Advisory Council

Andy Arterbury is a Professor of Christian Scriptures at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. He frequently teaches the introductory Bible class for new seminarians, but his research and other classes focus on the New Testament, especially the Gospels and Acts. He began teaching at Truett Seminary in 2007 after first serving in a joint appointment at Baylor as an Assistant Professor of Religion in Baylor's Interdisciplinary Core and Department of Religion from 2003 to 2007. Among his pedagogical pursuits, Andy has co-authored an introductory textbook on the Bible and co-directed the ATL’s Summer Faculty Institute on numerous occasions.

Ellen is the Assistant Director for Research and Engagement in the Baylor University Libraries. As such, she leads, coordinates and organizes the training for the team of public services staff; administrates the online tools used by the department; coordinates departmental statistics; and assists in managing the daily operations of the department, which includes 11 liaison librarians. She is also the liaison librarian to several academic departments (Modern Languages & Cultures, Film & Digital Media, Communication, and Journalism, Public Relations & New Media).

Shanna Hagan-Burke is Dean of the Baylor University School of Education, joining Baylor in July 2020. Dr. Hagan-Burke's research focuses on functional analyses of challenging behavior, positive behavioral interventions and supports, and early literacy. Her work investigating relations between academic performance and problem behaviors has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. Previously on faculty at Texas A&M University, she was awarded an Eppright Professorship for undergraduate teaching excellence, held the Douglas J. Palmer Endowed Chair in Educational Psychology, was selected as a fellow of the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program, and received additional university recognitions for her teaching and service.

Chris Hansen is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Film & Digital Media. He teaches primarily workshop-oriented creative courses, such as Directing and Screenwriting. His focus is on innovative methods for teaching and assessing creativity in the classroom.

Coretta Pittman is an Associate Professor in Baylor's English Department. Her research examines the social and cultural importance of language. She explores the ways African Americans have historically made manifest - aurally and textually - the injustices they faced in American society. Her work encompasses classic blues music, the culture of the 1920s and ‘30s, and texts by African Americas during the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and contemporary rap music. Pittman uses this work in her teaching in service to Baylor's commitment to transformational education. The expressions of underrepresented people help to transform students' perceptions of their world and draw them into a process of active, engaged learning that will hopefully influence their intellectual lives and their civic capacities and agency in the future.

Stephen Reid has been teaching for over thirty years in seminaries in the United States, Canada, and South Africa. He served on staff at the Pre-Tenure Teaching Workshop for the Teaching and Learning Religion Center in Wabash. He also completed the Summer Faculty Institute as well as the New Media workshop at Baylor.

T. Laine Scales is Professor of Social Work and co-director of Baylor in Oxford. Scales completed 15 years as Associate Dean in Baylor’s Graduate School from 2004-2019. Her scholarly work led to her appointment as co-director of Baptist Scholars International Roundtable (BSIR). She has authored, co-authored, or co-edited ten books, 40 articles and chapters, and presented over 50 professional papers and workshops in higher education and in social work. Her research interests include doctoral education, history of Baptist women in social work and missions, and rural social work. She teaches masters and doctoral level students in the Garland School of Social Work. In 2016, Scales was awarded the designation Master Teacher, Baylor's highest teaching honor and in 2019, the Centennial Professor Award.

Anne-Marie Schultz is Professor of Philosophy. She has co-directed the SFI many times. In 2020, Schultz was awarded the designation Master Teacher, Baylor's highest teaching honor. She has also served as Graduate Program Director for the Philosophy Department. She developed the teacher training course for philosophy graduate students. Her teaching innovation has been recognized with several University awards, her selection as Baylor Fellow and her recent work at UT with the Big XII Faculty Fellowship Program. She is a popular teacher and well-known for her ability to create a discussion-centered learning environment in the classroom. She is completing her second book on Plato. She also publishes on Augustine, Feminism, Nietzsche and is active in SOTL research.

DeAnna Toten Beard, MFA, PhD is Professor of Theatre History and teaches a variety of theatre studies courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. Dr. Toten Beard joined the Baylor faculty in 2002. In 2012, she was named a Baylor Teaching Fellow. Dr. Toten Beard has also taught in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core and is currently co-director of the Baylor in Oxford study abroad program. Dr. Toten Beard is an active historian with research interests in early twentieth century U.S. theatre and drama. Dr. Toten Beard devotes professional service to the work of the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) as a visiting evaluator of programs around the country. From 2012-2017, she served as Commissioner for NAST and as Chair of the Commission on Accreditation from 2017-2020. She is currently the Vice President of the National Association of Schools of Theatre and a member of the Board of Directors.

Charles A. Weaver III has been at Baylor University since 1989, where he is a Professor, Associate Dean for Sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, and a former chair of Psychology and Neuroscience. In 2020, Weaver was awarded the designation Master Teacher, Baylor's highest teaching honor. He has published numerous scientific articles, two books, and delivered more than 75 professional and scientific presentations. He has served as a forensic expert in civil and criminal cases in more than 25 states, and has testified in both federal and state courts. He has served on the editorial boards of five journals, including the Journal of Educational Psychology and served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. He is currently chair of a grant review panel for the U. S. Department of Education, and was recently named as a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.

Rachel Woods is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Management at Baylor's Hankamer School of Business. Licensed under the State Bar of Texas, she is an attorney-mediator and teaches negotiation, conflict resolution, and organizational leadership. She is the Founder and CEO of Leadership Trek Corporation, otherwise known as "LTrek," through which she has trained and consulted leaders world-wide. In 2010, Rachel developed a leadership development curriculum for women seeking public office in Bosnia and Nigeria through the Women’s Democracy Network (WDN). In 2011, Rachel consulted WDN in the development of women’s leadership schools to be launched in four different countries, a project of the United Nations Democracy Fund. Rachel authored the training manual and trained women from Georgia, Bangladesh, Guatemala and Cameroon, who now train women in their respective countries. Today, the WDN Leadership Schools have trained over 1000 women world-wide in 14 countries.

Davide Zori is an Associate Professor of history and archaeology in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core. His research concentrates on the medieval world and Viking expansion into the North Atlantic. He employs a multidisciplinary approach combining material culture and written evidence; an approach he carries into his teaching of world cultures in BIC. As Director of the San Giuliano Archaeological Research Project (approximately 70 km northwest of Rome within Marturanum Park in Lazio), Zori is also a key faculty member in the combination of field school and study abroad in the Baylor in Italy program. There, students participate in archeological excavation alongside the coursework associated with study abroad.