Subject Matter Experts

Many of the Rhodes faculty and staff are available to respond to media requests and comment on various topics of interest. To reach any of our subject experts, please contact the Communications Office at (901) 843-3875.

The following list is by subject and not necessarily by department.

• Susan Kus: Symbolic anthropology, early state origins, archaeology and ethnography of Madagascar
• Thomas McGowan: Interpretive sociology, social gerontology, prejudice and discrimination
• Carla Shirley: Race and ethnicity, gender, social stratification, service-learning and community outreach, research methods, pedagogy in higher education

• Hud Andrews: photography, commercial photography  
• Victor Coonin: Renaissance, Baroque and Medieval art history
• Erin Harmon: Painting, self-portraiture, pop culture
• David McCarthy: Modern, contemporary and American art history
  

Biology

• Jay Blundon: Animal physiology, neuroscience
• Jonathan Davis: Physiological ecology and conservation of vertebrates
• William Dolphin: Medical marijuana (science, research, politics, history, laws related to its therapeutic uses), state medical marijuana laws and federal prohibition, clinical applications
• Terry Hill: Biology of fungi
• Alan Jaslow: Herpetology, animal communication
• Carolyn Jaslow: Biomechanics, histology, embryology, mammalogy 
• David Kesler: Ecology, liminology, coral reef ecology
• Gary Lindquester: Molecular biology, virology, gene expression
• Mary Miller: Genetics and cancer biology
• John Olsen: Evolution, systematics, plant taxonomy, morphology

Business-Economics-Finance-Management

• Teresa Beckham: International Economics, International Trade, Development Economics
• Dee Birnbaum: personnel/human resource management, occupations and careers, health care careers, nursing shortage, hospital administration, employee motivation, leadership, organizational design, organizational performance and attitudes
• Pamela Church: Accountancy
• Marshall Gramm: Regulation, mortgage lending, betting markets, equine industries
• Deborah Pittman: Inflation-indexed bonds, real rate of interest, expected inflation, inflation risk premium, nonpublic business valuation, Institute for Executive Leadership
• John Planchon: Advertising strategy, business strategy, general marketing issues
• Ferron Thompson: Accountancy

Chemistry

• Kimberly Fisher: Organic Chemistry
• David Jeter: Inorganic Chemistry
• Darlene Loprete: Biochemistry

Education and Higher Education

• Chad Ahren: Effects of co-curricular engagement, faculty/staff collaboration, culture of higher education
• Terese Buscher: College admissions, selecting a college, essay writing, recommendation writing, career exploration in high school  
• Carol Casey: General student life, crisis management
• Robert Johnson: Student retention theory, discourse analysis
• Glenn Munson:  College calendars, Family Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), transcript fraud, grades, retention issues
• Katherine Richardson: Studies abroad programs, global education, student honor system
• Mark Smith: School improvement planning, accreditation
• Sandi Tracy: Career preparation, jobs, internship programs
• William Troutt: Cost of a college education, higher education leadership
• David Wottle: Enrollment trends, the college admissions process, tips for students and parents

English

• Tina Barr: Creative writing, 20th century poetry
• Kristin Cole: History of the English language, medieval literature, prosody
• Gordon Bigelow: Nineteenth century British and Irish literature, cultural studies
• Marshall Boswell: Twentieth century American literature, contemporary fiction, creative writing
• Jennifer Brady: Renaissance and Restoration literature
• Michael Leslie: Literature and the visual arts
• Scott Newstok: Shakespeare, adaptation, lyric poetry, rhetoric
• Leslie Petty: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-century American literature, feminist theory, cultural studies, feminist activism in American fiction
• Rashna Richards: American film history, critical theory, transnational cultural studies, visual culture
• Brian Shaffer: Twentiety century British literature, modern novel  
• Rychetta Watkins: African American literature, Asian American literature, literature of protest (civil rights, Black power, and radicalism)

History

• Clayton Brown: East Asian history, modern China
• Michael Drompp: East Asian history, China and Japan, Inner Asia
• Dee Garceau: The American West, gender, Native American history
• Timothy Huebner: American South, U.S. Constitutional/legal history, American civil war/reconstruction
• Jeffrey Jackson: Modern Europe, modern France, history of jazz, urban history, history of natural disasters
• Tait Keller: Environmental history, environmental justice, war and society
• Michael LaRosa: Contemporary Latin America, Colombia, Catholic Church history 
• Charles W. McKinney Jr.: African American history, civil rights movement, 20th century social and political history, social change in the United States
• Gail Murray: History of Southern women, women in the civil rights movement, history of children’s literature, changing perceptions of childhood in America
• Alex Novikoff: Medieval history, history of France, intellectual and cultural history, historiography
• Robert Saxe: U.S. history since 1945, World War II, and U.S. political history
• Etty Terem: Modern Middle East and North Africa, Islamic law
• Russell Wigginton: African American history, U.S. labor and community history
• Lynn Zastoupil: Modern Britain, India/Pakistan, European intellectual history

International Studies

• Dee Birnbaum: Women in the Middle East, Middle East culture, the meaning of amulets, symbols and dress in the Middle East and Central Asia
• Stephen Ceccoli: International relations, international political economy, comparative public policy, pharmaceutical industry
• John Copper: Taiwan and China (25 books including 10 on Taiwan, international politics, Japan, international law, human rights, U.S.-Asia/China/Taiwan policy)
• Shadrack W. Nasong'o: African politics, international relations, comparative politics
• Amy Risley: Latin American politics, comparative politics
• David Romano: Middle-East and Mediterranean politics (with a special emphasis on Turkey, Iraq, the Kurds), politicized Islam, nationalism, theories of peace and conflict, forced migration (refugees, internally displaced persons), and globalization and development issues
• Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba: Demographic and environmental security, national security strategy, population aging and labor policy
  

Mathematics and Computer Science

• Eric Gottlieb: Algebraic combinatorics
• Chris Mouron: Topology, continuum theory, discrete dynamical systems
• Christopher Seaton: Orbifolds, differential geometry, differential topology
• Michael Sheard: Mathematical logic, set theory, philosophy of mathematics
• Patrick Vernon: Continuum theory and point-set topology
• Betsy Williams: Virtual environments, computer graphics, animation, and image processing

Modern Languages and Literatures

• Eric Henager: Spanish language and Spanish-American literature
• Amanda Irwin: Spanish language and Spanish-American literature
• Alexandra Kostina: Russian language and literature, linguistics, Russian folklore
• Shira Malkin: French language and literature, French culture, drama, translation, intercultural communication
• Kenneth Morrell: Greek and Roman studies
• Valeria Nollan: Russian language and literature, Soviet/Russian cinema, Russian culture, contemporary Russian life, Russian emigration, and Russian Orthodoxy (Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy)
• David Sick: Greek and Roman religion, Indo-European mythology
• Katheryn Wright: French language and literature, African literatures

• Thomas Bryant: Piano, music theory and literature
• Courtenay Harter: Prokofiev′s piano sonatas, music theory, music history, oboe, English horn, chamber music (woodwind quintet), orchestra, wind ensemble
• Michael Jefry Stevens: Jazz piano, improvisation, composition, theory, arranging, ensembles
• Timothy Watkins: Music history, ethnomusicology, world (non-Western) music, Latin American music, church and worship music

Philosophy

• Leigh M. Johnson: Contemporary (19th, 20th and 21st Centuries) Continental philosophy and deconstruction, postmodernism, social and political philosophy, race theory, feminist theory, human rights, interdisciplinary humanities, ethics
• Patrick Shade: American philosophy, ethics, logic, history of philosophy, interdisciplinary humanities

Physics

• Shubho Banerjee: Theoretical physics, material science
• Brent Hoffmeister: Ultrasonics, medical physics
• Ann Viano: Solid state physics, biomaterials

Political Science-Government-American Scene

• Daniel Cullen: American political thought, history of American politics, political theory  
• Marcus Pohlmann: Racial politics, urban politics, voting rights, constitutional law and civil liberties, intercollegiate mock trial, education policy
• Stephen Wirls: Congress, American politics, political theory, U.S. Constitution

Psychology

• Bette Ackerman: Self-concept, health, applied statistics
• Anita Davis: Clinical community, interventions with minority populations, adolescent motherhood
• Janet Panter: School psychology, educational psychology, school readiness, assessment and evaluation
• Natalie Person: Educational psychology, instructional technologies, artificial intelligence  
• Jeff Sable: Sensation and perception, cognitive neuroscience, measurements of human brain activity (e.g., brain imaging)
• Julie Steel: Social justice-seeking and revenge, counterfactual thinking, social dilemmas
• Marsha Walton: Social and moral development, narrative development, peer conflict, and storytelling practices
• Christopher Wetzel: Decision making, social cognition

• Thomas Bremer: Religious history of the Americas, sacred space, religious tourism
• Patrick Gray: New Testament, religious conversion, superstition
• Stephen Haynes: Holocaust studies, religion and racism, religion and education, religiously affiliated colleges
• Luther Ivory: African-American religion, civil rights, Afro-Caribbean religions, African traditional religions, contemporary theology, Christian ethics, hip hop spirituality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• John Kaltner: Arabic, Islam, Catholicism, Bible
• Steven McKenzie: Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), archaeology and the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls
• Bernadette McNary-Zak: Early Christianity
• Mark W. Muesse: Asian religions and philosophy (Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, Confucianism), mysticism, spirituality, cults, fundamentalism
• Michelle Voss Roberts: medieval Christianity, Hinduism, religious pluralism, feminist theology
• Gail Streete: Women in antiquity and early Christianity, the Bible (especially New Testament and Paul), early and medieval Christianity, martyrs and martyrdom

Theatre

• Laura Canon: Lighting design, theory
• Julia Ewing: Acting, theatre history, directing, movement, Shakespeare
• David Jilg: Production design, costume design, theatre history
• David Mason: Theatre history, dramatic theory, Asian theatre, religion and theatre

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