Matthew Dougherty Joins Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College announces the appointment of Dr. Matthew W. Dougherty as assistant professor, teaching stream, in History of Christianity and Instructional Design, beginning July 1, 2020.
Matthew Dougherty is the Flora Jane Baker Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Religion, Queen’s University. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2017), an MTS from Harvard Divinity School (2011), and a BA from Amherst College (2008). His teaching and research focus in the North American contexts, the politics of diversity and empire, and liberal Protestant history. His book manuscript, under the working title Land of the Jewish Indians: Religion, Emotion, and Early American Expansion, is under contract with the University of Oklahoma Press.
In addition to teaching courses in the history of Christianity, Dr. Dougherty will coordinate and facilitate the development of online teaching at the College. This new role was created to help the College respond to student needs for flexible course offerings—an initiative that will also enhance the College’s pedagogical resiliency under pandemic conditions.
Dr. Dougherty brings considerable experience with faculty development, coaching, and digital learning environments. As chair of the teaching committee in the UNC Department of Religious Studies from 2014-2016, he worked in faculty development and coaching, working one-on-one with graduate teaching assistants and teaching fellows to help them develop appropriate instructional models, think through their learning goals, and align their learning activities with those goals. He received the student teacher award from the Department of Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill in 2015. His Instructional Design credentials include the Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) Credential (2019), Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Associate Credential – Level 1 (2019), and a Certificate from the Future Faculty Fellowship Program, UNC-Chapel Hill (2014).
According to Principal Michelle Voss Roberts, the search committee was particularly impressed with Dr. Dougherty’s skillful combination of the theory of instructional design with the ability to demonstrate it in practice. “He brings a thoughtful, deliberative style and genuine curiosity to his interactions with faculty and students alike. We look forward to welcoming him into the Emmanuel College community.”