Meet Liberal Studies Faculty

Chair of the School of Liberal Arts
Professor of History

Dr. Pattie Dillon serves as the chair of Liberal Studies and associate professor of History, having completed her BS in sociology at the University of Florida, her MA in history at the University of Central Florida, and her PhD in history at Mississippi State University (Starkville). Her doctoral research focused on the connections between race, gender, and religion during the Civil War and Reconstruction era. Dr. Dillon teaches courses on civil war and reconstruction, Jim Crow, gender history, and U.S. history since 1945. Within these courses, students use primary sources to explore the dramatic events, exciting personalities, and complex underlying forces that create historical narratives. Students are also encouraged to become their own historians by collecting and presenting oral interviews.

Program Director of African American Studies
Associate Professor of African American Studies and History

Dr. Deonte Hollowell is a native of Hopkinsville, Ky., and a graduate of University of Louisville (Pan African Studies) and Temple University (African American Studies). Hollowell's special area of study is the relationship between African Americans and police. Hollowell is also on the Board of Directors for 2Not1, an organization that supports fathers and families, as well as The West Louisville Math and Science Project. He also works with the Pivot to Peace group, extending resources to victims of violence. Hollowell also currently serves as the Lead facilitator for the Rites of Passage Brotherhood which introduces young boys to conflict resolution tactics and traditional African method of being.

Director of the BFA in Creative Writing program
Assistant Professor of Creative Writing

The courses Mr. Maynard teaches focus on introducing students to the writing process while creating a foundation for academic writing and understanding that feedback and revision are necessary components of building a writing life. The students he teaches leave his classes with a feeling of empowerment, confidence, and understanding that they can become great writers. Mr. Maynard also serves as the Director of Spalding University’s Writing Center which allows him to pursue his scholarly interests in writing center theory and best practices. Maynard is a fiction writer and game designer. His upcoming novel, The Way Things End, is to be published by Tartarus Press in England in 2019.

Director of Honors Program
Professor of Religious Studies

Dr. Parmenter is right at home in the interdisciplinary humanities with a background in religion and art. She enjoys teaching and research surrounding the creative responses that humans have had and continue to have when they contemplate the human condition. Her religious studies courses include Religion in America and Religion, Art, and Visual Culture, and she also teaches an interdisciplinary course on Humans and the Environment. Dr. Parmenter is the vice-president of the Society for Comparative Research on Iconic and Performative Texts (SCRIPT) and her research interest is material uses of the Christian Bible, on which she has published widely.

Faculty

Department Coordinator, School of Liberal Arts

Damian Botner is the Department Coordinator for the School of Liberal Arts and Director of the Huff Gallery. He is a Perryville, KY native and a 2019 Spalding graduate with a BFA in Painting and Drawing. Mr. Botner worked as an intern under Louisville local artists Rudy Salgado and Susanna Crum at Calliope Arts Printmaking Studio in 2018.

Professor of English

Dr. Kim currently teaches courses in linguistics, humanities, and composition. She taught TESL courses (e.g., second language acquisition theory, TESL methodology, teaching grammar, and introduction to linguistics) in the TESOL Endorsement Program for public school teachers (K-12). Her main research interests are in discourse analysis in educational settings and world English. She has presented papers at TESOL national convention, AAAL (American Association for Applied Linguistics), AILA, CCCC, and International Writing Center Association (IWCA) Conference. Her dissertation was published as a book, titled Frame Analysis of Writing Center Interactions. She also has written a chapter, entitled “Frame Analysis,” in Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics published by Blackwell Publishing.

Associate Professor of Anthropology

Anthropologist Chris Kolb is passionate about helping students learn to critically examine taken-for-granted aspects of the world and to imagine alternative ways of life and unconventional approaches to address entrenched social problems. Topically, Kolb researches and teaches about culture, race and racism, global economic policy, political and economic systems, crime and justice, drug policy, substance abuse, mental health, housing, qualitative research methods and college writing. He is also heavily involved in local politics and community organizing, having twice been elected to the Jefferson County Public Schools Board of Education and serving in several leadership roles in one of Louisville’s largest community groups. He regularly contributes to high-profile debates and discussions, having been a featured speaker at several local and national forums, conferences and convenings.

Professor of English