Several educators join MC faculty for 2007-2008 academic year

August 22, 2007
Karen B. Eldridge, Director of News and Public Information
865.981.8207; karen.eldridge@maryvillecolleg.edu

This year, Maryville College welcomes to its campus five new full-time faculty members and three visiting professors, bringing the total number of full-time faculty members to 78.

"Our new faculty bring dynamic, fresh approaches to teaching across a broad spectrum of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences and math and computer sciences," said Dr. Robert Naylor, vice president and dean of the College. "We are delighted with their enthusiasm for integrating creative scholarship and teaching excellence to further enhance the educational experiences of our students."

In the College's Division of Humanities, Dr. Aaron Astor will join the faculty as assistant professor of history. Graduating with honors, Astor received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. He earned both his master's and doctoral degrees in American history from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. His doctoral dissertation is entitled "Belated Confederates: Black Politics, White Guerillas, and the Collapse of Conservative Unionism in Kentucky and Missouri, 1860-1872."

His article "I Wanted a Gun:" Black Soldiers and White Violence in Civil War and Post-War Kentucky and Missouri" will appear in Reconstruction: The Civil War's Unfinished Business, a forthcoming textbook edited by Paul Cimbala and Randall Miller.

As a visiting professor at Albion (Mich.) College, Astor taught courses on the United States Civil War, guerilla conflict, African-American history and the history of the U.S. South.

Dr. Anita Bergeson joins the faculty as a visiting instructor of English composition. She graduated summa cum laude from Jamestown (N.D.) College, earning a bachelor's degree in English and history-political science. She went on to complete her master's and doctoral degrees in English from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Her dissertation, "Chaucer's Questioning Impulse: Reading the Dream Visions and Trolius and Criseyde,"was completed in 2006.

Bergeson taught composition and English literature courses at UT, as well as served as a publications editor and editorial assistant for Old English Newsletter. Her research and teaching interests include Chaucer, Old and Middle English language and literature, history of the English language, Arthurian literature, letter-writing, Restoration and 18th-century literature.

As an assistant professor of sociology at the College, Dr. Tricia Bruce will teach introductory sociology courses, as well as courses on the sociology of religion this academic year.

In addition to the sociology of religion, Bruce's areas of specialization include social movements, organizations, discourse, non-profits, qualitative methodology and applied research.

She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, concentrating her studies in sociology and communication. Her master's and doctoral degrees in sociology were awarded from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2003 and 2006, respectively.

Her previous appointments include research assistant professor at Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) and teaching assistant to "Interdisciplinary Studies" for interning undergraduates at the University of California Washington Center in Washington, D.C. Since 2005, she has also worked as a research consultant, providing organizational assessment through quantitative analysis and report writing.

Dr. Yuanyuan Ding joins the College's Division of Mathematics and Computer Science as assistant professor. She earned a bachelor's degree in history from Shandong University in China, then went on to earn a master's degree in economics from the University of China. Moving to the United States, she was accepted to the University of Mississippi's Department of Computer and Information Science. She earned a master's degree in engineering science from Ole Miss in 2003 and a master's degree in mathematics in 2006. Her dissertation, "Pattern Recognition in Complex Environments," was completed in 2007, completing her doctorate in engineering science (with emphasis in computer science) at Ole Miss.

With research supported through grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, she worked as a part-time research assistant in the university's bioinformatics lab while completing her degrees. She was also a part-time graduate instructor in the department.

Comparative politics, African politics, social movements, women's movements, political theory and critical feminist theory are the research and teaching interests of Dr. Frances Henderson, who joins the faculty as assistant professor of political science.

Henderson, who comes to Maryville from Washington University in St. Louis, earned her doctorate in political science earlier this year. Her dissertation, "New Voices, Enduring Interests: Women and Politics in Mozambique," builds on her master's degree and research (Africana Studies and women's studies), which she completed at Cornell University in 1996. Her undergraduate work in international relations was completed at Syracuse University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree.

She has taught numerous courses in WU's College of Arts and Sciences.

Twice, Henderson served as an international election observer in Mozambique for the Carter Center for Democracy, working during the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2004 and the municipal and local governmental elections in 2003.

Dr. Andrew Irvine joins the Maryville College faculty as assistant professor of philosophy. After receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Sydney in Australia, Irvine went on to earn two master's degrees from Boston University School of Theology: a master of theological studies, completed in 1995; and a master of sacred theology, completed in 1996. He stayed at Boston University to pursue a doctoral degree in philosophy and religious studies. His dissertation, "God's Preferential Option for the Poor: A Study in Liberation Theology and Metaphysics," was completed in 2002.

Irvine's teaching experiences have included positions at Boston University Metropolitan College and Loyola University in New Orleans, La. Most recently, he was an assistant professor of comparative religion and director of senior studies at Long Island University Friends World Program, where he led a group of U.S. undergraduates in a year-long, around-the-world program in comparative religion and culture.

His current research interests involve the religious meanings of cultural creativity, hermeneutics of religious symbols, divine action and world citizenship.

Returning to the College for a second year as a visiting instructor of biblical studies and ethics is Phillip Sherman. An expert in Hebrew Bible and classical Jewish hermeneutics, he is currently working toward a doctorate in Hebrew Bible from Emory University in Georgia. He holds a master of divinity degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University and a bachelor's degree from Emory & Henry College in Virginia. He has also completed work at the Leo Baeck College for the Training of Rabbis and Teachers in London. His doctoral dissertation is entitled "Translating the Tower: Genesis 11 and Early Jewish Interpretation."

Sherman taught various religion and biblical studies courses at both Candler School of Theology and Emory University from 2002 until 2006. He is currently the site administrator for the Society of Biblical Literature's Review of Biblical Literature on www.bookreviews.org.

Summar West '01 will join the Maryville College faculty as a visiting instructor of English composition. A Maryville College alumna, West attended the College on a full-tuition scholarship and majored in history and English. She graduated magna cum laude in 2001, then attended the University of Chicago, where she received a master's degree in social sciences.

West was a part-time instructor in the College's Division of Humanities last year. She has taught English at Cleveland State Community College in Cleveland, Tenn., and at Webb School of Knoxville.

In 2005, she was the programs and grants manager at Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum.

Eight new part-time instructors welcomed

New part-time instructors for the 2007-2008 school year include: Tony DeDominick, who will teach courses in the fundamentals of algebra; Donna Dixon '89, who will lead courses in community health; Jason Ezell '93, who will join the faculty in the Division of Humanities and teach English composition; Daniel Hickman, part-time instructor of elementary Spanish; Tanya McNamara, who will join the Division of Education and teach about health issues in education; Jennifer Olander '05, who joins her former professors in fine arts to teach music and assist the Concert Choir; Asami Segi, who will teach Japanese; and Clay Shwab, part-time instructor of business management.