Rhodes Experts

Many Rhodes faculty are available to respond to media requests and to comment on various topics of interest. To reach our subject experts, please email news@rhodes.edu or call (901) 843-3470.

Faculty interested in being added to this list also should email news@rhodes.edu.

The following is by subject and not necessarily by department.

Ancient Mediterranean Studies  

  • Geoff Bakewell: Ancient Greece and its history, literature and religion 
  • Joseph Jansen: Athenian political and economic history 
  • Ariel Lopez: Late Antiquity, ancient/late antique Egypt, Coptic, papyri 
  • Susan Satterfield: Roman Republican history and religion 
  • David Sick: Spoken Latin, comparative mythology, early Christianity 

Art and Art History

  • Victor Coonin: Renaissance, Baroque and Medieval art history
  • Karl Erickson: Art, studio art, digital art, animation, video 
  • Erin Harmon: Painting, self-portraiture, pop culture 
  • David McCarthy: Modern, contemporary and American art history 

Biology

  • Michael Collins: Ecology, wildlife biology, ornithology, invasive species, conservation biology, evolution  
  • Terry Hill: Biology of fungi, microbiology, cell biology 
  • Mary Miller: Genetics and cancer biology 

Business-Commerce-Economics-Finance-Management

  • 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 
  • Marshall Gramm: Regulation, mortgage lending, betting markets, equine industries 

Chemistry

  • Darlene Loprete: Biochemistry
  • Larryn Peterson: Organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry  

Educational Studies

  • Zachary A. Casey: Multicultural education, race and racism, teacher education, critical pedagogy, equity in schools, teacher professional development
  • Laura Kelly: Education, literacy, bilingual education, English as a second language
  • Laura Taylor: Early/Elementary literacy, high-stakes testing, literacy policy, writing instruction

English

  • Gordon Bigelow: Nineteenth century British and Irish literature, cultural studies 
  • Marshall Boswell: Twentieth century American literature, contemporary fiction, creative writing 
  • Lori Garner: Old English language and literature; oral traditions   
  • Scott Newstok: Shakespeare, adaptation, lyric poetry, rhetoric 
  • Leslie Petty: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-century American literature, feminist theory, cultural studies, feminist activism in American fiction 
  • Jason Richards: Early and antebellum American literature, Gothic studies, critical race theory 
  • Rashna Richards: American film history, critical theory, transnational cultural studies, visual culture 
  • Seth Rudy: Eighteenth century British poetry & prose, encyclopedism genre 
  • Brian Shaffer: Twentieth century British literature and Irish literature
  • Caki Wilkinson:  Twentieth century American literature, contemporary poetry, creative writing

Health Equity

  • Duane T. Loynes Sr.: Bias in healthcare, clinical determinants of health, racial disparities in health conditions/access/delivery
  • Peter Hossler: Health equity, health care safety net, COVID-19, the nonprofit sector, opioid crisis
  • Kendra G. Hotz: Health disparities caused by structural injustice (racism, poverty), social determinants of health (housing, food, transportation, environmental hazards), religion and health, bias in healthcare settings and the history of medicine

History

  • Timothy Huebner: American South, U.S. Constitutional/legal history, American civil war/reconstruction 
  • Sarah Ifft Decker: Medieval Europe; Jewish history; women and gender
  • Jeffrey Jackson: Modern Europe, modern France, history of jazz, urban history, history of natural disasters 
  • Tait Keller: Environmental history, war and society 
  • Michael LaRosa: Contemporary Latin America, Colombia, Catholic Church history 
  • Seok-Won Lee: Modern Asia 
  • Charles W. McKinney Jr.: African American history, civil rights movement, 20th century social and political history, social change in the United States 
  • Robert Saxe: U.S. history since 1945, World War II, and U.S. political 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 
  • Chien-Kai Chen: Political economy of East Asian countries, international politics of East Asia, China’s domestic politics and foreign relations, China-Taiwan-US relations, Taiwan studies
  • Shadrack W. Nasong′o: African politics, international relations, comparative politics, conflict studies, ethnicity and nationalism, democratization, social movements 
  • Amy Risley: Latin American politics, comparative politics, migration policy, children’s rights, civil society and social movements  

Mathematics and Computer Science

  • Eric Gottlieb: Algebraic combinatorics 
  • Chris Mouron: Topology, continuum theory, discrete dynamical systems 
  • Betsy Sanders: Virtual environments, computer graphics, animation, and image processing 
  • Christopher Seaton: Orbifolds, singular spaces, symplectic quotients, differential geometry, differential topology, invariant theory
  • Catie Welsh: Computational biology, bioinformatics, data mining 

Modern Languages and Literatures

  • Eric Henager: Spanish language and Spanish-American literature   
  • Alexandra Kostina: Russian language and literature, linguistics, Russian folklore 
  • Han Li: Chinese language and literature, contemporary Asian media and cinema, material culture
  • Abou-Bakar Mamah: French language, Francophone Sub-Saharan African literature and film, African diaspora, migrations studies
  • Elizabeth Pettinaroli: Spanish-speaking cultures and language, environmental humanities, extractivism, colonialism and neocolonialism, globalization, Spatial studies, visual culture and literature
  • Yinyin Xue: Chinese language and literature, modern China, East Asian popular culture, Sinophone cinema, environmental humanities  

Music

  • John Bass: Jazz studies, regional music studies, music history, guitar 
  • Carole Blankenship: Voice, vocal literature, American music, the songs of Paul Bowles 
  • 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 
  • Vanessa Rogers: Music, opera, classical music, pop music 
  • William Skoog: Conducting, choral studies and literature 

Philosophy 

  • Daniel Cullen: Political Ideologies; Liberalism and Conservatism; Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom; Ethical Dimensions of Public Policy Issues; American Constitutionalism and Civic Education

Physics

  • Shubho Banerjee: Theoretical physics, material science 
  • Brent Hoffmeister: Ultrasonics, medical physics 
  • Dave Rupke: Astronomy and astrophysics, climate change
  • Ann Viano: Solid state physics, biomaterials 

Politics-Government-Law-American Scene

  • Marcus Pohlmann: Education policy, racial politics, civil rights, civil liberties 
  • Stephen Wirls: Congress, American politics, political theory, U.S. Constitution, city charters 

Psychology

  • Rebecca Klatzkin: Binge eating disorder, relationship between neuroendocrine and cardiovascular stress responses and food consumption 
  • Natalie Person: Educational psychology, instructional technologies, artificial intelligence  
  • Katherine White: Psychology and aging, language and cognition  

Religious Studies

  • Thomas Bremer: Religious history of the Americas, sacred space, religious tourism 
  • Patrick Gray: New Testament, religious conversion, Christianity, the Bible and popular culture 
  • Stephen Haynes: Holocaust studies, religion and racism, addiction and recovery, mass incarceration
  • John Kaltner: Arabic, Islam, Catholicism, Bible 
  • Steven McKenzie: Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), archaeology and the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls 
  • Bernadette McNary-Zak: Early Christianity
  • Sarah Rollens: Early Christianity, historical Jesus, Gospels, apocalyptic thought, ideas about the afterlife, religion in ancient Rome, the formation of the Bible, theories of religious belief and practice
  • Brooke Schedneck: Buddhism, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Meditation, Religious Tourism

Urban Studies

  • Austin Harrison: Housing, urban policy, neighborhood change (structural disinvestment, gentrification), community development/community organizing, urban development
  • Kendra G. Hotz: Faith and health, Christian ethics, history of Christian theology; healthcare equity
  • Duane T. Loynes Sr.: Black communities and law enforcement, Black philosophy and religion, Christian history and theology, social protest movements (e.g., Black Lives Matter)