College of Charleston Welcomes New Faculty

The College of Charleston is proud to welcome its newest faculty members. With a diversity of expertise in a variety of disciplines, they come excited and ready to teach, mentor and inspire students across campus. Please give them all a warm welcome!

Haley Anderson ’24
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Biology

Background: I am a Charleston native and attended the College for my undergraduate studies, earning a B.S. in Public Health with a minor in Medical Humanities. During my time at CofC, I was deeply involved in campus and community life – serving as an anatomy lab assistant, supplemental instructor, executive board member for several clubs, CDC intern, health care worker and volunteer. After graduation, I pursued a M.S. in Medical Sciences at MUSC. Since then, I have been engaged in research in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at MUSC.

Expertise: I am passionate about science education and pathology research. This influences how I spend my time, whether I am working in the lab, developing educational materials, volunteering as a science teacher or writing to my pre-scientist penpal.

Outside Interests: What matters most to me is maintaining a strong sense of purpose and balance. Outside of my academic and research interests, I thoroughly enjoy quiet evenings with my boyfriend and our two cats, as well as catching up with friends.

Looking Forward: I am most excited about giving back to CofC in a teaching role. This campus, its abundance of wonderful people and opportunities, has played a vital role in shaping both my personal and professional growth. I am looking forward to encouraging curiosity, engagement and confidence in students across campus.

Sylvie Baele ’15 (M.P.A. ’22)
Adjunct Faculty, Environmental and Sustainability Studies Program and First Year Experience

Background: I am from Charleston, and I have been the executive director of Second Chance Bikes, a nonprofit bike shop in the Neck area, since 2021. I have a dual masters degree in public administration and environmental and sustainability studies from CofC and did my undergrad here as well. I’ve also worked as a trip leader/guide for several outdoor adventure companies all over the United States.

Expertise: Bicycles, sociology and social science, urban planning

Outside Interests: I ride bikes, teach others how to fix their bikes and enjoy spending time in nature –bike packing, gardening, foraging, kayaking, surfing – and zero-waste living, swimming and community building.

Looking Forward: Getting freshmen on bicycles and shaping students’ futures and introducing them to the wider Charleston culture and community!

Emily Fabrizio-Stover
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Psychology

Background: I completed my undergraduate B.A. in Biology at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Then I completed my Ph.D. in Biomedical Science with a concentration in neuroscience at the University of Connecticut. In addition to working at the College of Charleston, I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina. 

Expertise: My expertise is in translational auditory neuroscience, specifically auditory electrophysiology. My research interest is in how pathological auditory plasticity occurs in the auditory system with aging or noise exposure. 

Outside Interests: In my free time, I love to craft. I knit, crochet and have recently purchased a sewing machine. I also enjoy baking.

Looking Forward: As the students are learning in the course, they’re not only learning about psychology, but how their own senses perceive the outside world.

Tim Fennell
Adjunct Faculty, Department of English

Background: I was born in Charleston. I got my degree in broadcast journalism from University of South Carolina. I’ve worked in TV, documentaries, film since 1980. I joined the College of Charleston in late 1989 and taught TV and documentary classes as adjunct with the communication department in the evenings. Under the former CofC Center for the Documentary, I shot, edited, and sometimes wrote and directed, documentaries and TV shows. I’ve received three regional Emmys – the last one for directing Live at the Charleston Music Hall, which aired on PBS. For the last 10 years, I taught full time in Trident Technical College’s film and media program. Now I’m retired and working on my own documentary projects.

Expertise: Film, television, documentaries

Outside Interests: Working on documentary projects that are near and dear to my heart. Currently I’m focused on Rocks and Razorbacks – When Your High School Goes Away, geared for SC-ETV.  

Looking Forward: Teaching the technical and technique side of film production – plus working in some documentary production tips – in the English department special topics class, Film and Documentary Production (ENGL 390).

Areej Quraishi
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of English

Background: I was born in Dubai, U.A.E. I hold a Ph.D. in English with a Creative Dissertation from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. I earned my M.A. in English from Rutgers University. I teach creative writing courses, and also have a background teaching in first-year writing and world literature. I’m an alumna of the Los Angeles Review of Books’ Publishing Workshop and the former editor-in-chief of Witness Magazine. My fiction has been published and honored in numerous prestigious literary journals. I’m at work on a novel-in-stories and a short story collection.

Expertise: Speculative fiction, short stories, novels, immigrant and diasporic narratives, postcolonialism, magic and myth in multiethnic fiction, family narratives, Asian literature, psychological surrealism, women’s fiction, memory and auto-ethnography

Outside Interests: I barely have time for any! But I do miss reading for fun. I also enjoy video games, graphic design, movies, long walks and cooking different types of cuisine. I’m an animal person.

Looking Forward: Being able to support students at all stages of their academic journeys as they grow as writers, and to be entrusted as a reader for their unique fiction projects. 

Na Yu
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication

Background: I obtained my doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to the College of Charleston, I was the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Environment and Sustainability Program at William & Mary. 

Expertise: My research is at the forefront of exploring how emerging media technologies advocate for sustainability, influence public attitudes and behaviors, foster public pro-environmental engagement, and communicate climate-related risks. 

Outside Interests: I like hiking and skateboarding. 

Looking Forward: I’m most excited about engaging with students and helping them connect communication theory to real-world applications.