Dr. Kurt Corriher is the new director of Catawba College’s Glenn and Addie Ketner Center for International Studies. His appointment was announced in early September by Dr. J. Michael Bitzer, acting provost at the college.
During his tenure at Catawba that began in 1992, Corriher has served in a variety of capacities, including professor of German, acting, dramatic literature and film criticism, program coordinator for the Lilly Center for Vocation, and director of Catawba’s Community Forum.
He was enthusiastic about his new position at Catawba. “I’m a great believer in foreign study and international experiences,” explained Corriher, a Rowan County native who grew up in a rural farming community near China Grove.
“My junior year of study abroad in Marburg, Germany was life-changing for me. It made me a completely different person and opened the world to me. I suppose you could say, it taught me my ignorance. I thought the United States was the world, as most Americans do. My experience made me realize what a small part of the world the United States actually is, and how much my own world view is a product of my nationality and my homeland.”
Corriher earned his undergraduate degree in German and history from Davidson College, his master of fine arts degree in drama and his Ph.D. in German from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a former Fulbright Fellow to Vienna, Austria.
Corriher has taught German at Mercer University, served as the director of education programs at The Sequoia Institute in Sacramento, Calif., and as director of computer services at Catawba. Additionally, he was employed as a technical writer and hardware services supervisor by Food Lion and has worked as a business software consultant and developer.
A published novelist, Corriher has worked as a contract writer for various area businesses and agencies. His novels include “Someone to Kill,” published in 2002, “The Diary of Ranson Brede,” and “Salvation: A Story of Survival,” published in 2013.