College Welcomes New Faculty Members in Sciences, Arts and Humanities

Twenty-four new full-time faculty members are teaching at Smith this fall on subjects ranging from data science to Chinese literature.

With 281 full-time faculty members on the roster this semester, Smith’s student-to-faculty ratio is 9-to-1.

New Faculty Members by Discipline

Art

Anna Lee, postdoctoral fellow and lecturer of history of photography, received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Chicago in June with a dissertation on “Amateurs: Photography and the Aesthetics of Vulnerability.” She has taught at the University of Chicago and Columbia College.

Erica Morawski, postdoctoral fellow and lecturer of architectural history, received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2014. She has taught at the University of Illinois, Harrington College of Design, Kendall College of Art and Design and Ferris State University.

Computer Science

Sara Sheehan, assistant professor, received her Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015 with an emphasis in computational and genomic biology. Her current research focuses on machine learning techniques to separate the effects of population size changes, and what those changes reveal about climate change.

East Asian Languages and Literature

Ellie Choi, lecturer in Korean studies, received her Ph.D. in East Asian languages and civilizations from Harvard University in 2009. Her research interests include modern Korean intellectual history, Japanese empire, spatiality and travel. She has taught at Ewha University in South Korea and at Dartmouth College.

Jessica Moyer, assistant professor, received her Ph.D. in East Asian studies in May from Yale University, where she also earned a master’s degree. Moyer’s dissertation research focused on late imperial Chinese fiction. She will teach courses on Chinese language and literature, including courses on gender and material culture and self and society in Chinese fiction and drama.

Economics

Mariyana Zapryanova, assistant professor, received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2015. Her teaching interests include public economics, applied microeconomics and applied econometrics. Her current research looks at the economics of crime and the impact of the nation’s prescription drug epidemic on crime and health outcomes.

Engineering

Kristen Dorsey, assistant professor, received Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research and teaching interests include the design and fabrication of micro- and nanoscale sensors for applications in air quality monitoring and gas chemical sensing.

Niveen Ismail, assistant professor, received her Ph.D. in June in civil and environmental engineering from Stanford University, where she also earned a master’s degree. A former engineer for ExxonMobil, Ismail is interested in research to improve freshwater quality. She will teach courses in thermodynamics, fundamental principles of engineering and an elective in water quality engineering.

Paramjeet Pati, Visiting Picker Professor of Practice, received a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University this summer with a dissertation on sustainable nanotechnology. He has taught at Virginia Tech and Michigan State University.

Environmental Science and Policy

Alexander Barron, assistant professor, received his Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Princeton University in 2007. He has taught at Carleton College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and has recently worked as deputy associate administrator in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Policy, helping to guide climate adaptation and smart growth policy.

French Studies

Elsa Stéphan, lecturer, received her Ph.D. in French studies from Tulane University in August. She received an M.A. in political science from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Strasbourg and an M.S. in media studies from the Université Paris IV Sorbonne School of Communications.

German Studies

Lisa Haegele, lecturer, received her Ph.D. in Germanic languages and literatures and comparative literature from Washington University in St. Louis in 2014 with a dissertation on revisions of violence in West German cinema. She has also taught at the University of Pittsburgh and Auburn University.

History

Sarah Hines, lecturer in history and in Latin American and Latino/a studies, expected to receive a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley in May with a dissertation on water rules and urbanization in Bolivia. She is a former program director for the Peace Games at Columbia University.

Mathematics

Eva Goedhart, lecturer in mathematics and statistics, received her Ph.D. in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College in May. In addition to Bryn Mawr, where she received a prize for excellence in teaching, Goedhart has taught at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

Bianca Thompson, lecturer in mathematics and statistics, received her Ph.D in mathematics from the University of Hawaii at Mãnoa in May. Her research interests include the intersection of number theory and dynamical systems and problems in arithmetic dynamics.

Middle East Studies

Steven Heydemann, Janet Wright Ketcham 1953 Professor of Middle East Studies, received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. His experience spans scholarship and nonprofit leadership, including his most recent role as senior adviser on Middle East initiatives at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Heydemann’s research interests include the political history of Syria, authoritarianism and democratization in the Arab world, and the political economy of the Middle East. This fall, Heydemann will teach “The Arab Spring” and a first-year seminar on “Syria Beyond the Headlines.”

Music

Micaela Baranello, McPherson/Eveillard Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer, received her Ph.D. in musicology from Princeton University in 2014. She served as dramaturg for the 2014 Bard Music Festival and has taught music at Swarthmore College.

Amanda Huntleigh, assistant director of choral activities and lecturer, expects to receive her D.M.A. in choral conducting in 2015 from the University of Washington, Seattle. She has taught at the University of Washington, where she served as the assistant conductor and tour manager for the Baltic Tour Choir, and at George Mason University.

Psychology

Janet Chang, visiting assistant professor, received her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California, Davis in 2006. Her research interests include ethnic/racial disparities in mental health and sociocultural influences on social support, help-seeking and psychological functioning in diverse populations.

Statistical and Data Sciences

Benjamin Baumer, assistant professor and first director of Smith’s new program in statistical and data sciences, received his Ph.D. in mathematics in 2012 from the Graduate Center of The City University of New York. His research interests range from big data to network science to sabermetrics and sports analysis. Prior to joining the Smith faculty as a visiting assistant professor in 2012, Baumer worked as a statistical analyst for the New York Mets. In addition to building the data science program at Smith, Baumer will oversee the college’s pilot Women in Data Science collaboration with Mount Holyoke College and MassMutual.

R. Jordan Crouser, visiting assistant professor of data science and MassMutual Faculty Fellow, received a Ph.D. in computer science from Tufts University in 2013. His research interests include human-machine interaction, visual analytics and big data.

Amelia McNamara, visiting assistant professor of data science and MassMutual Faculty Fellow, received her Ph.D. in statistics from the University of California Los Angeles in June. Her research interests include statistical computing tools, such as software and data visualizations, and statistical pedagogy and communication.

Study of Women and Gender

Jennifer DeClue, assistant professor, received her Ph.D. from the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Her academic interests span African American historical fiction, documentary and narrative films and visual art. DeClue has experience curating films for festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. She also produced the film “Rain” for the Fox Searchlight Searchlab Project.

Juliana Hu Pegues, assistant professor of English language and literature and of the study of women and gender, recently completed her Ph.D. in American studies at the University of Minnesota. Her scholarship and teaching has explored feminist and queer studies in relation to race and indigeneity. A founding member of the Women’s Prison Book Project, Pegues has also been an activist, playwright and performer. At Smith, she will teach courses on “Women of Color Feminism” and “American Journeys.”