Felix Morton IV joins W&M faculty

This fall, the School of Education welcomes new faculty members. Today, we introduce Clinical Assistant Professor in Counselor Education Felix Morton IV who is joining our Counseling faculty.

Tell us a little about your background and what brought you to W&M.

I was born and raised in Eastern North Carolina. I went to East Carolina University for undergrad, did my graduate training in higher education at UNC Wilmington, earned my master’s in counseling at Wake Forest, and finished my Ph.D. in counseling and counselor education at North Carolina State University. Outside of work, I’m a husband, a dad and a bit of a collector of many things that I’m sure my partner would love for me to find another home for, especially my Lego and Star Wars collections.

I’ve pretty much served students at every level of education at this point. I’ve been a sixth-grade math teacher, a school counselor, a college prep coach, a wellness counselor and a therapist in a college counseling center. All of that bouncing around gave me a ton of experiences that ultimately led me to counselor education, where I get to help train the next generation of counselors.

What brought me to William & Mary specifically was the faculty. The counseling program, especially the online program, is a tight-knit and diverse team, and I’ve always wanted to be part of a small unit where I could really build relationships with the people I work with. I was also excited about the program’s focus on developing counselors who can serve clients in all kinds of settings, whether that’s the military and veterans specialization, school counseling or clinical mental health. And honestly, the leadership sealed the deal. 

What’s your area of research and what question are you most passionate about answering right now?

My research has grown a lot over time. It started with college student wellness, expanded into wellness in K-12 education, with attention to the experiences of Black boys and youth, and now, thanks in part to being a lifelong fan of pop culture, it’s landed at the intersection of therapy and popular culture. I really want to explore how we as therapists and educators can use pop culture and fandom to create more accessible pathways for connection, meaning-making and identity development. Within that space, my work primarily focuses on Black men’s mental health, how they understand their identities, and how they make meaning of their lived experiences.

The question I’m most passionate about right now is: how can we use creativity or dreaming, in the Afrofuturist sense of imagining bold new possibilities, to shape the future of counseling and therapy? We’ve built a really solid foundation for therapy and the helping professions, and I believe right now creativity is thriving in how we train educators and clinicians and fully connect with clients. So, what’s possible when we bring that spirit of dreaming, creativity and liberation into the conversation about what counseling and education could be, not just today, but for the generations to come?

What else are you hoping to get involved with on campus or in the community?

I’m really looking forward to collaborating with the Office of Inclusive Excellence. I think there’s a great opportunity there to help promote programming that connects popular culture to our college students’ experiences. I also love how tight-knit the School of Education feels, so I’m excited to collaborate across programs.

And if I’m allowed one selfish aspiration, I’d love to bring some form of a Comic Con to campus and the School of Education. It would be a fun way to spread the wealth of knowledge and connection, help others explore what creativity can look like in their own work and open people’s eyes to what popular culture really is and can be in our society today.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Just that I’m genuinely excited to be part of this team. I’m grateful for the chance to pass along everything I’ve learned across my career to the next generation of counselors coming through the School of Education. And beyond that, I just want to be a good colleague, a great teammate and a source of accountability for wellness and sustainability for my William & Mary family.