RFH 2010, Featured Articles, Colgate News

Colgate Welcomes New, Visiting Faculty

Wed, Sep 08, 2010

The start of a new academic year means the streets of Hamilton are filled with a lot of new faces, and not all of them are students. Colgate welcomes a long list of new and visiting faculty members.

Electa Arenal, Colgate NEH Professor of the Humanities in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (Fall 2010) (B.A. Barnard College; M.A., Ph.D. Columbia University). Scholar, teacher, activist, author, and translator, Electa Arenal is professor emerita of Hispanic and women's studies at CUNY. She is best known for her for her pioneering work on monastic women's culture and for offering one of the earliest courses on Spanish, Latin American, and Caribbean women writers. From 1997 to 2001 she directed the Center for the Study of Women and Society and coordinated the Women's Studies Certificate Program at the CUNY Graduate Center. In collaboration with Stacey Schlau and Amanda Powell, Electa wrote the landmark Untold Sisters: Hispanic Nuns in Their Own Works (1989; revised ed. forthcoming); and she is the co-editor of two important works by the seventeenth-century nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz of New Spain, The Answer/La Respuesta (1994; 2nd expanded ed. 2009) and Neptuno alegorico (2009).

Ahmet Ay, Assistant Professor of Biology and Mathematics (B.Sc. Bilkent University, Ph.D. Michigan State University). Ahmet Ay comes to Colgate from Michigan State University where he served as research associate. His dissertation title is "Deciphering cis-Regulatory Transcriptional Grammar in Drosophila melanogaster by mathematical models." His teaching specialties and research interests include systems biology, mathematical biology, biological regulatory networks, and cis-Regulation in Transcription. Spouse: Ayten Ay. Child: Yusef Eren Ay. Hobbies/interests: reading history books, museums, soccer, and intercultural activities.

Jasmine Bailey, Olive B. O'Connor Creative Writing Fellow in the Department of English (A.B. Colgate University, M.F.A. University of Virginia). Jasmine Bailey returns to Colgate from the University of Virginia where she has been an instructor of writing and where she also completed her MFA. Her dissertation title is "Katabasis." Jasmine's teaching specialties and research interests include creative writing, poetry, composition, and Spanish language. Spouse: Evan Johnson.

Fodei Batty, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science (B.A. University of Sierra Leone; M.P.A. Indiana State University; M.I.D.A., Ph.D. Western Michigan University). Fodei Batty comes to Colgate from Western Michigan University where he was an instructor in political science and where he also completed his doctoral studies. His dissertation title is "What Role for Ethnicity? Political Behavior and Mobilization in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone and Liberia." Fodei's teaching specialties include comparative politics, developing countries, and Sub-Saharan Africa. His research interests center on political economy of development, democratization in developing countries, ethnic politics, post-conflict political behavior, and civil society and social movements. Hobbies/interests: soccer, photography, reading about citizenship and multiculturalism, and watching football.

Anne Beggs, Visiting Assistant Professor of English in the University Theater (B.A. University of Southern California; M.A., Ph.D. Cornell University). Anne Beggs comes to Colgate bringing teaching experience most recently from West Virginia University as well as from Cornell University, where she also completed her Ph.D. Her dissertation title is "Brecht and the Culture Industry: Political Comedy on Broadway and the West End, 1960-1965." Anne's teaching specialties include American popular culture, especially drama and film; European drama 1700-present; and global theatre history, performance studies, and theories of performance; her research interests center on theatre as political comedy, satire and performance, musical theatre, Brechtian theatre, and American film as cultural studies.

Fernando Canales, Head Men's and Women's Swimming Coach and Director of Aquatics, and Instructor in Physical Education (B.S. University of Michigan). Fernando comes to Colgate from the University of Michigan, where he served as Development Officer for Athletics as well as Head Assistant Coach of Men's Swimming and Diving. Fernando has worked with four Olympic coaches and has represented Team USA at the FINA World Congress during the World Aquatic Championships and at the Pan American Games. He was a member of the Michigan Coaching Staff that sent seven athletes to the Beijing Olympics, including medalists Peter Vanderkaay and Michael Phelps. Fernando was one of the fastest sprinters in the world and a member of three Olympic teams (Montreal '76, Moscow '80 and Los Angeles '84). He won two silver medals and one bronze in the Pan American Games, a National Championship and was a 4 year All America at the University of Michigan.

Marjorie Celona, Olive B. O'Connor Creative Writing Fellow in the Department of English (B.A. University of Victoria, M.F.A. University of Iowa) Marjorie Celona comes to Colgate from the University of Iowa where she was an adjunct assistant professor and where she completed her MFA. Her dissertation title is "Be on My Side, I'll be on Your Side." Marjorie's teaching specialties and research interests include fiction writing and 20th-21st century fiction (American, British, and European).

John Connor, Assistant Professor of English (B.A. Pembroke College, University of Cambridge; M.A., Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania)
John Connor comes to Colgate from the University of Pennsylvania where he recently completed his doctoral studies. His dissertation title is "Mid-century Romance: Modernist Afterlives of the Historical Novel." John's teaching specialties include 20th century British fiction; and his research interests include 20th century British literature and culture, modernism, the novel, romanticism, historiography, intellectual history, and theories of gender and sexuality.

Daniella Doron, Schusterman Postdoctoral Fellow in History and Jewish Studies (B.A. University of Maryland, Ph.D. New York University). Daniella Doron comes to Colgate from the University of Toronto where she was the Ray D. Wolfe Postdoctoral Fellow in Jewish Studies. Her dissertation title is "In the Best Interest of the Child: Family, Youth, and Identity Among Postwar French Jews, 1944-1954." Daniella's teaching specialties and research interests center on integrating the history of childhood, gender and the family into the narrative of modern Jewish and European history.

Peter Eubanks, Visiting Assistant Professor of French (B.A. University of Virginia; M.A.., Ph.D. Princeton University). Peter Eubanks comes to Colgate from the University of Iowa where he was a visiting assistant professor of French. His dissertation title is "Literary Self-Assertion and the Limits of Art in the Poetry of Jean Lemaire de Belges." Peter's teaching specialties include French language and literature, Renaissance poetry, and cross-cultural encounters.

Ethan Frost, Visiting Instructor in Geography (B.A. Clark University; M.S., Ph.D. candidate University of Delaware). Ethan Frost comes to Colgate with teaching experience from the University of Delaware where he has been working toward the completion of his Ph.D. His dissertation title is "Hydrological and biogeochemical variation of stemflow from live, moribund, and dead Fagus grandifolia (L.) [American beech] and Liriodendron tulipifera (L.) [yellow poplar] trees in a Mid-Atlantic broadleaved deciduous forest." Ethan's teaching has included courses on environmental field methods, and physical and cultural geography. His research interests center on bioclimatology, field methods, and GIScience.

Engda Hagos, Assistant Professor of Biology (B.S. University of Illinois, M.S. Northern Illinois University, Ph.D. University of Georgia)
Engda Hagos comes to Colgate from Emory University School of Medicine where he was a postdoctoral fellow for three years. His dissertation title is "The Role of Nodal Signals in Pattering the Zebra Fish Embryo." Engda's teaching specialties include cell biology, developmental biology, cancer biology, biological science, and molecular biology. His research interests focus on Kruppel-like factors and their involvement in intestinal inflammation leading to diseases such as cancer. Spouse: Aster. Children: Abigail and Liliana. Hobbies/interests: Outdoors activities, photography, music, travel and intercultural activities

Brian Hall, Olive B. O'Connor Professor of Literature in the Department of English (Spring 2011) (A.B. Harvard University). Brian Hall, who is an American author, will be in residence next spring. He has been involved in Colgate's Writers' Conference 2008-10 and has many publications including his most recent novels Fall of Frost (Viking and Penguin), I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company (Viking and Penguin), and The Saskiad (Houghton Mifflin and Picador). Other nonfiction works include The Impossible Country: A Journey Through the Last Days of Yugoslavia (Godine) and Madeleine's World: A Biography of a Three-Year-Old (Houghton-Mifflin). Brian has written for publications such as the New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker.

Jonathan Hyslop, A. Lindsay O'Connor Professor of American Institutions in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology and Africana & Latin American Studies Program (B.A. Oxford University, M.A. University of Birmingham, Ph.D. University of the Witwatersrand). Jonathan Hyslop will come to Colgate this year, taking leave from the University of Witwatersrand, where is professor of sociology and history. Jon's teaching specialties include colonialism; South Africa, nationalism and ethnicity, sociology and history war, and social theory; and his research interests center on labour history, the maritime world, and modern southern Africa. Among his many publications, Jon's most recent books include The Notorious Syndicalist: JT Bain – a Scottish Rebel in Colonial South Africa (Jacana) and Aparautoheito Kyouiku-Shi (Yokohama) (Japanese translation of The Classroom Struggle).

Yuliya Ilchuk, Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian (M.A. National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy," Ph.D. University of Southern California). Yuliya Ilchuk comes to Colgate from the University of Southern California where she was a Russian lecturer in addition to having completed her doctoral studies. Her dissertation title is "Nikolai Gogol's Hybrid Performance: The Creation, Reception and Editing of Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka." Yuliya's specialized teaching fields include Russian language, literature, and culture, while her research interests center on Gogol studies, Russian and Ukrainian Romanticism, Imperialism in Russian culture, Russian symbolism, 20th-century literary theory and criticism, Bakhtin studies, Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian literature and culture, language ideology, and literary translations.

Nicoleta Iliescu, Visiting Instructor in Economics (B.A., M.A. Cuza University; Ph.D. candidate University of Connecticut). Nicoleta Iliescu comes to Colgate from the University of Connecticut where she was a research and teaching assistant in the department of economics in addition to working toward the completion of her Ph.D. Her dissertation title is "Antidumping Effects on Trade Protection and Industry Performance." Nicoleta's teaching specialties and research interests center on international economics and trade, applied microeconomics, and game theory. Spouse: Satyaki Dutta. Hobbies/interests: skating, reading, and visiting museums.

Marius Ionescu, Assistant Professor of Mathematics (B.S., M.S. University of Transylvania; Ph.D. University of Iowa). Marius Ionescu comes to Colgate from the University of Connecticut where he has been a postdoctoral fellow. His dissertation title is "C*-Algebras Associated with Mauldin-Williams Graphs." Marius's teaching specialties and research interests center on functional analysis, operator algebras, and dynamical systems. Spouse: Anamaria Felicia Ionescu (also at Colgate as an Assistant Professor of Economics). Hobbies/interests: computers and the open source initiative.

Aaron D. Jaggard, Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science (B.S. Wheaton College, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania). Aaron Jaggard comes to Colgate from Rutgers University where he has been an assistant research professor at the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS). While his degrees are in mathematics (his dissertation was on combinatorial properties of permutations), much of Aaron's current research is focused on problems of security, privacy, and accountability in computer networks and in the interactions mediated by these networks. Aspects of his work also have implications in game theory.

Marie Jayasekera, Assistant Professor of Philosophy (B.S. Yale University, M.A. Tufts University, Ph.D. University of Michigan). Marie Jayasekera comes to Colgate from the University of Michigan where she recently successfully defended her dissertation, "The Will in Descartes' Thought." Marie's research and teaching interests include early modern philosophy, moral psychology, and ethics. Her husband, Mihira, a website and user interface designer, joins her in Hamilton.

Sarah Keen, Head of Special Collections and University Archivist, Associate Professor in the University Libraries (B.A. Alma College, M.S.I. University of Michigan). Sarah Keen comes to Colgate from Cornell University where she has been the technical services archivist at the division of rare and manuscript collections. Her MSI degree is centered on specialization in archives and records management, as well as some additional graduate courses in women's studies. Sarah's research interests include archival access systems, usability, and records of women's history.

Katie Kirtland, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Core 152 and Film & Media Studies (A.B. Princeton University; M.A., Ph.D. University of Chicago). Katie Kirtland comes to Colgate from the University of Chicago where she recently completed her Ph.D. Her dissertation title is "Iterations of the Close-Up: Animation and Revelation in Jean Epstein's Theory of Cinema." Her fields of study centered on film and photography, and modern French painting and sculpture/museums.

Scott MacDonald, Colgate NEH Professor of the Humanities within the Film & Media Studies Program (Spring 2011) (B.A. DePauw University; M.A., Ph.D. University of Florida). Scott MacDonald, Emeritus Professor of English and Film from Utica College of Syracuse University, will be in residence next spring. He is a renowned scholar of Avant-garde cinema. The recipient of several NEH grants, Scott is a prolific writer. His recent books include A Critical Cinema 4: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers and A Critical Cinema 5: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers (this is an ongoing series published by University of California Press), Art in Cinema: Documents Toward a History of the Film Society (Temple University Press), Canyon Cinema: The Life and Times of an Independent Film Distributor (University of California) and Adventures of Perception: Cinema As Exploration (California, 2009). Recently, Scott has been teaching cinema courses regularly at Hamilton College and Harvard University.

Rebecca Metzler, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy (B.S. Denison University; Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison).
Rebecca Metzler comes to Colgate from the University of Wisconsin where she has recently completed her doctoral studies. Her dissertation title is "The organic-mineral interface in biominerals." Rebecca's teaching specialties include biophysics, introductory physics, and upper-level physics. Her research interests center on biomineralization and organic-mineral interactions. Spouse: Keith Watkins. Hobbies/interests: running and outdoor activities.

Matthew Miller, Visiting Assistant Professor of German (B.A. Swarthmore College; M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Columbia University)
Matthew Miller comes to Colgate from Bowdoin College where he has been a visiting assistant professor of German. His dissertation title is "Literary Forms of Dialectics in the Works of Alexander Kluge and Heiner Müller." His teaching specialties include German language, literature, cultural and political history, philosophy and film, 1770-present; and his research interests center on German literature and film, 1945-present.

Marshall Olds, Olive B. O'Connor Professor of Literature in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (Spring 2011) (A.B. Colgate University, Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University). When Marshall Olds returns to Colgate next spring (he was the Olive B. O'Connor professor at Colgate in Spring 2005), he will take leave from his teaching position as Willa Cather Professor at the University of Nebraska. Marshall's teaching specialties include 19th-century French literature and interdisciplinary 19th-century studies. His research interests center on all aspects of poetics and narrative. Publications include monographs Au pays des perroquets: feerie theatrale et narration chez Flaubert (Rodopi), Desire Seeking Expression: Mallarme's "Prose pour des Esseintes" (French Forum Publishers); editions: Le Nègre et la Créole, ou Mémoires d'Eulalie D*** (L'Harmattan) and The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Random House and The Modern Library. Spouse: Nanne. Children: Louisa and Peter. Hobbies/other interests: music and fly fishing.

Daniel Pellerin, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science (B.A. Magdalen College, University of Oxford; M.A. University of California, Los Angeles; Ph.D. University of Toronto). Daniel Pellerin held a visiting appointment in Political Science in 2006-07 and returns after three years at the National University of Singapore. He has also taught at McMaster University and the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, as well as at Redlands University and UC Davis. He wrote his dissertation on Calvin and is interested in a wide range of thinkers from antiquity through the nineteenth century. He is married to Clare, a classical musician, and practices Vipassana meditation in the Burmese lay tradition.

Jonathan Pratt, Visiting Assistant Professor of the Classics (B.A. Princeton University; M.A., Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley)
Jonathan Pratt comes to Colgate from Reed College where he has been a visiting assistant professor of classics and humanities over the past three years. His dissertation title is "Isocrates in Athens: Public Philosophy and the Rhetoric of Display." Jon's teaching specialties include Greek and Latin literature; his research interests center on Greek prose, political rhetoric, and intellectual history.

Robert Rakove, Visiting Assistant Professor of History (B.A., M.A. Stanford University; Ph.D. University of Virginia). Robert Rakove comes to Colgate with teaching experience from Old Dominion University and the University of Virginia. His dissertation title is "A Genuine Departure: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Nonaligned World," which he is presently revising for publication with Cambridge University Press. Rob's teaching specialties include U.S. foreign relations and modern U.S. history, while his research interests center on the Cold War, decolonization, and the Second World War. Hobbies and interests include photography, cooking, and the 1980s.

Heather Roller, Assistant Professor of History (B.A. Yale University, M.A., Ph.D. Stanford University). Heather Roller brings teaching experience from Stanford University where she recently completed her doctoral studies. Her dissertation title is "Colonial Routes: Spatial Mobility and Community Formation in the Portuguese Amazon." Heather's teaching specialties include Latin American history, indigenous history, comparative histories of empire, race and ethnicity, and resistance and revolt; her research interests center on native peoples under colonial rule, Brazil and the Amazon Basin in the 18th century.

Carmen Serrano, Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish (B.A. University of Southern California; M.A., Ph.D. University of California, Irvine). Carmen Serrano brings teaching experience from the University of California, Irvine, and Bates College. Her dissertation title is "Monsters, Vampires and Doppelgängers: Innovation and Transformation of Gothic forms in Latin American Narratives." Carmen's teaching specialties include Latin American literature and film studies; her research interests center on themes of the supernatural in literature, borderland issues, transatlantic studies, and film.

Jennifer Stob, Postdoctoral Fellow in Film and Media Studies (B.A. Grinnell College; M.A., Ph.D. Yale University). Jennifer Stob comes to Colgate from Yale University where she was awarded her doctorate degree in May. Her dissertation title is "With and Against Cinema: The Situationist International and the Cinematic Image." Jennifer's teaching specialties include history of art and film studies; her research interests center on film theory, aesthetic theory, Marxist thought, photography, architecture/urbanization, French cultural studies, and postwar (WWII) European history.

Joseph Suina, Colgate NEH Professor of the Humanities within the Native American Studies Program (Fall 2010) (B.A. Fort Lewis College, M.A., Ed.D. University of Mexico). In residence at Colgate this fall, Joseph Suina is Professor Emeritus from the College of Education at the University of New Mexico. While at the University of New Mexico, he taught courses on social studies for diverse populations, American Indian education, teaching and learning in multicultural settings, and advanced instructional strategies. For a number of years, he has also taught Colgate students who have participated in the Santa Fe Study Group. Joe has many publications to his credit including his co-authored books El Ambiente de Aprendizaje: Diseno y Organizacion and The Learning Environment: An Instructional Strategy.

Nisha Thapliyal, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies (B.A. Women's Christian College-India; M.A. Tata Institute of Social Sciences-India; Ph.D. University of Maryland, College Park). Nisha Thapliyal has been hired into a tenure-stream position after having served as a visiting assistant professor of educational studies at Colgate over the past three years. Prior to her Colgate appointment, she was at the University of Maryland where she completed her doctoral studies. Her dissertation title is "Education, social movements and social change: A Brazilian case study." Nisha's teaching specialties include comparative and international education; qualitative research methods; and critical, feminist, and post-colonial theories of education. Her research interests are currently social movements and educational change, human rights-based approaches to education and development, participatory action research, popular education, and critical pedagogies.

Jacqueline Villarrubia-Mendoza, Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology (B.A. Universidad de Puerto Rico; M.A., Ph.D. University of Albany, SUNY). Jacqueline Villarrubia-Mendoza comes to Colgate from the University at Albany/SUNY where she recently completed her doctoral studies. Her dissertation title is "El Coyote Made a Detour: An Analysis of the Socioeconomic Incorporation Processes of Hispanic Immigrants in New Destinations; A Case Study of Newburgh and Poughkeepsie, NY". Jacqueline's teaching specialties within sociology include, immigration, social problems/inequality, and race and ethnicity. Her research interests center on immigrant incorporation, racial and ethnic inter-group relations; and Latin America.

Douglas Wacker, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology (B.A. Indiana University; B.S. University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Ph.D. University of Washington). Douglas Wacker comes to Colgate from the University of Edinburgh where he has been a research fellow at the Centre for Integrative Physiology. His dissertation title is "Steroid regulation of seasonal territorial aggression in the male song sparrow, Melospiza melodia morphna." Doug's teaching specialties include behavioral endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, neuroscience, and physiology; his research interests center on neural and endocrine regulation of social behavior, seasonal behavior, and olfaction. Spouse: Kimberly. Child: Eilidh. Hobbies/interests: playing music and watching sports.

Raymond Watkins, Visiting Assistant Professor of University Studies (A.B. Bard College, M.A. Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in comparative literature University of Iowa). Raymond Watkins comes to Colgate with teaching experience from Case Western Reserve University and Oberlin College. His dissertation title is "The Modern Savage: Figures of the Fascist 'Primitive' in Interwar Europe." Ray's teaching specialties and research interests include 20th-century British literature, 20th-century French literature and culture, film studies and comparative literature. Spouse: Christina Coyle.

Kristopher Waynant, Postdoctoral Fellow in Chemistry (B.A., B.S. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; M.S., Ph.D. New Mexico State University). Kristopher Waynant comes to Colgate with post-doctoral research associate experience from Oregon State University and from New Mexico State University, where he completed his doctoral studies. His dissertation title is "Investigations into the generation of isobenzofurans through coupling of Fischer carbine complexes with o-alkynylbenzoyl derivatives and their applications to kauren ring skeletons and bis(alkylidene)phthalans." Kristopher's teaching specialties include organic/organometallic chemistry, and his research interests center on transition metals role in total synthesis of natural products, medical chemistry, and green chemistry.

Elizabeth Wilcox, Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics (B.A. Carleton College, M.S. University of Vermont; Ph.D. Binghamton  University).Elizabeth Wilcox comes to Colgate from Binghamton University where she has served as a graduate teaching assistant and where she recently completed her doctoral studies. Her dissertation title is "Complete Finite Frobenius Groups and Wreath Products." Elizabeth has taught courses on elementary statistics, calculus, linear algebra, discrete mathematics, and higher mathematics and number systems. Her research interests center on group theory.

Haihong Yang, Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese (B.A., M.A. Fudan University; Ph.D. University of Iowa). Haihong Yang comes to Colgate from the University of Iowa where she recently completed her doctoral studies. Her dissertation title is "Hoist One's Own Banner: Self-Inscription in Lyric Poetry by Three women Writers of Late Imperial China." Haihong's teaching specialties include Chinese literature, culture, and language. Her research interests center on late imperial Chinese women's literature and culture, pre-modern Chinese poetry, and 16th- and 17th-century British women's literature and culture.

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