New-Student Guide

Tony Baker

This course introduces students to college through creative exploration of identity and contemporary social issues using ceramic sculpture. Students will examine how artists use form to communicate ideas about personal experience, culture, and the world around them. Through discussion, short readings, writing, and hands-on sculptural work, students will identify a social issue that connects to their own identity or lived experience and develop a ceramic sculpture expressing that relationship. Students will also present their work and ideas to the class, building confidence in communication and critical thinking. No prior art experience is required. This course emphasizes experimentation, personal expression, and the development of academic and creative skills while helping students build confidence and community in their transition to college.

Tony Baker is a ceramic artist and Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. He received his MFA from Alfred University. Growing up in a poor urban neighborhood in Sacramento, California, Baker’s work is shaped by the ways environment, culture, and socio-economic conditions influence identity and lived experience. His practice focuses on large-scale ceramic sculpture and installation, exploring themes of class, survival, and resilience. Drawing from personal experience, his work reflects on the psychological and physical realities of navigating underprivileged environments, often blending realism and abstraction to create immersive, emotionally charged forms. In his teaching, Baker emphasizes material exploration, conceptual thinking, and the use of art as a way to understand both personal experience and broader social issues.

Kristy Cardellio

The Italian peninsula, historically made up of myriad civilizations with diverse cultures and languages, became unified as a nation in 1861. In this course we will view and critically analyze Italian films that address the question of national identity, particularly after the fall of Fascism. The films included in the course are by distinguished Italian directors who express their ideas of what it means to be Italian through their films. We will explore and reflect on their vision for the future of Italy. As a final project, students will have the opportunity to make their own short films.

Kristy Cardellio, Instructor of Italian, earned her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the University of South Florida and her M.A. in Italian at New York University. Areas of interest and research include Italian film, applied linguistics and study abroad. In addition to teaching Italian, she works with the Office of Global Education and enjoys leading language immersion programs to Italy.

Louise Daoust

Imagine you are looking at a bowl of strawberries. You have a visual experience of seeing red objects at a distance. But how does that experience relate to what is in fact in front of you? This course explores recent and interdisciplinary efforts to answer one of the oldest philosophical questions: What do we see? Are our ordinary visual experiences anything like what’s “really there”? Should we understand our perceptual experiences as illusory, or at least as heavily constructed? In attempting to answer these questions, we’ll also ask: What can we learn from thinking about non-human animal visual systems? And what about the kinds of visual experiences made possible by new technologies? For example, are the experiences we have in virtual reality best thought of as accurate experiences of a real, if virtual, world? Or does a world have to be physical for it to be real? What is synesthesia (e.g. when letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored), and how does it relate to what we count as ordinary visual awareness? In striving to understand our perceptual relation with the world around us, we’ll work together to prepare you for a successful four years at Eckerd.

Louise Daoust earned her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017.  She studies issues in philosophy of psychology and biology, with a focus on visual perception. She also has research interests in the history of philosophy and science, especially in women writers from the early modern period. She teaches a broad range of courses, including Introduction to Philosophy, Environmental Ethics, and Animals and Experience. And she always loves teaching in Autumn Term and Human Experience.

Kelly Debure

Ever wonder why your Instagram feed feels like it was made just for you? Or why two people can search the same thing and get completely different results? Algorithms are quietly running the show — and their influence goes far beyond your phone screen. In this course, we’ll pull back the curtain on the hidden systems shaping what you see, what you believe, and even what opportunities come your way. From Netflix recommendations to courtroom sentencing, from medical diagnoses to college admissions, algorithms are making decisions that affect real lives — including yours. Drawing on real-world case studies, we’ll ask the big questions: Who builds these systems? Who benefits? And who gets left behind? No coding required — just curiosity and a willingness to think differently about the technology that scores, sorts, and shapes your world.

Before academia, Professor Kelly Debure worked at NASA Langley Research Center, where she consulted on image processing for NASA researchers and helped design cockpit displays and flight management software for real-time flight systems. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina, with a focus on image processing and compression, and her research interests include computer vision and mobile app development. One of her coolest projects? She directs the DARWIN Research Group at Eckerd College, which uses image recognition technology to identify individual dolphins by their dorsal fins. When she’s not teaching or tracking dolphins, you’ll find her traveling, cooking, or gardening.

David Durieux

This course will introduce students to the plants and animals found around Pinellas County, with a focus on species that people often overlook. Students will practice observing nature closely and reflect on how our senses shape what we notice. The course will look at marine and terrestrial invertebrates, fish, and plants, how humans affect the natural world. Learning will be split between in-class discussions and outdoor work, including daily hands-on activities on campus, a boat trip to Shell Key to catch sandbar fish, a visit to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, and two nighttime sessions to see nocturnal wildlife. Students also contribute observations to iNaturalist. Work is graded through short written reflections, class discussions, and a practical exam identifying organisms. Readings come from scientific articles provided in class.

Dr. David Durieux is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Marine Science. They graduated from Eckerd College in 2011 with a B.S. in Marine Science (Marine Biology concentration) and minors in Chemistry and Religious Studies. After several years caring for animals in public aquariums, they returned to Florida for a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from the University of South Florida, which they completed in 2021. Professor Durieux studies marine ecology and is currently working on a long-term project using the sounds that fish make as a way to learn how healthy the environment is. They are also an avid martial artist, and have trained in several styles, especially Aikido, over the last 25 years. They enjoy gardening, fishing, and camping.

Katherine Dyer

What helps someone stay motivated, pursue their goals, and grow through challenges, whether in real life or in fictional stories? In this course, we will explore the psychological science of resilience and human flourishing through the familiar and powerful storytelling of classic animated films, such as Hercules and The Princess and the Frog. Drawing on concepts from the field of psychology, we will examine how animated characters face obstacles, talk to themselves in moments of doubt, and stay motivated as they pursue meaningful goals. Through these iconic songs and stories, you’ll reflect on how your own values, motivations, and behaviors can support your long-term resilience and success, in college and beyond. This course will blend psychological science, personal reflection, and pop culture to highlight how the psychological lessons embedded in these animated journeys can help you pursue your dreams with resilience and purpose.

Katherine Dyer is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Coordinator of the Behavioral Neuroscience minor. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology with a concentration in Behavioral Neuroscience from Kent State University, and both her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Psychology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her research at Eckerd focuses on how the human brain supports learning and memory. Her current projects explore a range of topics, including psychoactive substance use, neurodivergence, and electroencephalography (EEG). Outside of the classroom and lab, she enjoys spending time at the beach (tanning, swimming, and collecting shells), relaxing at home with her two miniature schnauzers (Winnie and Wallie), and going to Disney on the weekends.

Anna Guengerich

Question: what do real-life mermaids, immigrants, grapefruits, air conditioning, and the Underground Railroad have in common? Answer: they’re all important parts of Florida’s past and present! In this course, we will explore what makes Florida so different from the rest of America, and how things got to be this way. From the geological forces that laid down its limestone foundations millions of years ago, to the tourist boom made possible by the invention of air conditioning, we will consider how people and nature have intertwined throughout history to make this state unlike any other. Along the way, we will explore Florida’s close connections to Cuba and long history of racial diversity, the rise of industries like citrus and salted fish made possible by our subtropical climate, and the retired “snowbirds” who flood the state every winter. Along the way, we will also take several field trips to explore these topics on the ground. By the end of this class, you can expect to gain
an understanding of why this state has come to boast a reputation as one of the most unusual places in America.

Anna Guengerich is a professor in Anthropology and Latin American Studies. She has previously lived in Nashville, Tennessee, her hometown, and Chicago, Illinois, where she got her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. Since moving to Florida in 2020 to start teaching at Eckerd, she has spent many weekends on road trips getting to know her new home state. She spends at least part of every summer in Peru, where she has been conducting archaeological fieldwork on human-environmental interactions for fifteen years. In her free time, she loves to spend time in her garden, her kitchen (cooking and pickling things from the garden), and paddleboarding with her dog, Kish Kish (who is from Peru). On campus, you can find her serving as a faculty advisor to the Indigenous Cultures Club and teaching classes such as Archaeology of the Environment, Andean Civilizations, and Archaeology of Food.

Barnet Hartston

Sigmund Freud was one of the most influential and most controversial figures of the twentieth century. In the eighty plus years since his death, many of his theories have been challenged and rejected by psychologists and neuroscientists. His complex model of the mind, however, has had a profound impact on American and European literary and artistic forms as well as on popular culture as a whole. Concepts such as id, ego, repression, fixations, the Oedipal Complex, defense mechanisms, and “Freudian slips” are all still part of our common vocabulary and our general sense of how human beings work. In this Autumn Term course, we will examine some of Freud’s most important ideas, engage in dream analysis and automatic writing, consider Freud’s impact on Salvador Dalí and the Surrealists, and discuss how a Freudian perspective might be used to interpret artworks, films, social media, and even the rituals surrounding modern sports. The goal of this class is not to “become Freudians,” but to put his ideas into historical context and examine how they challenge our understanding of the way the human psyche (and human societies) are constructed.

Barnet Hartston has a Ph.D. in European History from the University of California, San Diego. He teaches courses on animal history, environmental history, history of sport, WWII, and Nazi Germany. He is also author of two books: Sensationalizing the Jewish Question: Anti-Semitic Trials and the Press in the Early German Empire and The Trial of Gustav Graef: Art, Sex and Scandal in Late Nineteenth-Century Germany. He is currently writing a third book entitled The Great Berlin-Vienna Horse Race of 1892 and Other Masculine Misadventures.

Jennifer Knippen

Chelsea Korpanty

Did you know that corals evolved over 350 million years ago? Did you know that those ancient corals are preserved in rocks and can offer clues about living reefs and their capacity to adapt and survive in the future? This class will turn back time on living coral reefs to explore how the fossil record of corals can inform our understanding of how today’s coral reefs have evolved, thrived, survived, and changed in response to various environmental and anthropogenic influences. We will also use this information to fast-forward to anticipate how today’s coral reefs might persist in the future with ongoing global climate change. This class will dive into topics such as coral biology, geology, and conservation by analyzing and discussing scientific texts, news articles, and documentaries. Experiential activities include a specimen-based fossil coral identification lab, a trip to the Coral Habitat at the Tampa Aquarium, and the opportunity to interact with coral reef restoration specialists. No snorkel, fins, or prior marine experience required to learn how understanding the past is key to the present and future of coral reefs.

Chelsea Korpanty, Assistant Professor of Marine Science and Geosciences, earned a B.A. in Geology and B.A. in Studio Art from Cornell College, her M.S. in Geology and Geography at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. She teaches Geological Oceanography, one of two foundational introductory courses in Marine Sciences, and upper-level courses including Earth Systems History and Marine Invertebrate Paleontology. Her research interests focus on the ecological dynamics and drivers of marine invertebrate assemblages associated with seagrass meadows, tropical reefs, and deep-sea coral habitats. These projects span local sites in Tampa Bay and Boca Ciega Bay, to the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Australia. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, running, baking, art-ing, and going on adventures with her family.

Antonia S. Krueger

From seafarers to scientists, surfers to sirens, humankind’s close relationships to the sea span time and culture. This transdisciplinary course explores ways in which representations of this relationship, from “The Pearl Diver” of ancient Noh Theatre to Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic, have reflected (and sometimes transformed) various cultural contexts. Students will take a deep-dive into stories of human relationships to the ocean that have sparked replication, representation, and repetition across performance media. They will examine the cultural retellings inspired by these stories, and ways in which those tellings have in turn reflected and shaped their societal contexts. Students will also read key theoretical works, both ancient and contemporary, to gain an understanding of critical conceptual application to representations of human-ocean relationships. These theoretical concepts will serve as tools for students’ written analysis of the narratives and media we examine. Finally, students will apply their knowledge by creating their own representations of a human-ocean relationship through original creative digital media projects.

Antonia S. Krueger has a PhD in Theatre from The Ohio State University, where she was the first person in theatre ever to receive a Presidential Fellowship, the most prestigious graduate fellowship offered by OSU. She has two Masters degrees: an MA in Communication (Theatre) from Indiana State University, and an MA in English as a Second Language (graduate minor in Psychology) from the University of Minnesota. Her scholarship focuses on life narratives across multiple disciplines and incorporates elements of psychology, history, comparative literature, performance studies, critical theory, sociolinguistics, and inter-natural communication studies. She is the faculty coordinator for the Eckerd College Makerspace and the discipline coordinator for the Interdisciplinary Arts program. Tonia enjoys butterfly gardening with Florida native wildflowers.

Tom Lombardi

Katrin Pesch

Human attention is among the most valuable resources in the world. And each of us has it. However, it is being taken from us, in little increments, constantly. Have you felt that it’s difficult to pay attention, even when you want to? Have you ever lost yourself in an endless scroll of short-form videos—for half an hour, an hour, two hours—only to snap out of it, feeling not entirely human? If you yearn to focus, to conquer distraction, you are not alone. For hundreds and even thousands of years, humans have wrestled with problems of attention, distraction, and boredom, hoping to develop the discipline to pay attention to what is worthy of it and shut out the rest. It’s always been hard. But today it’s likely harder than ever, as most of us walk around with pinging push-notifications beckoning us to look at the dopamine-depositing slot machine never far from our grasp. How do you read a complicated book when your mind has been trained on the smartphone? You’ll need to figure that out—and soon. In this class we will study attention, understanding it as an immensely important site of collective political struggle.

Charles McCrary received his PhD in American religious history from Florida State University. He came to Eckerd in 2023 after postdoctoral fellowships at Arizona State University and Washington University in St. Louis. In his research, he focuses especially on topics related to religious freedom, secularism, politics, and race in the United States. His first book, Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers (2022), analyzes “sincerely held religious belief” and its role in the history of American religious freedom. He is currently researching religion, science, and eugenics. In his spare time, he reads scholarly books and watches professional basketball.

Colby Nelson

The Art of Detective Fiction: What makes a good detective? In one of the earliest examples of a detective story, Edgar Allan Poe claims that detectives need to employ the “high powers of the reflective intellect.” What are these “powers”? How do they get used by the detective? And for nineteenth-century readers, how might the detective’s adventures make them feel better about all the scary crimes that are happening in their urban environment? We’ll attempt to answer these questions by reading stories by Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Agatha Christie. We will also consider the evolution of the detective story as we move into the twentieth century and witness the rise of the “hard-boiled” detective, a genre filled with tough-talking wise guys and alluring and dangerous ladies who appeared in those old black and white movies your grandparents watched. As we move into the later twentieth century, we will look at how artists begin to use the detective story to consider questions of race and gender in the United States. The course’s conclusion will include a screening and discussion of Rian Johnson’s 2019 film Knives Out.

Colby Nelson arrives at Eckerd College after spending the last seventeen years teaching in St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s English department. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington where he studied 19th and 20th century U.S. literature. He has frequently taught courses in 20th century African-American literature, modernism and postmodernism, and literary theory, but really he most loves teaching any class where he gets to read and discuss cool stuff with students. He also likes to run long distances (he recently completed his second marathon) and cooking for his family. He has a dog, Gracie, who is eternally hopeful that he will share some of that cooking with her and is puzzled why he never does. She is quite forgiving, though, and lets him take her for walks anyway.

Axel Presas

Do you enjoy Disney movies? Are you familiar with the representation of Latin American characters and cultures in what we know as the ‘Disney universe?’ Would you like to partake in the intellectual adventure in which you will watch Disney movies while examining them ‘under a critical lens?’ We will discuss how Latin American peoples (communities, cultural spaces, heritages, social histories, traditional stories, and distinctive legacies) have been represented in the ‘Disney universe.’ Also, we will endeavor to answer questions such as: 1) How is the Latin American identity expressed in Disney movies? How does collective communities and their traditional values emerge signified under the scope of Disney’s fictional narratives? Are Disney movies exemplary of Latin American communities? We will re-watch a number of movies such as Coco (2017), Encanto (2021), Río (2011), The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), and many others to answer these questions. Also, we will read, debate, and present our critical thoughts regarding subjects such as, “allegories of others” and “fairness in representation.” I welcome you to Eckerd College and to our Autumn Term course, with the goal to share the value of Latin American cultures with you.

Axel Presas is Assistant Professor of Spanish at Eckerd College. Originally from Cuba, he received his B.A. in Philosophy and his Masters in Spanish from the University of South Florida,Tampa. Later, he completed his Ph.D. in Spanish, with a concentration in AfroLatinx Cultures and Literatures from the Southern Cone with a minor in Afro Lusophone Literatures, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on AfroLatinx cultures, literatures, and religions. His publications examine the decolonization of Afro Latinx aesthetics and Afro Latinx peoples cultural spaces in Latin America and the U.S.A. He has written many articles and book chapters on Afro Cuban, Afro Argentinean, Afro Uruguayan, and Afro Chilean aesthetics. Professor Presas is also a poet. He has published two books of poetry in Spain. One of his own poetry and in his second book he translates, into Spanish, the poetry of Herman Melville. In his free time, he likes to hang out with his two daughters and his wife at Fort De Soto and also spending time with them in downtown Saint Pete.

Erin Rickman

How should humans responsibly manage and care for the other living beings whose lives intersect with our own? This introductory course explores the scientific approaches used to understand and improve animal welfare.

By the end of the course, students will understand the foundations of animal welfare science through key concepts including sentience, emotion, enrichment, and ethical decision-making in managed care. Throughout the course, we will apply these ideas to real-world welfare challenges across different species and contexts.

Students will examine how welfare has developed over time, from early frameworks such as the Five Freedoms to modern approaches that emphasize positive experiences and a “life worth living.” The course also explores how human perception, species bias, and assumptions about animal minds influence how different species are treated, with particular attention given to reptiles and other historically understudied animals.

Through readings, discussions, and small research activities, students will learn how scientists assess welfare using behavioral observations, preference testing, and indicators of emotional state. Designed for first-year students with no prior background in animal science, this course provides a foundation for understanding how scientific evidence informs the ethical treatment and management of animals.

Professor Erin Rickman is a welfare scientist whose work focuses on understanding how environmental conditions influence the behavior, cognition, and well-being of non-human species. Her research explores how housing design, enrichment, lighting, and human interaction affect animal welfare, with particular attention to reptiles who have historically received less attention in welfare science.

She directs the Herpetological Environments and Research in Practice (HERP) Laboratory at Eckerd College, where students participate in research examining how environmental factors shape the lives and welfare of reptiles.

Professor Rickman has now submitted her PhD in Animal Behavior and Welfare and serves on the board of the British Herpetological Society, where she is also Associate Editor of its scientific journal, The Herpetological Bulletin. Through both her research and teaching, she aims to help bridge the gap between scientific research and practical improvements in the care and management of non-human species.

Jason Sears

This course considers the varied ways that nature is socially constructed in the history of ideas and in contemporary film. By subverting the notion that the natural world is only represented in books and movies that seek to spread environmental awareness or activism, we consider how four prevalent models of nature are represented in various genres of literature and film. These four models include seeing nature as Frontier (wild and needs cultivating), Sublime (spiritual), Mechanistic (a machine to be manipulated), and Feminist (akin to aspects of the feminine and consequently oppressed).  We explore how it is that these models deeply influence what we believe to be our role in nature and our responsibilities to it.

Jason Sears, Philosophy Instructor at Eckerd College, specializes in Ancient Greek philosophy, Ethical Theory, and Environmental Ethics. His research focuses on Plato and Aristotle’s competing conceptions of justice. He teaches in the Philosophy, Animal Studies, and Environmental Studies disciplines. Some of his courses include Animal Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Philosophy of Love and Death, Plato, and Aristotle. He misses Greece, where he spent a year doing research at the American School of Classical Studies, and enjoys martial arts, playing guitar, and training canines in his limited free time.

Dawn Shedden

We talk all the time about people “on a mission” to change the world but what does that really mean? Are missions supposed to be so hard that we can focus on nothing else? Are they possible or impossible? Do they alter who we are and how we behave? Why do most organizations feel the need to create mission statements? Do they really follow them? Join us on a journey as we explore these questions and seek to understand missions in our wider world while developing our own sense of what our individual missions might be. Our main sources will be the diaries of early German missionaries to Pennsylvania, Anna Botsford Comstock’s guide to the study of nature and Katy Payne’s work with whales and elephants, and the story of women in the CIA. We will also look at popular films like The Martian and Operation Mincemeat and visit local community organizations in search of that illusive sense of purpose and meaning within ourselves and others.  

Dawn Shedden, Visiting Assistant Professor of Foundations/History, has lived in St. Petersburg for over 25 years and has worked at Eckerd College in various capacities for much of that time.  She has a Ph.D. in European history from the University of Florida, a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College.  Professor Shedden’s dissertation research examines how individuals living in border regions organized their worlds in the turmoil of the French Revolution. More recently, she has been working on understanding identity within the diverse communities of the St. Petersburg area. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, reading, singing, and taking nature walks with her husband and three boys.

Jing Shen

China has a long history filled with dramatic moments, many of which are recaptured in Chinese dramatic literature. This course explores representations of Chinese historical cataclysms from the late imperial to the modern periods through the lenses of theater and cinema. We will investigate how drama is used to portray and construct history and society, and discuss the purposes served by creative interpretations of the past. Students will study Chinese drama, literature, and films that incorporate theatrical performance. These works introduce rich and varied traditional and modern Chinese theatrical forms, as well as important dramatists and artists, while also offering insight into the acting profession in both traditional and modern China. As a final project, students will perform a Chinese play.

Jing Shen, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, received her Ph.D. in Chinese and Comparative Literature from Washington University in St. Louis after completing her M.A. and B.A. degrees at Beijing Foreign Studies University in Beijing. She has published on Chinese literature, drama, and film. Groups of Eckerd College students have travelled to mainland China with her to conduct research on Chinese cinema, theater, television, and environmental issues. She recently led the Language and Culture in Taipei winter term program. At Eckerd College, Professor Shen directs the Chinese program and teaches courses on Chinese martial arts literature and film, Chinese pop culture, and other literature and theater topics. In addition to her teaching and research, she serves as Editor of CHINOPERL, an interdisciplinary and international journal devoted to Chinese oral and performing literature.

How addicted is the U.S. to oil?  How much oil does the world have left?  What are the costs and benefits to society of fracking?  Is it possible to reduce our consumption of oil and other fossil fuels to avert the dangers of climate change?  How much has oil driven our foreign policy?  Should the U.S. strive to be “energy independent”?     This course examines such questions and invites students to critically assess existing U.S. oil policy and make informed recommendations for the future.  Issues to be explored are the supply and demand for this nonrenewable resource, its historical importance to the U.S. economy, and its national security and environmental consequences.  We will analyze various policy options, including supply-based measures such as increased oil drilling and use of unconventional sources, as well as demand-based measures such as fuel economy standards, higher gasoline taxes, and incentives for alternatives like electric vehicles and biofuels.  Throughout this course, we will work together to develop our research, writing, and presentation skills, and become familiar with class preparation and participation expectations at Eckerd.

Jill Collins received her Ph.D. in Economics from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, having already completed an M.S. at Arizona State University and a B.A. at Wellesley College.  Her research interests include how to value environmental amenities such as clean air and clean water, how to best manage natural resources such as oil and water over time, and the role of cost benefit analysis in public policy.   She enjoys yoga, playing the piano, working crosswords, and going to the beach with her husband Bill and daughters Chloe and Summer.