also have served as a technical staff at Penn State University and as a patent examiner for US Patent and Trademark Office. Dr. Tung has been a hands-on experimentalist in Condensed Matter Physics who is an expert of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy with more than 3000 citations over his 31 publications to date. Dr. Tung became very interested in educational research/programs recently with a vision to develop a teaching program in Virtual Reality environment (VR Teaching) or work with student on building projects (Workshop Physics), reproducing known patents or physical demos.

James (Jim) Whiteside (English and Creative Writing)

Jim Whiteside is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing. He is the author of a chapbook of poems, Writing Your Name on the Glass (Bull City Press, 2019), and was recently a Wallace Stegner Fellow in Poetry at Stanford University. He is the recipient of scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, as well as residencies from the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. His poems have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The American Poetry Review, POETRY, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, and Boston Review. Originally from Cookeville, Tennessee, he most recently has lived in Brooklyn, New York. More at www.jimwhitesidepoetry.com

Zekun (Zac) Wu (Finance)

Zac Wu’s research focuses on stock options, insider trading, and corporate finance. He is especially interested in interdiscipline finance research topics and believes that will create meaningful insights for modern finance studies. Before joining Sewanee, he worked as a data scientist for Capital One. He received his Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Connecticut. He likes tennis and swimming. He is also a movie fan and wants to have his own feature film one day.