Faculty

Dr. Minardi grew up in Texas and Tennessee. She received her bachelor’s degree in foreign service (a degree from the political science department) from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. After receiving her undergraduate degree, she felt called to Christian ministry. She went to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminar where she received a Master of Divinity degree in Christian Education, as well as a PhD. She served as the Minister of Education at Crievewood Baptist Church from 1985-2001.

Dr. Minardi began teaching at Belmont as an adjunct in the School of Religion in the 1990’s.  In 2005, she began as the Ministry Program Advisor for the Adult Degree Programs. Beginning in 2011, Dr. Minardi began her full-time employment as a faculty member in the Adult Degree Programs, teaching Intellectual Growth and Inquiry and LIS 3000. The adult degree students are an inspiration to Dr. Minardi. Seeing these students walk across the stage at graduation has been more rewarding than she could ever have imagined.

Dr. Minardi Dr. Minardi serves on the BELL Core Committee for Belmont University and also teaches courses for the College of Theology and Christian Ministry, including the following classes: Vocation and the Christian Life, Education in the Church, Spiritual Formation, Colloquium, Understanding the Bible, Jesus in the Gospel and Film and Questions that Matter.

Some of the most rewarding experiences of Dr. Minardi’s work at Belmont include pioneering and leading study abroad programs to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Introducing students to new cultures is a highlight for her. There are also always great adventures with each of these programs!

An author, historian, archivist, digital humanist, and academic entrepreneur, Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel serves as Assistant Professor of Global Leadership Studies (GLS) and Honors at Belmont University within the Interdisciplinary Studies and Global Education division.

After completing her Ph.D. in history at Georgia State University, Dr. Pethel taught her first class at Belmont in 2012. Since that time, she has published several essays and four books—including Athens of the New South: College Life and the Making of Modern Nashville. In 2017, Dr. Pethel began teaching the cornerstone courses for Global Leadership Studies. In addition, she teaches honors interdisciplinary courses such as “Making the Modern City,” "The Good Life,” and “Democracy and the Media.”

In 2018, she completed a post-graduate certificate in Digital Public Humanities at George Mason University, which combined her love of history with technology. This new passion culminated with the launch of NashvilleSites.org in 2019—a digital project focused on self-guided, mobile-friendly walking tours in Nashville. As the project's director, Dr. Pethel works with students and faculty at Belmont, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee State, Tennessee State, and Fisk Universities. She is currently working on two manuscripts, which will focus on the 50th anniversary of Title IX in Tennessee (2022) and the life of Ward-Belmont Alumnae and Grand Ole Opry star, Sarah Cannon, better known as Minnie Pearl.

Dr. Smith Whitehouse (known around campus as “Dr. Bonnie”) was born and raised in East Tennessee and graduated with Honors from Sewanee: The University of the South. As an undergraduate she majored in English and minored in Political Science but did not take nearly enough courses in theology, art, philosophy, education, and the natural sciences! So she’s trying to make up for that now by resolving to be a lifelong student as well as Professor of English and Director of Honors. She earned her Ph.D. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she has been grateful to teach and learn at Belmont since 2003.

The years she spent leading an interdisciplinary learning community at Belmont encouraged Dr. Bonnie to write a book titled Afoot and Lighthearted: A Journal for Mindful Walking (Clarkson Potter 2019) designed to unleash the power of walking for creativity and adventure in the digital age. She is hard at work on a new project on inspiration, studying the various tricks and tools humans across time and space have used to engender new ideas. She has traveled abroad with Belmont students to South Africa and Botswana. 

Dr. Bonnie served for a year as President of the Faculty Senate at Belmont, which not only gave her insights about leadership in our community but resulted in relationships forged with faculty members across campus. She has taught classes in English and Honors, and she has taught undergraduates and graduate students. In the Nashville community, she teaches for the Porch Writers’ Collective, and she is interested in writing, well-being, painting, literature, nature, and ritual.

Dr. Smith Whitehouse serves on the boards of the Hillsboro West End Neighborhood Association, the Eakin Elementary PTO, and is the President of the Advisory Board of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Chapel at Vanderbilt. She has served at Belmont in a variety of roles, including Director of the Writing Center and Chair of the Department of English, and she is absolutely delighted to have found her home in the best of all possible places—Honors!