Practicing Being Human

Lander University’s 2022 Distinguished Professor: Elizabeth Snipes

When she first applied to teach at Lander University in 2011, Professor Elizabeth Snipes, of Lander University’s Department of Art + Design, said she did so at the insistence of colleagues who told her that Lander’s art department “was on the verge of something wonderful.”

Today, if you were to ask Snipes, Lander’s 2022 Distinguished Professor, what was (and remains) so wonderful about Lander, she would be happy to tell you: “the enthusiasm, dedication and joy that the faculty and staff have for teaching and learning,” she said. “I love being part of decisions, efforts and outcomes that are student-centered at Lander.”

Snipes’ studios are student-centered, too. Her passion and enthusiasm inspires her students to put their best creative foot forward, and her desire to help students grow beyond what they think is possible is behind every lesson she teaches.

“Teaching studio art,” she said, “involves carefully crafting scenarios; supporting my students with information, demonstration and encouragement; and carefully observing and responding to each student as they navigate difficult creative decisions.” Supporting students as they address the challenges they face in the classroom is a rewarding experience as an educator because of how those scenarios help Lander students evolve into more mature artists, as well as more mature human beings.

“To practice art is to practice being human,” she said. “Each project is a scenario that is very planned ahead, but one that also unfolds in the space of the classroom and in the mind, body, eye and spirit of each student uniquely in real time.”

“Life is a creative process as well when we think in these terms,” she said.

Snipes’ most recent solo exhibition, Groundless, was held at Anderson University in the fall of 2021, and included 14 original paintings that she says were inspired by her experiences as both a mother and artist while on quarantine in the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work was also featured as part of the grand opening of Grant & Little, a new gallery space in Atlanta. Along with her scholarly work, Snipes’ service to Lander has been equally fulfilling, contributing to the development of new degree programs, like the Bachelor of Fine Arts, the Bachelor of Design, the Master of Fine Arts and the Master of Arts in Teaching.

“Watching the first BFA graduates get their degrees was incredibly memorable,” she said. “Being a part of crafting a curriculum and implementing a new degree program— and fostering a valuable professional skill set in our students—was memorable and rewarding.”

At the heart of the decision to name Snipes as Lander’s 2022 Distinguished Professor was how she empowers her students in every aspect of her career, whether it be guiding students through a class assignment, or helping them navigate the city streets of another country as a co-leader on study tours abroad. Haley Floyd, lecturer and foundations coordinator for the Department of Art + Design, reflected on her own experience with Snipes’ devotion to her students, having been one of Snipes’ students before the two were co-workers.

“She approaches art-making as a skill set that is developed through practice, not an innate ability that you either have or do not have,” Floyd said of Snipes, adding that she “has an amazing gift of encouraging students to push themselves further without making them feel like they aren’t already ‘good enough.’”

What Floyd admires most about working with Snipes, though, is her grace—how she readily admits that learning, even for herself, is a lifelong process which doesn’t stop at the completion of one’s formal education. Floyd recalled a trip abroad with Snipes, “where everything that could possibly go wrong did, in fact, go wrong.”

But even in the most difficult of circumstances, Floyd admired Snipes’ ability to keep her composure, elegantly turning each situation into an opportunity for students to learn. “She lives her life as an artist, a learner and an educator, breathing new life, excitement and wonder into some of the most ordinary, mundane things,” Floyd said.

“This, in the world of learning, is such a treasure.”

A love for language and literature, which began in high school, became the foundation for Dr. Osvaldo Parrilla’s career as an educator.

A first-generation college graduate who continues “to love what I do,” Parrilla is the 2022 recipient of Lander University’s Moore Award for Excellence in General Education Teaching.

Parrilla, a professor of Spanish in the Department of English and Foreign Languages, joined Lander’s faculty in 2007 and teaches all levels of Spanish. His passion for teaching began during his youth in Saint Croix, Virgin Islands, when “I learned to appreciate books, plays and short stories,” he said. “I fell in love with literature, and I decided to become a Spanish teacher.”

Parrilla was determined to go to college. His parents, both from Puerto Rico, had not earned high school degrees, but they were proud of his goals and supported him in his undergraduate program at the University of the Virgin Islands. His first job in bilingual education and Spanish began in 1985 at the island’s John H. Woodson Jr. High School, a post he held until Hurricane Hugo destroyed the tropical paradise in 1989. The disaster led Parrilla to Buffalo, N.Y., where he continued working in public schools. In the following years, he earned a master’s degree from New York University and a doctorate from Texas Tech University and went on to teaching positions at universities in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Students rave about Parrilla’s teaching, said Dr. Mark Rollins, dean of Lander’s College of Arts & Humanities.

“Dr. Parrilla’s students enjoy learning Spanish with him because he makes class lively, interactive and fun. Students love his sense of humor and effective use of class time,” Rollins said. “Many students take introductory Spanish classes simply to fulfill a requirement. Dr. Parrilla gives them much more than they bargained for. Students often cite his class as their favorite of the semester.”

Beyond the classroom, Parrilla is the faculty advisor to Somos LU, which serves and promotes the interests of the Hispanic community on campus. His encouragement and support for the club led to Parrilla being named the 2022 Advisor of the Year, an annual award given to a Lander faculty or staff member for their significant voluntary involvement in co-curricular activities.

Parrilla’s love for learning endures. He marched in Lander’s 165th Commencement Ceremony in May 2022 as the recipient of a B.S. in Visual Art degree and sat among the students with whom he had taken classes and those whom he taught. “It reminded me once again how valuable a college degree is and how much it can change your life,” he said.