Current News
Connecticut College welcomes seven new faculty members
June 02, 2008
NEW LONDON, Conn. - Seven new tenure-track faculty members, including a history professor fluent in six languages, a classics professor with a passion for jazz and a psychology professor who gets local children excited about neuroscience, are joining the Connecticut College faculty.
"These new faculty members are passionate about their research and how it enables the finest teaching," Dean of the Faculty Roger Brooks said. "They join a team of dedicated professors who are among the best in liberal arts education today." The new faculty members are:
- Eric Adler, assistant professor of classics. Adler, who earned an undergraduate degree from Connecticut College in 1995, holds an M.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Ph.D. from Duke University. Adler, who is currently a visiting assistant professor at Connecticut College, specializes in Roman historiography and Roman imperialism. Adler is also an avid jazz fan and has traveled as far away as Amsterdam to enjoy Dutch avant-garde jazz.
- Jeffery Cole, professor of anthropology. Cole earned an undergraduate degree from Portland State University and a Ph.D. in anthropology from City University of New York. He is currently professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at Dowling College and has experience teaching a broad range of courses. Cole´s primary research focuses on the immigrants in Palermo, Italy.
- Eileen Kane, assistant professor of history. Kane completed her undergraduate degree in history and Russian language and literature at Brown University and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Princeton University. Currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University, Kane is completing a research project on Russia and Islam. She is fluent in French, Russian, Modern Turkish, Arabic, German and English.
- Sharon Jo Portnoff, assistant professor of religious studies. Portnoff has an undergraduate degree from St. John´s College and a Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy from the Jewish Theological Seminary. She also holds a Master of Education from Harvard University. Portnoff, currently a visiting assistant professor at Pomona College, specializes in modern Jewish thought and practice.
- Rosemarie Roberts, assistant professor of education. Roberts holds a bachelor´s degree in psychology and women´s studies from Hunter College of the City University of New York, a master´s in psychology from Queens College of the City University of New York and a Ph.D. in social personality psychology from City University of New York. Roberts, who has authored a number of books, articles, edited volumes and policy documents, is currently a visiting assistant professor at Connecticut College.
- Joseph Schroeder, assistant professor of psychology. Schroeder earned a B.A. in psychology from Franklin and Marshall College and a Ph.D. in cell biology and pathology from Thomas Jefferson University. A visiting assistant professor at Connecticut College since 2004, Schroeder instituted the annual Kids Judge Neuroscience Fair, where local children judge science projects by college students, and helped launch the college´s Science Educators Group to enhance science and technology education in K-12 classrooms and to give college students hands-on experience teaching science in local schools.
- Sayumi Takahashi, assistant professor of Japanese. Takahashi received her B.A. in philosophy from Princeton University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature and literary theory from the University of Pennsylvania. Takahashi, whose research focuses on 19th and 20th century Japanese literature and visual culture as well as gender theory and Asian-American studies, is currently an assistant professor of Asian studies and chair of the Japanese program at Sewanee: The University of the South.
Among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 41 states, the District of Columbia and 71 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 86-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.
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For more information contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu