Cohort
includes assistant professors, librarian, and a Fulbright Scholar in Residence
CONWAY, Ark. (August 15, 2022) — Hendrix College welcomes eight new assistant professors, one new instructor, one assistant librarian, and one
scholar in residence to the faculty for the 2022-2023 academic year:
- Emmy
Corey, Instructor of Religious Studies
- Izat El
Amoor, Assistant Professor of Sociology
- Kyle
Felling, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
- Melissa
Freiley, Assistant Librarian for Technical Services
- Ghaida
Ghediri, Fulbright Scholar in Residence
- Andy
Huss, Assistant Professor of Art
- Margo
Kolenda-Mason, Assistant Professor of English
- Lauren
Ayn Lusk, Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts
- Celeste
Reeb, Assistant Professor of English-Film and Media Studies
- Lavinia
Roberts, Assistant Professor and Murphy Fellow in Theatre Arts
- Shamindri
Tennakoon, Assistant Professor of Biology
Emmy Corey is a doctoral candidate
in Ethics and Society. Her dissertation research focuses on the relationship
between faith, healing, and the moral imagination at a group of faith-based
USAID clinics in Nairobi, Kenya, that provide care and treatment for children
and adolescents living with HIV. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, she
illustrates the visions for collective, holistic healing that emerge through
everyday practices of public health service delivery as practitioners and
volunteers interpret, articulate, and imagine moral and theological
possibilities for their communities and our global institutions. Emmy’s work in
community-based organizations has influenced her commitment to scholarship
centered on community engagement and social transformation. Her writing has
appeared in Critical Research on Religion, Twentieth Century Anglican
Theologians, Practical Matters, and the Journal for the Society of Christian
Ethics. She received her BA from Birmingham-Southern College, her M.Div. from
Candler School of Theology, and anticipates a fall defense of her dissertation.
This fall, she will be teaching African Religions, Christianity and Social
Justice, and Religion, Illness, and Healing.
Izat El Amoor received his Ph.D. in
the sociology of education in the Applied Statistics, Social Science, and
Humanities Department at New York University. He specializes in LGBTQ issues in
Palestine with a focus on education, family life, and the Palestinian Queer
Movement. He also studies LGBTQ life in the Middle East and North Africa with a
focus on political and cultural factors of LGBTQ change since the Arab
uprisings erupted in 2011. His upbringing in both Palestinian and Israeli
cultures has led to regular guest lectures and workshops on the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict and Palestinian citizens of Israel as part of efforts to create a
better understanding of the region in the U.S. El Amoor is a member of the
selection committee for the FLTA (Foreign Language Teaching Assistant)
Fulbright program, which brings native Arabic speaker educators from
Israel-Palestine to teach Arabic at American universities. His initial
introduction to this program was as an instructor and cultural exchange
ambassador. This fall he will teach Introduction to Sociology and Sociology of
the Family.
Kyle Felling ’99 is an
inorganic/analytical chemist with extensive industrial and academic laboratory
experience. He brings expertise in gas chromatography, liquid chromatography,
mass spectrometric methods, spectrophotometric, as well as many other
chemical/physical analytical techniques. In addition to forming F.A.S.T.
Laboratories, Felling served for eight years as the environmental laboratory
manager for a leading energy company and has taught at the South Dakota School
of Mines and the University of Central Arkansas, where he ran successful
research laboratories in addition to his teaching responsibilities. He earned a
Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, a Bachelor
of Arts in chemistry from Hendrix College, and completed a postdoctoral research
fellowship at the University of Alabama. Felling has received research funding for
inorganic/analytical chemistry focusing in areas of fluorine chemistry,
analytical separations, and the energy industry. He is a member of the American
Chemical Society. In the fall semester he will teach General Chemistry, General
Chemistry Lab, and Advanced Technology in Experimental Chemistry.
A new library faculty
member arrived earlier this calendar year and will begin her first full
academic year with the Hendrix community. Melissa Freiley joined Hendrix
College’s Bailey Library in January 2022 as one of the three librarians on the
faculty. As the new Assistant Librarian for Technical Services, she manages the
catalog system, ensures that interlibrary loan requests are filled, and helps with
library reference and research questions. Before arriving at Hendrix, Freiley
worked at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, the University of North
Texas (UNT), and Denton (Texas) Independent School District. She earned her
Master of Science in Information Science from UNT in 2018 and her Bachelor of
Arts in Government from Texas Woman’s University in 2006.
Ghaida Ghediri, a Fulbright Scholar in Residence for the 2022-23 academic
year, earned her Ph.D. in International Law from the University of Legal,
Political and Social Sciences–Carthage, in Tunis, Tunisia. She has experience
with multiple international organizations, including as a member of the Tunisian
Observatory for the Democratic Transition in Tunisia; the Tunisian Association
of International Law; the Tunisian Association for the Defense of Children’s Rights;
the Unit of Research Institutions and International Jurisdictions and
Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Legal, Political and Social
Sciences-Carthage; and the Tunisian Association of Political Sciences. She is a
lecturer at the University of Law and Political Sciences in Tunis and has
academic experience as a researcher in France, Italy, and as a participant in
the International Visitor Leadership Program in the U.S. in 2014. Ghediri will
teach a Topics course on Human Rights and Gender this fall.
Andy Huss has served since 2019 as
an adjunct faculty member at Hendrix, and this year moves into the role of Assistant
Professor of Art. After earning his BFA from Northern Michigan University and
his MFA in sculpture at the University of Michigan, Huss attended the University
of Pennsylvania as a post-graduate student, where he spent a year studying
under sculptor Robert Engman. He then worked as a full-time artist for around
30 years, taking jobs as a fabricator and model-maker. Huss continues to teach sculpture
courses at the college and enjoys introducing students to both the medium and
its history. He is represented by Boswell/Mourot Fine Art in Little Rock. This
year he will be teaching beginning, intermediate, and advanced sculpture and
ceramics.
Margo Kolenda-Mason holds a Ph.D. and a
Master of Arts in English Language and Literature from the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor. For her Bachelor of Arts degree, she triple-majored in
English, Hispanic Studies, and Comparative Literature at Brandeis University.
Kolenda-Mason’s academic interests center on the intersection of economics and
literature and research issues of exchange, labor, and value in medieval and
early modern literature, as well as methodological questions surrounding
periodization and genre. She has presented at the Shakespeare Association of
America, Renaissance Society of America, The International Congress on Medieval
Studies, and The International Medieval Congress, as well as through other
conferences and forums at the University of Michigan. Kolenda-Mason’s scholarly
investment in resisting traditional periodization emerges in her pedagogy; she
will teach Poetry and Introduction to Academic Writing this fall.
Lauren Ayn Lusk joins the Hendrix
Department of Theatre Arts & Dance following four years as the Stagecraft
Teacher, PAC Manager and Thespian Troupe 7955 Director for Parkview
Arts/Science Magnet High School. She earned her B.A. in Drama from the
University of Arkansas and her M.F.A. in Scenic Design from Indiana University.
After attending IU, she was the Resident Scenic Designer and Charge Artist for
Midland Community Theatre in Midland, Texas for three years. While at MCT she
designed and painted over 30 productions including her national award-winning
scenic design of Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Since
moving back to Arkansas, she has been the Assistant Director of Drama for
Arkansas Governor’s School at Hendrix College for two summers and she has
designed productions for the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, the University of
Central Arkansas, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Children’s Theatre and for
the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. This academic year she will teach Scenery
& Lighting, Production Design, and Computer Aided Drafting.
Celeste Reeb earned a Ph.D. from the
University of Oregon after attending Salisbury University for Bachelor of Arts
and Master of Arts degrees. In the spring of 2019, Reeb was unanimously
selected by a University of Oregon committee as the recipient of the 2019-20
Jane Grant Dissertation Fellowship. The fellowship, given annually by the UO
Center for the Study of Women in Society, honors and supports a Ph.D. candidate
in writing their dissertation on women and gender. Reeb’s dissertation topic, “Closed
Captioning: Reading Between the Lines,” examined the way closed captioning
language attempts to contain, mark, and categorize bodies based on gender,
disability, sexuality, and race. Reeb will teach Introduction to Film Studies
and a Topics course on Queering Fear in Horror Film this fall.
Lavinia Roberts Lavinia Roberts is a
published and award-winning playwright, puppet designer, and educator. She has
over 50 plays published with Applause Books, Big Dog Plays, Brooklyn
Publishers, Heuer Publishing, Plays: The Drama Magazine for Young People,
Pioneer Drama, Smith and Kraus, and others. Her work has been performed in all
50 states and internationally in nine other countries; it has been featured in
New York City at The Barrow Group Theatre, The Center at West Park, Emerging
Artist Theatre, HERE Arts Center, The Kraine Theatre, Metropolitan Playhouse,
New York University, The Players Theatre, Roy Arias Studios, Theatre for the
New City, The Wild Project, and other spaces. She has directed her work in New
York City at The Sheen Center, The Bushwick Starr, Dixon Place, The Tank, The
Brick, and The Secret Theatre. Her educational resource book, A Little
Drama; Playful Activities for Young Children is published with Redleaf
Press. She will teach Introduction to Theatre at Hendrix this fall.
Shamindri Tennakoon is an invertebrate
paleobiologist interested in the morphology and morphological deformations of
fossil marine benthic invertebrates. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University
of Peradeniy–Sri Lanka and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Florida,
where she also worked with the Florida Museum of Natural History. Her
dissertation research focused on morphological traits of marine invertebrates
(specifically mollusks and echinoids) preserved in the fossil record and
observed in recent specimens, which can be used to study underexplored
biological processes through time. Tennakoon is interested in developing and
conducting education and outreach activities in paleontology, particularly in
programs aimed toward elementary through high school students, and in mentoring
undergraduate students. She has a passion for making paleontology and
field-work-based sciences more accessible and equitable. This fall, she will
teach Evolution and courses and labs covering Environmental Biology and Fundamentals
of Cellular Life.
Earlier this summer, the
College announced two new members of the Board
of Trustees.
In addition to the
faculty named above, the Hendrix College Office of Academic Affairs announced a
number of faculty and staff changes for the coming academic year.
Faculty with Changed
Status in 2022-2023
Chris Camfield: promoted to Professor of Mathematics
Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach:
received
title of
Assistant Professor and Murphy Fellow in English-Creative Writing
Peter Gess: promoted to Professor of Politics
William Gorvine: promoted to Professor of Religious
Studies
William Gunderson: awarded tenure and
promoted to Associate Professor of Chemistry and appointed Odyssey
Director
Julie Gunderson: awarded tenure and
promoted to Associate Professor of Physics
Courtney Hatch: appointed Natural Sciences Area
Chair
Latorya Hicks: converted to tenure-track position in
the Department of Chemistry
Antonio Horne: awarded tenure
Cathy Jellenik: promoted to Professor of French
Peter Kett: awarded tenure and promoted to Associate
Professor of Chemistry
Kiril Kolev: appointed as Associate Provost for
Engaged Learning and Director of International Programs
Laura MacDonald: awarded tenure and
promoted to Associate Professor of Biology
Carmen Merrick: converted to tenure-track position
Matthew D. Moran: retired
Sasha Pfau: awarded James and Emily Bost
Odyssey Professorship
Ruth Yuste-Alonso: received title of Assistant Professor
and Murphy Fellow in Spanish
New
Academic Affairs Staff in 2022-2023
Christian
Cutler: appointed Windgate Museum
Director
Theo Maire:
appointed
as French House Coordinator
Tina
Murdoch: appointed as Archivist in
Bailey Library
Mark
Sutherland: appointed as Covid Response Co-coordinator
Rita
Woodward: appointed as Costume Designer
and Shop Manager
About Hendrix College
A private liberal arts
college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as
one of the country’s leading liberal arts institutions, and is featured in
Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About
Colleges. Its academic quality and rigor, innovation, and value have
established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous college guides, lists, and
rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been affiliated with the United
Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.