Smith Wins Excellence in Teaching

and other organizations is also true for individual Christians. Jesus made it abundantly clear that “in this world you will have trouble,” so nobody should be surprised when trouble comes. Yet the best part comes as Jesus completes His thought: “But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Crisis is coming; opportunity is knocking, and trouble is on the way. All the more reason to prepare yourself in advance so Professor Pandemic can award you an A on test day.

This world is not our home. The best is yet to come.

Anytime trouble comes we should be quick to remember that this world is not our home. Too many earth-dwelling minds are captivated by earthly things, but we know that “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil. 3:20-21). Truly, this world is not our home.

Scripture insists that we help advance God’s kingdom with every fiber of our being between the here-and-now and the not-yet. God commands us to avoid idleness with as much vigor as we avoid idols (2 Thess. 3:6-15). And we are to live in such a way that even pagans see our good deeds and glorify God as a result (Matt. 5:16). Whether we live in some earthly paradise or in some pandemic, the Christian understands that the best is yet to come.

As this course of study concludes, I join you in praying that we have seen the last of this pandemic. Now that the COVID-19 version of Pomp and Circumstance is underway, check your transcript to see if you’ve learned everything Professor Pandemic had in mind.

The good news is that it is never too late for the student to get ready. The bad news is that your favorite professor has more lesson plans in the hopper when it is time to appear. Something tells me the doctor is not done.

Smith Is Excellence in Teaching

Winner By CSU Academic Affairs / Photos by Ty Cornett

Dr. Carissa Turner Smith is Charleston Southern’s 2022 South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Excellence in Teaching award winner.

A member of the CSU faculty since 2008, Smith is professor of English and serves as the director of the Writing Center. She holds multiple degrees in English - a PhD and an MA, both conferred by Pennsylvania State University, and a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College.

Smith’s course load features a variety of American literature courses, including Survey of American Literature, Major American Writers to 1865, and Diversity in American Literature. She has also taught the English Capstone course and special topics courses in religion and literature. Smith has served as Writing Center director since 2017 and has worked to offer writing tutoring in flexible formats to undergraduate and graduate students.

American literature and Young Adult literature have significant emphasis in Smith’s scholarly publishing. Her book Cyborg Saints: Religion and Posthumanism in Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction was published by Routledge in 2020. Smith is the editor of The Science Fiction of Connie Willis: Doomsday Every Day (forthcoming from Routledge). She serves as associate editor for arts and humanities for the Christian Scholar’s Review

Dr. Carissa Smith

and is vice president of the Conference on Christianity and Literature.

“Students at Charleston Southern recognize Dr. Carissa Smith’s dedication to providing them with world-class learning opportunities,” said Dr. Jacqueline Fish, vice president for academic affairs. “Her lectures are inspiring; her publications are highly distinguished, and she is an extremely approachable mentor and champion for student mastery in her courses. Her talent and love for teaching are evident throughout her interactions across campus.”

President Dondi Costin presents Dr. Carissa Smith with the Excellence in Teaching Award at the annual Awards Day.