Faculty Fellows - Fall 2018
For the third cohort of Mellon Faculty Fellows, nine faculty members were hired for tenure-track positions
Beloit College
Sonya Maria Johsnon
Sonya Maria Johnson
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Ph.D. Dual Major in Socio-Cultural Anthropology and African American & African Studies, Michigan State University
B.A. Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder
Teaching: Religions of the Black Atlantic: The Caribbean and Latin America; Religious Thought in the Black Atlantic: Cuba; Ritual and Culture in the African Diaspora; Religion and Reality; and The Anthropology of Religion
Research: Cuban African descendants’ engagement of ancestral spirits from Cuba’s colonial past to maintain their “African” identity, integrating the significance of contemporary ritual realities into theoretical discourses about the “Black Atlantic”
Faculty Profile
Carleton College
Candace Moore
Candace Moore
Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Cinema and Media Studies
Ph.D. Cinema and Media Studies, UCLA
M.F.A. Creative Writing, San Francisco State University
B.A. Literature, University of California – Santa Cruz
Teaching: Courses include Introduction to LGBT/Queer Studies, Feminist and Queer Theory, and Race Gender and Sexuality in Popular Culture
Research: Feminist and Queer Media Studies, American Television History, LGBTQ Studies, Minoritarian Media Industries and Production Cultures, Sex in the Media, and Digital Television and Convergence Culture
Faculty Profile
Coe College
Laissa M. Rodríguez Moreno
Laissa M. Rodríguez Moreno
Assistant Professor of Spanish
Ph.D. Spanish Literature and M.A., University of Wisconsin – Madison
B.A. Literary Studies, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Teaching: Spanish Language, Latin American history, and advanced literature classes on Hispanic graphic novels, performance and politics, theater and literature
Research: Combines topics related to 20th – 21st c. Latin American political violence with scholarly interests in Latin American history, theater and performance, political philosophy, cultural and visual studies ,and Illustrated Books
Faculty Profile
Alexander Zambrano
Alexander Zambrano
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Ph.D. Philosophy, University of Colorado – Boulder
B.A. Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University
Teaching: Applied ethics (including bioethics and environmental ethics), the history of philosophy (ancient and early modern), philosophy of race, philosophy of religion, and normative ethics
Research: Biomedical Ethics, with focus on the allocation of scarce medical resources and bio-enhancement technologies and their implications for distributive justice
Faculty Profile
Knox College
Roya Biggie
Roya Biggie
Assistant Professor of English
Ph.D. English, CUNY Graduate Center
M.A. English, Georgetown University
B.A. English, St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Teaching: Early Modern Ecologies, Early Modern Cross-Cultural Encounters, Shakespeare, and survey courses in medieval and early modern literature
Research: Shakespeare, early modern drama, early modern medical texts and botanicals, ecocriticism, and affect theory
Faculty Profile
Lake Forest College
Vivian Ta
Vivian Ta
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Ph.D. Experimental Psychology and M.S., University of Texas at Arlington
B.A. Experimental Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington
Teaching: Research Methods and Statistics I and II, Psychology of Language
Research: Using computational linguistics techniques to investigate the influence of language on interpersonal dynamics, the impact of personality and individual differences on interpersonal relationships, and the role of technology and computer-mediated communication on psychological processes
Faculty Profile
Luther College
Kelly Sharp
Kelly Sharp
Assistant Professor of African Studies and History
Ph.D. History and M.A., University of California – Davis
B.A. History, Willamette University
Teaching: Intro to African American History, Black Student Activism in Higher Education
Research: Material culture, food, the ante-bellum South, race and labor, and business history
Faculty Profile
St. Olaf College
Jessica Benson
Jessica Benson
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Ph.D. Psychology and M.A., Rutgers University – Newark
B.A. Psychology, University of California – Davis
Teaching: Issues in Diversity, Social Psychology, and Research Methods in Psychology
Research: Stereotyping and discrimination, identity, resilience, and academic achievement
Faculty Profile
Stephanie Montgomery
Stephanie Montgomery
Assistant Professor of History and Asian Studies
Ph.D. History and M.A., University of California – Santa Cruz
B.A. University of Nevada – Reno
Teaching: Courses include the Making of Modern East Asia, Engendering Modern East Asia, China Past and Present
Research: Modern China, history of gender, sexuality, and the body; women’s history; the history of criminality and penology; and the history of science, medicine, technology, and drugs
Faculty Profile