Executive Director
Affiliate Faculty, Department for the Study of Religions
663 Z. Reynolds Smith Library
barreea@wfu.edu | 336-758-4559
After receiving her Ph.D. in 2009, Betsy spent five years teaching Philosophy and Religious Studies at Lake Forest College, Marymount Manhattan College, and Rice University. When Rice launched its Center for Teaching Excellence in 2014, she was appointed a founding Assistant Director. In 2016, she was promoted to Associate Director, and in 2018 she began her current position at Wake Forest.
Trained as a comparative ethicist, Betsy’s research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of moral philosophy, political theory, and the history of religion. Her disciplinary scholarship compares Catholic and Muslim arguments about the nature of law within diverse societies. And, more recently, she has explored related questions in the philosophy of education. More specifically, she’s been thinking about the nature of professorial authority within the context of politically diverse classrooms.
She has continued to teach courses when her schedule allows. Throughout her career she has taught introductory ethics and religion courses; graduate courses on teaching and learning; and specialized seminars on sexual ethics, the First Amendment, and moral disagreement. She has an affiliate faculty appointment in the Department for the Study of Religions and teaches both Introduction to the Study of Religion and an FYS on sexual ethics.
CAT Responsibilities: Betsy has primary responsibility for CAT management, strategy, and communication; grants & awards; University initiatives & partnerships; and internal program evaluation. When her schedule allows, she also consults with teachers and facilitates workshops, reading groups, institutes, and learning communities.