CofC Podcast: Launching the New 'Faculty off the Clock' Podcast

^{Above: Mark Del Mastro (left) and Chris Korey recording their new podcast, Faculty off the Clock. (Photo by Catie Cleveland)}

On this episode of the Speaking of … College of Charleston podcast, Mark Del Mastro, associate provost for academic and international programs, and Chris Korey, associate provost for student success, talk about launching their new podcast, Faculty off the Clock.

The podcast takes you beyond the classroom to reveal the hidden lives of College of Charleston faculty. From woodworking enthusiasts to barbershop quartet singers, you’ll meet professors with fascinating passions and stories that go far beyond academia.

Korey and Del Mastro hope these conversations will highlight not only unique interests of the guests but will function as a bridge to connect people on campus with shared interests.

“Both Mark and I were faculty members at one point, and most of your identity on campus is sort of tied up into what your scholarship is and teaching, and you very rarely have opportunities to talk about what you do outside of that,” says Korey. “So we wanted to create a venue where people have the opportunity to talk about those things because it doesn’t normally come up in our work environment.”

Humor is a big part of their collaboration, and Del Mastro and Korey make a habit of asking their guests a series of lightening-round questions on topics from hot dogs vs. hamburgers to celebrity crushes. They also make it a point to ask guests about whether they like popcorn, which is a shared love and an ongoing joke between the hosts, giving them an opportunity to share their love of the Whirley Pop Shop stove-pop popper.

They end the episode by presenting guests with a customized bobblehead doll.

“The whole purpose of the podcast is to show the lighter side of the faculty member, and what better characterizes the lighter side of someone than a bobblehead?” says Del Mastro.

Featured on This episode:

Mark Del Mastro, associate provost for academic and international programs and professor of Spanish/Hispanic studies, provides leadership and support in the area of curriculum development and review and academic policy. He also oversees the Center for International Education, the Office of the Registrar and the Office for Institutional Effectiveness.

Born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and raised in northern New Jersey, Del Mastro earned his B.A. at Wake Forest University, his M.A. at Middlebury College and his Ph.D. at the University of Virginia. After defending his doctoral dissertation in August 1992, “Dr. D” relocated to Charleston to begin a career at The Citadel, where for 18 years he taught a variety of courses, including Spanish language and literature, and Hispanic culture and business.

After serving four years as head of The Citadel’s Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Del Mastro joined the College of Charleston in July 2010, serving as chair of the Department of Hispanic Studies until August 2019, when he transitioned to his current role as associate provost for academic and international programs in the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs.

Chris Korey, associate provost for student success and professor of biology, leads the Office for the Academic Experience, which provides students with educationally purposeful activities that lead to deep learning, integrated social and intellectual development, and engagement with local and global communities. In this role, Korey leads eight units and multiple programs, including the Academic Advising and Planning Center, the Academic Success and Retention Office, the Center for Student Learning, First Year Experience, Veteran and Military Student Services and Office of New Student Programs.

Korey joined the College of Charleston Department of Biology in 2003. Korey served as associate dean for the School of Sciences and Mathematics and was a faculty fellow for the Center for Academic Performance and Persistence from 2018 to 2020. He also served as the director for the First Year Experience from 2012 to 2017 and as co-director of the Program in Neuroscience from 2010 to 2011.

Korey earned his B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University. An active scholar, his past research focused on the development and plasticity of the invertebrate nervous system and model systems for studying human genes associated with neurodegenerative disease. Currently, he is part of an interdisciplinary research team that studies student experiences of college transitions.

Resources From This episode:

• Faculty off the Clock podcast
• Look forward to upcoming episodes of Faculty off the Clock with Keonya Booker, dean of the Graduate School, Thomas Spade, senior instructor of accounting, and Daniel Delgado Díaz, senior instructor of Spanish.
• If you want to be a guest on Faculty off the Clock, email Mark Del Mastro at [email protected] or Chris Korey at [email protected].
• Whirley Pop Shop