CAAH celebrates its newest tenured professors

September 11, 2018

Richard E. Goodstein, dean of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities at Clemson University, recently announced the promotions of seven faculty members.

These professors – and the newly tenured faculty from the other six Colleges at Clemson – were recognized by President James P. Clements and Provost Robert H. Jones at a reception on Sept. 4 at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts. Dean Goodstein also hosted a dinner in their honor last month.

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Amit Bein has been promoted to full professor in the Department of History. Bein, an expert on late Ottoman history and the early Turkish Republic, teaches courses on the history of the modern Middle East.

“I feel honored to have the opportunity to teach and publish on the modern Middle East and have a deep sense of gratitude to my colleagues in History and in the College of AAH for creating an intellectual and workplace environment that is conducive for my teaching and research interests,” Bein said.

Bein, coordinator of the undergraduate program in history, received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2006. His first book, “Ottoman Ulema, Turkish Republic: Agents of Change and Guardians of Tradition” (Stanford University Press, 2011), explores intellectual debates and political movements within the religious establishment during the closing years of the Turkish Republic.

Bein’s second book, “Kemalist Turkey and the Middle East: International Relations in the Interwar Period” (Cambridge University Press, 2017), examines the engagement and ties between Turkey and the Middle East during the period between the two world wars.

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Nic Brown has received tenure and a promotion to associate professor in the Department of English. Brown primarily teaches courses in creative writing.

“My grandparents lived in Clemson when I was growing up. It boggles my mind to imagine what they would think about the fact I just received tenure here,” Brown said. “It boggles my own mind, to tell you the truth. What luck!”

Brown is the author of the novels “In Every Way,” “Doubles” and the story collection “Floodmarkers,” all published by Counterpoint. Brown’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Garden & Gun and the Harvard Review.

His work has been anthologized in several collections, including “Best Food Writing 2015” and the New York Times-bestseller “Good Dog.”

A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Columbia University, Brown has served in the past as the Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi.

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Ufuk Ersoy received tenure and a promotion to associate professor in the School of Architecture. Ersoy, who joined the faculty in 2012, teaches architectural history, theory and design.

“To achieve the high measures of Clemson University gives me honor; and, tenure opens a new page for my research and teaching motivation,” Ersoy said.

Before coming to Clemson, Ersoy taught at the University of New South Wales in Australia, the University of Pennsylvania and Izmir Institute of Technology in Turkey.

Ersoy completed his master’s degree in architecture, his master of science degree in architectural history and theory, and his Ph.D. in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. At Clemson, Ersoy acted as the primary editor of the commemorative volume “100 Years of Architecture: Southern Roots + Global Reach Centennial Proceedings.”

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Anjali Joseph has received tenure and a promotion to full professor in the School of Architecture. Joseph is the Spartanburg Regional Health System Endowed Chair in Architecture + Health Design and is director of the Center for Health Facilities Design and Testing at Clemson.

“I am so honored to be recognized as a tenured professor in the School of Architecture and to teach in the graduate program in Architecture + Health,” Joseph said. “I feel fortunate to be a part of this incredible group of faculty and students and to build a meaningful body of research that will help improve the health and well-being of all who receive health care.”

Joseph focuses on using simulation and prototyping methods to research and test the effectiveness of promising design solutions that may impact patient safety in high stress health-care environments.

Joseph currently serves on an independent review panel on military medical construction standards for the U.S. Defense Health Agency. Joseph earned her bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India, her master’s degree in Architecture from Kansas State University and her Ph.D. with an emphasis on Architecture, Culture and Behavior from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Johannes Schmidt received a promotion to full professor in the Department of Languages. Schmidt’s research interests range from 18^th- and 19^th-century German literature and philosophy to German drama and music.

He has taught a variety of courses including German drama, 18^th- and 19^th-century German literature, the culture and literature of exile, humanities seminars on drama, World War II, the Shoah, and German language and culture courses at all levels.

With Rainer Godel, Schmidt is the co-editor of the International Herder Yearbook, a bi-annual, peer-reviewed professional journal of the International Herder Society.

Schmidt earned his bachelor’s degree in Germanistics, Linguistics and Economics at the University of Konstanz in Germany, his master’s degree in Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and his Ph.D. in German Literature at the University of Hamburg in Germany.

In 2006, Schmidt was elected treasurer-secretary (North America) of the International Herder Society. He also served as the president of the South Carolina Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German from 2003-06.

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Will Stockton has received a promotion to full professor in the Department of English. Stockton’s primary research interests include Renaissance literature and queer theory.

“I’m honored to be promoted to professor of English here at Clemson,” Stockton said. “Our university’s commitment to supporting innovative research in not only STEM fields, but also the humanities and social sciences represents the best of forward-thinking visions in higher education.”

Stockton’s research encompasses Shakespeare, Milton, queer theory, psychoanalysis, Christianity, poetry and poetics.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in English and political theory at the University of Virginia, his master’s degree in English and his Ph.D. in English at Indiana University Bloomington.

Among his books are “Members of His Body: Shakespeare, Paul, and a Theology of Nonmonogamy” (Fordham University Press, 2017), “Brimstone” (Queer Young Cowboys, 2015), “Crush” (co-authored with D. Gilson; Punctum Books, 2014) and “Sex Before Sex: Figuring the Act in Early Modern England” (edited with James Bromley, University of Minnesota Press, 2013).

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Eric Touya received a promotion to full professor in the Department of Languages. His research and teaching interests include 19^th– to 21^st-century French and Francophone literature and culture, and interdisciplinary approaches to literature, art, media, theory, culture, economics, ethics and society.

Touya also is the academic advisor for the French and International Trade program and the study abroad program in Paris and Normandy.

“I am happy to hear the news and to serve as teacher, mentor and scholar for this great university,” Touya said. “I am grateful to all the students and colleagues and to my wife and daughter for their support.”

Touya is a recipient of the prestigious Chevalier des Palmes Academiques, awarded by the French government.

Touya received his diplôme d’etudes approfondies in comparative literature at the Universite de Paris IV, Sorbonne, and his Ph.D. in Romance languages and literatures at the University of Chicago.

He is the author of “Musique et poétique à l’âge du symbolism” (L’Harmattan, 2005), “French-American Relations: Remembering D-Day after September 11” (University Press of America, 2008), “Francophone Women Writers: Feminisms, Postcolonialisms, Cross-Cultures” (Lexington Books Publishing, 2011) and “The Case for the Humanities: Pedagogy, Polity, Interdisciplinarity” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).