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CHRISTOPHER METRESS (DIRECTOR, PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH)
B.A., St. Mary’s University, 1985
M.A., Vanderbilt University, 1987
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 1991
After receiving his doctorate from Vanderbilt, Dr. Metress taught for three years at Wake Forest University before coming to Samford in 1993. In the English Department, he teaches courses in American literature, film noir, and Southern literature, and he frequently offers courses on British literature at Samford’s Daniel House in London. From 2003 to 2006, he directed Samford’s participation in a national curricular project designed to promote innovative teaching of the liberal arts. In 2009, Dr. Metress received the George Macon Teaching Award. The award goes annually to a faculty member who, through outstanding performance as a teacher, counselor, and friend to students, demonstrates the ability to inspire students to greatness.
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Dr. Metress’s essays and reviews have appeared in such journals as South Atlantic Quarterly, Southern Review, African-American Review, and Studies in the Novel, and he has contributed to a number of scholarly collections. He has published three books: The Critical Response to Dashiell Hammett (Greenwood, 1995), The Lynching of Emmett Till (Virginia, 2002), and Emmett Till in Literary Memory and Imagination (LSU, 2007). The Lynching of Emmett Till was a university press bestseller and was featured in news stories in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and Nation magazine, as well as on ABC World News Tonight and PBS. In 2003, the Association of American University Presses named The Lynching of Emmett Till among its “Best Books for Understanding Race Relations in the U.S.,”and the collection has been used in courses in more than 100 colleges and universities.
Dr. Metress teaches Western Intellectual Tradition I: The Heritage of Greece and Rome, Western Intellectual Tradition II: Christianity from Antiquity to the Renaissance, and Western Intellectual Tradition III: The Challenge of Modernity.
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WILTON BUNCH (PROFESSOR OF ETHICS)
B.A. Walla Walla College, 1956
M.D., Loma Linda University, 1960
Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1967
Residency Orthopaedic Surgery, 1963-1968
M.B.A., University of Chicago, 1983
M.Div., Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 1998
Dr. Bunch has been teaching ethics at Samford University since 2000, first within Beeson Divinity School and now in the Department of Philosophy. Dr. Bunch began his professional career at the University of Virginia and was appointed to the first endowed chair in any of the surgical departments. He was the founding chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at Loyola University of Chicago and held the university's first endowed chair. He was dean of medicine at the University of Chicago and dean of the college of medicine at the University of South Florida.
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Dr. Bunch has had multiple and varied laboratory and clinical research interests. These included studies of muscle cell membranes, the biomechanics of curved human spines, changes in blood flow during anesthesia, and changes in electrical activity of the spinal cord during correction of spinal deformities. He developed several orthopaedic operations that have become standard practice. His present research interest is understanding moral reasoning and how it can change, and has studied this in orthopaedic surgeons, divinity students and undergraduates. He is the author of 111 scientific and theological publications, 38 book chapters and 5 books. Dr. Bunch is also an ordained Episcopal priest and has served in churches in Colorado, Florida, and Alabama.
In the fall of 2009, Dr. Bunch will be teaching Scientific Inquiry. He will also direct the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Team.
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ASHLEY L. FLOYD (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR)
B.A., Samford University, 2004
M.A., University of Alabama, 2009
Ashley studied psychology at Samford and received the Velma Wright Irons Award for the second-highest GPA in her graduating class. She was a member of the LEAD Scholars Program, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi. After graduation, she worked in Samford’s Office of Admission, where she recruited students from Kentucky, North Alabama, West Tennessee, Mississippi, and South Carolina. As Assistant Director of Admission, Ashley was responsible for database management, staff training, and communications. After helping to recruit the inagural class of University Fellows, Ashley joined the program staff.
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Ashley serves as the primary academic advisor for all University Fellows freshmen. In addition, she also helps Fellows prepare applications for scholarships and fellowships. In 2009, Ashley received her M.A. in Higher Education Administration. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration at the University of Alabama. This fall and spring, she will be teaching Calling and Leadership I and II.
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CAROLINE WILLIAMS (ADMISSION COORDINATOR)
B.A., Samford University, 2008
M.A., Georgetown University, 2011
As an undergraduate, Caroline studied English and religion and was one of the first graduates of the film studies concentration. Post-graduation, she served as a Regional Coordinator for Impact Alabama: A Student Service Initiative, where she worked to provide service-learning opportunities for Alabama's college students. In 2009, Caroline began an M.A. program in English at Georgetown. Here, she not only studied literature and film, but she also worked with the university's Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS). At CNDLS, Caroline collaborated with the Center for Social Justice to create a humanitarian action fellows position for undergraduates. .
In her role as Admission Coordinator, Caroline will oversee the application, interview, and selection process for University Fellows.
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