(l-r) Kent Trachte, president; Payne; Stafford; Phil Sprunger, provost
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Lycoming College presented two faculty members with teaching awards during its annual Honors Convocation ceremony on April 24 at Williamsport’s Community Arts Center.
Plankenhorn Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence
The 2021 Plankenhorn Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence was awarded to Caroline Payne, Ph.D., associate professor of political science and chair of the department. With a specialty in international relations, Payne’s teaching and research interests include human rights, fair trade, civil conflict, and politics of developing countries.
She spends much of her time as the director of the Interdisciplinary Dominican Republic Program and associated Warrior Coffee Project, which provide opportunities for Lycoming College students from all disciplines to gain valuable field experience in the Dominican Republic through participation in meaningful, and long-term service-learning projects.
Payne has a master’s and a doctoral degree in political science from Louisiana State University, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and speech communication from Berea College.
Junior Faculty Teaching Award
Andrew Stafford, Ph.D., assistant professor of French in the modern language department, was awarded the 2021 Junior Faculty Teaching Award. Stafford ‘s research focuses primarily on novels of the 19th century. He also works on gender as a creative and imaginative process distinct from socially defined gender roles.
He believes teaching a foreign language allows him to fulfill important aspects of education: increasing students’ awareness of cultures and ideas other than their own while gaining a critical set of linguistic and communication skills. Stafford balances content with fostering personal insight and increasing cultural awareness through a variety of activities.
Stafford earned a master’s degree and doctoral degree from The Pennsylvania State University, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Montclair State University.
Lycoming College is proud of its talented and committed professors, who continue to add to the culture of student learning while advancing the College’s goal of offering a 21st-century liberal arts education.