FACULTY & STAFF

Women's Studies

ADMINISTRATIVE

LIN, YI-CHUN TRICIA, Director, Women's Studies Program, Associate Professor; B.A., National Taiwan Normal University; M.A., Tamkang University, Taiwan; Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook. Tel. (203) 392-6864. E-mail: liny4@southernct.edu

A 15th-generation daughter of Taiwan, Yi-Chun Tricia Lin traveled oceans and continent, from her native island, to pursue a doctoral degree in continental philosophy and literary theory. In the process, she found ethnic studies and women's studies. Her dissertation, "Translating Cultures as Re-Writing Boundaries" (1997), is a study of selected Asian American women's cultural and literary productions. Since, her research and teaching interests have gone intensely into ethnic studies, women's studies and post-colonial studies. Among her most recent projects is a comparative cultural studies of women's writing from the Caribbean and Pacific islands. Before joining the Women's Studies faculty in August 2004, Tricia Lin taught writing and literature and Asian American literature full-time, from 1994-2004, at City University of New York/Borough of Manhattan Community College.

DELLINGER-PATE, CHARLENE
Associate Professor, Media Studies, Undergraduate Advisor; Ph.D., Ohio University (Relational Communication, Related Area: Media Studies).
dellingerpc1@southernct.edu; (203) (203) 392-5384

Charlie Dellinger-Pate is an associate professor in Media Studies at SCSU and an advisor for the Women's Studies undergraduate program. She holds a Ph.D. from Ohio University in Interpersonal Communication, an MA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Organizational Communication, and a B.A. from Appalachian State University in Rhetoric. Dr. Dellinger-Pate's interests are in critical/cultural studies, where she studies the intersection between personal relationships, media, and gender. Her publications include a number of pedagogical pieces concerning how to teach gender and intercultural concepts and a book chapter on gender analysis of popular television.

CRAWFORD, ILENE Graduate Coordinator, Associate Professor, English; B.S.S., Cornell College; M.A., State University of New York at Binghamton; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tel. (203) 392-7051. E-mail: crawfordI1@southernct.edu

Ilene Crawford is an Associate Professor of English and Women's Studies and the Graduate Coordinator for the Women's Studies program. She holds a PhD in English with a specialization in rhetoric and composition studies from the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, an MA in English from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and a Bachelor of Special Studies in Classical Studies from Cornell College. Dr. Crawford teaches courses that examine histories of race, class, gender, nation, and sexuality and their effects on the material lives of individuals
and groups. As a teacher and a writer she is particularly interested in questioning traditional definitions of research and scholarly writing. Her publications include articles and chapters on feminist rhetoric and feminist rhetorical methodology. Her most recent work examines the effects of globalization on Vietnamese women's literacy practices.

The Women's Studies Steering Committee:

Polly Beals
Ilene Crawford
Charlie Dellinger-Pate
Cindy DiSano
Jennifer Guarino
Adjunct, WMS
Ginny Metaxas

FACULTY

AMENTA, ROSALYN, Adjunct Professor, Women's Studies; B.A., Southern Connecticut State University; M.A.R., Yale Divinity School; Ph.D., Fordham University
amentar1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5864

Rosalyn Amenta received her Ph.D. in the history of religions at Fordham University, and her Master of Arts in Religion at Yale Divinity School. Her area of specialization is comparative religious philosophy with an emphasis on the image, status and role of women in world religions.
Dr. Amenta has taught numerous courses in Women's Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Religious Studies and Philosophy at Southern including the team-taught interdisciplinary institutes, Woman, Heal Thyself and Women and Professional Ethics. She served as Co-Coordinator of the Women's Studies Program 1989-2002 and Graduate Coordinator of Women's Studies 1999-2002.

ANTHIS, KRISTINE, Associate Professor, Psychology; B.A., St. Xavier University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Nebraska
anthisk1@southernct.edu

Kristine Anthis earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Nebraska in 2000. She has been an assistant professor of psychology at SCSU since 2001. Her publications concern the role that stressful life events play in adolescent and adult identity development. She teaches the Women's Studies graduate course Psychology of Women. She was the Graduate Coordinator for Women's Studies during the Spring 2003 semester.

APPLEBY, GEORGE A., Professor, Health and Human Services; B.A., University of Connecticut; M.S.W., University of North Carolina; D.S.W., Columbia University
applebyg1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6567

APPLEWHITE, HARRIET B., CSU Professor, Professor, Political Science; B.A., Smith College; M.A., Ph.D., Stanford University
applewhiteh1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5659

ARBOLEDA, CARLOS A., Professor, Foreign Languages; B.A., Universidad de Santiago De Cali, Colombia; M.A., Ph.D., Syracuse University
arboledac1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6754

BEALS, POLLY, Associate Professor, History; B.A., College of Wooster, Ohio; M.A., University of Pennsylvania; Ph.D., Rutgers University
bealsp1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5610

Polly Beals received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University where she concentrated in comparative women's history, British history, and modern European history. She is engaged in a study of a British socialist feminist organization, the Fabian Women's Group, from its origins in the late 19th century up through its contributions to the second wave of feminism in the 1960s. She has been a member of the SCSU Women's Studies program since 1992. She has taught in the graduate Women's Studies program (History of Feminist Thought and Research Methods) and supervised graduate Women's Studies teaching internships in her undergraduate Women in Modern Europe course. She is currently a member of the Women's Studies Steering Committee.

BENNETT, THERESE, Associate Professor, Mathematics; B.A., Temple University, M.A., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
bennettt1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6997

Terri Bennett is an associate professor of mathematics at Southern. She earned her Ph. D. in applied mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh , where she wrote her dissertation on a mathematical model of the optical finishing process for telescope lenses. Since then, she spent a year's sabbatical reviewing the literature on women's issues in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), has written a review essay on bibliographic materials in this area, and has given a talk on gender differences in spatial visualization skills. She is currently working on an annotated bibliography and on the development of a course on gender issues in mathematics and science.

BIER, LISA, Social Sciences Reference Librarian
bierl1@southernct.edu

Lisa Bier is an associate librarian at SCSU's Buley Library. She is the librarian liaison for the departments of Anthropology, Sociology, Social Work, Political Science, and Marriage and Family Therapy. Her book, American Indian and African American People, Communities, and Interactions: An Annotated Bibliography, was published in 2004 by Greenwood/Praeger Press.

BLACKMER, CORINNE, Associate Professor, English; B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
blackmerc1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6715

Corinne E. Blackmer received her B.A. in English, her M.A. in Ancient and Modern Rhetoric and, in 1991, her Ph.D. in American literature and language from UCLA. She worked with Lillian Faderman and Paula Gunn Allen and, appointed a Visiting Assistant Professor at UCLA for two years, piloted a seminar in pre-Stonewall Lesbian Literature and Culture as well as another course in Culture, Ethics, and Sexuality. She was also actively engaged in ACT-UP and is currently a speaker for Love Makes a Family, the non-profit Connecticut organization dedicated to the legalization of same-sex marriage. At Southern, she teaches American literature, "Gay and Lesbian Literature and Film," "Queer Theory," and two university-wide literature requirements: "Sexuality and Ethics in Contemporary Culture" and "Jewish American Literature." In addition, she teaches "The Literature of the Hebrew Bible." Her course offerings and her research emerge from her identities as a Jewish lesbian feminist. She has published numerous articles on queer representations and authorship in American and, on occasion, British literature, and her book "Sapphists, Suffragists, and Streetwalkers" is under submission to U Mass Press. She has recently completed the second draft of an ambitious project, tentatively titled, "The Exiled Word: Meditations on Post-Holocaust Feminist Biblical Interpretation."

BLOCH, JON, Associate Professor, Sociology; Ph.D., Indiana University
blochj1@southernct.edu;(203) 392-5685

BRENY BONTEMPI, JEAN M., Assistant Professor, Public Health; MPH, San Jose State University; PhD, University of North Carolina School of Public Health
brenybontej1@southernct.edu

Jean M. Breny Bontempi received her BA in Communications from Western Connecticut State University in 1986, her MPH in Community Health Education from San Jose State University in 1994, and her PhD in Health Behavior/Health Education from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in 2000. She joined the Department of Public Health as an Assistant Professor in 2000 and currently teaches undergraduate and graduate-level community health education courses. Dr. Breny Bontempi's dissertation research was an exploration into social and cultural factors that affect low-income African American women's ability to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases. Her work with HIV/AIDS includes program planning and evaluation, HIV behavior modification, and HIV medication adherence research. Dr. Breny Bontempi's current efforts focus on eliminating health disparities through research and practice efforts that are participatory, community-based, and culturally sensitive.

BUZZELL, JUDITH, Associate Professor, Education; M.A., University of Wisconsin; 6th Year, Columbia University.
buzzellj2@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6431

CONNORS, KATHLEEN, Professor, Art; B.F.A., Massachusetts College of Art; M.E.D., Ph. D., Pennsylvania State University
connorsk2@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6659

CRAWFORD, ILENE W., Associate Professor, English; B.S.S., Cornell College; M.A., State University of New York; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
crawfordi1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-7051

DELLINGER-PATE, CHARLENE, Associate Professor, Media Studies; Ph.D., Ohio University (Relational Communication, Related Area: Media Studies).
dellingerpc1@southernct.edu; (203) (203) 392-5384

Charlie Dellinger-Pate is an associate professor in Media Studies at SCSU and an advisor for the Women's Studies undergraduate program. She holds a Ph.D. from Ohio University in Interpersonal Communication, an MA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Organizational Communication, and a BA from Appalachian State University in Rhetoric. Dr. Dellinger-Pate's interests are in critical/cultural studies, where she studies the intersection between personal relationships, media, and gender. Her publications include a number of pedagogical pieces concerning how to teach gender and intercultural concepts and a book chapter on gender analysis of popular television.

DISANO, CYNTHIA L., Adjunct Professor, Sociology and Women's Studies, Ph.D. University of Connecticut
disanoc1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6168

Cynthia L. DiSano has been employed at Southern Connecticut State University since September 1970. She teaches Gender and the Law in Women's Studies, Juvenile Delinquency and Introduction to Sociology in the Sociology Department. She is currently a full time administrator at Southern Connecticut State University as the director of the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts. She also does risk management for the university.

She received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership with a Concentration in School and University Law from the University of Connecticut, her M.A. in Student Personnel Services in Higher Education from New York University, and her B.A. in Social Sciences/Secondary Education from Rhode Island College. She was appointed by Governor Rowland to the State Insurance and Risk Management Board for the State of Connecticut and served eight years. Additionally, for the past four years she has been a member of the Board of Directors of CWEALF (Connecticut Women's Education And Legal Fund), which advocates development of women and girls in the state of Connecticut.

EMMELMAN, DEBRA S., Professor, Sociology; B.A., Indiana University; M.A., Ph.D., University of California at San Diego
emmelmand1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5686

GARVEY, SHEILA, Associate Professor, Theatre; M.A., Northwestern University; Ph.D., Indiana University .
garveys1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6102

GORNIAK-KOCIKOWSKA, KRYSTYNA, Associate Professor, Philosophy; Ph.D., Temple University .
gorniakk1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6784

GUARINO, JENNIFER, Adjunct Professor, English
guarinoj1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6133

HAYMES, ELAYNE B., Associate Professor, Social Work; B.A., Hunter College; M.S.W., Adelphi University; Ph.D., Fordham University
haymese1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5685

HOLBROOK, SUE ELLEN, Professor, English; A.B., M.S., Ph.D., University of California-Los Angeles
holbrooks1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6740

JACKSON, SHIRLEY A., Associate Professor, Sociology; B.A., Wayne State University; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
jacksons1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5676

Shirley Jackson's area of specialization are race/ethnicity, gender, and social movements. She also does work on African American women's organizations, race and class in Cuba, the United States, and Brazil. Dr. Jackson is an active member of several professional sociology associations. Her most recent research project has been with former SCSU graduate student, Dina Giovanelli. Their project was a socio-historical exploration of U.S. and global themes of race/ethnicity and gender in political cartoons during WWII and the Civil Rights Movement and was presented at the American Sociological Association and Society for the Study of Social Problems conferences in August 2004. Her research has focused on race and class in Cuba since the Cuban Revolution. She is in the process of developing a project that would permit faculty and students to travel to Cuba. Additionally, she is working on the development of affirmative action policies on education in Brazil. In addition, Dr. Jackson has conducted research on mentoring programs for African American girls and empowerment in African American women's organizations.

KERR, AUDREY E., Associate Professor, English; B.A., Rutgers University; M.A.R., Yale University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park
kerra1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5114

Audrey Kerr received a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers, M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from University of Maryland and a MAR in Religion and the Arts from Yale Divinity School (Gabriel Scholar, 1999-2001). She has been an associate professor of English at SCSU since 2001, with a specialization in African American Literature. She is also Chaplain and Spiritual Director at Leeway, Inc.,a skilled nursing facility for people living with HIV and AIDS.   Audrey joined Women's Studies as Graduate Director in Fall 2004.

Dr. Kerr has published work in African American spirituality, African American Women's Literature and Literature and AIDS.   Her first book manuscript, titled "The Paper Bag Principle: Myth-Making and Rumor in the Growth and Development of Black Washington, D.C.," will be published later this year.

LAROCCO, STEVEN M., Professor, English; B.A., University of Massachusetts; M.A., Ph.D., Rice University
laroccos1@southernct.edu ; (203) 392-5494

LIN, YI-CHUN TRICIA., Associate Professor/Director, Women's Studies; B.A., National Taiwan Normal University; M.A., Tamkang University, Taiwan; Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook.
liny4@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6864; (203) 392-6133

A 15th-generation daughter of Taiwan, Yi-Chun Tricia Lin traveled oceans and continent, from her native island, to pursue a doctoral degree in continental philosophy and literary theory. In the process, she found ethnic studies and women's studies. Her dissertation, "Translating Cultures as Re-Writing Boundaries" (1997), is a study of selected Asian American women's cultural and literary productions. Since, her research and teaching interests have gone intensely into ethnic studies, women's studies and post-colonial studies. Among her most recent projects is a comparative cultural studies of women's writing from the Caribbean and Pacific islands. Before joining the Women's Studies faculty in August 2004, Tricia Lin taught writing & literature and Asian American literature full-time, from 1994-2004, at City University of New York/Borough of Manhattan Community College.

MACOMBER, MEGAN, Professor, English; A.B., Princeton University; M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D., Cornell University
macomberm1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6724

METAXAS, VIRGINIA A., Professor, History/ Women's Studies
metaxasv1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5607

Virginia Metaxas received her B.A. in American Studies/Women's Studies at SUNY Old Westbury in 1977, and her Ph.D. in History at SUNY Stony Brook in 1984. She teaches a variety of courses including U.S. Women's History, Hawaiian History, and Feminist Research Methods. She's been active in the Women's Studies program at SCSU since 1988, serving on various committees and teaching in the undergraduate and graduate programs. She has published books and articles on the history of childbirth in America and the history of occupational therapy in America. In Spring 2003, she participated in a Rockefeller Fellowship Program at the University of Hawai'i titled "Gender and Globalization in Asia and the Pacific."   At present, she is working on two writing projects: a biography of Ruth A. Parmelee, an early twentieth century physician who served in Asia Minor and Greece, and a social history of healers and epidemics in nineteenth century Hawai'i.

MINDELL, CONSTANCE L., Associate Professor, Social Work; B.S., M.S.S., Boston University; D.S.W., Yeshiva University
mindellc1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6533

NEVEROW, VARA, Professor, English; B.A., Nyack College; M.A., Ph. D., New York University
neverowv1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6717

Vara Neverow received her Ph.D. from New York University. Her academic research includes work on Virginia Woolf, feminist theory, composition theory and pedagogy. Dr. Neverow is in her second term as President of the International Virginia Woolf Society and is the editor of the Virginia Woolf Miscellany.   She is currently the chairwoman of the English Department and teaches classes at the undergraduate and graduate level.

OPPEDISANO, JEANNETTE, Professor, Management/MIS; B.A., M.S., State University of New York; Ph.D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
oppedisanoj1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-7025

PALMA, GIUSEPPINA, Associate Professor, Foreign Languages; Ph.D., Yale University .
palmag1@southernct.edu (203) 392-6753

PENNISI, FRANCESCA A., Assistant Professor, Foreign Languages; B.A., Columbia University; M.A., Ph.D., Yale University
pennisif1@southernct.edu

Francesca Pennisi's specialization is Giovanni Boccaccio and the Middle Ages. She has completed a manuscript on the Boccaccio's Decameron, which is currently under review. She also teaches courses in Women's Studies, Ancient and Classic Texts and Italian Cinema.

RHODES, JAMES F., Professor, English; B.S., Holy Cross College; M.A., University of Rhode Island; Ph.D., Fordham University
rhodesj1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6897

ROFUTH, TODD, Professor, Social Work; B.A., M.S.W., University of Minnesota; D.S.W., University of Pennsylvania
rofutht1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6557

Todd Rofuth has been a professor at Southern since 1990 and was the director of the Urban Studies Program for 10 years. He has been the chairperson of the Social Work Department since 2001. Prior to his current academic job at Southern, Dr. Rofuth served as the Director of Welfare Employment for the State of Maryland from 1987-1990, and as the Director of Client Rights for Pennsylvania's Mental Health and Mental Retardation hospitals. From 2000-2002 he was the Co-Coordinator with Vara Neverow for Southern's 10-year reaccreditation self study for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. He has had 24 years of post MSW social work practice experience primarily in social welfare policy analysis, research and supervisory positions in federal and state government and private consulting. For the last 14 years he has provided consulting services to state and local governments and non-profit agencies in the areas of program evaluation, strategic planning, and the development of goals, objectives and outcome measures.

SELVAGGIO, MARIE, Professor, Anthropology; B.A. Douglass College; M.A., Ph.D., Rutgers University
selvaggiom1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5681

Marie Selvaggio received both her Ph.D. & M.A. in Anthropology from Rutgers University and B.A. in Anthropology & Archaeology from Douglass College. Her interest in Women's Studies dates back to her undergraduate days at Douglass, one of the oldest women's colleges in the nation. At Douglass, she focused on Native Americans and Women's Studies. As part of her undergraduate education, she excavated Native American archaeological sites in the U.S. and in Latin America. Later, her interest expanded to include African archaeology. Her Ph.D. research was conducted in East Africa.

She is presently the co-director of SCSU's Tanzania Field School in Anthropology. Her research has been published in Current Anthropology, The Journal of Human Evolution, Archaeological Science and other academic journals. Dr. Selvaggio is currently writing a book about women's role in prehistory. She has been a member of the Women's Studies faculty at SCSU since 1994.

SKOCZEN, KATHLEEN, Associate Professor, Anthropology; B.A., San Diego State University; M.A., Ph.D., Syracuse University
skoczenk1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-5679

Kathleen Skoczen received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology with a certificate in Women's Studies from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University. Her research focus is women, health, tourism, development, identity and religion in the Dominican Republic. She has spent more than five years living in the Dominican Republic since 1985. She has published in several places including The Women's Health Journal and the American Anthropology News, and presents at regional, national, and international conferences regularly. She has received a Fulbright Fellowship, National Science Foundation Award, Rockefeller Foundation Grant and other grants for her continued research on Dominican women, health, tourism, development, identity and religion. She teaches Global Women's Issues and the Anthropology of Women and Health, as well as several courses through the Anthropology Program.

SONNENSCHEIN, DANA L., Associate Professor, English; B.A., University of Iowa; M.A., Johns Hopkins University; M.A., Ph.D., Boston University
sonnensched1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6735

VILLANI, CHRISTINE J., Associate Professor, Education; B.S., Mercy College; M.A., Hofstra University ; Sixth Year Diploma, Southern Connecticut State University; Ed.D., Fordham University

WORDEN, BARBARA, Associate Professor, Social Work; B.A., Pennsylvania State University; M.S. W., University of Connecticut; Ph.D., Columbia University
wordenb1@southernct.edu; (203) 392-6563.