November 21, 2008... Dr. Mary Ann Kohli, professor of English and director of the Charleston Clemente Course at Trident Technical College, recently received a 2008 Faculty Member Award from the Association of Community College Trustees. This award recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in teaching as well as innovation and leadership in the college and community.

As she was recovering from cancer in the summer of 2004, Kohli learned about the Clemente Course in the Humanities developed by author and educator Earl Shorris. Shorris developed the course on the premise that studying great works of art, literature, history and philosophy can spur reflective thinking and give people the tools to gain control of their lives. A firm believer in the transformational power of the humanities, Kohli sought and received grant and college funds to begin the first Clemente Course in South Carolina at Trident Technical College.

TTC offers Clemente courses during Fall and Spring semesters at the Palmer Campus in downtown Charleston. The course is offered to disadvantaged people in the Charleston area who are not currently enrolled in college, in the hope that a study of the humanities can offer a way out of poverty through intellectual freedom.

For more information about the Charleston Clemente Course, call Kohli at 843-720-5713.