River Gallegos
Instructor of Spanish
Durham
Joined NCSSM in August 2026
River Gallegos joined NCSSM in August 2026 as an Instructor of Spanish for our Durham campus. She holds a master’s degree in Spanish from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she concentrated in Hispanic linguistics and second-language acquisition. She also holds a certificate in medical interpreting. Before joining NCSSM, she taught Spanish at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she specialized in communicative language instruction, created the Spanish for Health Care curriculum, and directed Faculty Led Study Abroad programs to Peru and Costa Rica. Outside of teaching, she enjoys running marathons, traveling around Latin America, and spending time with her family, husband, and two dogs.
Humanities
Nadiyah Aamer
Instructor of Spanish
Layla Aldousany
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Carrie Alter
Instructor of Studio Art
Marcelo Aranda
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Kate Axelrod
Program Associate
Erudiel Bernal
Instructor of World Languages
Jay Bonner
Instructor of American Studies
Sarah Booker
Instructor of World Languages
Michelle Brenner
Instructor of Humanities
David Cantrell
Instructor of Humanities
Jane Cantwell
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Kristin Connor
Instructor of Spanish
Chad Cygan
Instructor of Choral Music
Christy Davenport
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Katy Doll
Instructor of American Studies
David Dry
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Mark Dubois
Instructor of Humanities
Alexa Garvoille
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Fiona Gillespie
Instructor of Spanish
Neal Keesee
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Chad Keister
Instructor of Economics and Social Science
Jim Kirkpatrick
Instructor of Music and Chair of Fine Arts
Fayez Kurdi
Instructor of World Languages
Hong Li
Instructor of Chinese
Courtney Long
Instructor of Visual Arts
Blake Madden
Instructor of Photography
Mallory Matson ’14
Instructor of Music (Orchestra)
Margaret McDowell
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Tatiana McInnis
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Lindsay Metivier
Instructor of Photography
Ormand Moore
Instructor of Humanities
Amanda Moulder
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Katie Moulder
Instructor of Humanities
Meredith Murphy ’02
Instructor and Chair of Humanities (Durham)
William Nessly
Instructor of American Studies and Asian-American Studies
Tess Nielsen
Instructor of Choral Music and Drama
Robert Noffsinger
Instructor of Spanish and Humanities
Javier Pabón
Dean of Humanities
Liz Peeples
Instructor of Humanities
Carolina Perez
Instructor of Music
Martha Regalis
Instructor of Humanities
Stuart Rose
Auditorium Technical Director
Meltem Safak
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Adam Sampieri
Instructor of Drama
Tonya Smith ’89
Instructor of Spanish and Humanities
Marc Sprintz
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities
Keegan Storrs
Instructor of Spanish and Chair of Humanities (Durham)
Natsuko Suwa
Instructor of Japanese
Qian Wang
Instructor of Chinese
John Woodmansee
Instructor of Humanities
John Zimmerman
Instructor of American Studies and Humanities and Chair of Humanities (Morganton)