Social Science Faculty

Jon Anderson

Professor

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• M.S., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• B.S., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

• Alumni Association Teaching Award
• Horace T. Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association Award

Areas of Expertise

• Biostatistics
• Time-to-Event Data Analysis
• Analysis of Survey Data

Stacy Aronson

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota
• M.A., University of Kansas
• B.A., Ohio Wesleyan University

Areas of Expertise

• Spanish Language
• Brazilian Portuguese Language
• 16-17th Century Peninsular Spanish Literature, Particularly by Women Authors
• Literary Representations of Sexual Violence
• Muslim and Jewish Literature of Spain

Joseph Beaver

Lecturer

• Ph.D., University of Arizona, Tucson
• M.A., University of Tulsa
• B.G.S., University of Kansas

Areas of Expertise

• Geography
• Quantitative methods and computer modeling in archaeology
• Epipaleolithic and Neolithic societies of the Middle East
• Human/prey dynamics

Tammy Berberi

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., Indiana University

Areas of Expertise

• Disability and Aesthetics
• Tristan Corbière
• 19th-century French Literature
• Disability Studies
• Inclusion in Higher Education

Cyrus Bina

Professor
Distinguished Research Professor

• Ph.D. The American University
• M.A. Ball State University
• M.A. Ball State University
• B.S. Institute of Advance Accounting (Tehran, Iran)

• Morris Faculty Distinguished Research Award

Areas of Expertise

• Economic Theory and Methodology
• Energy and Environmental Economics
• Political Economy
• Technological Change & Skill Formation
• History of Economic Thought
• Globalization & Strategy
• Iran's Economy & Polity
• International Relations & US Foreign Policy

Kent Blansett

Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies Discipline Coordinator

• Ph.D., University of New Mexico
• M.A., University of New Mexico
• B.A., University of Missouri, Columbia

Areas of Expertise

• American Indian History
• Urban American History
• History of the West
• Modern American History
• Environmental History

Sheri Breen

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• B.A., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Areas of Expertise

• Political theories of nature
• Sustainable agriculture and stewardship
• Ecological reformulation of property theory

Sarah Buchanan

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota

• Alumni Association Teaching Award

Areas of Expertise

• Francophone Studies
• West African Cinema and Literature
• Maghrebian Cinema and Literature
• Caribbean Literature
• French Cinema

Stephen Burks

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., University of Massachusetts
• M.A. University of Massachusetts
• M.A., Indiana University
• B.A., Reed College

Areas of Expertise

• U.S. trucking industry
• Behavioral economic field experiments
• Behavioral personnel economics

L. Mercredi Chasman

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., University of Illinois
• B.S. California Institute of Technology

Areas of Expertise

• Eigenvalue problems in PDE
• Special functions

Donna Chollett

Associate Professor
LAAS Coordinator

• Ph.D., Michigan State University
• M.A., Iowa State University
• B.S., Iowa State University

Areas of Expertise

• Political Economy of Agrarian Systems, Anthropology of Food
• Rural Communities and Sociocultural Change in Latin America
• Social Movements, Social Justice, Human Rights

Mark Collier

Associate Professor, Chair

• Ph.D., University of California, San Diego
• B.A., Columbia University

Areas of Expertise

• Modern Philosophy
• Philosophy of Mind/Cognitive Science
• Moral Psychology

Julia Dabbs

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park
• M.A., University of Maryland, College Park
• A.M.L.S., University of Michigan
• B.A., University of Michigan

Areas of Expertise

• Women Artists of the Early Modern Period (1500–1800)
• 17th C. French Sculpture and Art Theory

Rebecca Dean

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., University of Arizona
• M.A., University of Arizona
• B.A., University of Michigan

Areas of Expertise

• Agricultural societies in southern Arizona and the Mediterranean
• Spread and development of farming
• Impact of agricultural societies on the landscape and animals

Brad Deane

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., Northwestern University
• B.A., University of Michigan

• Alumni Association Teaching Award

Areas of Expertise

• Nineteenth Century British Literature

Jennifer Kolpacoff Deane

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., Northwestern University
• B.A., University of Washington

• Alumni Association Teaching Award
• Horace T. Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association Award

Areas of Expertise

• Medieval History
• Early Modern Europe
• Religious and Cultural History
• Gender Studies

Dan Demetriou

Assistant Professor

• Ph. D., University of Colorado
• M.A., Texas A&M University
• M.A., Youngstown State University
• B.A., Ambassador University

Areas of Expertise

• Ethics
• Political Philosophy
• Philosophy of Law

Julie Eckerle

Associate Professor
Assistant Chair of the Humanities Division

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Areas of Expertise

• Early Modern British Literature
• Women’s Writing and Representations of Gender in Literature
• Early Modern Life Writing

Deb Economou

Lecturer

• J.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Areas of Expertise

• Business Law

Bart Finzel

Professor
Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Dean

• Ph.D., Cornell University
• M.A., Cornell University
• B.A., Valparaiso University

• Alumni Association Teaching Award
• Horace T. Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association Award

Areas of Expertise

• Long-term planning
• Liaison to faculty and administration of the campus
• Create funding mechanisms
• Establish partnerships with other community development organizations throughout the upper Midwest

Clayton Forester

Assistant Professor

Areas of Expertise

Pieranna Garavaso

Professor

• Ph.D., University of Nebraska
• M.A., University of Padova (Italy)
• B.A., University of Padova (Italy)

• Alumni Association Teaching Award
• Horace T. Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association Award

Areas of Expertise

• Metaphysics
• Philosophy of Language
• Epistemology
• Frege
• Analytic Feminism

Solomon Gashaw

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
• S.J.D./Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, Law School
• M.L.I., University of Wisconsin
• B.A., Haile Sellassie I University, Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

Areas of Expertise

• Sociological Theory
• Law and Sociology
• Social Movement
• Ethnicity and the State

Tom Gausman

Lecturer

• M.S. Northern Illinois University
• M.A. Northern Illinois University
• B.A. University of Minnesota, Morris

Farah Gilanshah

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• M.A., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• B.A., National University of Iran- Tehran, Iran

Areas of Expertise

• Ethnic Community
• International Migration, Research Methodology
• Gerontology

Vicki Graham

Professor

• Ph.D. University of California
• M.A., University of California
• B.A., San Francisco State University

Areas of Expertise

• Poetry and poetics
• 20th Century British and American poetry
• Nature poetry
• Eco-criticism
• Creative writing

Stephen Gross

Associate Professor, Archivist

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• B.A., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Areas of Expertise

• American Social History
• History of American Immigration
• Rural History
• History of Religion in America
• Minnesota History

Roland Guyotte

Professor

• Ph.D.,Northwestern University
• M.A., Northwestern University
• A.B., Brown University

• Horace T. Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association Award

Areas of Expertise

• U.S. History
• Political History
• The American Presidency
• Immigration and Ethnicity
• Biography and Autobiography
• History of Education

Hiroyuki Imai

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
• M.A., University of Michigan
• B.A., Keio University

Areas of Expertise

• Development Economics
• International Economics
• Financial Economics

J. Brooks Jessup

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
• B.A. Hamilton College

Areas of Expertise

• East Asian History
• Modern China
• Religious and Social History
• Urban History

Tom Johnson

Associate Professor

• B.A., St. Olaf College
• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Areas of Expertise

• Perception
• Attention
• Language Behavior
• Creativity

Seung-Ho Joo

Professor

• Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
• M.A., Eastern Kentucky University
• B.A., Yonsei University Seoul

• Morris Faculty Distinguished Research Award

Areas of Expertise

• International Relations
• East Asian Foreign Relations
• International Conflict

Arne Kildegaard

Professor, Center for Small Towns Director

• Ph.D., University of Texas
• M.A., University of Chicago
• B.A., Gustavus Adolphus College

Areas of Expertise

• Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
• Economics of Renewable Energy Systems
• Economic Development
• General aviation (small planes) pilot

Paul Kivi

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., University of Wyoming

Areas of Expertise

Michael Lackey

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., University of Kentucky

Areas of Expertise

• Twentieth-century Intellectual History
• God and Religion in Literature
• Atheism

Lory Lemke

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., University of Nebraska

Areas of Expertise

• Epistemology
• Metaphysics

Nick Leonard

Lecturer

• B.S., St. John's University
• M.A., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Areas of Expertise

• Patterns and predictors of mental health service utilization. Specifically, school-based mental health supports and services.

Mark Logan

Associate Professor

• Ph.D. University of Wisconsin
• B.A. Carleton College

Areas of Expertise

• Algebra
• Combinatorics

Tim Lindberg

Teaching Specialist

• B.A., University of Minnesota, Morris

Areas of Expertise

Leslie Meek

Professor
Chair, Division of the Social Sciences

• Ph.D., University of Michigan
• B.A., University of Minnesota, Morris

• Horace T. Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association Award
• John Tate Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising

Areas of Expertise

• Biopsychology
• Sexual Behavior
• Effects of Environment on Offspring Development (daylength and alcohol)
• Maternal Behavior
• Sexual Differentiation

Brook Miller

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., Indiana University

Elaine Marie Nelson

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., University of New Mexico
• M.A., University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• B.A.E., University of Nebraska at Kearney

Areas of Expertise

• History of the American West
• American Indian History
• Women and Gender Studies
• Tourism and Environmental History
• Great Plains History

Oscar Baldelomar

Assistant Professor

• B.A., California State University, Los Angeles
• M.A., California State University, Los Angeles
• M.A., California State University, Los Angeles
• Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Areas of Expertise

• Cognition and Identity Development
• Intersection of Social Identities in Children and Adolescents
• Culture and Identity Development

Michael O'Reilly

Professor

• Ph.D., Manchester University, England
• B.S.,Queens University, North Ireland

Areas of Expertise

• Algebra
• Representation Theory

Bibhudutta Panda

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., Louisiana State University
• M.S., Louisiana State University
• M.Phil., Delhi School of Economics
• M.A., Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics
• B.A., Utkal University

Areas of Expertise

• Economic Growth and Development
• Applied Macroeconomics
• Regional Economics

Heather Peters

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., University of Arizona
• M.A., University of Arizona
• B.A., University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• B.S., University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Areas of Expertise

• Clinical Psychology
• Sport Psychology
• Multicultural Psychology
• Eating Disorders

Jeff Ratliff-Crain

Professor

• Ph.D., Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda
• B.S., The Ohio State University

• Horace T. Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association Award

Areas of Expertise

• Heath Decisions and Behaviors
• Mediators of Coping Style
• Predictors of Use of Common Drugs

Jennifer Rothchild

Associate Professor
Coordinator of the Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) Program

• Ph.D., American University
• M.A., Georgia State University
• B.A., Miami University

• Alumni Association Teaching Award

Areas of Expertise

• Gender and Development
• Qualitative Methodology
• Systems of Inequality
• Childhood Studies
• South Asian Studies

Roger Rose

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., University of California, Davis

Areas of Expertise

• American Government
• Congress
• The Presidency
• State and Local Government
• Research Methods
• Policy Making
• Human Rights

Marynel Ryan Van Zee

Associate Professor (on leave, academic year 2012-2013)

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• B.A., University of Illinois, Chicago

Areas of Expertise

• Modern European history
• Women's history
• History of education
• History of the social sciences

Kevin Stefanek

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., Michigan State University
• M.A., Michigan State University
• M.S., Boise State University
• B.A., University of California

Areas of Expertise

• Leadership
• Motivation
• Sport Management
• Martial Arts

Cheryl Stewart

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., Miami University
• M.A., Miami University
• B.S., George Mason University

Areas of Expertise

• Cognition
• Attention
• Learning|Memory (including both individual and group memory)
• Specific factors that influence student learning in educational environments

Dennis Stewart

Associate Professor

• Ph.D., Miami University
• M.A., Miami University
• B.S., University of Illinois

Areas of Expertise

• Group dynamics
• Social Influence
• Gender Stereotypes
• Political Psychology
• Consumer Psychology
• Teaching of Psychology.

Engin Sungur

Professor

• Ph.D., Carnegie-Mellon University
• M.S., Carnegie-Mellon University
• M.S., Middle East Technical University
• B.A., Middle East Technical University

• Horace T. Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association Award

Areas of Expertise

• Statistics Education
• Modern Multivariate Analysis
• Copulas and Directional Dependence Modeling

Tisha Turk

Associate Professor
Writing Center Director

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin

Areas of Expertise

• Fan Videos
• Composition Studies
• Writing Centers and Peer Tutoring
• Narrative Theory
• History of the Novel in English
• Gender and Sexuality Studies

Sheng Xiao

Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
• M.A., Vanderbilt University
• M.Sc., Sichuan University
• B.A., Sichuan University

Areas of Expertise

• Empirical Corporate Finance
• Corporate Governance
• Empirical Asset Pricing
• Behavioral Economics and Finance
• Venture Capital
• Economic Growth

Xia Zhang

Visiting Assistant Professor

• Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh; M.A., Beijing Normal University; B.A., Beijing Normal University

Areas of Expertise

• Globalization, Development, and Urbanization
• Gender (Masculinity) and Migration in Contemporary China
• Youth Culture, Labor Politics, and New Media