Wofford College’s 2024 SCICU Excellence In Teaching Award recipient is Dr. Nancy M. Williams, professor of Philosophy. She holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Georgia and a Master’s of Arts in Philosophy from the University of South Florida. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Bachelor of Science degree from Winthrop University.
During her 17 years at Wofford, Dr. Williams’ course load has included Philosophy of Food, Environmental Ethics, and Feminist Philosophy, and more. She was the recipient of Wofford’s Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2019 and the Southern Conference Faculty Member of the Year award in 2016. Outside the classroom, Williams chaired the Philosophy department for three years and since 2015 has served on the board of the Educated Choices Program, a nonprofit global organization advocating humane education and ethical eating. She also co-coordinates the Gender Studies Program at Wofford.
Her research interests include feminist philosophy and applied ethics, with a scholarly focus on feminist animal care theory. Some of her publications include, “Ethical Veganism as Quiet Resistance,” in the Journal of Animal Ethics and “Ethics of Care and ‘Humane’ Meat: Why Care is Not Ambiguous about ‘Humane’ Meat,” in the Journal of Social Philosophy.
Dr. Williams’ teaching aims to engage students not only intellectually, but also personally and emotionally through their lived experiences and present concerns. In this way, her teaching returns to the ancient idea of philosophy as a way to cultivate an authentic and meaningful life.
