Meet Some of Our New Faculty 2013-14
New faculty for the 2013-14 academic year briefly describe their research and teaching interests.
Gabriele Bechtel
Department of English
Dr. Bechtel (PhD, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) teaches and performs research in composition and rhetoric, with a particular focus in English as a Second Language and cross-cultural communication.
Amélie Davis
Department of Geography,
Institute for the Environment and Sustainability
Dr. Davis (PhD, Purdue University) is an interdisciplinary scientist who is currently researching the effects of land use and land cover change on the provision of ecosystem services using Geographic Information Systems and Agent Based Modeling. Her research is focused on both agricultural and urban systems. Her research and teaching interests include human-environment interactions, environmental land use planning, and landscape ecology.
Jessica Downey
English and American Culture Program
Ms. Downey (MA, University of Cincinnati) teaches English as a Second Language at Miami and collaborates with Psychology's Crossing Borders Program to foster American and international students' intercultural competence. Jessica's research interests lie in frame switching, biculturalism, and World Englishes.
Thomas Fisher
Department of Statistics
Dr. Fisher's (PhD, Clemson University) research interests include multivariate analysis, time series, forecasting, and stochastic processes.
Nathan French
Department of Comparative Religion
Dr. French (PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara) is interested in contemporary political and militant Islamic movements, the historical question of jihad in Islamic law, philosophies of religion and the secular, and questions of human religiosity and violence.
Janice Gennaria
Department of Media, Journalism, and Film
Ms. Gennaria's (MA, University of Delaware) teaching is primarily focused in preparing students to be both effective communicators and critical consumers of public messages.
Tammie Gerke
Department of Geology & Environmental Earth Science
A geology lecturer at the Middletown campus, Dr. Gerke (PhD, University of Cincinnati) completed post-docs at Arizona State University and at the University of Cincinnati. She also had a Federal Government and ORISE Fellowship with the US EPA in Cincinnati, OH. She is a geochemist who investigates the mineralogic and chemical characteristics of a variety of earth materials down to the nano-scale, with current research emphases in the areas of environmental geochemistry and geoarchaeology.
Catherine Grimm
Department of German, Russian, and East Asian Languages
Dr. Grimm's (PhD, Northwestern University) research interests are in German romanticism, 19th century German literature and culture, European fairy tales, and German women’s writing.
Mack Hagood
Department of Media, Journalism, and Film
Dr. Hagood's (PhD, Indiana University) research is on the roles of audio media in everyday life, particularly the ways people create a comfortable sense of space through sound.
Albert (Chip) Hahn
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology
Dr. Hahn's (AuD, University of Florida) current research relates to the use of mApps (mobile applications on smartphones, tablets, etc.) for screening, assessment, and treatment in speech and hearing disorders. In addition, he is developing research related to stuttering disorders.
Lynette Hudiburgh
Department of Statistics
Ms. Hudiburgh's (MS, University of Northern Colorado) research interests include statistics education and e-learning.
Mariana Ivanova
Department of German, Russian, and East Asian Languages
Dr. Ivanova (PhD, University of Texas-Austin) taught previously at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Her research focuses on 20th and 21st century German literature, culture, and cinema, particularly East German and post-unification film, transnational cinema, women's writing, and post-1989 memory discourses.
Rory Johnson
Department of Comparative Religion
Dr. Johnson (PhD, University of Chicago) studies the politics and aesthetics of African American religions and new religious movements. He is currently working on a comparative study of the development of extra church liturgical practices in the United States, Brazil, and Ghana.
Mahmud Khan
Department of Physics
Dr. Khan (PhD, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale) completed a post-doc at The Ames Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy funded national lab operated by Iowa State University. His research interest is in experimental condensed matter, with a particular focus on novel magnetic materials with multifunctional properties that can be harnessed for energy efficient technologies.
SeonJim Kim
Department of Statistics
Dr. Kim (PhD, Pennsylvania State University) is interested in statistical theory and methodology for dependent data, such as longitudinal data and time series data, through nonparametric methods and quantile regression.
Irena Kola
English and American Culture Program
Dr. Kola's (PhD, University of Illinois) research interests are focused on teaching and learning English as a Second Language as well as writing composition.
Jeff Kuznekoff
Department of Media, Journalism, and Film
Based on our Middletown campus, Dr. Kuznekoff (PhD, Ohio University) has research interests in computer-mediated communication. His recent work has examined gender voice in online multiplayer video games and the impact of texting during class lecture on student learning.
Jennifer Malkowski
Department of Media, Journalism, and Film
Dr. Malkowski (PhD, University of California-Berkeley) completed a Mellon post-doc in new media at Smith College. She specializes in new media (particularly internet video and video games), documentary film, and gender and sexuality in media.
Christe McKittrick
Department of Media, Journalism, and Film
Mrs. McKittrick's (JD, University of Wisconsin-Madison) creative focus is on strategic public relations, writing, and public speaking.
Sara McLaughlin
Department of Sociology and Gerontology
Dr. McLaughlin's (PhD, University of Michigan) research focuses on health in later life. She is particularly interested in the social and behavioral determinants of healthy aging among older adults in the United States.
Mark Morris
Department of Political Science
Dr. Morris's (PhD, Miami University) research focuses on public leadership and capacity-building in small Ohio cities, villages, and townships, with most of his work taking place in an applied setting.
Barbara Oswald
Department of Psychology
Dr. Oswald's (PhD, University of South Carolina) research examines the neurobiology of learning, memory, and addiction. She is based at Miami University's Hamilton campus.
Rick Page
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Dr. Page's (PhD, Florida State University) laboratory research here at Miami utilizes NMR, X-ray crystallography, and biophysical and biochemical assays to study membrane protein quality control at the endoplasmic reticulum.
Luis I. Prádanos (Iñaki)
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Dr. Prádanos (PhD, Texas Tech University) conducts research centering on contemporary Hispanic cultural studies, with a primary focus on eco-criticism and posthumanism. He is also interested in ecological economics, political ecology, and global studies.
Jon Rutter
Department of Media, Journalism, and Film
Dr. Rutter (PhD, University of Texas-Austin) is interested in the history of ideas and is committed to the medium of speech. His research interests converge on the intersection of rhetoric, culture, and politics.
Joe Sampson
Department of Media, Journalism, and Film
Mr. Sampson (MA, Xavier University) is interested in creative activity, particularly web and mobile multimedia storytelling.
Leland Spencer
Department of Media, Journalism, and Film
Based at Miami University's Hamilton campus, Dr. Spencer (PhD, University of Georgia) conducts research in the areas of feminist rhetoric, gender and sexuality, and religion.