Dr. Lindsay Turner- English
Dr. Turner is joining the staff this year from The University of Virginia. A native of Kingsport, Tenn., She went to Harvard for undergrad, NYU for a Masters in Fine Arts in poetry, UVA for a Ph.D. in English and also studied abroad in Paris for two years. Education is a revolving theme in her life. Her favorite part of Furman is the robust intellectual life on campus. She loves how focused students are and how they take their education outside of the classroom and share with their peers. Her first Furman memory is having lunch at the Paddock and staring at the lake in front of her, watching the birds fly. The best part of her job is working with students on building their own creative writing talents. In her first year at Furman, she hopes to keep having great writing workshops and write more poems for her second book of poetry.
Dr. Eunice Kim- Classics
Dr. Kim is a native of Rhode Island where she completed her undergraduate education at Brown University. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Before coming to Furman, she was doing her postdoctoral teaching fellowship at Gonzaga University. She loves Furman because of the amazing colleagues and students she gets to work with. She enjoys learning about everyone’s motivations and passions. Her first Furman memory was looking at the beautiful campus and the great colleagues that motivated her decision to come to teach here. The best part of her job is talking about the Greek and Latin languages in Classics. She became involved in classics because she fell in love with the literature that survived from ancient Rome and Greece. Their structure and mathematical beauty clicked with her. She has had a big adjustment moving from the Pacific Northwest to the South. As this is her first official teaching position, she is in the midst of transitioning into a tenure-track position and gaining more authority. In her first year at Furman, Dr. Kim hopes to teach meaningful courses through showing students what studying this discipline can help them achieve in the real world, shape a distinct vision of what Classics is about and share her passion for myth, language and history.
Dr. Yang Gao- Sociology
Dr. Gao is a native of Beijing where she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Peking University, a Master’s in Sociology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and came to the U.S. for her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt. She joined Furman this year from her previous teaching position in Singapore. Her favorite part of Furman comes from the students. She loves that they’re intellectually active, driven and inquisitive. Her first Furman memory was of the lake, the swans and the Bell Tower. She also enjoys the food in the dining hall, specifically, the Mongolian grill which reminds her of the way food is cooked in China. The best part of her job is learning with her students. Seeing their expressions when they understand a concept, collective learning and their eagerness to know more drives her to be a better teacher. Her biggest adjustment so far is the smaller classes, but she has gotten in the swing of things with the help of her supportive colleagues. She even rides her bike to work every morning. In her first year, she hopes to get comfortable with an involved teaching style and getting to know her students more personally.