What inspires you? - University of South Carolina Upstate

Throw away all your stereotypes about ivory towers and inaccessible professors. AtUSC Upstate, you will learn from thinkers, scholars, scientists and artists who areas deeply connected with the real world as they are with you. With the majority ofour full-time faculty having earned the highest degrees in their fields (from suchinstitutions as Harvard, Duke, Cornell and Northwestern, among others), they areleaders on top of their game who will challenge you in every class. But they are alsothe kind of teachers who will get you to speak your mind, inspire you, cheer you on,and work alongside you at every stage as your USC Upstate story unfolds.CheerleadersextraordinaireWhether it is as the Director of Theatre,Chair of Fine Arts & CommunicationStudies, or the Director of the ForeignStudy London Program, or simplyas someone who is passionate abouttheatre, music and the arts, Jimm Coxhas inspired hundreds of USC Upstatestudents. As a first generation collegestudent himself, he has first-handknowledge of the value of teachers whoserve as mentors, guides, philosophersand friends to their students. “I grewup in a family which was poorer thandirt,” says Professor Cox. “My familysacrificed everything to give me aneducation. And I learned early thateducation is a gift that can never betaken away from you. It not onlychanges the quality of your own lifeimmeasurably, but also empowers youto change the quality of lives of others.”“What sets USC Upstate apartis that, at its core, it remainsa teaching institution. We doresearch. We publish. But I thinkwhat our faculty share in commonis a passion for teaching. For mostof us, the classroom is a cheerful,celebratory place—a place full oflaughter and joy. Because whenwe stop celebrating what we learn,there’s really no reason to keeplearning.”A faculty composed of leaders in their fields… to cheer you on