Dean Karin Ruhlandt of the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) welcomes 11 new professors this fall. Rising stars in their fields, Ruhlandt says they bring unsurpassed scholarship and innovative instruction to help students prepare to take on the challenges of today and the future. “I am delighted and proud that this talented and diverse group of scholars has joined us this fall,” she says. “Each of them brings contemporary perspectives and expertise that will enhance the liberal arts experience for students in the College and further strengthen A&S’ areas of focus, especially in intercultural competency and social justice.”
Chanelle Benz G’12, Assistant Professor, English
Chanelle Benz
“My pedagogical focus is twofold: to develop cohorts of writers who support and challenge each other with rigor and generosity, and to construct courses that examine texts that run counter to master narratives, especially those which engage with issues of gender, place and race.”
Mariaelena Huambachano, Assistant Professor, Religion and Native American and Indigenous Studies
Mariaelena Huambachano
“My teaching philosophy is informed and shaped by my cross-cultural experience as a Native Peruvian Indigenous scholar who has lived from a young age in Aotearoa, New Zealand, the home of the Indigenous Māori culture. Focusing on the richness and breadth of cultural diversity and humility, I seek to address environmental and food justice issues, providing my students with a vibrant, inclusive, collective and creative learning environment.”
Delali Kumavie, Assistant Professor, English
Delali Kumavie (Photo credit: Ben Cleeton)
“I aim to cultivate the critical reading, writing and thinking tools that allow my students to assess and intervene in the ongoing histories and struggles against systems of oppression, slavery, subjugation and colonialism in our world. I believe that literary inquiry and study help students to understand the structures of domination and oppression, and their continuing presence in our lives today. As a result, I design my classrooms as a space to develop critical thinking, experiment with learning and writing, debate ideas and discover ways of being in the world.”
Ethan Madarieta, Assistant Professor, English
Ethan Madarieta (Photo credit: Ben Cleeton)
“Each of my classes incorporates forms of embodied, experiential pedagogy as a way of cultivating a learning environment that facilitates the relationships needed for engaging in the demanding but necessary work of critical self-reflection and social analysis. I encourage students to be bold in their analyses so as to contend with the ongoing violent legacies of slavery, colonialism and dispossession in their many forms. I teach the importance of relationality in knowledge production and identify pedagogy as a methodology for political, social and self-transformation.”
Mirna Mihovilovic Skanata, Assistant Professor, Physics
Mirna Mihovilovic Skanata
“Throughout my career, I have developed novel technologies to tackle questions at the interface of physics and life. As I transition into the next stage of my career, I look forward to tapping into the diverse scientific community at Syracuse University, with the goal of forging collaborations across departments and institutes.”
Warrick Moses, Assistant Professor, Art and Music Histories
Warrick Moses
“I am deeply committed to an interdisciplinary teaching approach, one that helps students develop the critical skills necessary to interrogate music as a cultural practice. I look forward to working collaboratively with community members in fostering an inclusive environment of learning and discovery that emphasizes social justice and social difference perspectives.”
Karin Nisenbaum, Assistant Professor, Philosophy
Karin Nisenbaum
“I will continue to work on a manuscript about post-Kantian moral perfectionism, which says our good, ultimately, is realizing our true nature. My aim is a new way to think about the ethical outlook developed by some post-Kantian thinkers, and to show how their views might enable us to address some of the problems confronting contemporary neo-Aristotelian ethical naturalism. During the spring, I will teach a graduate seminar on Kantian and post-Kantian ethics. I look forward to discussing some of the ideas I am working out in the book with students and colleagues.”
Corrine Occhino, Assistant Professor, Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (A&S) and Teaching and Leadership in the School of Education
Corrine Occhino
“I am excited to relocate the Multimodal Language Lab to Syracuse and continue my work on language processing and organization in signed and spoken language. I look forward to training the next generation of scholars in ethical and inclusive research practices, and to growing the presence of ASL on the SU campus.”
Ruth Opara, Assistant Professor, Art and Music Histories
Ruth Opara
“My pedagogy emphasizes critical thinking, creativity and diversity. As a teacher, I strive to help students see how they can interact with Africa, Black Atlantic and other world cultures through music. I do this by creating a learning environment that facilitates collaboration between me and students, grounds itself in mutual respect and trust, and provides students with new avenues for communication.”
Ivan Pechenezhskiy, Assistant Professor, Physics
Ivan Pechenezhskiy
“I’m looking forward to building a superconducting quantum device research group and setting up the lab space by bringing together my academic and industry experiences in the field. I believe that understanding students’ aspirations and dreams is the key to help them realize their fullest potential along any career path they choose.”
Yiming Zhao, Assistant Professor, Mathematics
Yiming Zhao
“I work in convex geometric analysis, where geometric intuitions guide mathematical abstractions. I believe we can make mathematics less daunting for our students by engaging them more in the class and visualizing examples and concepts whenever possible. In all my classes, I aim to foster an environment in which students learn not only the knowledge, but more importantly how to make discoveries on their own.”
