Just before winter break, the Board of Trustees granted tenure to three professors: Amanda Felkey, Holly Swyers, and Rachel Whidden.

Amanda Felkey, Associate Professor of Economics and Business, received her B.A. with distinction in economics from Carleton College and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Cornell University. While at Cornell, she served as a graduate research assistant at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago. She joined the Lake Forest College faculty in 2006.

Prof. Felkey’s most recent scholarship focuses on household and family economics, including topics such as marriage, fertility and intra-household bargaining. She is especially known for her seminal work on covenant marriage.

Holly Swyers, Associate Professor of Anthropology, received her bachelor’s degree in theatre and anthropology from Ripon College and her master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago. A recipient of numerous fellowships during her graduate career at the University of Chicago, Prof. Swyers was appointed Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences Collegiate Division at the University of Chicago following completion of her dissertation. She served in this role for three years, receiving the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2005. She joined the faculty in 2006.

While well-versed in all four areas within the discipline of anthropology, Prof. Swyers is perhaps best known for her interest in the anthropology of sports, and in particular the Chicago Cubs. Her book Wrigley Regulars: Finding Community in the Bleachers (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2010) marries ethnographic research with the idea of “community” within a larger social and cultural context.

Rachel Whidden, Associate Professor of Communication, received her bachelor’s degree with a double major in communication and history and her M.A. in communication from Wake Forest University. She earned her Ph.D. in rhetorical studies from the University of Iowa. While at Iowa, she also earned certification in Iowa’s internationally regarded Program on the Rhetoric of Inquiry. As a graduate student she was the recipient of the highly competitive Ballard and Seashore Fellowship. Prior to her arrival at Lake Forest, Dr. Whidden served as a visiting instructor in the Department of Communication Studies at Northern Illinois University. She initially joined the faculty at Lake Forest in 2005 as a Visiting Assistant Professor. In 2006, she was appointed to the tenure-track.

Prof. Whidden is considered one of the leading voices of the newly developing field of the rhetoric of science and her forthcoming book, Miraculous Rhetoric and the Modern Moment(Brill Academic Publishers), which traces the evolution of the concept of probability through debates about the existence of miracles, is already being hailed as a “must-read” by those in the discipline. Prof. Whidden’s recent scholarship addresses the concept of expertise in contemporary scientific controversies, in particular the MMR-Autism controversy. In addition, Prof. Whidden is active in national community organizations, including the Association for Rhetoric of Science and Technology, the American Forensic Association, and the American Society for the History of Rhetoric where she is an elected member of the executive board and program planner for their annual conference.

For more information about Lake Forest College’s faculty and academic programs, click here.

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