Faculty By Department

Alana Cordy-Collins, Ph.D., joined the USD faculty in 1980.  She is a professor of Anthropology and director of the David W. May American Indian Collection and Gallery. In the Department of Anthropology, Cordy-Collins offers undergraduate courses in archaeology, shamanism, research, and writing.  Her research focus is the prehistoric cultures of Peru, especially the Lambayeque, Moche, and Chavín-Cupisnique. She is currently most involved in comparative studies of shamanism, especially among Circum-Polar peoples, prehistoric and contemporary. Dr. Cordy-Collins has been awarded two USD University Professorships, one research-based and the other recognition-based.  She designed and organized the university’s American Indian Celebration (2002-2004).

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Before coming to USD, Jerome Hall, Ph.D., was the underwater archaeologist for Puerto Rico and president of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.  His current research projects include the excavation of a 17th-century northern European merchant shipwreck off the north coast of the Dominican Republic, as well as the documentation and publication of a 1st-century boat recovered from the Sea of Galilee.

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Angelo Orona, Ph.D., focuses his field research on Creole island fisherman of Venezuela. His main area of interest is the ethnology of South American cultures.

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Can Bilsel, trained as an architect before receiving a Ph.D. in the history, theory and criticism of architecture at Princeton University. Bilsel has received numerous awards including the Aga Khan Fellowship at Harvard University and MIT, the Whiting Fellowship in the Humanities, and was a Fellow at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles for two consecutive years. In 2007 he was invited as a visiting scholar to the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. Bilsel is currently completing a book entitled, Antiquity on Display: Regimes of the Authentic in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, which will be published by the Oxford University Press.

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John Halaka is professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of San Diego, where he has taught since 1991. He is an activist artist whose creative work serves as a vehicle for meditation on personal, cultural and political concerns. He creates images and produces documentary films that raise questions, for himself as well as for the viewer, about some of the pressing issues of our time. The primary focus of his work over the past two and a half decades can be summarized as an ongoing reflection on the frailty and resilience of the human condition and the persistent search for self-realization in the face of personal and cultural self-delusion.

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Daniel López-Pérez is an architect and educator, whose research practice moves across academic and professional spheres through collaborative experimentation that aims to expand the discipline of architecture in unprecedented ways.

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Juliana Maxim, Ph.D., teaches the history and theory of art and architecture. Her work centers on 20th century art, architecture and urbanism in Eastern Europe and on the relation between representation and political regimes, as well as on the question of "other" modernisms. Her Ph.D. dissertation, "The New, the Old, the Modern:  Architecture and its Representation in Socialist Romania, 1955-1965" (MIT, 2006) examines how the architectural culture of postwar Romania sustained the regime's attempt to transform inhabitation and the city into a new collectivist environment.

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Duncan E. McCosker is a professor of Art and has taught undergraduate courses in a variety of media, specializing in photography.  He has taught here and in France and Japan.  His creative work in photography is focused on contemporary leisure and recreational space in Southern California and Australia with a special interest in the American experience.

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Saba Oskoui established the Visual Communications and the Computer Art areas of emphasis at the University of San Diego. In addition to her teaching, Oskoui has served as the Visual Arts Program coordinator and the Design Internship coordinator. She is one of the Visual Arts senior thesis advisors, and the coordinator for the Visual Arts junior reviews. Oskoui oversees the Visual Communications area of emphasis at the Department of Art.

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Michael Rich has developed and taught New Media courses involving video, sound, performance, digital imaging, web design, and animation.

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Allison Wiese, an assistant professor, teaches sculpture and related topics. She is an interdisciplinary artist who makes sculptures, installations, sound works and architectural interventions. Wiese’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States at such venues as Machine Project in Los Angeles, The Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego and Socrates Sculpture Park in New York. She is the recipient of a 2007 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and has received grants from Art Matters, Creative Capital and the Cultural Arts Council of Houston.

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Sally Yard, Ph.D., joined the faculty in 1989, and served as chair of the department of Art from 1992 through 1997. Yard writes about art since the second world war.  Her research interests stretch from the emergence of abstract expressionism in the United States to the relationship of art and its publics—whether in the contentious terrain of San Diego / Tijuana or the reflective realm of a museum garden.

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Lisa Baird, Ph.D., joined the biology faculty in 1988. In addition to teaching in the preparatory courses for biology majors, she teaches classes in plant physiology, electron microscopy and the senior seminar. Baird is a developmental plant physiologist with particular interest in plant stress responses to pathogens and insect predation and how these responses can be modulated by plant growth regulators.

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Terry Bird, Ph.D., joined the USD faculty in 2005. His primary teaching responsibilities include undergraduate lecture and laboratory courses in genetics and microbiology.  His research is focused on elucidating the signal transduction systems used to regulate development in bacteria.

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Hugh Ellis, Ph.D., came to the Biology Department in 1980 after teaching three years at Iowa State University.  He is a physiological ecologist and teaches several ecological courses as well as two of the preparatory courses for the Biology and Marine Science majors.  His research is in the energetics of birds, looking at such topics as energy budgets, migration, and diving.  He has been a visiting research scientist at the University of Hawaii, Sydney University (Australia), and the Archbold Biological Station (Florida).  Dr. Ellis is affiliated with the Marine Science graduate program and is involved with the Center of Comparative Physiology in the Biology Department.

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Rick Gonzalez, Ph.D., joined the faculty in1992.  He teaches an upper-division “W” course in vertebrate physiology, senior seminar and introductory courses in the major.  He is a comparative animal physiologist focusing on the respiratory, acid-base, and ion regulation physiology of aquatic animals.

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Valerie Hohman, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1999 and teaches immunology, introduction to cell processes, and senior seminar.  Hohman is a comparative immunologist who is interested in the evolution of the immune system.  Her research focuses on identifying and characterizing molecules associated with secretory or mucosal immunity in the lower vertebrates.

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Curtis Loer, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1997, as the Fletcher Jones Chair in Biology. His teaching and research interests are in cell-molecular biology, particularly in the development and function of the nervous system. He is also especially interested in promoting undergraduate research, having long served in the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program and on the organizing committee of USD's annual student reasearch conference "Creative Collaborations."

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Mary Sue Lowery, Ph.D., joined the biology faculty in 1990.  She teaches preparatory courses for biology majors, as well as biological oceanography and interdisciplinary team-taught honors courses.  Lowery is a comparative biologist with particular interest in the effect of endurance swimming on the development of muscle in juvenile marine fishes.

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Michael Mayer, Ph.D., came to USD in 1994 and teaches general biological topics and more specialized courses in botany and evolutionary biology. He conducts research in plant systematics, which is essentially the study of plant diversity. It involves deciphering the evolutionary relationships among plants, and then using these patterns to infer the processes by which plants evolve, speciate, and produce new lineages. Mayer has conducted several projects involving plants of the southern California landscape, and maintains collaborations with colleagues at San Diego State University and the San Diego Natural History Museum.

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Geoffrey Morse, Ph.D., came to USD in 2009 and teaches general biological topics and more specialized courses in entomology and evolutionary biology.  He conducts research in insect evolution and ecology, the goal of which is to understand how ecological interactons, environmental conditions, and geographic distributions have structured their impressive diversification.  This research involves reconstructing evolutionary relationships among insect species, examining patterns and mechanisms of speciation, understanding processes that link or separate populations, and understanding the adaptations that cause ecological specialization of insect species.  Morse works on these interactions at levels that span from local California landscapes to global patterns of diversification.

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Marjorie L. Patrick joined the faculty in Fall 2003.  In the Biology Department, Dr. Patrick teaches two of the lower division biology courses that provide students a foundation in genetics, evolution, ecology and cellular processes.  Additionally she offers upper division lecture and laboratory courses exploring invertebrate physiology.  Her research field is comparative animal physiology, with an interest in osmoregulatory strategies of aquatic insect and fish species residing in chemically diverse environments.

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Greg Pregill, Ph.D., joined the faculty in 1993 after a nearly life-long passion for natural history led him on research expeditions to tropical and subtropical islands around the world. Following graduate school, he received a two-year appointment as a Fellow in residence at the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution. He next served as curator and chair of the Department of Herpetology at the San Diego Natural History, and for a time was deputy director for Science.  Pregill continues his research on insular ecosystems and teaches related courses on biodiversity and vertebrate evolution.

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Marie Simovich, Ph.D., has been at USD since 1986 and is the director of the Branchiopod Research Group. Her research is on the ecology and evolution of ephemeral pool organisms with a focus on endangered crustaceans.  She has a number of students in her lab working on grants.  She is a frequent consultant to the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a member of the Vernal Pool Multi-Species Recovery Team and is a member of the IUCN World Conservation Union Inland Water Crustacea Specialist Group.  She is also an adjunct professor at San Diego State University.

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Curt W. Spanis, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1965, serving as professor and department of Biology chair  at the College for Men and president of the Faculty Association prior to unification in 1972.  Following unification of the colleges Spanis served as department chair for two years. Spanis has taught biochemistry, cell physiology, genetics, microbiology, neurobiology, introductory biology, human biology, and exercise physiology.  He established the Pre-Med/ Health Sciences program and directed it for more than two decades. Also, he served as band director, tennis coach (both mens and womens teams) and established the USD Tennis Camp. Spanis has taught a graduate course in cell and molecular biology.

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Lauren Benz, Ph.D., joined the University of San Diego in 2009 as the recipient of a Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professorship. Her teaching interests are in the areas of general, inorganic, and physical chemistry. She strives to motivate students by incorporating fun and interactive demonstrations in class, and by connecting the course material to the real world. Lauren’s research merges the general areas of surface science and materials chemistry, and focuses on the development of an atomic-level understanding of structure-reactivity relationships.

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James Bolender, Ph.D., came to University of San Diego in 1996 after a post-doctoral experience in the department of Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University.  He currently serves as the director of USD’s Honors Program. Bolender has received more than $700,000 in grants to assist in the purchase of equipment and to support undergraduate research. Bolender was awarded the Davies Award for Teaching Excellence in 2007.

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Mary K. Boyd, Ph.D., was appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2008. Prior to USD she was professor and chair of Chemistry at Georgia Southern University from 2005-2008 and a faculty member in the department of Chemistry at Loyola University Chicago from 1990-2005.  Boyd was a Faculty Fellow in the Center for Ethics and Social Justice at Loyola in 2004. She received the Sujack Award for Teaching Excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola.

Boyd is a chemistry councilor for the Council of Undergraduate Research, and serves on the American Chemical Society Committee on Minority Affairs and the executive committee of the Division of Organic Chemistry. She has served as secretary and advisory board member of the Inter-American Photochemical Society.

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Christopher J. A. Daley, Ph.D.,  joined the faculty in 2007.  He teaches general and inorganic chemistry undergraduate courses.  His current research focus is in the areas of bioinorganic and inorganic chemistry with an emphasis on enzyme modeling and catalyst design.

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David O. De Haan, Ph.D., came to USD in 2001 from Lyon College. He teaches technology-rich courses in analytical and environmental chemistry.  His undergraduate research group is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the chemical changes occurring in clouds and aerosol.  As part of this project, USD students are identifying and quantifying new, previously unknown sources of urban haze.  He recently worked with USD’s Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) to create a greenhouse gas inventory for San Diego County and to outline ways to meet state targets for greenhouse gas reductions by 2020.

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Robert N. Dutnall, Ph.D., is a biochemist and structural biologist. He teaches lecture and laboratory courses in biochemistry, biophysical chemistry, general chemistry and also genetics. His research focuses on understanding how proteins can manipulate packaging of genetic material in a eukaryotic cell to control gene expression that, in turn, drives cellular functions involved in the development and well being of complex multicellular organisms.

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Tammy J. Dwyer, Ph.D.,  joined the faculty at the University of San Diego in 1994. She served as chair of the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry from 2001-2009. Dwyer is passionate about chemistry and enjoys teaching how theory and experiment blend to enhance our understanding of the physical world and of chemical phenomena. She strives to create a positive and relaxed classroom atmosphere to facilitate learning while setting high standards for her students and providing them with the tools to meet the course goals. She maintains an active research program involving undergraduates focused on using NMR spectroscopy and computational methods to study structure and dynamics in both small and large molecules.

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Peter M. Iovine, Ph.D., became a member of the faculty in 2002,  His teaching interests lie in the areas of organic chemistry, organometallic chemistry and polymer chemistry.   In addition to formal classroom teaching,  Iovine is interested in how community service learning can be implemented into the chemistry curriculum.  Iovine’s research bridges organic and polymer chemistry, placing an emphasis on the organic chemistry of boron and the conversion of biomass into functional materials.

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Jeremy Kua, Ph.D., teaches courses in physical chemistry, general chemistry and computational chemistry. His current research interest is investigating the dynamics of self-assembly in a variety of chemical systems.

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Mitch Malachowski, Ph.D., has been on the faculty since 1984.  He believes strongly in finding ways to enhance student learning and student outcomes and makes this a priority in his teaching, research and service.  He teaches courses in various aspects of organic chemistry and organic chemistry laboratories. His research interests range from the synthesis of novel organic molecules to the history and philosophy of science to the proper role of research at undergraduate institutions.   He has served as the president of the Council on Undergraduate Research and takes on many roles in that organization. Malachowski has received two University Professorships from USD (1996-1997 and 2002-2003) and the Charles B. Willard award for distinguished career achievement from Rhode Island College.

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Kimberly I. Matulef, Ph.D.,  joined the faculty in 2008.  Her expertise is in biochemistry, and her research focuses on understanding how proteins found in cellular membranes regulate the flow of ions into and out of cells. 

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Stephen A. Mills has been a member of the faculty since 2006. He is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, where he teaches organic and biochemistry. His research focuses on the role of metals in proteins. Currently, he is focusing on two protein families: the Ferric Uptake Regulator family and the Copper Amine Oxidase family.

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Debbie Tahmassebi, Ph.D., joined the faculty in 1999.  She is an organic chemist with interests in the synthesis and structural studies of molecules, primarily studying novel nucleosides and amino-acid derivatives.  She enjoys teaching the excellent undergraduate students at USD and working with them on collaborative research projects in the laboratory.

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Jonathan M. Bowman, Ph.D.,assistant professor of Communication Studies, teaches courses in human communication processes and the methods through which we obtain that knowledge about communication. He joined USD in 2007 after three years on the faculty at Boston College. Bowman’s research currently focuses on communication processes associated with intimacy and close relationships, with recent publications addressing male friendships. He is also a participant in the Faculty-in-Residence program, and works as an advisor and a mentor to undergraduates in multiple capacities, particularly those students involved in greek life and/or campus faith-based organizations.

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Leeva C. Chung, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1998. She is an associate professor of Communication Studies and also serves as an affiliate faculty member in Ethnic Studies. Chung has developed undergraduate courses and a research agenda based on her focus on ethnic identity development among minority groups in the U.S. and intercultural issues. In addition to her teaching and research efforts, she has been actively involved in the community, specifically with the San Diego Asian Film Festival. Thanks to Chung’s efforts, the festival premiered at USD in 2000. Since then, it has gained an international reputation as one of North America's leading Asian American film festivals.

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Esteban del Río, Ph.D., an assistant professor in Communication Studies, centers his work on media and cultural studies, from a critical, qualitative perspective.  He teaches introduction to media studies, media and conflict, international media, interpretive methods, film &and cultural politics, and acoustic culture and communication.  His research examines the social construction of unity and difference in U.S. national and transnational contexts, focusing on the politics and processes of Latinidad in informational and entertainment discourses.  His current work examines the possibility of Latina/o coherence, with specific interest in the politics of positive representation for historically marginalized and subjugated groups in contemporary general market media.

Interests
Participatory culture, modernism, DYI, Chicanismo, cinema, music

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Sarah K. Foregger, Ph.D., teaches courses emphasizing a social science perspective of communication.  Her specializations include interpersonal communication, social influence, health communication and research methods. Her most recent research focus has been on the use of media to maintain or establish interpersonal connections, specifically examining the use of Facebook.com by undergraduates.   

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Carole Huston, Ph.D., joined USD’s faculty in 1989. She is a professor of Communication Studies and Gender Studies, and currently serves as the assessment director for the College of Arts and Sciences. She has taught lower and upper division courses in communication theory, research methods, interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, and the gender studies senior seminar. Her research interests include family business communication as the juncture between interpersonal and organizational communication. She has also served at the director of the Center for Educational Excellence, focusing on faculty development programs for the university community.

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Kristin C. Moran, Ph.D., joined the Communication Studies department in 1999 as a visiting assistant professor and became a permanent faculty member in 2001. Moran offers courses on a wide range of mass media related issues such as Children and Media and International Media. Her research focuses on Spanish-language media in the United States, Mexico and Spain with special attention to the global expansion of children’s television networks. She serves as the university’s representative to the Binational Association of Schools of Communication (BINACOM), an organization devoted to cross border interaction and demystifying stereotypes through ethical communication.

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Sarah Burke Odland, Ph.D., joined the faculty in 2008 after three years at the University of Colorado at Denver. Odland teaches courses in media studies and mass communication. Her research is concerned with exploring the relationship between media representations and the construction of social and cultural identities, particularly in relation to gender.

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Roger C. Pace, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1987.  He is a professor of Communication Studies and also currently serves as the director of the basic speech courses.   He teaches courses in communication theory and organizational communication.  Pace’s research interests are group and organizational decision making and the effects of emerging technologies on communication patterns and outcomes.  He is the former associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and chair of the Faculty Senate.

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Eric Pierson, Ph.D., joined the faculty in 1999. Prior to joining the faculty he spent five years teaching at the University of Illinois st Urbana-Champaign while pursuing his Ph.D. He has been chair of the department since 2006.

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Susannah Stern Ph.D., joined the department of Communication Studies in 2004, after teaching at Boston College for four years. Stern offers courses that investigate the role of media in contemporary life, particularly as they involve children, adolescents, and women, as well as courses on research methods.  Stern's research focuses on electronic media and youth culture, and she has conducted extensive research on the Internet as a site for cultural consumption and self-expression.

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David Sullivan, Ph.D., joined the department of Communication Studies in 1992. Sullivan teaches courses in communication theory, media theory and criticism, journalism, political communication, and mediated sports. He has authored journal articles on the topics of mediated sports and mediated politics that have appeared in the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journal of Communication, and Women's Studies in Communication. A former newspaper reporter and editor, he has served as faculty advisor to USD's undergraduate newspaper since he arrived at USD.

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Larry Williamson, Ph.D., began building the Communication Studies department at USD in 1982, and chaired the department from 1985 to 1993. He is a rhetorical critic, and has applied this perspective to the examination of various types of popular texts over the last 26 years. His teaching interests are eclectic and range across subjects like semantics, rhetorical theory, media criticism, and legal communication.

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Eren Branch, Ph.D., joined USD in 1985 after working as an information officer at the Fulbright Commission in Stockholm and, before that, teaching part-time at the University of Cincinnati.  For her first twelve years at USD, she served primarily as an administrator (as associate dean and then dean of the School of Graduate and Continuing Education) and joined the English Department full-time in 1997. A native San Diegan, Branch grew up in Italy.

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Jericho Brown worked as the speechwriter for the Mayor of New Orleans before receiving his PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston. He also holds an MFA from the University of New Orleans and a BA from Dillard University. The recipient of a Bunting Fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University and two travel fellowships to the Krakow Poetry Seminar in Poland, he has served as poetry editor at Gulf Coast and assistant poetry editor at Callaloo. His poems have appeared in The Iowa Review, jubilat, New England Review, Oxford American, and several other journals and anthologies. Brown teaches creative writing as an Assistant Professor of English at the University of San Diego. New Issues Poetry & Prose published his first book PLEASE.

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Cynthia L. Caywood, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1984.  She is currently serves as co-director of the London Summer Program.  In the English department, Caywood offers undergraduate courses on restoration and eighteenth century British literature, world drama, and women's literature and graduate courses in seventeenth and eighteenth century drama.  Her research interests include Aphra Behn, Jane Austen, and August Wilson, with special interests in British and American theatre history, stage production, and feminist theory.

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Dennis M. Clausen, Ph.D., has been a member of the University of San Diego faculty since 1972. Clausen has taught undergraduate American literature courses with a special emphasis on authors who write about American small towns.

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Dr. Floyd specializes in African-American literature, mixed race and ethnic studies, identity and community, and representations of children and childhood. He has recently written for and edited a special volume on August Wilson in College Literature. Dr. Floyd has been teaching at USD since 2000.

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Sister Mary Hotz, a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart, came to USD in 1996. She received her Ph.D. from The University of Chicago in 1997, with a concentration in Victorian literature. Her central interests include nineteenth-century British literature and culture, Native American literature, and the development of the novel. Her most recent project, Literary Remains: Representations of Death and Burial in Victorian England, explores the unexpectedly central role of death and burial in Victorian England by locating corpses at the center of a surprisingly extensive range of Victorian concerns: money and law, medicine and urban architecture, social planning and folklore, religion and national identity.

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Joseph Jeon has taught at USD since 2001.  He is Poetry Editor for Kaya, a publisher of Asian/diasporic literature and culture, and serves on the editorial board of 1913: a journal of forms.

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Peter Kanelos taught at Stanford and is now assistant professor in the Department of English at the University of San Diego, where he teaches courses in Shakespeare, drama and creative writing. Professor Kanelos has published creative work and reviews in Poetry, The Gingko Tree Review, Verse and other places. He has been the recipient of an Academy of American Poets award on two occasions and was named a Professor of the Year at the University of San Diego, 2004-2005. Dr. Kanelos has also served as the coordinator for the Lindsay J. Cropper Center for Creative Writing.

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Areas of interest: late classical and medieval; history of the English language; textual criticism and historical linguistics.  Recent publications include A History of the English Language (Oxford: Blackwell, 2010) and Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts Housed in Switzerland (Tempe, AZ: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 2009), and articles in Notes & Queries, Journal of English & Germanic Philology, Mediaevistik, Studia Neophilologica, and The Chaucer Review.

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Gail Perez, Ph.D., came to the university in 1992 to teach American ethnic literature.  Since that time, she has co-founded  the Ethnic Studies major and now has a joint appointment with Ethnic Studies.  She teaches courses in U.S. women of color,  multicultural California, introduction to ethnic studies, and creative writing.  She has advised MEChA, has given the Chicano Graduation Keynote, and has been nominated as a USD Woman of Impact three times.  Her research interests include pedagogy, social space and race, and literature by women of color.

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Atreyee Phukan, Ph.D., teaches courses in world literature and post-colonial literature. Her research interests focus on contemporary literature and theory, in particular those of the Caribbean and South Asian diaspora.

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Mary A. Quinn has been a member of the faculty since 1984. She is a Professor of English. In the English Department, Professor Quinn offers undergraduate courses on Romanticism, poetry and the visual arts, mindfulness in literature, and the short story. Her research now focuses on poetry and the visual arts. Professor Quinn has served as director of the Honors Program and coordinator of the Writing Center, She has twice delivered the Freshman Convocation address. She received an Outstanding Preceptor Award in 2007.

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Fred Miller Robinson, Ph.D., served as chair of the English Department from 1991 until 2005.  From 2005-06 he was interim director of the Theatre Arts program, and beginning in 2009 he will be director of the Music program.  He has taught a variety of undergraduate courses in modern literature, including Modern Poetry, Modern Drama, Narrative Theory and Writing Autobiography, and a text course in modern drama to the USD/Old Globe MFA students.  His research focus has shifted from comic theory to cultural studies: a social history of The Man in the Bowler Hat and, currently, the interculture of Ireland and the U.S. Robinson also taught for a year (each) at the Universite de Haute Bretagne in Rennes, France, and the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK.

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Abraham Stoll, Ph.D., specializes in Renaissance and early modern literature, particularly the literature of seventeenth-century England. He has recently published a book on the poetry and theology of John Milton, and has edited a new edition of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene. He has taught at the University of San Diego since 2000. Stoll was visiting professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2006-07.

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Barton Thurber received his BA degree from Stanford and his AM and PhD degrees from Harvard. He teaches classes in poetry, Romanticism and 19th century British literature; his research interests include those areas as well as the impacts of digital technologies on narrative and on the humanities generally.

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Dr. Vander Elst received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2006. Following a Mellon post-doctoral fellowship at the Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies in Toronto, Dr. Vander Elst began teaching at USD in 2009. He specializes in Middle English literature, especially Chaucer and fourteenth-century English romance, literature, rhetoric, and propaganda of the later crusades, and literary representations of medieval politics.

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Irene Williams, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1982.  She offers undergraduate courses in nineteenth and twentieth-century U.S. literature, modern European literature, and literature of genocide.  Her research focus is literature written in New England in the nineteenth century.  She is co-director, with Professor Vidya Nadkarni, of Liberal Arts Beyond The Classroom, an interdisciplinary initiative which seeks to engage students in intellectual life outside of classroom studies and emphasizes the university's social justice mission as an indispensable component of informed participation in the world.

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May Fu grounds her vocational praxis in student-centered pedagogies and curricula that address the self-determination of our selves, families, and communities. Her classes explore the development, intersectionality, and utility of race while also identifying how aggrieved groups call new communities, cultures, and possibilities into being. Her research interests include comparative racialized histories, social movements, womyn of color feminisms, gender and labor, and the politics of historiography. She especially seeks to connect the different knowledges that exist in grassroots, activist, and academic communities. Drawing on oral histories, she is currently writing a book that explores Asian American radicalism and community organizing during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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Michelle Jacob’s interdisciplinary scholarship and personal experiences are deeply intertwined.  As a member of the Yakama Nation, she understands how decolonization is an important priority for indigenous communities.  Thus, she seeks to teach and research in ways that empower communities by working towards social justice.  Her community-based research focuses on her home reservation community (in Washington State) as well as the San Diego-area, where she teaches during the academic year.  Her research areas of interest include: health, education, and decolonization.  In all efforts, she seeks to understand how indigenous peoples can be empowered to heal from wounds inflicted by colonialism.

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Jesse Mills, Ph.D., has been an active and dedicated member of the College of Arts and Sciences faculty since Fall 2006 . Developing an African American Studies curriculum, serving as a resource for campus-wide diversity efforts, and mentoring advanced undergraduate research in ethnic studies, Mills enjoys being a part of the USD learning community. Mills draws his inspiration from his esteemed colleagues in the Ethnic Studies core and affiliated faculty, and the College of Arts and Sciences as a whole.

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Alberto Lopez Pulido, PhD, is chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and Chair of the President's Advisory Board on Inclusion and Diversity at the University of San Diego. He teaches both the introductory and advanced courses for the ethnic studies major in addition to specialized courses in Latina/o and Chicana/o Studies. His scholarly interests include the intersection of race, religion and social justice in addition to the history of ethnic studies in higher education and the intersection between race, music, and biography. Pulido has published a range of numerous essays in books and journals such as the Journal of Catholic Social Thought; Crosscurrents; Religion and Literature; Journal of Religion and Education; Studies in Twentieth Century Literature;

CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies; American Quarterly; Latino Studies Journal. He is the author of the book: Sacred World of the Penitentes and his most recent book is entitled: Moving Beyond Borders:

Julian Samora and the Establishment of Latino Studies.He is currently completing a research project on deportation, violence, and migration along the U.S.-Mexico border with his colleague Dr. Oliva Ruiz. Pulido was mentored by the first Mexican American sociologist in the nation, Julian Samora, PhD, who had a distinguished career at the University of Notre Dame.

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Thomas W. Barton, Ph.D., joined the faculty in 2007. He offers a wide sweep of undergraduate courses, including The Medieval World, The Pacific World, Europe’s Discovery and Conquest of the World, Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Spain, Renaissance Europe, and Historians’ Methods. His research concerns the social history of Europe and contacts between Europeans and non-Europeans in the medieval and early modern periods, with a current focus on the case of eastern Iberia and the western Mediterranean.

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Jonathan P. Conant, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the History Department, also currently serves as the coordinator of the Classical Studies minor.  Conant offers undergraduate courses on the ancient world, the medieval world, Greek civilization, Roman civilization, the fall of the Roman empire, castles and crusades, and historians’ methods.  His research focus is on the Mediterranean world in late antiquity, with a special emphasis on questions of empire, identity, trade and communications, urban and rural life, literacy, and violence.

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Iris H. W. Engstrand, Ph.D., is a native Californian. Engstrand’s academic honors include USD’s distinguished University Professorship; the Davies Award for Faculty Achievement; Awards of Merit from the San Diego, Southern California, and California Historical Societies, Western History Association, and Orange Coast College; fellowships from the Fulbright Commission, American Philosophical Society and Huntington Library; and the California Design Award in Historic Preservation. She is a trustee of the San Diego Natural History Museum and the San Diego Maritime Museum, past president of the American Historical Association Pacific Coast Branch and of the Western History Association. Engstrand has lived and traveled extensively in Spain and Mexico and lectures widely in both English and Spanish. She has degrees in history, with maors and minors in the fields of California, Mexico, Latin America and the Spanish Southwest history, biology and Spanish

Engstrand has recently been awarded the prestigious medal of the Order of Isabel la Católica (Isabel the Catholic -- ruler of Spain in 1492) by Juan Carlos, King of Spain, for outstanding contributions to the history of Spain in the Americas.

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Colin Fisher, Ph.D., conducts research in the field of U.S. environmental history. He offers classes in environmental history, history of the American West, and public history.

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Michael Gonzalez, Ph.D., began teaching at the University of San Diego in 1995.  He currently is director of the History Masters program.

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James O. Gump, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1981.  He currently serves as an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. In the History Department, Gump offers undergraduate courses on war and peace in the modern world, history of Africa, rise and fall of apartheid, and modern Europe.  His research focus is comparative, South African, and Native American history, with special interests in ethnic conflict, state-sponsored violence, institutional approaches to fact-finding and reconciliation, and restorative justice.

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Molly McClain, Ph.D., serves as director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program. Her work in seventeenth-century British history includes a biography of the duke and duchess of Beaufort as well as articles on Queen Mary II. She also publishes work on local history. A ninth-generation San Diegan, she co-edits The Journal of San Diego History.

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Clara M. Oberle, Ph.D., has been a member of the History department since 2008.  She offers courses on modern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Germany.  Further teaching interests include World War II, women in history, and urban history.  Her research focus is on Berlin, on post-catastrophe cities, and on German history, with special interests in migrations, comparative military occupations, urban planning and housing, as well as the interplay between law and memory.

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Kenneth P. Serbin, Ph.D., professor and chair in the department of History, is the immediate past president of the Brazilian Studies Association (2008-2010). He also served as the co-chair of the Brazil Section of the Latin American Studies Association (2003-2006).

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Kathryn C. Statler, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1999.  She is the coordinator of the Peace and Justice Studies minor. Statler offers undergraduate courses on the Vietnam wars, U.S. foreign relations, history of France, peace and justice studies, and armed conflict and American society.  Her research focus is international and multidisciplinary, with an emphasis on alliance politics and cultural diplomacy.

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Yi Sun, Ph.D.,  has been a member of the History Department at USD since fall 1997.  She teaches a number of undergraduate courses on East Asian history and U.S.-East Asia Relations.  Currently she also serves as the coordinator for the Asian Studies Minor program.  Her research interests include Chinese women and modernization, Sino-American relations, and globalization.  She has served on the executive board of several academic organizations, including the AsiaNetwork, Chinese Historians in the United States and the Association of Third World Studies, and presently is the associate editor of the Asian section for the Journal of Third World Studies.

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Michael Agnew, Ph.D., came to the University of San Diego in 2007 from Columbia University. He has taught numerous courses on Spanish and Latin American literature and culture, film, comparative literature, and Spanish philology (historical and general linguistics). He also teaches all levels of Spanish language. His research focuses on the late medieval and early modern periods, in particular on the intersections between historiography and ideology and on book history. He is an advisor for the Medieval-Renaissance minor and is also the on-campus academic advisor for the Madrid-Toledo study abroad program.

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Carlos Burgos will teach all levels of Spanish language and Latin American literature, film, and culture courses. His research interests include nineteenth and twentieth century Latin American literature and politics, travel writing, film, histories and theories of globalization, and critical articulations of literature and philosophy.

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Kim Eherenman, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1990. Her specializations include Latin American poetry, pre-Columbian literatures and cultures, colonial and nineteenth century Latin American literature, and Mexican literature. Her research focus is Latin American poetry and translation. Formerly, she served as coordinator of the Latino Studies Program, executive director of the Guadalajara Summer Program, coordinator of the Spanish Area, and chair of this department. In addition, she has served as an external program reviewer for world language and literature programs at the university level. She is also a bilingual poet whose works have appeared in literary journals nationally and abroad.

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Kevin Guerrieri, Ph.D., teaches courses on Latin American literature and culture and on the Spanish language, from beginning to advanced levels. His research is focused on Latin American literature, specializing in Colombian narrative, with interests in cultural discourses of modernity and national formation, displacement and testimonio, and urban literature and culture. Guerrieri is actively involved in Community-Service Learning, is a former co-chair of USD’s Social Issues Committee, and currently serves on the University Senate.

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Brigette Heimers, Ph.D., teaches elementary and intermediate German as well as upper-division courses in composition, culture and civilization, and literature.

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Rebecca Ingram offers classes in all levels of Spanish language in addition to courses on modern Spanish literature and cultural studies.

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Carl Jubran, Ph.D., teaches elementary language and advanced courses in composition, the cultural history of Spain as well as literature courses. His fields of specialization are peninsular literature, Spanish orientalism and Hispano-Arabism, 19th-20th century. Other interests include Latin American poetry, modernismo and gender studies.

Jubran is in charge of internationalization of the curriculum and international study, serves as the executive director of the Guadalajara Summer Program, and is editor of Praesidium: Interdisciplincary Journal of Latin American and Cross Cultural Studies.

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Beatriz Lado, Ph.D., is language coordinator and teaches courses in Spanish and Spanish linguistics. Her specializations include second language acquisition, second language teaching methodology, cognitive effects of adult language acquisition, and bilingualism.

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Michèle C. Magnin, Ph.D., has been a member of the department of Languages and Literatures since 1990. She is the director of the French section. She offers courses in literature, culture and civilization, women writers, advanced writing, and phonetics. She was director of the Faculty and Curriculum Diversity Program on campus for three years.

A native Parisian, Magnin has established strong links with the French community in San Diego. She was president of the San Diego chapters of the American Association of Teachers of French, and the Alliance Française.

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Alejandro Meter, Ph.D., teaches courses on Latin American literature of the twentieth and twentieth-first centuries. His specializations include dictatorial and post-dictatorial fiction of the Southern Cone, migration and exile, and Latin American Jewish studies. His most recent research focuses on memory, trauma, and reconciliation. He currently directs the intersession Buenos Aires Program. He was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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Amanda L. Petersen has been a member of the faculty since 2008. She teaches Spanish language and Latin American literatures and cultures courses. Her areas of expertise include 20th and 21st century Latin American women authors and Latin American literature, with an emphasis on Mexican narrative. Her research interests focus on the literary representations of gender and violence in contemporary Mexican short stories by female authors.

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Sandra Robertson, Ph.D., joined the USD faculty in 1983. She specializes in modern Spain,  has served as coordinator of the Spanish section and was formerly in charge of the lower division language program in Spanish. She regularly teaches courses in Spanish literature of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her research interests include oral traditions in Spain, Spanish cinema and the Spanish Civil War.

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Maria Cecilia Ruiz, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1990.

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Leonora Simonovis, Ph.D.,  teaches all levels of Spanish language, Latin American and Caribbean literature and culture. Her research focus has been on the relationship between music and literature of the Hispanic Caribbean and the role of popular culture in the construction of cultural identities.

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Richard Stroik, Ph.D., came to the University of San Diego in 1991. He currently serves as Chair of the Department of Languages and Literatures. He has previously served as coordinator of the Intensive Language (Dartmouth) Model for first-year language instruction and as a member of the executive committee of the Academic Assembly. He has been active in study abroad during his entire career, serving as chair of the Study Abroad committee and creating a summer program in France. His research interests are in 20th century French poetry and Camus. Stroik is a product of Catholic elementary and secondary education.

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Teaching experience: Notre Dame, Ohio State, San Diego Community College. At USD since 1978. All levels from lower division language to advanced upper division French literature.

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Michel A. Boudrias, Ph.D.,has been on the faculty since 1996 and is currently chair of the department and Chair of the university's Sustainability Task Force.  Boudrias teaches classes that cover a wide range of topics from introductory marine biology to interdisciplinary coastal environmental science to classical invertebrate zoology.  He has taught Honors courses that combine traditional classroom concepts with intense field experiences. His research projects include long-term interdisciplinary projects combining marine ecology and marine chemistry in Baja California Sur and an integrated project studying the social, cultural and environmental impacts of tourism in Jamaica. 

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Sarah Gray, Ph.D., teaches courses in geological oceanography, paleoclimatology, climate change, environmental geology, and earth science.  These courses include hands-on field and lab-based research experiences.  Gray conducts research in paleoclimatology, marine sedimentation, the geology of coral reefs and environmental proxies recorded in the geochemistry of coral skeletons.  Current research includes a study of the impact of watershed development on sedimentation on fringing coral reefs in the U.S. Virgin Islands and a synthesis of multi-century climate cycles preserved in the geologic record. Her Ph.D. dissertation was entitled “Late Quaternary History of Reef Growth, Sea Level, and Diagenesis from three Cook Islands Atolls”.

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Ron Kaufmann, Ph.D., joined the USD faculty in 1997 and currently serves as director of the Marine Science Graduate Program.  His areas of specialization are ecology and environmental biology, and his teaching includes courses in biology, environmental studies and marine science, as well as interdisciplinary courses that are team-taught with colleagues in the humanities. Kaufmann’s scholarship focuses on biological communities and their dynamics as well as their responses to changing environmental conditions. He has studied marine communities in extreme environments such as the Antarctic and the deep ocean.

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Nathalie Reyns, Ph.D., teaches core and upper division courses in oceanography, marine ecology and how humans impact the oceans. Reyns’ research interests focus on identifying the factors that influence the dispersal of marine organisms, to better understand the population dynamics of these organisms and the implications for fisheries management and marine conservation. Reyns is also very interested in advancing marine science education and improving ocean literacy, and regularly provides research opportunities for undergraduate students.

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Anne A. Sturz, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1991.  She also currently serves as an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. Sturz offers undergraduate and graduate courses on chemical and physical oceanography and earth systems.  Her research focus is hydrothermal fluid chemical composition and secondary mineral formation at oceanic spreading ridges. 

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Drew Talley, Ph.D., teaches a variety of courses including Introduction to Physical Oceanography, Biological Oceanography, Graduate Statistics and Experimental Design, and Life in the Sea. His overall research focuses on understanding connectivity across habitat boundaries, and assessing how that interdependence between systems changes with anthropogenic influence both locally (e.g., through habitat loss) and globally (e.g., through climate change).

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Zhi-Yong Yin, Ph.D., came to USD in 2003 after teaching at Georgia State University in Atlanta for 12 years. He offers classes in earth science, geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing. His research focus is hydroclimatology, with special interests in recent and past climate variations and the impact on hydrological systems and water resources.

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Dwight Bean, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1973 and played a role in introducing the Computer Science major at USD.  Most recently he has taught Investigations in Modern Mathematics, Linear Algebra, Calculus and Topology.  His current research is in voting theory. 

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Jane Friedman, Ph.D., is also the coordinator for the approved subject matter program in mathematic which prepares future high-school mathematics teachers. She has current research projects in voting theory and in statistics.

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John Glick, Ph.D. has been a member of the faculty at USD since 1993.  He also currently serves as chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.  Glick teaches both computer science and mathematics courses.  He does research in the areas of optimization and parallel algorithms.

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Professor Jennifer Gorsky teaches a variety of courses, including courses on partial differential equations, the history of mathematics, linear algebra, and calculus.  Her main research focus is on the well-posedness and analyticity of the Cauchy problem for nonlinear evolution equations. 

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Stanley Gurak, Ph.D., has taught in the Mathematics and Computer Science Department for several years, having served as the chair during 1988-1991 and again during 2002-2004.  His research interests include number theory, algebra and theoretical computer science.  Gurak has published several papers in algebraic number theory.

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Diane Hoffoss, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty  since 2001, where she teaches all levels of mathematics.  Her research interests are in the areas of 3-manifold topology, foliations, and hyperbolic geometry.  In addition to her teaching and research activity, she is responsible for authoring and maintaining the Mathematics Placement Exam software system.  Also, each year Hoffoss advises teams of students who participate in COMAP’s International Mathematical Contest in Modeling.

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Professor Jiang has been a member of the faculty since 1998. He teaches a variety of courses including object-oriented design and programming, data structures and algorithms, numerical analysis, and neural networks. His research focus has been on information retrieval, machine learning, parallel and scientific computing, and Web mining.

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Simon Koo, Ph.D., has been with USD since 2006, where he is currently an assistant professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, and an affiliate assistant professor of Engineering. He is a member of IEEE and ACM, and he is listed in Who's Who of Emerging Leaders, America’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals, and Who's Who in America. Koo has an Erdös number of 3.

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Stacy Langton graduated from Caltech and got his Ph.D. at Harvard, working under David Mumford in the subject of Algebraic Geometry. After a period at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, he came to USD in 1978.

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Luby Liao, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1983.  He offers undergraduate courses on database management systems, Web application development, object-oriented programming, and computer Llteracy.  His research focus is Enterprise Web Development and Content Management System.

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Lynn McGrath, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 2002.  Most recently she taught Logic for Mathematics and Computer Science and Mathematical Concepts for Elementary Teachers.

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Perla Myers has been a member of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department since 1999.  She enjoys teaching classes at all undergraduate levels: core mathematics classes, mathematics classes for the Mathematics major, and mathematics classes for future and in-service elementary and secondary school teachers.  Professor Myers’ most recent work involves the improvement of the mathematical education of teachers.

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Cameron Parker, Ph.D., has been at USD since 2003.  In addition to his teaching and research, Parker is the Math Area Coordinator and has served in the Arts and Sciences Faculty Academic Assembly.  He co-organizes the Math Modeling Club and serves as an advisor for the Math Modeling Team.

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Jack W. Pope, Ph. D., has been a member of the faculty since 1972.  He served as director of Academic Computing Services at the university from 1982 until 2006.  Pope concentrates on lower division undergraduate courses – specifically College Algebra and Introduction to Computer Programming.  His research interests include measuring the impact of technology in teaching and how that varies by discipline.

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Lukasz Pruski joined the mathematics department at USD in January 1983. Since then he has taught 31 different courses in five fields: in addition to mathematics and computer science he has taught engineering courses and co-taught courses in psychology and philosophy. His research focuses on mathematical modeling and computer simulation. He served as the department chair in the mid-Nineties and the math program coordinator in the recent years. He also served on almost all College of Arts and Sciences committees, including recently chairing the Rank and Tenure Committee.

Lukasz Pruski’s most favorite activities, second only to teaching, are reading books, running races from 5k to half-marathon, and listening to the music of Bach, Coltrane, and Sonic Youth.

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Professor Small has been a member of the mathematics faculty since 1975.  In the upper-division, she most frequently teaches courses in abstract algebra or advanced calculus.  In the lower division, along with many calculus classes, she has been working on revising and introducing Core mathematics courses with an eye to the greater use of applications to help students gain insight into the mathematics they are studying.

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Professor Ani P. Velo has been a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of San Diego (USD) since fall 2002.  Prior to coming to USD, Professor Velo was the recipient of the Davies Fellowship award from the National Research Council, Washington D.C. and held a joined post-doctoral position at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY and U.S. Army Research Laboratory, MD. Professor Velo has taught a variety of undergraduate courses in mathematics and applied mathematics. Her research interests, mainly in applied mathematics, include wave propagation, structural optimization and composite materials.

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Jeff Wright has been a member of the University of San Diego faculty since 2000.  In the Math / CS Department, Jeff teaches the spectrum of lower division courses including algebra and calculus, as well as courses in applied mathematics at the upper division level, including linear algebra, ordinary and partial differential equations, numerical analysis, complex analysis and mathematical modeling.  His current research focus is on the mathematical and numerical modeling of various aspects thermodynamic systems, as well as in the development of online resources focused on alternative mechanics of learning.

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Christopher Adler, Ph.D., is a composer, performer and improviser. His music draws upon over a decade of research into the traditional musics of Thailand and Laos and a background in mathematics. He is a foremost performer of new and traditional music for the khaen, a free-reed mouth organ from Laos and Northeast Thailand. As pianist and composer-in-residence with NOISE and co-founder of the soundON Festival of Modern Music he is active in commissioning and performing new works, and he performs and records as an improviser on piano in many ensembles.

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Marianne Pfau, Ph.D., heads the music history and literature program at USD, offers international Early Music Festivals, and directs the concert series Angelus: Sacred Early Music in Founders Chapel.   Since 2006, she also teaches graduate seminars at the Musicological Institute of the University of Hamburg, Germany.

Pfau also has an active performance career as baroque oboist.  She performs and records with American Bach Soloists, Jubilate Baroque Orchestra and California Bach Society in San Francisco; Corona del Mar Baroque Festival in Los Angeles; Trinity Consort in Oregon, and Ensemble Rebel in New York. In Europe she appears with Musica Alta Ripa, L’Arco Baroque Orchestra Hannover, Corona Musica Kassel, Cythara Ensemble Hamburg, and Accademia dell’Arcadia Poznan.

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Fred Miller Robinson, Ph.D., was hired as chair of the English Department in 1991 and served in that capacity until 2005.  From 2005-06 he was interim director of Theatre Arts, and beginning in 2009 he will serve as chair of the Department of Music.  He has taught a variety of undergraduate courses in modern literature, including Modern Poetry, Modern Drama, Narrative Theory and Writing Autobiography, and a text course in Modern Drama to the USD/Old Globe MFA students.  His research focus has shifted from comic theory to cultural studies: a social history of The Man in the Bowler Hat and, currently, the interculture of Ireland and the U.S.

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Angela Yeung, Ph.D., is the director of the University of San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music Ensembles, and the Annual Chamber Music Festival that is held in February (Winter Chamber Heat) and July (Summer Festival).  She has conducted orchestras and choirs nationally and internationally, and is the principal guest conductor for The Chorale Singers in Jakarta, Indonesia.  Since 2006 Yeung has been president of the Western Division of the National College Orchestra Directors Association.

Yeung performs professionally on modern and baroque cellos, and is the founding artistic director of the concert series Early Music at Saint Peter’s Church in New York City.

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Harriet Baber, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1982. She offers undergraduate courses on logic and contemporary analytic philosophy. Her research interests are in analytic metaphysics, philosophical theology, feminism and philosophy of economics. Baber’s interests include computers, Byzantine history, and knitting.

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Brian R. Clack, Ph.D.,  came to USD in September 2007, having previously taught in Oxford, England.  Clack’s research interests lie in the study of Wittgenstein, psychoanalysis and the philosophy of religion.

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Lately he has been very interested an Honors interdisciplinary course, “Myth and Rhetoric: The Construction of Culture,” team-taught three times with Prof. Larry Williamson, a rhetorical theorist, and expecting to teach it again. Attending a conference in April, 2009, with his friend, Carole Huston, Director of Assessment, has led to some rethinking of various ideas on the appropriate ways to approach undergraduate teaching, including both Core and major courses, which began with rethinking how to teach epistemology.  As Chair of the Department, he relies on the wisdom of colleagues (who prefer not to be named) and the wide-ranging abilities of his Executive Assistant.  Having served twice on the Executive Committee of Academic Assembly of the College of Arts and Sciences, he is preparing to return to that committee for a third time.  He thinks the Senate Task Force on Academic Freedom has done a magnificent job; he is optimistic about the future of the College and is looking forward to seeing new ideas implemented at the College and Department level, especially those targeting student learning.  He is respectful of his mother, kind to animals and the occasional administrator.  Oh, yes: he has recently taught his dog to play Cheerios golf.

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John Donnelly has been a member of the faculty since 1976.  He has served as Chair of the Philosophy Department, and currently is a coordinator of the Catholic Studies minor.  He initiated the multiple offerings of interdisciplinary value courses at USD.  Professor Donnelly is a past President of the Soren Kierkegaard Society.  He has a broad range of philosophical interests, and has published in several areas of philosophy, including logic, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and ethics.  At USD, he has team-taught courses with colleagues in biology, theology, and nursing, as well as some cluster preceptorial classes.

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Michelle Grier, Ph.D., has been a member of the philosophy department since 1993. In addition to lower division introductory courses, she routinely teaches courses in the history of modern philosophy, German idealism (especially Kant), and post-Kantian (20th Century) continental philosophy.

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Peter Gratton, Ph.D., joined the faculty in 2007. He offers classes in contemporary European philosophy, critical race theory, the philosophy of human nature, philosophy and literature, and Africana philosophy. His research focus has been on modern democratic theory, especially as it takes shape in critiquing nationalist forms of racial identity and sovereignty. He also works on contemporary issues in Africana philosophy and the continued salience of racial and ethnic histories for engaging contemporary political problems. In both these areas of work,  Gratton sets out to rethink traditional notions of power that think power only in terms of state-based action. He is also working on traditional conceptions of the world, especially as it relates to recent currents in “realist” philosophies that try to think the world as it is outside its relationship to human existence.

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Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1975.  He i currently serves as the co-director of the Center for Ethics in Science & Technology (http://ethicscenter.net). Hinman offers undergraduate courses on ethics, including ethical theory, applied ethics, and ethics and contemporary science.  His research focuses on ethical issues in emerging science and technology, including search engines, privacy and surveillance, stem cell research and therapy, neuroscience, and robotics. He has been very active in bring ethics-related resources to the Web, founding Ethics Updates in 1994 and Ethics Videos in 2000.  He has also done extensive work in academic integrity and ethics across the curriculum.

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Gary E. Jones, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1981.  He has taught a variety of courses over the years relating to ethics and health care.  His main area of research is health care policy, with an emphasis on the problem of the medically uninsured.

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Rodney G. Peffer, Ph.D., is a philosopher specializing in moral, social, and political philosophy as well as a published poet, an electronic percussionist (who plays with avant-garde jazz and “new music” musicians), and a life-long activist for progressive political causes. He has taught at USD since 1986.  He has lectured in most parts of North America and Europe as well as in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean – including Cuba.  He has prominently participated in the last four World Congresses of Philosophy, which occur only once every five years.

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Linda L. Peterson, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1985.  She routinely teaches classes in thehHistory of medieval philosophy and the philosophy of human nature.  Her research area of specialization is in the history of medieval philosophy with particular emphasis on the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Her research focus also includes philosophy of religion and metaphysics.

Peterson enjoys traveling and has traveled extensively including trips to Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, the Arctic Circle and Antarctica.  She particularly enjoys visiting cites of interest to the history of medieval philosophy.  She has traveled throughout Italy, visiting the birthplace of St. Thomas Aquinas and the monastery where he died. 

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Ann Pirruccello has been teaching at USD since 1992 and is professor of philosophy.  She offers courses in Introduction to Philosophy, Asian Philosophy, Critical Comparative Philosophy, and special topics courses in Asian and contemporary continental philosophy. Her research embraces philosophies of liberation in continental and Asian thought, metaphilosophical problems related to globalization, and comparative philosophy.

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Philosophy is about knowing yourself.  I’m still learning. History is indispensable; without it I cannot understand either myself or the world. In the meantime, I dream, I doubt, I wonder, therefore, despite all my faults, I am. I enjoy reading, writing, teaching and thinking—in short, living, not just existing.

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Michael F. Wagner, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1980.  His administrative appointments have included chair of the Philosophy Department (1988-1998) and director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities major (1987-1993, 2001-2007).  His research interests include several topic areas in Ancient and Hellenistic philosophy, in the classical Neoplatonic tradition, in the philosophy of time and science, and in Platonistic conceptions of eros and their cultural influences.

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Lori Watson, Ph.D., joined the USD faculty in 2007.  She is currently assistant professor of philosophy and director of the Gender Studies Program.

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Mark Wood, Ph.D., has been teaching at USD since 1997.  In addition to teaching undergraduate philosophy courses, he has been an affiliated faculty member of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies since the inception of the Master’s Program in Peace and Justice Studies in 2002.  He is also an affiliate of USD’s Ethnic Studies Program and co-chaired USD’s Gender Studies Program for four years.  Currently he is the secretary of the International Society for Environmental Ethics.  Originally from North Dakota, Professor Woods discovered philosophy while serving in the United States Marine Corps.

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Matt Zwolinski, Ph.D., specializes in Political Philosophy and Normative Ethics.  He is a co-director of USD’s Institute for Law and Philosophy, and serves on the editorial board of Business Ethics Quarterly.  He regularly teaches courses in ethics, business ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of law.  His areas of research expertise are political philosophy and normative ethics, with a special focus on the intersection of ethics, law, and economics.

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Dr. Anderson is the newest Assistant Professor of Physics at USD.  She begins her appointment in the fall of 2009. Her undergraduate work was done at Georgetown University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in Physics in 2003, and she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She is held in high regard by students and faculty at UCSD for her teaching of UCSD’s Physics 1A introductory physics course, which she taught while doing post-doctoral studies at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. Her doctoral research at UCSD focused experimentally on the biophysics of DNA, using both microscopy and laser techniques.  Her post-doctoral studies were also devoted to single molecule biophysics, focusing on the molecule Rev, a regulatory protein of importance in HIV-1 studies.

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David Devine, Ph.D., has been an assistant professor in the Physics Department since 2005. He has taught a variety of introductory physics courses at USD as well as two preceptorial courses in introductory astronomy. His primary area of research involves observations of outflows driven by young stars. He is currently focusing on the potential relationship between the cessation of the protostellar outflow phase and planet formation.  Devine has been awarded time on a variety of telescopes at the Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo National Observatories as well as the Hubble Space Telescope.

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Eric J. Page, Ph.D., joined the USD faculty in the fall of 2006. Page teaches across the entire physics curriculum with focuses in introductory physics for bioscience and pre-health students as well as biological and optical physics.  His research focus is split in two areas, biophotonics, where Page investigates the interaction of light with biological materials and physics education research where he investigates epistemology and educational technologies in physics. His thesis work focused on the intersection of gravitational and optical physics as well as physics education research.

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After completing a thesis in experimental plasma physics in the area of fusion energy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Physics at USD in 1987, becoming a full professor in 1994. He currently serves as Chair of the Department of Physics. His teaching ranges from Physics and Society to Quantum Physics, and he created the first advanced upper division laboratory course, Experimental Modern Physics, in the physics curriculum. His research focuses on experimental basic plasma physics and the use of tunable lasers as a diagnostic for ion dynamics.

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Daniel Sheehan has been a member of the faculty at USD since 1989 and is Professor of Physics.  His research interests include the second law of thermodynamics, retrocausation, nanotechnology, plantary formation, and plasma physics.

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Delavan Dickson, Ph.D., has taught at USD since 1987 in the department of Political Science and International Relations.  He teaches Introduction to Political Science and a variety of upper division law courses, including Constitutional Law, Judicial Behavior, Comparative Law, and International Law.  His research focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court, justice in common law countries, lay justice, and the relationship between law and democracy.

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Casey B. K. Dominguez, Ph.D., joined the USD Political Science faculty in 2005. Her research interests include congressional elections, political parties, campaign finance, and the presidency. She teaches upper and lower division classes on American Politics, as well as an upper division class on research methods.

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Dr. Drinan joined the USD faculty in 1981.  He has served as chair of the Department from 1981-1989 and also as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1989-2006.  He currently is on phased retirement and teaches only in Fall semesters, usually a class in international relations.  His most recent research and publications have been on public policy issues in higher education, especially management of academic integrity issues.  Dr. Drinan  has received a lifetime achievement award from the international Center for Academic Integrity for his work on academic integrity.

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Emily Edmonds-Poli , Ph.D., joined the USD faculty in 2001. She currently serves as the director of the MA program in International Relations. Edmonds-Poli teaches classes on international relations and Latin American politics. Her research focuses on local and state level politics in Mexico, as well as decentralization and democratization in Latin America.

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Virginia Lewis, Ph.D., has been a faculty member at USD since 1980. She has been deeply involved in university governance, and has made student learning her mission. From directing the Oxford program for ten years and serving as faculty advisor to student groups, to teaching courses in her research areas,  Lewis sees the university as a student-centric community. She has been chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, chair of the College of Arts and Sciences Academic Assembly, and a member of the University Senate.

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Vidya Nadkarni, Ph.D.,  joined USD’s faculty in 1990. Nadkarni teaches courses in the area of international relations and foreign policy.  Her research interests center on the foreign policies of resurgent (Russia) and aspiring (China, India) global powers. 

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Noelle Norton, Ph.D., joined the USD faculty in 1994. She is currently serving as chair of the department and formerly was the USD Honors Program director from 2001-2008. She teaches classes on American politics, legislative politics, urban politics, and gender politics. Norton’s most recent publications have been on welfare policy, the White House Office of the President, and the institutional position of women legislators. She is very excited to extend her work into international issues with her current research project about congressional handling of international women’s rights legislation between 1990 and 2010.

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Lee Ann Otto, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1984. She is a professor in the department of Political Science and International Relations and has served as the associate dean of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies since its inauguration in 2007. Otto is also the director of USD’s Masters Program in Peace and Justice Studies. She teaches courses on Chinese politics, Japanese politics, revolutionary change, and the law of the sea at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research focuses on Chinese policies relating to the war on terror and their impact on Uyghurs and other minority groups within China. She is a former recipient of USD’s University Professorship award.

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Michael R. Pfau, Ph.D., has been at USD since 1989. He teaches Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations and occasionally seminars on Politics in (his native) Germany. His research focuses on cross-national public opinion formation, specifically, on how US (foreign) policy is perceived by publics abroad. On that issue, he consults with a variety of political and corporate interests. He has chaired the department and has won the American Political Science Association’s teaching award.

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David A. Shirk, Ph.D.,  joined the University of San Diego in July 2003. Shirk’s teaching covers a wide range of subject areas, mainly concentrated in comparative politics, international political economy, Latin American studies, and U.S.-Latin American relations, with a concentration in Mexico and border politics. He conducts research on Mexican politics, U.S.-Mexican relations, and law enforcement and security along the U.S.-Mexican border. Shirk also directs the Trans-Border Institute, which works to promote greater analysis and understanding of Mexico, U.S.-Mexico relations, and the U.S.-Mexico border region.

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J. Michael Williams, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1999.  He also currently serves as the faculty advisor for the Washington Center Internship and Seminar Program. In the department of Political Science and International Relations, Williams offers undergraduate courses on introduction to political science, comparative politics, politics in sub-Saharan Africa, and politics in South Africa. His research focuses on African politics, with special interests in democratization, indigenous political structures, local governance, rule of law, the courts and constitutionalism

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Randy Willoughby, Ph.D, has been on the USD faculty since 1988 and teaches course on comparative politics and international security. His undergraduate education began at the University of California at Irvine and concluded at UCLA. His graduate education was at the University of California at Berkeley, preceded by a year of study in Paris, and including a year working in the Executive Office of the President in Washington DC, a year teaching at the University of Santa Clara, and two years participating on a research project at the University of California at San Diego.

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Rachel Blaser, Ph.D., has academic interests in how humans and other animals learn. She has additional interests in photography, linguistics, and impressively color-coded data files.

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Veronica Galván, Ph.D., teaches a variety of courses that primarily focus on the brain and cognition. Her current research interests are human memory and some of the factors that may enhance or impair it, such as attention and stress. Galván actively works with undergraduates to conduct her research. She is also the faculty advisor for the Psychology Department’s Journal Club.

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Michael Ichiyama, Ph.D.,has been a member of the USD faculty since 1995.  He offers undergraduate courses in the area of clinical psychology.  His primary research interests focus on college alcohol abuse prevention, the study of parental influences on college student alcohol use, and social influences on the self-concept.  Ichiyama is a licensed psychologist in California and active member of the National Register of Health Service Providers.

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Kenneth D. Keith, Ph.D., joined the University of San Diego faculty in 1999. He  served as department chair from 1999 to 2007. He was chair of the Academic Assembly of the College of Arts and Sciences from 2003-2005.

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Anne Koenig, Ph.D., teaches courses such as Social Psychology, the Social Psychology Research Methods Lab, the Psychology of Gender, and Introductory Psychology. She also has an active research program, working with students on various research projects in the areas of gender issues, stereotyping, and prejudice. Koenig’s current research is focuses on issues relating to stereotype content, role congruity theory of prejudice, and the ideologies of sex differences.

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Patricia Kowalski, Ph.D., has been at USD since 1989. She teaches courses in Introductory Psychology and Developmental Psychology. She is an advisor to Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in psychology. Her research interests are in the area of educational psychology including student motivation to learn, student attitudes toward learning, and factors influencing student misconceptions in psychology and education. Research students regularly accompany Kowalski to the Western Psychological Association convention or the American Educational Research Association conference.

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Dr. McCabe received a Bachelor’s Degree in psychology and Spanish from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in child clinical psychology from Wayne State University. Her scholarly work has been funded by the NIMH since 1998, and has focused on improving treatment access, engagement, and outcomes for ethnic minority youth, particularly young Mexican Americans with behavior problems. Her teaching interests focus on topics related to general clinical and child clinical psychology, and she regularly teaches Behavior Disorders of Childhood, Psychological Assessment, and Laboratory in Clinical Psychology.

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Dr. Adriana Molitor has been a member of the faculty since 2001.  Her teaching interests include general psychology and research methods courses as well as specialty courses addressing childhood, adolescence, aging, and social-emotional aspects of development.  The topics of her research include the dynamics of mother-child interactions, the impact of these interactions on emotional and social development, the problems encountered by at-risk groups, and the factors that optimize mother-child exchanges and emerging social skills.

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Dr. Dan Moriarty is Professor of Psychology and has been a member of USD’s Department of Psychology since 1973. His interests are in the area of comparative biological psychology, and he teaches courses in animal behavior and learning, research methods, statistics, evolutionary psychology, and behavioral genetics. As a director and animal behaviorist at the California Wolf Center, Dr. Moriarty is involved in research with, and management and breeding of, captive wolves, including the highly endangered Mexican Gray Wolf. His research has included studies of predator defense behavior, irrelevant drive effects, partial reinforcement and reward contrast effects, and conditioned taste aversion.

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Sandra Sgoutas-Emch is a professor of psychology and director of the Center for Educational Excellence at the University of San Diego. She has been a professor at the university since 1992. During her tenure at USD, she has also been the director of the gender studies program. She teaches courses in health psychology and biopsychology. Dr. Sgoutas-Emch has research interests in the efficacy of alternative medicine, the impact of stress, and women’s health issues.

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Professor Taylor has been a member of the USD faculty since 1990. She teaches courses in introductory psychology, research methods and cognitive psychology. Her research interests currently focus on teaching-related issues, including student engagement and conceptual change of misconceptions. She received her Ph.D. in general experimental psychology in 1987 from the University of Southern California. Her specialty area was information processing cognitive psychology. She later completed a three-year postdoctoral training program at the Andrus Gerontology Center in Los Angeles, where she studied cognitive aging, specifically focusing on attention and memory.

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James Weyant is a Professor of Psychology.  His area of specialization is social psychology, focusing primarily on the application of social psychology to benevolent endeavors, such as charitable fund raising, and to helping reduce societal problems, such as prejudice and discrimination.

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Jennifer Zwolinski has been a member of the faculty since 2001.  She is an Assistant Professor of Psychology. In the Psychology Department, Professor Zwolinski offers undergraduate courses in a variety of areas including Introduction to Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Theories of Personality, and Advanced Research Methods in Clinical Psychology.  Her research focus examines biopsychosocial factors associated with social/relational aggression and victimization.

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Eren Branch joined USD in 1985 after working as an information officer at the Fulbright Commission in Stockholm and, before that, teaching part-time at the University of Cincinnati.  For her first twelve years at USD, she served primarily as an administrator (as Associate Dean and then Dean of the School of Graduate and Continuing Education) and joined the English Department full-time in 1997.

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Michelle Madsen Camacho is Associate Professor of the Sociology Department at the University of San Diego.  She formerly held two postdoctoral fellowships at the University of California, San Diego, at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies and in the Department of Ethnic Studies. She is fluent in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and uses theories from interdisciplinary sources including cultural studies, critical race, gender and feminist theories. Her research examines questions of culture, power and inequality through both macro and micro lenses. She is affiliated faculty with the Ethnic Studies program and also teaches courses for the Gender Studies and Honors Programs.

Interests
Other interests include: technological innovations in teaching, community-based learning, participatory action research, public sociology and cultural studies.  She is also a mother of three children, an avid salsa dancer, and is currently training for a half-marathon.

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Erik has been a full-time faculty member at USD in various capacities since 2005. Broadly construed, Erik’s areas of expertise include Criminology, Law & Society, the politics of law and crime management, social theory and research methods. Substantive and research foci include: the war on drugs, white-collar crime, social movements, eco-terrorism, the death penalty, social justice and the contentious process of attempting to balance social control and individual freedoms.  Additionally, Erik serves as the faculty advisor to the USD Surf Team, AKD the Sociology Honor Society and the Sociology Club.

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Judith Liu has been a member of the sociology faculty since 1982. She is a Professor of Sociology, Affiliated faculty in the Ethnic Studies Program, and the Faculty Liaison for the Center for Community Service Learning.  Professor Liu has taught classical and contemporary theory, culture courses, contemporary social issues, and community organizing.  Her research focus is multicultural education, education in the People’s Republic of China, women and HIV/AIDS, political and civic responsibility, and community service-learning.

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Belinda C. Lum joined the University of San Diego faculty in 2007.  She currently teaches courses in the Sociology concentration areas of: Community, Urbanization, and Culture; and, Power & Inequality in Global Perspective. Her areas of specialization include: International Migration; Work & Labor; Social Inequality in Urban Contexts; Race & Ethnicity; Public Sociology; and Asian American Studies. Professor Lum is a member of the On Our Campus committee, which actively promotes diversity and inclusion on campus.  She currently serves as  Residential Faculty in the Cuyamaca Building in the Vistas.

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Lisa Michele Nunn joined the Department of Sociology at the University of San Diego as an Assistant Professor in 2009.  Professor Nunn teaches in the Department's Community, Urbanization, and Culture concentration.  Her research areas include Sociology of Education; Organizations; Cultural Sociology; Gender and Sexuality; Identity; and Social Psychology.

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Dr. Reifer serves on the Gender Studies Advisory Committee and is an Associate Fellow at the Transnational Institute, a worldwide fellowship of committed scholar-activists; formerly worked at Focus on the Global South in Asia and was Associate Director of the Institute for Research on World-Systems (IROWS) and the Program on Global Studies at UC Riverside. He is also currently a Research Associate at the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems & Civilizations at Binghamton University - where he received his MA & PhD - and IROWS. His specialty is the study of large-scale, long-term social change and world-systems analysis.

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John Joe Schlichtman, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Community, Urbanization, and Culture Concentration within the Department of Sociology at the University of San Diego.  His research areas include urban political economy, globalization, urban change, small cities, and homelessness. Prof. Schlichtman is a recent recipient of the "Order of Omega" and the "Professor of the Game" awards.

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Jan Gist has been the Resident Voice and Speech Coach at The Old Globe since Summer 2001. Prior to that, she was the Voice and Speech coach at Alabama Shakespeare Festival for 140 productions.

Other credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespearean Festival, The Shakespeare Theatre, Arena Stage, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, PlayMakers’ Repertory. Film credits include The Rosa Parks Story. Other teaching credits include California State University, Long Beach, Cal. Rep. Co., PlayMakers’ Rep., Voice And Speech Trainers Association Conference, Shakespeare's Shapely Language, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Carnegie Mellon University.

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An award-winning actor and director, Richard Seer has directed and/or performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, on film and television, and in over seventy productions at regional theatres in this country and Great Britain, including: The Goodman Theatre, The Kennedy Center, The Stratford Shakespeare Festival, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, Washington’s Playwrights’ Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre, The Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, and The Sybil Thorndike Repertory Theatre in England, to name a few. 

He originated the role of Young Charlie in the 1978 Tony award-winning production of Hugh Leonard’s Da.  He received the Theatre World Award for his performance.  As The Old Globe’s resident director, he has directed productions of The Price, Romeo & Juliet, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Trying, Fiction, Blue/Orange (Critics Circle Award), All My Sons, Da, and Old Wicked Songs (Patte Award). Other recent directing assignments include Third for the Huntington Theatre Company and Sonia Flew for the San Jose Repertory Theatre. 

He received his Master of Fine Arts degree in directing from Boston University, where he was awarded the prestigious Kahn Directing Award in 1985.  In 1990 he was invited to return to Boston University’s School for the Arts as an Associate Professor of acting and directing.  Professor Seer has been Director of The Old Globe/University of San Diego Graduate Theatre program since 1993.

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Liz Shipman is Co-Founder and Associate Director of the Kings County Shakespeare Company in New York City having served as its Co-Artistic Director from 1985-2001. Liz is a Certified (Laban) Movement Analyst, specializing in a movement-based approach to acting. She was movement teacher for Ruth Nerken’s “Technique for the Whole Actor” Studio from 1990-1997 and has taught all levels of students at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Manhattan Marymount College, The Atlantic Theatre Company, T. Schreiber Studio and the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (NYC). She served as a member of the core faculty of Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts in St. Louis from 2000-2005. She has directed and choreographed at Webster, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, New Avenue Theatre Project, Utah Shakespearean Festival, the Old Globe and elsewhere.

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Pavlo Bosyy is an Assistant Professor in Theatre Arts where he teaches Fundamentals of Design and a variety of design and production craft courses related to scenic, lighting and costume design. Prior to his employment at USD, prof. Bosyy has taught scenography disciplines at West Virginia University and Oakland University (Michigan). Pavlo Bosyy hails from Ukraine; his research and artistic activity has been in the areas of theatre design and direction, history of theatre, university management, design and research for museum exhibits, history of Central Ukraine, British history, Ukrainian architecture, baroque and classical music, and Ukrainian-British industrial relationships. Prof. Bosyy is particularly interested in artistic and historical phenomena emerging on the verge of different cultures. He believes that he has come to serve as someone who helps bridge cultural differences and geographic distances between the several nations where he has studied and worked.

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Evelyn Diaz Cruz is an Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts with experience in writing, directing, and acting. Originally from the Bronx, New York, Professor Cruz's study and practice of theatre is focused on empowering communities by addressing issues of social justice through art. Her non-traditional approach to theatre garnered her the KPBS 2008 Hispanic Heritage Month Local Hero Award for her contributions to the San Diego community. She is the recipient of USD's 2009 Innovations in Experiential Education Award. She is a member of the Los Angeles Association of Playwrights and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture.

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Robert Barry Fleming an Associate Professor and Department Chair of Theatre Arts at the University of San Diego joined the Theatre Arts faculty at USD in 2004. He is a director, actor, choreographer and obviously an educator. He won the SDTCC 2007 Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical (AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' at The San Diego Repertory Theatre) and a Dramalogue Award for Featured Performance in a Play (PUDDIN' AND PETE @ The Old Globe). Interests: Languages, Travel and Bebe. Professor Fleming's personal website: www.robertbarryfleming.com

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Monica Stufft is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre Arts where she teaches courses in Theatre and Performance Studies and is involved in production work, both as a director and dramaturg. Her specializations include popular culture, theatre historiography, and cultural, gender, and performance theory. Her research focus has been on late nineteenth and early twentieth century US theatre and performance, with a new project on the intersection of performance and pedagogy in the classroom. Interests: Vaudeville, burlesque, music halls, and cabarets; multi-media performance; puppetry.

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Maria Pilar Aquino, S.T.D., joined the USD Theology and Religious Studies faculty in 1993. Her primary areas of teaching and research are liberation theologies, social ethics, and feminist theologies, with special interests in intercultural approaches, conflict transformation, and religious peacebuilding studies. Currently, she serves both on national and international editorial boards of prominent theological journals.  Aquino has served as the first woman president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States, of which she is also a co-founder. She is internationally renowned for her pioneering work in Latin American and U.S. Latina feminist theologies of liberation.

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Susie Paulik Babka, Ph.D., is excited to be a part of the community at USD that seeks to intertwine Beauty with Justice.  Beauty is that which draws us out of ourselves toward something deeper; Justice is the practical work of transforming this world into the world intended by God: a world that celebrates the dignity of every human being, our inherent interdependence, and the worth of all creation.

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J.A. Colombo, Ph.D., joined the department of Theology and Religious Studies at USD in 1984.  Currently, he holds the rank of professor.

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Bahar Davary, Ph.D., has been a member of the faculty at USD since 2005. She is an associate professor of Religious Studies and an affiliate member of the Ethnic Studies program. Davary offers undergraduate courses on world religions, Islamic faith and practice, diversity courses and Honors courses, as well as preceptorials. She has team-taught a study abroad course Negotiating Religious Diversity in India. At the graduate level she has taught Comparative Religious Ethics at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice. She will be team-teaching an Honors course, Women in Confucianism and Islam.

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Mary Doak, Ph.D., teaches courses in Christian theology.  Her specializations include liberation and political theologies, theologies of democracy and religious freedom, the goal of human life and history from a Christian perspective, and theologies of the church.  Her research focus has been on the political and practical implications of Christian faith, especially in the contemporary context of the United States.  Her current research project explores the challenges to discipleship faced by the church in the 21st century.

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Orlando Espín, Th.D., has been a member of the USD faculty since 1991. He is professor of systematic theology in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He is also director of USD's Center for the Study of Latino/a Catholicism, which he founded in 1994.  Espín has twice served as president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (of which he was one of the founders), and has also served on the boards of directors of the Catholic Theological Society of America and of the Hispanic Summer Program in Religion and Theology. Espín has received an honorary doctorate and an honorary professorship. He founded and was first chief editor of the Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology. He is active in the San Diego Latino/a community, as well as nationally in Latino/a theological research and educational projects.

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Russell Fuller, Ph.D., joined the faculty of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies in 1992.  He is a professor of biblical studies with a specialty in the area of Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the religion of ancient Israel.

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Florence M. Gillman, Ph.D., has been a member of USD’s faculty since 1986. She  previously also served as chair of the department of Theology and Religious Studies and as Coordinator of the Ppogram in Interdisciplinary Humanities. Gillman teaches the courses entitled Introduction to Biblical Studies, Pauline Theology, The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and the World of the Bible. Her research interests include the New Testament world, women in the Pauline churches and the history of earliest Christianity.

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Aaron Gross joined the faculty in 2009. He is a historian of religions who focuses on modern and contemporary Jewish traditions. His dissertation theorizes the significance of "the question of the animal" for the study of religion and considers contemporary Jewish and South Asian food practices. At USD he is developing a broad array of courses in the study of Jewish traditions exploring the systems of knowledge, forms of expressivity, religious practices, and inter-religious engagements of Jewish communities in different historical periods and geographic regions. He co-chairs the Consultation on Animals and Religion at the American Academy of Religion. He has spent more than two years in South Asia (India, Nepal, Sri Lanka) doing research or nonprofit work. 

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Evelyn Kirkley, Ph.D., has been teaching at USD since 1995.  She is an advisor to PRIDE, USD’s organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, queer, and questioning undergraduate students and allies.  She has also served as co-director of the Gender Studies Program and director of the Faculty and Curriculum Development Program.  She teaches about the history of Christianity and other religious movements, especially in the United States.  Her research focuses on alternative religious movements (often called "cults" or "sects") in the United States and intersections between religion and gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. 

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Louis Komjathy, Ph.D., is a teacher-scholar of Daoism, Chinese religions, and comparative religious studies with an emphasis on contemplative practice and mystical experience. He also holds the position of research associate in the Institute of Religion, Science and Social Studies of Shandong University (PRC), wherein he conducts research on the history of Daoism in Shandong. In addition to his departmental and university commitments, he serves as founding co-chair of the Daoist Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion and as founding co-director of the Center for Daoist Studies.

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Dennis W. Krouse, S.T.D., has been a member of the faculty since 1974. He  specializes in the areas of liturgical studies and sacramental theology.

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Lance E. Nelson, Ph.D., is professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and chair of the department.  He teaches courses in world religions and religious traditions of Asia.  Nelson’s research specialization is in Hindu religious history, focusing on classical systems of Hindu theology and the relation between Hindu religious practice and environmental concern.

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Father Ron Pachence, Ph.D., joined the faculty in 1981. He has served as department chair, founding director of the Institute for Christian Ministries, and director of graduate programs in the department. He is active in shared governance, having served on numerous committees and as chair of the University Senate. His teaching expertise is in the areas of Catholic theology and world religions. Pachence is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Turkey) and a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia.

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Maria Pascuzzi, S.T.D., has been a member of the faculty since 2000.  She teaches undergraduate courses on the critical study of the Bible, especially in the area of New Testament. Currently, Pascuzzi also serves as the director of the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture. In this role, she is primarily concerned with developing programs for the university community which promote engagement with the Church’s intellectual tradition and explore its contributions to the arts and sciences.

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Patricia A. Plovanich has been a member of the faculty since 1990. She is Assistant Professor of Systematic theology. In the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, she offers undergraduate courses in theological topics such as Jesus in Christian Tradition, the Problem of God, and Catholicism in the United States. Her research interests are theology of Cardinal Walter Kasper and the European theologians who pioneered many of the themes of the Second Vatican Council.

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Emily Reimer-Barry, Ph.D, has been a member of the Theology and Religious Studies faculty since 2008. She teaches undergraduate courses in Catholic theology, Christian ethics, sexual ethics, and ethical responses to HIV/AIDS. Her research interests include women’s experiences of HIV/AIDS, cross-cultural analysis of gender roles and marriage traditions, ethnography and ethical methodology, and the intersection of public health and Catholic social teachings.

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Karen Teel, Ph.D., has been a member of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies since 2007. Her courses in Christian and Catholic theology invite students to consider biblical, historical, and contemporary - especially liberationist - perspectives on the essential beliefs of Christianity.  Teel’s research interests focus on Christian anthropology and theological responses to racism, leading her to emphasize current liberation movements such as black and womanist theologies.

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Karma Lekshe Tsomo, a specialist in Buddhist studies, has taught at USD since 2000. She offers classes in Buddhist Thought and Culture, World Religions, Comparative Religious Ethics, Religious and Political Identities in the Global Community, and Negotiating Religious Diversity in India. Her research interests include women in Buddhism, death and dying, Buddhist feminist ethics, Buddhism and bioethics, religion and politics, and Buddhist transnationalism. She integrates scholarship and social activism through the Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women and Jamyang Foundation, an innovative education project for women in developing countries, with 15 schools in the Indian Himalayas, Bangladesh, and Laos.

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