The College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Montclair State University

Lisa A. Ambrose
Psychology Department
B.A. William Paterson University
M.A. William Paterson University

Ms. Ambrose is the Department Administrator for Psychology. She received her Bachelor's degree in Communication with Honors in the Humanities from WPU in 1997 and her Master's degree in Media Studies in 2003. Her relevant experience includes working on average with 600 graduate and undergraduate students every semester seeking admission into the Education Certification programs at William Paterson University for the past three years.

Lisa Beckstrand
French, German, and Russian Department
B.A. Luther College
M.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dr. Beckstrand received her Ph.D. in French with expertise in the literature and culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Her current research focuses on women writers of the Enlightenment. Other interests include: the development of the novel, autobiography, the French Revolution, and gender studies. Dr. Beckstrand has several years of experience teaching all levels of language and literature, administering study-abroad programs, and developing curricula in French and Women's Studies. She taught previously at Concordia College where she was an Assistant Professor of French and Co-Chair of Women's Studies. Dr. Beckstrand comes to Montclair State University as a one-year appointment.

Paul Gregory Butler
English Department
B.A. Colorado College
M.A. Middlebury College
Ph.D. Syracuse University

Dr. Butler has recently earned his doctorate from the Composition and Cultural Rhetoric program at Syracuse University, and his dissertation was on reclaiming and reanimating the study of style in composition theory and practice. His areas of specialization include language theories, composition pedagogies, and rhetorical and stylistic inquiry. He has extensive experience in teaching writing and literature as well as a background in French and law.

Nancy Carnevale
History Department
B.A. Rutgers College
M.A. University of Michigan
Ph.D. Rutgers University

Dr. Carnevale comes to Montclair State with a PhD from Rutgers University, which she earned in 2000. Her dissertation, "Living in Translation: Language and Italian Immigrants in the U.S., 1890-1945" was supervised by noted scholar Virginia Yans. An expert in the Italian experience in the Americas, Dr. Carnevale has several key publications including "No Italian Spoken for the Duration of the War': Language, Italian American Identity and Cultural Pluralism in the World War II Years," an article in the Journal of American Ethnic History and "Culture of Work: Italian Immigrant Women Homeworkers in the New York Garment Industry: 1890-1914. She will teach American history and Italian American history and she will work closely with the Coccia Institute and the Department of Spanish and Italian to advance the subfield of Italian and Italian-American Studies.

Jason J. Dickinson
Psychology Department
B.S. Central Michigan University
M.S. Central Michigan University
Ph.D. Florida International University

Dr. Dickinson comes to MSU from Florida International University, Department of Psychology, where he taught such courses as Research Methods, Legal Psychology, Social Psychology, and Psychology of Sexual Behavior. Students describe him as, "an excellent instructor who stimulates student interest and facilitates student learning." His major research interest is on eyewitness decision making with in-field identification (show-ups) procedures. While at Florida International, Dr. Dickinson received numerous grants and also earned the prestigious Presidential Dissertation Fellowship. Dr. Dickinson also published a chapter in the highly-regarded Handbook of Psychology. The Psychology Department is pleased to welcome Dr. Jason Dickinson to MSU.

Monica Gordon-Pershey
Communication Sciences and Disorders Department
B.A. Cleveland State University
M.A. Montclair State College
Ed.D. University of Massachusetts-Lowell

Dr. Gordon-Pershey comes to us from Cleveland State University. Her doctoral degree is in Language Arts and Literacy Instruction. This degree, in combination with an M.A. in Communication Sciences & Disorders, has led to Dr. Gordon-Pershey's primary area of teaching and research expertise in language and literacy development in pre-school and school-age children. Her research has resulted in numerous publications which have enhanced the ability of educators to improve the language, reading and writing capabilities of children with special needs who are at risk for language and literacy deficiencies and/or are from minority and/or under-served populations.

Rhoda Halperin
Anthropology Department
B.A. Bennington College
Ph.D. Brandeis University

Dr. Halperin comes to us from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Cincinnati, where she has served as chair of the department, and was a full professor. Dr. Halperin has taught cultural, urban, medical anthropology, and social theory. She has a doctoral degree in anthropology from Brandeis University, and a BA from Bennington College. Her research interests include community based economic development, educational anthropology, and globalization. Her most recent publications include: Voicing Diversity and Women Schooling Urban Memory: Community Charter School as Global Borderland.

Prudence Jones
Classics and General Humanities Department
B.A. Wellesley College
M.A. Harvard University
Ph.D. Harvard University

Dr. Jones received her Ph.D. in Classical Philology in 1999 from Harvard University. Her research interests include the literature and culture of the Augustan period, ancient science and geography, and Cleopatra VII. Since completing her degree she has taught at Bryn Mawr College and Rutgers University. She has two books currently in press: a sourcebook on Cleopatra and Reading Rivers in Roman Literature and Culture, based on her dissertation. At Montclair, she will be teaching General Humanities and Classics courses.

Kristy Kay Mathiesen
Philosophy and Religion Department
B. A. University of California, Santa Cruz
M.A. University of California, Irvine
Ph. D. University of California, Irvine

Dr. Mathiesen received her Ph. D. in 1998 and comes to MSU from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts where she was a tenured Assistant Professor of Philosophy. At the MCLA she developed courses in several areas related to her fields of Collective Consciousness or Social Ontology, and Information Ethics. Widely published in these areas, Dr. Mathiesen is the founder of the Information Ethics Roundtable currently meeting at Bridgewater University but soon to move to MSU. Dr. Mathiesen will be our specialist in Social and Political Philosophy and will offer a seminar on Collective Identity and Collective Rights. She has also published on the relation of Virtue Ethics to the Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust.

Gina Miele
Director, Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America
B.A. College of the Holy Cross
M.A. Harvard University
Ph.D. Harvard University

Dr. Miele earned her doctorate from the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University with a dissertation on nineteenth and twentieth century Italian folktales by the canonical authors Luigi Capuana and Italo Calvino. Her research interests include Dante studies, modern Italian literature, Italian American history and literature, and Italian folklore. She has extensive teaching experience at all levels of language instruction, as well as of Italian literature, Italian studies, and folklore studies. In addition, Dr. Miele served for one year as the lead instructor for Harvard University's Italian Summer Program in Calabria. As Director of the Coccia Institute, Dr. Miele responds to the growing interest in Italian and Italian American studies among scholars and the public at large.

Laura M. Nicosia
English Department
B.A. Saint Peter's College
M.A. Montclair State University
Ph.D. New York University

Dr. Nicosia earned her doctorate at NYU where she co-founded the North East Modern Language Association's Graduate Caucus. Her dissertation developed work on a newly identified sub-genre of the novel form, the Narrative of Community, long obscured by the Western focus on the pursuit of the self, and how the community-building narratives of Sarah Orne Jewett and Gloria Naylor warrant further exploration of affinities. This spring, her article on Jewett was published in The Explicator. She has extensive teaching experience and will be coordinating the English department's teacher education program.

Mary A. Papazian
Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
B.A. University of California, Los Angeles
M.A. University of California, Los Angeles
Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Papazian joins Montclair State University as the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She previously served as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oakland University, Oakland's largest academic unit with 240 full-time faculty and 200 part-time faculty members. During her tenure at Oakland, Dr. Papazian developed and gained approval for academic programs ranging from a PHD in biological communication to an MA in liberal studies and bachelor degree programs in studio art and women's studies. She served as Executive Director of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, where she developed an assessment of the current state of the arts at Oakland. Dr. Papazian has taught English literature at Oakland starting in 1988, and has written and published extensively about John Donne. She holds office as the Second Vice-President of the John Donne Society, from which office she will move into the Presidency in 2006. Dr. Papazian holds her BA, MA, and PhD in English Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Patricia Salzman
Classics and General Humanities Department
B.S. University of Toronto
M.A. New York University
Ph.D. New York University

Dr. Salzman earned her doctorate in Classics at Oxford University in 2001. Her field of specialty is Latin Literature and she has a great interest in gender studies and literary theory applied to the Classics. Her current research focuses on the gaze in Ovid's Metamorphoses and on narrative aspects of Latin Elegy. She was a lecturer in Classics at Oxford, Keele, and CSU, Chico. From 2001 to 2004 she was Assistant Professor of Classics at St. Peter's College (NJ). At Montclair she will be teaching Latin Language and Literature, Classics and General Humanities.

Cigdem Penpeci Talgar
Psychology Department
B.S. University of Toronto
MA: New York University
Ph.D. New York University

Dr. Talgar comes to MSU from New York University, where she was an adjunct professor teaching Perception. Most recently, Dr. Talgar worked as an Associate Research Scientist at NYU's School of Medicine's Child Study Center, where she did research on a physiological correlate of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Her major research interest is in cognition and perception, primarily in the area of attention. Dr. Talgar is the recipient of a number of grants and awards, including the Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award and Research Opportunities Award. She has several journal publications and conference contributions, not including two works in press. The Psychology Department is pleased to welcome Dr. Cigdem Talgar to MSU.

Miloš Topic
CHSS Technology Services
B.S. Montclair State University

Miloš Topic received his B.S. in Computer Science from Montclair State University in the fall of 2003. Although he came to the CHSS Technology Services Department as a student technician at the beginning of his undergraduate study, he now serves as the Technology Support Coordinator for the CHSS Technology Services Department. Miloš performs various functions as Technology Support Coordinator which include: managing student technicians, responding to the demands of daily tech team responsibilities, and working on special projects, as well as many CHSS owned servers. He is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Information Systems at Steven's Institute of Technology and his anticipated graduation date is January 2006. His areas of interest are videoconferencing, systems, and network security. In his free time he enjoys sports (mainly soccer) and travel to exotic locations.

Lisa Anne Zilney
Sociology Department
B.A. University of Windsor
M.S. Eastern Kentucky University
Ph.D. University of Tennessee

Dr. Zilney comes to MSU after teaching in the Center for Crime, Corrections and Delinquency at Southern Illinois University. Dr. Zilney received her Ph.D. in 2003 after completing a dissertation entitled "Ideology, Community and Demography: Explaining the Link of Violence Against Human and Nonhuman Animals." This research examines adolescent animal abuse as a predictor of domestic violence. Dr. Zilney's research and teaching areas of specialization are criminology, domestic violence, environmental justice, environmental sociology, and research methods. At MSU, she will have a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology and the Justice Studies Program.