Conn POSSE Mentors

Associate Professor of Theater

Joined Connecticut College in 2013.

Education: B.S., St. Northwestern University, M.F.A., University of Iowa

Kenneth Prestininzi is a playwright, director, dramaturg, teacher and producer. Prior to coming to Connecticut College, he was the Chair (acting) and Associate Chair of Playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and a Pembroke Fellow at Brown University. He directed "The Totalitarians" by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb in New Orleans, "El Grito del Bronx" by Migdalia Cruz in Providence and his own play Ugmo and Eenie Go Down The Ruski Hole in Boston in 2014. His play, "Birth Breath Bride Breath Elizabeth" was a featured show in Boston's The Next Thing Festival (2013), alongside shows by Mike Daisy, Richard Maxwell, The Debate Society and Daniel Fish.

Professor of History, Chair of the Department of History, Director of the Global Islamic Studies Program

Joined Connecticut College in 2008.

Education: A.B., Brown University, M.A., Ph.D., Princeton University

Eileen Kane is a historian of modern Europe, and her research looks at the relationship between Russia and the Middle East. At Connecticut College, Kane teaches courses on the history of modern Europe and Eurasia in a comparative, global perspective. One of her favorite courses to teach is “Modern Europe, 1790s-1990s,” a critical history of progressive reforms, promises, and failures in Europe, from the French Revolution through the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. Other courses include “The Soviet Union and Its Legacies,” “Jews and Muslims in Europe,” “Pilgrimage in the Modern World,” and a first-year seminar, “The Politics of Citizenship.”

Professor of Psychology, Director of the Neuroscience Program

Joined Connecticut College in 2004.

Education: B.A., Franklin & Marshall College, Ph.D., Thomas Jefferson University

Joseph Schroeder has a diverse background in psychology, neuroscience, cell biology, neuropathology and pharmacology. He believes in adopting a multi-level approach to unlocking the secrets of animal behavior, stressing the importance of employing molecular, cellular, neural systems and whole animal methodologies in the lab. Schroeder helped define the feline model of Parkinson's disease as his doctoral thesis and went on to examine changes in cell signaling pathways following chronic cocaine administration in animal models of psychostimulant abuse.

Professor of Dance

Joined Connecticut College in 2003.

Education: B.A., Colby College, M.F.A., Smith College

Heidi Henderson teaches Modern Technique, Composition, Improvisation, Anatomy, and Dance Writing. Henderson is the artistic director of elephant JANE dance. She is a four-time recipient of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellowship for excellence in the field. Her work has been performed in London, Korea, NYC, at Jacob’s Pillow in Mass., The Flynn Space in Burlington, VT, The Bates Dance Festival in Lewiston, Maine, and at many other places in New England. Heidi danced in the companies of Bebe Miller, Nina Weiner and Paula Josa-Jones, and with Colleen Thomas, Peter Schmitz and Sondra Loring.