Each year, the State
of the College event focuses on welcoming new faculty members. With the changes
caused last year by the pandemic, Pelesko noted, “we’ve had to adjust our
traditions” so this year’s event celebrated faculty starting in Fall 2020, Spring
and Fall 2021 and Spring 2022.
“I am thrilled to
welcome 46 new faculty to the College today,” Pelesko told the audience. They
include:
In the Associate in
Arts Program, Stasie Harrington joined UD from Western Kentucky University,
where she taught Spanish and language pedagogy and was the director of
international student programs.
In the arts, new
faculty are Gene Koshinski, professor of music; Tim Broscious, assistant
professor of music; Chris Underwood, assistant professor of music; and the
members of the Calidore String Quartet, joining the faculty as associate
professors of music, Jeremy Berry, Estelle Choi, Ryan Meehan and Jeffrey Myers.
Pelesko welcomed
“these outstanding faculty who will teach and perform and share their talents
with our rich music community here on campus and whose work will continue to
move and inspire each of us.”
In the humanities,
recent arrivals are Kathryn Golden, assistant professor of Africana studies;
Kisha Porcher, assistant professor of English; Kenneth Cohen, associate
professor of history and director of museum studies; Sonia Robles, assistant
professor of history; and Holly Myers, Lillyrose Veneziano Broccia, Steven
Alcorn, Eulises Avellaneda and Arnaldo Robles-Reyes, all assistant professors
of languages, literatures and cultures.
“This new group of
outstanding faculty will help our students learn to think critically, grapple
with ethical decisions and experience a range of cultures and cultural
contexts, all while helping us better understand our past while preserving our
cultural heritage for our future,” Pelesko said.
In the natural
sciences, new faculty are Jeremy Bird, Chi Keung Lam, Amber Krauchunas, Justin
Parreno, Lisha Shao and Kathleen Curran, all assistant professors of biological
sciences; Emil Hernandez-Pagan and Lauren Genova, both assistant professors of
chemistry and biochemistry; Jennifer Legault and Peter Nelson, both assistant
professors of linguistics and cognitive science; Diego Penta, Christopher Cox,
Linjin Li, Min Ranabhat, Gangotryi Sorcar and Rajinda Wickrama, all assistant
professors of mathematical sciences; Hao Shi, Adebanjo Oriade and Mark Ku, all
assistant professors of physics and astronomy; Philip Gable, associate
professor of psychological and brain sciences; and Sophia Choukas-Bradley and
William Kenkel, assistant professors of psychological and brain sciences.
“I am thrilled to
welcome this group of outstanding faculty who will help our students learn to
reason scientifically, quantitatively and computationally, while exploring the
natural world, the mathematical world, and helping us understand the nature of language,”
Pelesko said.
In the social
sciences, new faculty are Kedron Thomas, associate professor of anthropology;
Morgan Ellithorpe, assistant professor of communication; David Ebner, assistant
professor of political science and international relations; Jennifer Bouek,
assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice; Angela Hattery and Earl
Smith, professors of women and gender studies; and Emerald Christopher-Byrd,
assistant professor of women and gender studies.
“These faculty bring
scholarship and community engagement together in new and important ways, with
work extending from the study of media to political behavior,” Pelesko said.