Lawrence Today magazine, Spring 2007
David Burrows, provost and dean of the faculty, has announced the following
new appointments to tenure-track faculty positions.
Elizabeth Carlson, assistant professor of art history, works
in the area of European and American 19th- and 20th-century art history and
visual culture.
She received the Ph.D. in art history from the University of Minnesota–Minneapolis,
where she has also served as an instructor. Her dissertation, “City of
Mirrors: Reflection and Visual Construction in 19th-Century Paris,” involves
intensive examination of texts and interpretation of visual displays.
Jake Frederick, assistant professor of history, does his primary work in Colonial
Latin America, particularly Mexico, and is teaching courses in Latin American
history. His previous teaching experience is at the University of North Florida,
where he was a visiting assistant professor, and at the Pennsylvania State
University. He received his Ph.D. in 2005 from Pennsylvania State University,
and his dissertation title was “The Landscape of Discontent: Community
and Conflict in Colonial Papantla, Mexico 1750-1800.”
Wen-Lei Gu, assistant professor of music, has responsibility
for teaching violin and coaching chamber music. She has won several prizes
in national and international violin competitions and is completing a Doctor
of
Music degree at Indiana University.
David McGlynn, assistant professor of English, teaches courses
in American literature and fiction writing. He has a Master of Fine Arts degree
in creative
writing and a Ph.D. in English literature and creative writing from the University
of Utah. His dissertation is a collection of stories titled “The End
of the Straight and Narrow.” He also serves as a contributing editor
of Western Humanities Review, one of the nation’s oldest literary
and scholarly journals.
Ronald Peck, assistant professor of biology, received the Ph.D. from the University
of Wisconsin–Madison, where he has been doing postdoctoral work since
2001. His area of research is in microbiology; his interests include bioinformatics
and interdisciplinary approaches to learning science. His long-term research
goals include determining how microbes adapt and respond to extreme environments.
Megan Pickett, associate professor of physics, holds a Ph.D.
in astrophysics from Indiana University and has taught at Purdue University
Calumet and at
Valparaiso University. She also has been a postdoctoral research associate
at the NASA-Ames Research Center. Her research interests include computational
physics, the origins of solar systems, star formation, and the pedagogy of
physics and astronomy.
Benjamin Rinehart, assistant professor of art and art history,
teaches studio art, with responsibility for courses in printmaking and painting.
He has extensive
teaching experience as a visiting professor at several institutions in the
New York City area. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from
Louisiana
State University and is the author of a book, Bound and Boxed:
Fun and Unique Approaches to Creative Book Structures, published by Quarry
Press.
Arnold Shober, assistant professor of government, teaches courses in American
politics and government. His interests are in the role of government agencies
in shaping policy. His Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
is titled “Building Government: Autonomy, Responsibility, and Resilience
in State Departments of Education.”
Martyn Smith, assistant professor of religious studies, has a Ph.D. in comparative
literature from Emory University as well as an advanced degree in religious
studies. His dissertation topic is “How to Build Places with Words: Narrative
Construction of Sacred Abydos, Delos, and Mecca.” He has traveled extensively
in the Middle East, where he began to develop his interest in Islamic studies.
Phillip Swan, assistant professor of music and associate director of choral
studies, has been a member of the conservatory faculty in a non-tenure-track
position since 2002. His responsibilities include directing Cantala (the Lawrence
University Women’s Choir), teaching Conducting Principles and Music
Theatre for the Music Educator, offering private voice instruction, and supervising
music education students. He has completed all coursework for a Doctor of Musical
Arts degree in choral conducting at the University of Miami. His doctoral essay
work is focused on the choral works of Eric Whitacre.
Peter-John
Thomas, assistant professor of Russian, will receive his Ph.D. in
June at Northwestern University, where his dissertation title was “Places
of Thought in Nabokov’s The Gift.” His master’s
degree, also from Northwestern, was a study of patterns of thought in Pasternak’s
poetry. He has experience teaching Russian language and literature as a visiting
faculty
member at St. Olaf College and in the Beloit College summer program.
Mark Urness, assistant professor of music, has been appointed
to a tenure-track position after three years of highly successful work as an
adjunct faculty
member in the Conservatory of Music. His responsibilities have included studio
instruction in double bass and extensive work in jazz. He also is active in
music technology and composition. He holds a Master of Music degree from the
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.