Biology Department

Terry R. Haverkost: B.S. University of Nebraska-Lincoln; M.S. University of Nebraska-Kearney; Ph.D. University of Nebraska-Lincoln

For the past two years, Terry has worked as a Curatorial Preparator in the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology at the University of Nebraska State Museum.  His research has focused on biodiversity surveys and taxonomy of vertebrate parasites, and his projects have taken him to Mongolia for sample collections.  At Eastern, Terry will be teaching organismal biology, invertebrate zoology and parasitology.

English Department

June Dunn: Ph.D., English Literature, the Graduate Center, City University of New York 

June’s areas of specialty are 20^th century British and Irish Literature, as well as gender and sexuality studies.

Environmental Earth Science Department

Meredith Metcalf: B.A. Colgate University; M.S. University of Connecticut; Doctoral Candidate (ABD), University of Connecticut

Meredith is ABD in Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Connecticut. She brings a diverse background in natural science to Eastern, grounded in hydrogeology with experience mapping bedrock and analyzing water quality from several sites in Connecticut. Meredith will be teaching courses in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as well as contributing to the liberal arts curriculum through introductory geoscience classes. She has previously taught GIS at Three Rivers Community College.

René Shroat-Lewis: B.S. University of North Carolina, Wilmington; M.S. University of North Carolina, Wilmington;  Ph.D. University of Tennessee, Knoxville
René completed her Ph.D. in Geology/Paleontology this past summer. She is a paleoecologist, whose research examines the connections between fossilized organisms, their associated communities and the environments in which they lived. René and her coauthors have written the cover article in the July/August edition of PALAIOS, a front-line journal in her field. René will be teaching a variety of Environmental Earth Science classes at Eastern that serve both as gateways to the EES major and as Liberal Arts Core science offerings.

Stephen Nathan: B.S. Biology, Springfield College; B.S. Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; M.S. Geology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Ph.D. Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Stephen completed his Ph.D. in 2005 with a focus on paleoceanography, paleoclimatology and micropaleontology, and has been active since as a postdoctoral fellow with the Massachusetts Geologic Survey. Stephen’s diverse background, with degrees in biology, physics and geology, provides a strong foundation for teaching Sustainable Energy courses within EES. He will be teaching global climate change and other classes in support the energy geoscience track and liberal arts core science offerings.

History Department

Meaghan Dwyer-Ryan:  Ph.D., Boston College

Meaghan has taught at Boston College, the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and Emmanuel College. Her dissertation, “Ethnic Patriotism: Boston’s Irish and Jewish Communities, 1880-1929,” compares the efforts of these groups to balance ethnic culture and religion with American loyalty. Meaghan is co-author of Becoming American Jews: Temple Israel, 1854-2004,  and has contributed to such publications as the Journal of American Ethnic History, Perspectives on History, New York Irish History, and Foilsi.  She will be teaching U.S. history, including courses on the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era.

Erin-Marie Legacey: Ph.D. in History, Northwestern University

Erin-Marie’s dissertation, “Living with the Dead in Paris, 1795-1820s,” examines how Parisians used the dead to process and respond to the upheaval and trauma of the French Revolution.  She is working on a book manuscript based on her dissertation.  Last year she held a visiting assistant professorship in the history department of Colby College; she has also taught at Northwestern University.  Erin-Marie will be teaching courses in French and modern European history.

Mathematics Department

Anastasia Shabanskaya: Ph.D. and M.A.,Mathematics (Summa cum Laude), University of Toledo

Anastasia’s research interests are in Lie Theory, Representation Theory and Quantum Groups. Related to her dissertation, her paper “Classification of six dimensional solvable indecomposable Lie Algebras with codimension one nilradical over R and C” was published in the Proceedings of the N.I. Lobachevsky Mathematical Center - Kazan Math. Society (2010). Since 2005 she has had a variety of teaching experiences ranging from mathematics tutor to course instructor.

Brian Whitehead: Ph.D. in Mathematics, University of Connecticut; B.S. in Mathematics, Eastern Connecticut State University

An Eastern alumnus, Brian’s research lies in the area of probability theory dealing with stochastic processes. His dissertation was titled Occupation Times for Jump Processes. As a teaching assistant at UConn for five years, he had the opportunity to teach many different mathematics courses. Brian received the Henry Barnard Distinguished Student Award in 2006 as an Eastern senior.

Performing Arts Department

Kristen Morgan: M.F.A. in Design for Stage and Film, New York University, Tisch

School of the Arts; B.A. in Theatre Arts, B.A. in Spanish, Virginia Tech University

Kristen previously was Instructor of Scenic Technology in the Department of Theatre and Cinema at Virginia Tech. Before she began teaching, she was an Associate Designer at Hotopp Associates, Ltd. in New York.  Past work include projects for Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival, Soho Rep, The Piano Store, Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theater, The Gravity Project, New York University, Columbia University, ESPN Winter and Summer X Games, Perrier, Stanford University and Radio City Music Hall.

Political Science Department

Kristen Hudak: B.S. in Political Science and Economics, Salve Regina University; 

M.A. Salve Regina University; Ph.D Northeastern University

Kristen will be teaching international relations at Eastern. She brings considerable teaching experience to campus, having spent the past year as a full-time lecturer at Bentley University in Boston.  She also spent several years teaching courses as a graduate student at Northeastern.

Kenneth Cunningham: BA and MSW, Springfield College; Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Connecticut

Kenneth has a one-year appointment in Social Work. He is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and has been an adjunct professor in Eastern’s Social Work program since 2004. He has also taught in the MSW programs at Springfield College and the University of Connecticut. Most recently Ken has been a research analyst at the CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services conducting program evaluation to integrate evidence-based practice principles into state services.

Visual Art Department

Michelle Craig: Ph.D., UCLA; M.A., University of Wisconsin 

Michelle spent her formative years in the Willimantic area and now returns to Connecticut as an Assistant Professor of Art History in the Visual Arts Department.  Her expertise focuses on the Art and Architecture of Northern Africa, as well as photography and Museum Studies. She has lectured in Tunisia and Morocco as well as at the College Art Association and conferences throughout the United States. Michelle has published in Art Journal, co-curated an exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum on Toussant L’Ouverture, and assisted the renowned Africanist Henry Drewal on the Mami Wata exhibition.

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

Business Administration Department

Candice Deal:  B.S. in Finance, Morgan State University; MBA, Morgan State University;
Doctoral Candidate(ABD) in Accounting, Morgan State University

Candice taught at the University of Tampa in fall 2010.

Paul Gilson:  B.S. in Mathematics, Bristol University (England); Ph.D. in Finance,
Georgia Institute of Technology

Paul has been teaching at the University of Connecticut since 2000.

George Miaoulis Jr.: B.S. in Economics, New York University; MBA, New York University;
Ph.D. in Marketing and Statistics,  New York University

George has taught at a number of universities, most recently Central Connecticut State University, the University of Maine at Orono and Lynchburg College.

Communication Department

William Yousman: Ph.D. in Communication, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 

Williams has an impressive number of publications and extensive teaching experience. He will be teaching integrated communication.

Melanie Savelli:  BA, communication major, Eastern Connecticut State University; M.S. in communication and public relations, Central Connecticut State University 

Melanie has been an adjunct in the Communication Department at Eastern for two semesters and will teach public relations.

Kenneth Ross: M.A. in Political Science and English, the University of Michigan  

Kenneth has been teaching for Eastern part time for more than 10 years.  He has teaching experience in English/writing/communication, coupled with extensive professional experience in journalism.  He will be teaching mass communication writing.

Economics Department

Kpoti  Kitissou:  B.S. in Applied Mathematical Economics, SUNY Oswego; graduate studies in Economics, Binghamton University

Kpoti is from Togo, a small country in West Africa on the Atlantic Ocean; he immigrated to the United States in 1994.  His research interests include Labor Economics, Development Economics and Applied Microeconomics.  Research topics include the economic impact of wars, HIV and human capital in Africa.
 

Ashley Provencher:  Ph.D., American University; B.S. in Economics and Mathematics,
Simmons College

Ashley’s doctoral work measured the efficiency of mental health services to improve the mental health outcomes of children who come into contact with the U.S. child welfare system. Ashley previously was employed by the U.S. Census Bureau in Washington, D.C., where she measured official poverty estimates and worked on research related to the development of a supplemental poverty measure. Her primary research interests include welfare analysis, cost-benefit analysis and feminist thought. Ashley is a native of eastern Connecticut and attended Norwich Free Academy.

Education Department

Daniel J. Thompson Jr.: B.S. College of the Holy Cross; M.S. Springfield College; Ph.D. University of Connecticut

Dan has worked in Eastern’s Education Department since 2001.  He has primarily been a part-time faculty member teaching Foundations of United States Education and Introduction to Education. Dan has more than 40 years of experience in the public schools of Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

Health and Physical Education Department

Jim Lavin: Ph.D., University of Manchester

A native of England, Jim trained as a physical education teacher and taught physical education in both elementary schools and high schools, eventually becoming Head of Department in a large high school. He has more than 29 years of experience of training physical education teachers at the university level. His last post was at the University of Cumbria where he was a Principal Lecturer (Full Professor) and Head of the Physical Education program. He is the holder of a prestigious Winston Churchill Fellowship and in 2009 was awarded a national honor for teaching excellence by the Association for Physical Education in the United Kingdom.

David J. Granniss: Ph.D., Physical Education, Springfield College

David’s specialization is exercise physiology.  Principal areas of interest include training collegiate athletes to participate in sports requiring the ability to sprint and recover repetitively, and the effects of caffeine during competition.  Previous teaching experience includes 12 years as an adjunct instructor at Dallas Baptist University (TX) and three years at Springfield College (MA) in both physical education and history.  David was Head Women’s Soccer coach at Dallas Baptist University and Assistant Women's Coach at Springfield College.