We are delighted to welcome our new faculty for the 2025–26 academic year! It is our great pleasure to have them join—or continue with—our community in new roles. While some are brand new to Sewanee, others are familiar faces who are now transitioning into tenure-track positions. We look forward to their contributions and to getting to know them more fully in the months ahead.

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.

Bikash Choudhary (Neurobiology)

I joined the Department of Biology at the University of the South, Sewanee, as an Assistant Professor. I am a neurobiologist, specializing in neurogenetics, with 20 years of experience in the field. My research focuses on unraveling the causes of behavioral disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and aging-related brain disorders. I use genetics as my primary research tool, working with the model organism C. elegans, a tiny roundworm, to address my research questions.

I received my Ph.D. in India and continued my research as a Max Planck Visiting Fellow at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)/Max Planck Institute (MPI), focusing on aging-related neurological disorders. I later moved to the United States, conducting research at Southern Methodist University and the University of California on behavioral disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

My work and training have led to publications in peer-reviewed journals, as well as mentoring undergraduate and doctoral students under my co-guidance.

Durell Cooper (Theatre)

Dr. Durell Cooper, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Sewanee and 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.

Thomas Harris (Earth and Environmental Systems/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.

Younghwa Kim (Religious Studies)

Younghwa Kim is a historian of religion specializing in World Christianity, with research primarily focused on Korean Christianity. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies at Emory University and holds master's degrees from Yale University and Boston University. His dissertation integrates social history, cultural history, and anthropological approaches to examine how the identities and practices of Korean Christian women were shaped by interreligious, intercultural, and transnational encounters. His work has been supported by the Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration; the Yale Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition; Emory University's Laney Graduate School and Candler School of Theology; and the OMSC at Princeton Theological Seminary. He grew up in South Korea and New Zealand and has lived in Boston, New Haven, and Atlanta.

 

 

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.

 

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. 

 

 Giovanni Roman-Torres (International and Global Studies/American Studies)

Giovanni is a sociologist and is expected to complete his dissertation at the University of Michigan in Spring 2026. His research engages broadly with ethno-racial stratification, immigration, and urban/regional dynamics, with a particular interest in how these areas intersect with the experiences of Latino and Latino immigrants in the United States. His dissertation, entitled Placing the American Dream: Latino geographic dispersion, socioeconomic well-being, and belonging across the American Landscape, is guided by the overarching question: how important is place for the socioeconomic well-being and incorporation of Latino immigrants? His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, and the American Sociological Association. At Sewanee, Giovanni looks forward to teaching courses that focus on immigration in the U.S., social stratification, research methods, and community sociology. Before starting at the University of Michigan, Giovanni worked at a community college in East Los Angeles, California where he was a program coordinator for an academic program that is geared towards increasing community college retention and transfer rates to four-year universities. He is a proud first-generation, community college transfer student from East Los Angeles College. He received his B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2016. Apart from engaging in sociological research, Giovanni enjoys playing soccer (or fútbol), climbing, and cycling.

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.

Elizabeth Teeter (Earth and Environmental Systems/Geology)

Elizabeth Teeter is an igneous petrologist who studies magma dynamics that lead to large volcanic eruptions. She focuses on magmatic textures and compositions preserved in crystallized magma bodies (plutons) that can help constrain physical processes of compaction and melt extraction that can generate super eruption. Her work uses Scanning Electron Microscopy to look at microstructures and textures of granitic rocks and she currently conducts field work on the Aztec Wash pluton in Nevada, the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand, and the Tuolumne Intrusive Complex in California. 

 

Wanda Yang Temko (Music)

Dr. Wanda Yang Temko is a respected singer, voice teacher, and arts advocate. She holds a doctorate in voice performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana along with degrees from Georgia State University and Emory University.  Sought after as a recitalist and soloist, recently she performed the role of Evangelist in David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion with Kinnara. She is featured on New Trinity Baroque's recording of Christmas Cantatas and Concertos on Édition Lilac. She also performs and records with the Meridian Chorale and the Grammy-Award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Choruses. Dr. Yang Temko maintains an active private voice studio in Atlanta and serves on the Board of Directors of Atlanta Early Music Alliance, ATL Symphony Musicians Foundation, and Kinnara. 

Jane Millar Tully (Classical Studies) 

Jane Tully completed her PhD in Classics with a concentration in archaeology at the University of Texas at Austin in 2023. Her research, grounded in the environmental history of the Mediterranean, concerns how ancient Greek and Roman communities managed their natural resources, from coping with ancient climate change to cultivating urban gardens. Her work has been published in the journal Classical Antiquity and a recent edited volume by Routledge. Jane studied Anthropology and Classical Languages at Sewanee, training in archaeological field methods in rockshelters and historic sites around the Domain. She has since participated in surveys, excavations, and archaeobotanical research in Italy and Greece. She returns to Sewanee following a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Loeb Classical Library Foundation.

Geoffrey Ward (Music)

Geoffrey Harris Ward is an organist and conductor who has served in Canadian and American churches, including as Healey Willan Organ Scholar at The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene (Toronto). He has held positions in the Episcopal, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian (Canada), and Catholic traditions, and was Artistic Director of the Memphis BoyChoir, Inc. for ten years. He has conducted children’s choir festivals in Arkansas and Tennessee, worked with the CREDO Episcopal Convocation, and performed recitals across the United States, Canada, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In summer 2025, he presented a solo recital at Westminster Abbey, London.

Ward has served as University Organist and Choirmaster at the University of the South (Sewanee) since 2016, where he is also on the music faculty teaching organ, conducting, church music, and history. Under his leadership, the University Choir has grown from 40 to over 70 members and toured the U.S., Canada, England, and Ireland.

A native of Brampton, Ontario, Ward earned diplomas in piano performance (A.R.C.T., Royal Conservatory of Music) and bachelor’s degrees in trumpet performance (B.M.) and music education (B.M.E.) at Mount Allison University. He completed his M.M. in conducting at Arizona State University and D.M.A. in organ performance and church music at the University of Kansas. He is Board President of the Sewanee Church Music Conference and a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the American Guild of Organists.


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Elena Susanna Weygandt (Russian)

Elena Susanna Weygandt works at the intersection of literary theory, film studies, and gender and performance studies. She brings these topics to the Russian Department and Humanities Program. After her recent field work in Kazakhstan, she designed for Sewanee, “RUSN 207: Urban History and Writers of Central Asia’s Cities and Steppe.” Her books include From Metaphor to Direct Speech: Contemporary Russophone Drama and Performance Theory (2025, University of Wisconsin Press) and New Drama: An Anthology (2019, Columbia UP). At The University of South she has developed and published her own methods for teaching Russian, such as teaching Russian through dramatic text (“Ludic Acts of Language Acquisition: Role, Dialogue, and Stage for L2 Russian Oral Proficiency,” Dynamic Teaching of Russian: Gamification of Learning, eds. Kogan and Nuss, 2023) and teaching verbs of motion through movement in an outdoor environment (“From Gesture to Coded Knowledge: Rediscovering TPR when Teaching Russian in an Outdoor Classroom,” Russian Language Journal, 2025). She received PhD from Princeton’s Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.