Carol Jo Evans, a graduate of College of The Albemarle’s (COA) Associate in Arts degree, says her education and teaching career have taken her across the globe, with stops as a student at the University of Costa Rica, Heredia, and on an excavation dig for dinosaurs in New Mexico.
Her journey started at COA and led her back here as an associate professor and lead instructor of Sociology.
“I always knew I was going to come here [as a student],” said Evans, an Elizabeth City native who attended Northeastern High School. “I felt COA gave me a strong foundation.”
Evans earned her Associate in Arts degree from COA in 1984 and went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology/History from East Carolina University. The foundation from COA — including her Spanish class — were vital as she embarked on a diverse expedition for her education and career.
After working in local government in northeastern North Carolina, Evans attended the University of Tennessee, where she earned her master’s degree studying Socio-Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology, Physical Anthropology and Sociology. She has been on excavations ranging from the Battle of the Tuscarora Native Americans at Fort Neoheroka, North Carolina, to the hunt for dinosaurs in New Mexico.
Evans received her PhD in Applied Socio-cultural Anthropology with a minor in Historic Preservation/Museum Studies from the University of Kentucky. She has worked as a consultant for the National Park Service, Home Land Security and the U.S. Forest Service, and she has been published and spoken at conferences in the U.S. and internationally.
Evans’ teaching career has included stints at ITT in Norfolk and Elizabeth City State University as the Coordinator for the Program of Sociology and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Assessment Coordinator for the Program. Her career eventually brought her back to COA in 2010 as an assistant professor in Sociology. She became an associate professor in 2014.
“I tell students that by teaching here at the COA, I feel I have come full circle,” Evans said. “Now I have the opportunity to pass on the wisdom and knowledge that I originally acquired by completing an Associate in Arts degree at COA, and hopefully to serve as a role model of what one can do with a degree from the COA.”