Newberry Professor Earns Teaching Awards

Newberry College Associate Professor of English Dr. Amanda Hodges will be honored as a recipient of the 2018 Excellence in Teaching Award by the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU) organization. The honor is given annually to one faculty member from each of the 20 SCICU member institutions. 

Honorees will be recognized at the 13th annual award recognition dinner held on April 12, during which each recipient will be awarded a $3,000 professional development grant from the organization. 

Hodges also has been selected as the 2018 Newberry College Student Government Association Teacher of the Year. An award covered by the Newberry faculty because the recipient is selected by students, the SGA Teacher of the Year recipient has the honor of serving as the speaker for the College's next winter commencement ceremony. 

A City of Newberry resident, Hodges has been a professor at Newberry College since 2011. Formerly a high school English teacher, Hodges earned her Ph.D. in English Education at the University of Georgia, where her dissertation examined discourses on fanfiction and identity by combining pop culture studies and writing pedagogies. 

Hodges teaches a variety of literature courses ranging from English Composition to Young Adult Literature to World Literature. Bringing aspects of her doctoral work to the classroom, some of her recent course topics have included Space Fantasy, Magic and Mayhem; Love and the Literary Narrator; and Steampunk Fiction. 

Hodges has been published in The English Journal and The Journal of Transformative Works and Cultures and is a regular contributor to the National Council of Teachers of English Teaching and Learning Forum. She also has presented at regional, national and international conferences. 

“Dr. Hodges is dedicated to bettering her students and the College as a whole,” said Dr. David Rachels, English professor and chair of the Department of Humanities. “She seeks creative ways to keep her students engaged and progressing toward their academic goals. She is a wonderful role model for our students and we are proud to have her in the program.”