My wife Amanda is a full time farmer, having recently retired as associate professor of Communication Studies at Samford University. She’s also an intercultural communications consultant. The kid in the picture with her is her pride and joy, our grandson Smith.
Amanda is a yellow-dog democrat and a lover of all things British. She knows more than anybody I know about Winston Churchill. Lately, though, her research interest has taken her beyond the UK to a broader sense of cultural awareness. She’s wrestling with the distressing realization that international travel by itself often increases rather than decreases ethnocentrism, and she is exploring ways to incorporate service learning as a way of bringing cultures together. “People who sweat together understand each other.” I think she’s on to something.
Amanda is the past chair of the church council at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church. She teaches regularly about applying Biblical principles to issues of peace and justice and about God’s call to care for the disinherited.
Amanda speaks French fluently and Spanish haltingly.
For those of you familiar with the story of Mary and Martha and the way they interacted with Jesus, Amanda is high Martha. She is beautiful, competent, and although entirely too insecure, an absolute joy to be married to and to be friends with.
I’ve added this paragraph so people can find Amanda who know only her maiden name. Amanda was formerly known as Amanda Jean Welch or sometimes simply as Amanda Welch.