Tenure Track Faculty 2021 | Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs | SIU

Research: Custom automation and stage effect, using readily available components Design of systems to create effects and/or at times interlock effects to ensure the safety of operators and actors that need to interact with the effects.

Teaching Interest: Theatrical Technical Direction and Production, automation and special effects, scenic stagecraft, structural and mechanical design, project planning and management, computer aided design and drafting for the entertainment industry.

Why I chose SIU: Out of all of the jobs I have applied for, SIU has the best program that I have seen for Technical Directors. I feel that my expertise can be utilized to mentor and develop technical directors, teaching them how to work with the advanced technology that the industry is moving towards.

Research: Interprofessoinal education and practice, health disparities

Teaching Interest: Epidemiology, population health, statistics, quality improvement, organizational behavior

Why I chose SIU: The program, school, and college are committed to advancing the field, providing innovative educational opportunities, and engaging in interprofessional collaboration and research.

Research: As a historian of the African diaspora, I am interested in the racialization of culture, space, and knowledge in regions of the Americas not typically associated with the Blackness in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Moving between intellectual and cultural history, I look for and historicize the intersection among different cultural expressions and disciplinary boundaries, including art, music, anthropology, archaeology, literature, and film.

My first book, Finding Afro-Mexico: Race and Nation after the Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 2020), explores how Mexicans and their colleagues abroad, especially from the United States and Cuba, integrated Afro-diasporic cultures, methodologies, and politics into Mexican nation-state formation after the 1910 Revolution. Finding Afro-Mexico is the co-winner of the 2021 Howard F. Cline Book Prize in Mexican History from the Latin American Studies Association and received honorable mention for the best book on Mexico in the social sciences from the Mexico Section of LASA.

I’ve published articles about the influence of Mexican art and music on New Negro Movement, Katherine Dunham’s performances in Mexico, and the racial politics of “La bamba” in Mexican music, African American dance, and Chicano film. My next book will trace the transnational histories of the Black radical tradition in Canada, Mexico, and the United States to understand the changing geographies and theorizations of Black freedom after the abolition of slavery.

Teaching Interest: I teach courses about the African diaspora in the Atlantic world. I challenge students to think about the histories of race and racism that permeate our daily lives. I begin each course with one primary goal in mind: to instill in my students the belief that they are scholars of the African diaspora. I challenge them to think about how cultural and historical artifacts—archival documents, literature, art, music, and film—work together to provide a complex picture of the lived experiences of African-descended peoples across the globe. The rigorous and methodologically sound study of Black communities is especially important today, during a period of US and world history defined by the resurgence of white nationalism, xenophobia, and the political clashes between racist beliefs and antiracist ideals. My students and I navigate the histories to understand this current racial environment. In particular, I want students to consider the diversity of Afro-diasporic histories, experiences, and cultures and the danger of assigning one particular identity as authentic and all others as false.

Why I chose SIU: Being a faculty member in Africana Studies and History at SIU allows me to embrace my interests as an interdisciplinary scholar of the African diaspora. I have been familiar with SIU since I used the Katherine Dunham papers in the Special Collections Research Center to complete my first book. Morris Library’s resources give me the opportunity bring my archival research into the classroom. Moreover, the opportunity to contribute to an established Africana Studies program at a moment in US history when questions of race, racism, and African American politics are central to our daily lives makes this position all the more important to me.

Research: My research expertise encompasses cropping systems and cannabis production, including seeding/transplant rate, row spacing, weed, pest, and diseases control, planting and harvest time, harvest and cannabinoids extraction methods, fertilization rate and impact on the environment, indoor cultivation, etc.

I will continue investigating the effects of plant biostimulants on CBD/THC levels. As very few synthetic products are allowed to be applied on cannabis, it is practically considered an organic crop. Biostimulants are commonly used to improve productivity. Research in this topic is crucial to guide the cannabis growers on whether the application of biostimulants will increase CBD/THC production under indoor and outdoor conditions.

Assessing the impact of cannabis in the long-term crop rotation system in terms of competition and suppression against herbicide-resistant weeds can help farmers to make better decisions.

I look forward to working with the School of Medicine and the newly formed Southern Illinois Center for Cannabis Science. I am interested in evaluating the use of cannabinoids, terpenes, and other secondary metabolites to increase my knowledge in this area.

I intend to collaborate with other faculty and students to ensure that my research/program ideas will actually meet the needs of the stakeholders. My enthusiasm for cannabis research sparked immediately, and it continues to increase the more I realize the necessity for research about this plant. I firmly believe there are numerous benefits that we will discover as more research is conducted on cannabis.

Teaching Interest: First, I am planning to create a brand-new course addressing cannabis cultivation and biology. Secondly, I am aware about the necessity of someone to take over courses that are already being taught as Crop Physiology and Controlled Environment. These three courses are somehow interconnected as Plant Physiology is an important background to understand cannabis development and a Controlled Environment is a scalable production setting for cannabis. In any type of cannabis teaching that I have been involved with, my experience has been great. Students, farmers, and entrepreneurs are very interested to learn of my research with cannabis. This positive and engaged response is what motivates me to pursue not only research in cannabis, but in translating my research through teaching as well.

I feel a responsibility to constantly improve my teaching practices to provide the most updated and accurate information emerging from cannabis research to ensure public safety, but also the development of a highly lucrative and competitive market.

Why I chose SIU: I can comfortably say that this Cannabis program initiated by SIU is the most unique in the entire nation. I have confidence to make this statement because since the end of my Ph.D I have been applying for jobs addressing cannabis management. Therefore, I was able to get an overall perception of the reality of cannabis in academic settings.

Research: My research agenda focused on the amalgamation of adult education and human resource management and development seeks to promote the importance of adult education while demonstrating how both fields are interdependent and beneficial to the upward mobility of any society. The dominant population for my research are veterans and international students. My research currently  focuses on the following: (a) adult education, specifically veterans and international students’ journey in higher education ( challenges, difference in learning environment, support systems for success, perceptions of graduate programs, and employability), (b) veterans’ transition from the military to the civilian workforce (challenges, support systems, motivation, employability, and level of self-directed learning readiness, (c) influential factors that impede adult learners from pursuing higher education, (d) influential factors regarding transfer of training of veteran from the military to the civilian workforce, (e) designing and developing adult education programs, (f) the role of education in society, and (g) professional development for educators.

Teaching Interest: My philosophy of education views the process of teaching and learning as a lifelong journey. This journey can reflect a formal or informal setting, fulfill professional or personal goals or can be a means for social interaction. Regardless of the purpose or motivation to embark on this journey, it is essential to be assisted by a mentor. As an educator, I view myself as a facilitator of learning, a mentor, an agent of change and empowerment responsible for assisting students in their journey of learning. My philosophy of teaching and learning is guided by three principles: an environment conducive to learning; creative and effective instructional techniques and assessments; and incorporating students personal and professional experience as a learning tool.

My teaching interest aligns with nontraditional adult learners across different cultures, ethnicity, age, and social economic status. My teaching expertise includes but is not limited to adult education, workforce education, human resource development, human resource management and k-12 education.

Why I chose SIU: Southern Illinois University is a flagship institution of higher education with not only a reputation but proven initiatives that aligns with being a veteran friendly institution of higher education. As I searched for a home institution for employment, it was critical that the institution I selected not only be veteran friendly but one that is research intensive. An institution where I afforded the opportunity to have a positive impact on students and by extension nation building one student at a time. At Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) and more specifically within the Workforce Education and Development program, I have been afforded the opportunity to not on teach but to assist veterans and military personnel transitioning from the military to the civilian workforce utilizing higher education as a transitional tool. As a scholar, I am supported by an institution that is research intensive while cultivating novice researchers across the myriad of graduate and undergrade programs. This is why I selected to be a lifetime Saluki.

Research: Sustainability Psychology, pro-environmental behavior change, climate change engagement

Teaching Interest: human-environment interactions, sustainability leadership, environmental behavior change, and social science research methods.

Research: My research focuses on the understanding of human and nonhuman learning and behavioral processes, especially how they are regulated by aversive events (e.g., effects of stressful stimuli on memory, self-control, problem solving, verbal behavior, rule following, and conciliation).

My current research agenda entails (a) interactions between verbal and nonverbal behavior (e.g., how aversive consequences affect the consistency between saying and doing); (b) measurement of emotion regulation strategies and how they affect other behavioral processes (e.g., effects of reappraisal-based regulation on conciliation and self-control); (c) assessing and improving the effectiveness of behavioral teaching methods (e.g., evaluating the effectiveness of a method called Interteaching and how it could reduce procrastination in college students); (d) establishment and maintenance of human and nonhuman behavior via aversive events (e.g., conditional discriminations regulated by aversive consequences); and (e) analysis of conceptual, historical, and disciplinary aspects of psychology (e.g., history and need for alternative research methods in psychology).

Teaching Interest: I teach courses related to Experimental Psychology (e.g., research methods) and Behavior Analysis (e.g., single-subject research methods, experimental analysis of behavior).

The notion that guides my teaching is that students and myself bring to class complex personal histories, and successful instruction greatly depends on discussing and giving meaning to the course content in the context of those histories. I constantly encourage my students to tutor other students to increase their exchange and engagement with the contents of the course. Also, I frequently ask my research assistants and advisees to mentor less experienced students in the activities I assign to them. Overall, I believe that an effective way to learn something is to teach it meaningfully.

I am a strong advocate of evidence-based behavioral teaching methods. I have successfully incorporated Interteaching (Boyce & Hineline, 2002) and Personalized Systems of Instruction (Pear et al. 2011) into my practice, and I have established a line of research oriented at assessing and improving the effectiveness of these methods.

Research: My vision for future research is to provide advanced manufacturing operations modeling and product-line design tools for AM to minimize production costs and maximize quality and reliability of product variants. Manufacturers using AM technologies need to determine optimal geometry and tolerances (e.g., size, form, position, and orientation tolerances) that reduce production costs while minimizing changes in product performance and quality, but these decisions are tightly coupled: a design change to one part affects the performance, quality, and production cost of other parts within the product and other product variants.

My research vision is to focus on generating advanced manufacturing operation process models for AM, simulation models of quality and reliability, and product-line design methods to enable more widespread adoption of AM. I plan to extend my work in AM design optimization to develop surrogate-based optimization algorithms for tolerance design of product lines for AM and topology optimization algorithms that can optimize product-line geometry considering commonality and differentiation of components in a product line.

Teaching Interest: My educational vision is to teach a portfolio of undergraduate and graduate courses in engineering design and manufacturing that provide students with analytical tools and hands-on experience. My education and experience will allow me to contribute to teaching the following existing courses in Mechanical Engineering at Southern Illinois University; particularly, Manufacturing Methods for Engineering Materials, Fundamentals of Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing, and Mechanical Engineering Design. I also expect to provide new opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at Southern Illinois University by developing new courses such as Additive Manufacturing, Product Design, and Design for Additive Manufacturing.

Why I chose SIU: My research and teaching experience brings together additive manufacturing, product architecture and platform design, and design optimization. Given my experience advancing research in this area, securing grants and research collaborations, and educating and mentoring students, I believe I would contribute to furthering the education and research accomplishments of the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Research: Pirooz Kalayeh loves combining his multifaceted experiences as an artist, musician, writer, actor, and director to create new hybrids and innovations in storytelling.

Research Interest: Hybrid Cinema, Iranian Cinema, Documentary, Scriptwriting, Film Production, Multicultural Programming.

Teaching Interest: My goal as an educator is to be a positive agent of change in the lives of my students, break socio-cultural and linguistic barriers, uphold a non-competitive atmosphere, and bring a multidisciplinary approach to the education of art in my classrooms. As an Assistant Professor of Scriptwriting and Film Production, I hope to offer students the building blocks to maneuver within multiple art forms and integrate these practices, help them achieve peace of mind and discipline by applying a “just do it” attitude that is not based on an idea of good or bad, help instill professionalism and diplomacy as a reaction to things potentially going wrong by showing how everything has a creative solution, offer preparation and passion as methods for inspiring cast and crew, challenge them to make mistakes and fail so they can create more success, and potentially offer them the keys to be lifelong artists who can sustain themselves financially by looking at conventional and nonconventional revenue streams.

Research: My fields of interest are International Trade and Development Economics. I have keen research interest in the areas of intersection of these two fields. My current research mostly focuses on the effect of trade and infrastructure expansion on spatial distribution of economic activities and welfare in the context of low-income countries. I have strong interest in how trade (both domestic and international) and infrastructure affect manufacturing growth, structural transformation, employment, and wages in low-income countries. I also have interest in other issues in development topics including how households deal with shocks, such as weather and price shocks.

Teaching Interest: My teaching interest is complementary to my research interests. I have strong interest in teaching courses related to my fields of specialization, International Trade and Development, at both graduate and undergraduate levels. I also have interests in teaching core economics courses such as microeconomics and econometrics. Besides teaching courses, I have keen interest in guiding and supervising students in their research in areas related to my fields of expertise.

Why I chose SIU: I choose SIU because I believe it provides me with a conducive research and teaching environment in which I can succeed as an economist. The opportunity to teach courses in my fields of specialization at both graduate and undergraduate levels is crucial in honing my research capability in the fields, and SIU provides me with ample opportunity. The collegiality of my program’s faculty members is among the reasons why I choose to join the department.

Research: The research area most imperative is new technology diagnosis and servicing for the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) that is leading up to the autonomous and connected vehicles of the future. Most auto manufacturers are including these as options on vehicles currently and using the driving public as test models for the future of full autonomy including systems like adaptive cruise control, lane departure assistance and collision avoidance braking. These features all tie into the vehicles computer and networking systems to adjust the vehicle path safely while reducing auto related collisions and fatalities. The challenge is addressing proper vehicle service that is changing to adapt these new features.

Teaching Interest: My teaching interests are driven from the passion to pass along the knowledge I have gained through many years in the field to my students and see the light bulb go on when they understand the concept and theory then apply it to the vehicle. I have several years teaching basic electrical principles along with brake, steering, and suspensions systems; including stability control, and now moving forward in the autonomous vehicle controls in the future.

Research: Econometerics, High Dimensional Statistics, Machine Learning

Teaching Interest: Applied and theoretical Econometrics

Why I chose SIU: I chose SIU because of research supportive environment, and friendly, welcoming atmosphere.

Research: I create post-disciplinary installations through digital and handmade processes which illustrate loss, longing, and the need for communication. Within this narrative, pseudoscientific technology strains to establish a tenuous, though critical link to the ephemeral. My creative research blends methods of object-oriented installation, digital fabrication and robotics, and digital video and game design. This hybridity enables me to combine 2D animation, sound, projection, physical computing, and hacked/DIY electronics in interactive, immersive works. I implement anachronistic equipment, such as black and white cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors or slide projectors, as a means to deliver digital animations and 3D scans of physical objects. Perceptions of the past and present osculate, as do the tangents of physical and digital realties.

Teaching Interest: In order to best educate and prepare my students, I actively pursue knowledge, familiarize myself with a wide variety of tools and techniques, and embrace experimental teaching practices. Past projects have included: custom-built robots; circuit board prototyping; 3D scanning collection objects at a local museum; a public sculpture and litter collection project at a city park; and an interactive light installation inside a college campus’ greenhouse. In all courses and projects, I seek to highlight the influence of visual arts and digital media on virtually every facet of contemporary life. I am interested in inclusive pedagogical approaches that invite participation from students, and I insist on a culture of respect. I have taught both seminar and studio courses, and I want students to know their perspective matters. In assignments and discussions, I ask students to describe their experiences, listen to one another, and evaluate and articulate what they hear and see.

Research: Research interests are the development of critical thinking skills in collegiate aviation programs, diversity in the aviation industry, and the impact modality, course schedules, and pedagogical techniques have on student academic performance.

Teaching Interest: Ms. Miller instructs undergraduate level courses in general aviation operations, airport operations, aviation industry regulations, technical writing, and several other aviation-management related courses. She enjoys teaching and sharing the excitement of education and aviation with her students.

Research: Dr. Morgan’s research and scholarly activities include treatment and assessment of justice involved persons with mental illness, effects of incarceration including in restricted housing units, and forensic mental health assessment.

Teaching Interest: Dr. Morgan teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in psychology and law, psychological assessment, and supervises graduate training in clinical practiums.

Why I chose SIU: I joined SIU because I saw an opportunity to contribute to the growth of a new college in a nationally ranked research institution that provides an inclusive culture with a commitment to community engagement all in the mission of creating a better tomorrow.

Research: My research straddles a few different areas of interest and focus: Social Studies teaching and teacher education; Qualitative research methods; Curriculum theory; Continental philosophy and poststructural theories. My experiences as a former P-12 Social Studies teacher and current Social Studies teacher educator guide my use of qualitative research methods to explore the affective and emotional dynamics of teaching social studies, particularly how the inner-lives of teachers are brought to bear (and invited or disinvited) in their practice.

My research imagines Social Studies teaching lives that are more life-giving, aesthetically filled-up, and more liveable. Along with this empirical work, my conceptual research as a curriculum theorist uses theory and philosophy to "open up" social studies curriculum (and school curricula generally) to new areas of foci and concern. For example, in two forthcoming articles, I use new materialist theories to offer a vision of social studies curriculum that attends to the power of things (both human-made things and natural things) within society and culture.

I argue a new materialist "shift" in social studies education might help teachers and students analyze and respond to social problems from new vantage points.

Teaching Interest: I have taught a wide range of courses in P-12 and higher education classrooms, and my work as a teacher—my interests as a teacher—are directly tied not only to my research, but also to the books I read, the art I engage with, and the other lived experiences I aim to invite into my work with my students. In doing this, I am trying to embody a teaching life that is open and relational, interdisciplinary and aesthetic; the sort of teaching life I imagine and write about in my research. In my work with pre-service Social Studies teachers, I try to help my students think differently—to ask new questions from new vantage points—about the past, about social problems, and about foundational questions: How we might "be" in this world—with one another—in more just and equitable ways? This is not about telling my students what to think but how to think in new ways, an approach that is, for me, at the core of what it means to teach critically. The same goes for my work with Master's students and my future work with Doctoral students at SIU; forging authentic relationships and pushing one another to grapple with new perspectives, difficult questions, and to be okay with uncertainty and ambiguity in our work together.

Why I chose SIU: I am thrilled to be joining the SIU community this fall. All of the faculty and students I have met so far (both during the search process and since I have moved here) have been incredibly welcoming and generous. To be a part of the School of Education at SIU—as a researcher and teacher—is an amazing opportunity, and the reputation of SIU's SOE as both an institution of research and leader in teacher education is one I am looking forward to contributing to.

Research: Dr. Brent Pease’s research addresses a diverse set of applied issues in wildlife conservation and management, ranging from understanding large-scale changes in wildlife distribution and abundance, to developing sampling protocols for species of conservation concern, and evaluating harvest regulations for game species. To address these issues, his research uses observational and experimental fieldwork combined with quantitative modeling and spatial analysis to inform state and regional management strategies. He also leads and contributes to a range of Citizen Science projects and works to incorporate these efforts into his research program. Dr. Pease teaches courses on wildlife monitoring, spatial ecology, data management and analysis, and more. Further information can be found at Dr. Pease’s website: www.peaselab.com

Teaching Interest: Dr. Pease teaches a range of courses in the Forestry Program including Wildlife Monitoring, Data Management and Analysis, and graduate-level offerings such as Spatial Ecology. Dr. Pease is additionally interested in developing courses focused on scientific writing, citizen science theory and practice, and graduate-level applied hierarchical modeling.

Why I chose SIU: I chose SIU because I wanted to be "home". I am originally from southern Illinois and I view my employment here as a small way to contribute back to the region through education, research, and outreach. I chose SIU because of the supportive staff and faculty members in my program; I genuinely believe they are concerned with my well-being and success, and I think this is a unique characteristic of SIU that may go unnoticed. I also chose SIU because of the geographic location - the Shawnee National Forest, just south of SIU, is an incredibly diverse and ecologically rich area with many interesting and important research opportunities. Finally, I chose SIU because I believe it presents an exciting challenge and opportunity: finding SIU's new comfort zone in the 21st century - what will be our role in the region and how can we continue to stand out as a leader in academic excellence? I believe SIU is an essential institution for many and I look forward to contributing to its success.

Research: My research interests include expanding my understanding of the nutrient utilization and metabolism of beef cattle, improving production efficiency, and reducing the environmental footprint from animal agriculture through sustainable beef cattle production systems. Some of the target areas for achieving this include improving feed and forage production practices, improving feed quality and digestibility, and optimizing beef cattle diets.

I have research experience and expertise in leading the research team on innovative research projects including beef cattle nutrition, forage, and silage production, nutrient evaluation, microbial ecology of silages, and characterizing novel silage inoculants. I also have extensive research experience in production, nutrient evaluation, and characterization of barley silage for beef producers in north America, and the evaluation of canola by-products in growing and finishing beef cattle diets.

My future research interests revolve around the concept of increasing efficiency of beef cattle production systems and reducing the environmental footprint of animal agriculture through measures to improve forage quality and digestibility, means for preserving forage nutrients and minimizing spoilage, utilization of forages and by-products for growing and finishing beef cattle, and by optimizing the beef cattle diets.

Teaching Interest: Teaching is one of my passions which lets me fulfill my desire to interact with the next generation of animal scientists. In fact, this desire to share my knowledge and experience with students has been the driving force for me to pursue a career in academia. Interest in teaching was instilled in me by my excellent teachers who taught me in schools and Universities.

My goal is to ignite students’ thoughts and imaginations and help develop students as young researchers and industry personnel who will contribute significantly to the field of animal science. Making myself friendly and approachable will make the student feel welcome and comfortable. As a mentor, I will encourage my students to meet me for discussing not just the course materials or research projects, but also their career and personal issues.

Why I chose SIU: Equal teaching and research opportunities for me at SIU is the perfect combination for me to excel both in teaching and research to bring the best outcome. Potential for teaching courses such as Beef Cattle Management, and opportunities to develop special courses such as rumen ecology or silage production and management provides me opportunities for interacting with students, impact them positively with their learning process and introduce them to the latest developments in areas of rumen function and forage production and management. With all the facilities available at SIU including the Beef Cattle Center and Bull Test Station would immensely help me develop novel research programs.

Research: Human Movement and Biomechanics. Research focused on lower extremity mechanics and muscle activity regarding injury risk and performance optimization. Primary focus is in the area of the human-surface interface, focusing on how the sports surface-shoe (or cleat) interface influences lower extremity mechanics and muscle activity—aiming to develop novel instrumentation that can aid sports medicine professionals reduce high school and college athletic injury.

Research Area of Expertise: Motion capture, Electromyography, musculoskeletal simulation/modeling, and biomechanical instrumentation design

Teaching Interest: Human movement and applied biomechanics. Using student specific data and kinesthetic learning to aid in students understanding of human movement.

Why I chose SIU: I felt the environment of the SIU Kinesiology department was somewhere I could flourish as both and educator and researcher.

Research: My research interest is in multicultural training and supervision with special emphasis on explicating how multicultural theories and principles can be translated into practice. Additionally, I am interested in exploring experiences of trainees of color with multicultural training/supervision, for many of whom often these training is rooted in lived experiences. I have co-authored The Process Model of Multicultural Counseling Competence that provides a conceptual framework of in-depth incorporation of culture throughout the counseling process. My interest is in developing multicultural training and supervision in counseling psychology by translating multicultural theories and principles into trainable components.

Teaching Interest: My teaching interest is in the field of multicultural counseling psychology with an emphasis on theories and practice of psychology using a culturally aware and sensitive lens. I have taught theories of counseling and multicultural counseling which explore ways in which students can grow as individuals and professionals in applying the knowledge gained into their clinical work. I enjoy teaching theories of psychology that pay particular attention to diverse ways of understanding and practicing psychology. I believe the true impact of teaching is when it cultivates an open mind that can recognize and analyze multiple perspectives before forming a conclusion. As a teacher, I hope to develop a student’s critical thinking skills and engage them in a transformative learning process. I believe it is important to create an environment that recognizes and challenges the material being taught, discusses the cultural contexts in which such knowledge is gained and applied, and appreciates the differences in perspectives that are shaped by an individual’s multicultural experiences. A core aspect of my teaching is in cultivating an understanding of the systemic barriers and challenges that permeates at every level of an individual’s experience and critically evaluating the universal applicability of the theoretical knowledge learned in class.

Why I chose SIU: SIU’s commitment to inclusivity, diversity, equity, and inclusion along with a focus on transformative learning for student success is what attracted me to the university. In particular, I resonated with the emphasis placed on broadening student’s knowledge and skillset through critical thinking, civic engagement, ethical reasoning, and compassionate and collaborative teamwork.  The Counseling Psychology program at the School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences in particular resonated with my own background, training, scholarship, and philosophies regarding the teaching and practice of psychology. The program has a long-standing history of incorporating principles of social justice and multiculturalism in its teaching, scholarship, and service. Their commitment to cultivating multiculturally sensitive psychologists and professionals that practice critical self-awareness and ongoing learning align with my identity as a psychologist and scholar. 

Research: My primary clinical and research interests center around promoting generalization of treatment outcomes for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities who engage in severe challenging behavior. Specifically, I am passionate about teaching individuals how to functionally communicate so that their needs can be met without resorting to maladaptive or harmful behaviors. My overall goal is to identify treatments that are efficient and effective while training caregivers to implement these strategies with their children. Training caregivers will increase the likelihood of treatment adherence and ultimately result in treatment gains to more naturalistic settings and over time. However, many barriers currently exist which increase the difficulty for efficient and effective treatment. I hope to start to assess these barriers in more depth, so that I can provide practical solutions for children and their families to successfully show long term success.

I also have focused my research on teaching communication to non-verbal or minimally verbal children with Autism. I am interested in exploring the intersection of verbal behavior and the treatment of challenging behavior in more depth, as many of the same types of interventions can be effective for both behavior acquisition and behavior reduction.

Lastly, I am also interested in investigating questionable research practices within the scientific literature. Currently, I am evaluating the prevalence of bias in how authors conduct their studies and report their findings, with hopes to provide possible solutions to minimize bias in the future.

Teaching Interest: My primary teaching interest include supervising students to become well-rounded behavior analysts in research and in practice. I have diverse interests and clinical experiences, and believe I can use my expertise to help shape students to become strong behavior analysts. I am passionate about creating future scientist-practitioners who can use their research background to answer important clinical questions with strong experimental rigor.

Why I chose SIU: I chose SIU because I appreciated the department’s focus on supporting faculty and students throughout their research endeavors. The Behavior Analysis and Therapy (BAT) program has a robust history of producing amazing and influential behavior analysts, and I hope to be able to continue that tradition with my work with students.

I was also excited to come to SIU as there is a need for applied behavior analysis services focused on the treatment of severe challenging behavior. I am hoping to provide a resource for families in Southern Illinois who need additional training and assistance in managing their children safely and effectively.

Research: My current research employs philosophy to understand the persistence for racial inequality in our "post-civil-rights" era. My work embraces Africana philosophy to think through the relationship between the concepts of lived experience, knowledge, power, justice, democracy as a way-of-life, individuality, and the social production of Black male subjectivity within the context of the significance of race and racism in the United States. My current book project puts forth a philosophical framework to theorize white-power structures that target urban Black men, namely white-subject formation, the prison industrial complex, urban ghettos, and the discursive production of pathological Blackness. Further, in a recently submitted book chapter, I explore the concept of Black nihilism within Black America as an internalized response to anti-Black racism, as well as suggest the implications of Black history and memory as a tool for personal and social transformation in social struggles for deep American democracy.

Research: My current research interests include security and privacy with applications in online and geosocial networks, machine learning, wireless networks, distributed systems, and mobile applications. I have a particular interest to design and develop automated defense techniques against online abuse to ensure a secure and reliable online social network experience.

Teaching Interest: My teaching interests span diverse topics in Computer Science that include security and privacy, operating systems, databases, data structures and algorithms, software engineering, computer architecture, and networking. My scholarship and teaching are intimately intertwined, as I believe they inform and complement each other. For me, personally, it makes me a better instructor every time I perform a piece of research. I learn so much about subjects both familiar and new to me in the course of conducting and writing a paper. Teaching is strengthened by constantly questioning if research continues to endorse findings that make pedagogically practical sense. Teaching is not only giving students the tools they need, but also inspiring excitement about the material that spawns questions and a quest for knowledge beyond the binding of a textbook and walls of the classroom.

Why I chose SIU: I wanted to join SIU because I value its mission, which as a nationally-ranked public research university, creates and shares knowledge aimed at shaping future leaders, improving communities, and transforming lives. One of the key incentives of pursuing academia is the privilege of being an educator — to teach, mentor, and work with young students most of whom are on the verge of marching into their careers.

It is with great excitement that I tremendously enjoy being a professor, which gives me the opportunities to help my students learn, improve, and grow into computer scientists, innovative developers, and researchers with solid knowledge and skills. It gives me enormous pleasure and satisfaction that I have the privilege to actively engage in my students' initial career journey, the impact of which may stay with them through their lifetime. Teaching and mentoring give me the opportunity to understand, learn, and mold young minds to the larger cause — the advancement of both science and civilization; a cause that I avidly believe in. Since SIU is very active in research, I also want to help students develop important research capabilities and skillsets, including critical thinking, writing, presentation, and collaboration. These are what I learned from my Ph.D. program, and I am excited to provide my students with similar experiences to help them succeed in their future careers. CS department offers a wide range of courses leading to bachelor’s, master's, and doctoral degrees. Looking into the current faculty research, I strongly believe I will be able to complement the current research programs. The department also seems to have a strong tradition of excellence in teaching. Moreover, I really like the city of Carbondale for its geographical location as it is the most populous city in Southern Illinois outside the St. Louis Metro-East region.

Research: My research draws on psychological, sociological, and criminological theories to understand decision-making in legal contexts, such as capital cases. I am also interested in quantitative methods, employing a range of techniques to analyze and simulate data. My current projects examine how moral intuitions shape capital jurors’ responses to evidence and sentencing decisions, as well as the role of individual and situational differences in bystanders’ willingness to cooperate with legal authorities.

Teaching Interest: My teaching interests are generally in psychology-law, research methods, applied statistics, and capital punishment. This semester, I am teaching courses on research methods and the death penalty. I like teaching research methods because they revolve around the fundamental question of, “How do we know ‘stuff’?” We typically hold many beliefs and assumptions about the social world, but we do not typically spend much time thinking critically about what those beliefs and assumptions are based in. Science is one way we can investigate and gain knowledge of the social world, which, in turn, can inform policy and decisions. I am also excited to teach the course on the death penalty. A group of citizens deciding whether a person should live or die is a unique circumstance, and, especially recently, it can seem like a remnant of a by-gone era.

Nevertheless, understanding the history, jurisprudence, and social science of capital punishment unveils tensions between contemporary standards of decency and the desire to punish the “worst of the worst” offenders. If recent trends continue, the death penalty might rather unceremoniously disappear over the coming decades, but those tensions will not.

Why I chose SIU: I chose SIU for a number of reasons. One reason was the current faculty. Not only are they outstanding and collaborative scholars, they are genuinely good people. It was clear from the beginning that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. It feels great to join a team working together to achieve common goals. Another reason I chose SIU was because I wanted to pursue an active research agenda and mentor graduate students. SIU has a great reputation as a thriving community of scholars, the infrastructure to support research endeavors, and a doctoral program in criminology and criminal justice. Finally, I was attracted to the size. At some institutions, class enrollment can number in the hundreds, and teaching is virtually an afterthought. At SIU, both research and teaching are valued. Undergraduates can develop meaningful connections and directly interact with faculty. I am thrilled to be at an institution where I can know my students by name and be a resource on their path towards achieving their career goals.

Research: My primary research interests are in the creation of new narratives through multi-disciplined performance modes, the exploration of new methods in interpreting pre-existing theater work, and the unearthing and dramatizing of new ideas motivated and inspired by existing historical texts and stories. My passion to create stories with the aid of music, dance and a narrative structure began with my undergraduate work at the University of California in Irvine. I discovered in those formative years that I loved the research aspect of theatrical creation. Discovering the work of master composers, writers, and visual artists expanded my desire to emulate them and disseminate their work. I choreographed many small pieces utilizing the compositions of classical composers, early American folk music and original, faculty-generated compositions. My work focused specifically on the correspondence of story and character-gesture to musical composition with the aid of prop and costume design. After graduating from UC Irvine, I moved to New York City and began a 10-year exploration of comedic theater-dance work set to the work of classical composers such as Beethoven, Vivaldi and Bach. My creative interests also include explorations in spoken text, sung narrative and musical book-writing.

Teaching Interest: Anne Bogart says, "You cannot create results. You can only create conditions in which something might happen." Similar to Bogart, I teach not by looking for answers, but by asking questions. The questions I pose are geared toward prompting students to discover their own conclusions.

As a teacher, I want to give students sufficient inspiration, as well as the appropriate tools and necessary skills to prepare them for a successful career in the performing arts. My goal as a theatre educator, is to create a classroom space that fosters creativity, imagination, exploration, a strong work ethic and inclusivity. As a professor of theatre, I utilize a variety of teaching tools, including creative movement, dance, music, visual art and improvisation. My impulse to move is strong, and as a result, movement is a fundamental tool I use in teaching actors to communicate on stage. I often turn to dance to inspire the physicality of a scene or character. As a director, I also use movement to help students activate language. The use of fine art and design is another key component of my pedagogical approach to theatre. Many students, like myself, are visual learners, whose creative processes benefit from optical tools. For me, teaching is not only a technical process, but a psychological one. Students need an emotionally stable environment in which to practice their craft. I find great value in laughter, and encourage the learning process to be playful, whenever possible.

Why I chose SIU: I chose SIU because SIU chose me! I am so grateful to be a part of the Saluki Theater team! This is one of the most beautifully maintained campuses in the US with a rich history. The traditions and the spirit of this university and its students and faculty are an inspiration to me.

Research: My research interests focus primarily on marginalized secondary and postsecondary students, and the policies and practices that impact them. My most recent project, Band-aides for barriers: Key policy factors as experienced by incarcerated youth, was a problem-driven content analysis that examined writings from incarcerated youth, an estimated 85% of whom have a disability, and how they experience education and juvenile justice policies. Through these writings, incarcerated youth shared their hopes, fears, perceived barriers, and what they believe should be addressed in legislation that may actually support their successful reentry. My ongoing projects include an examination of discipline policies that help or hinder youth reentering the public school system, virtual delivery of special education services and supports, lived experiences of emerging adults, and an emphasis on policies, resources, perspectives through a rural lens.  

Teaching Interest: For students to have success in courses related to the field of special education they must show competencies in a variety of skills and possess understandings of key concepts. They must understand the technical “whys” of what we do (like the laws, statutes, and procedures that dictate much of what goes on in special education), and the “hows” (specific methods of effective teaching grounded in evidence-based practices). They must also understand the greater, overarching “whys” of what we do. And these “whys” are broader concepts that specifically address issues of social justice, and build upon a foundation of advocacy as a pushback again injustices. I am preparing students to do a future career well, or to expand and improve their existing practice, and to also know why it is important that they do what they do.   

Just as my classes are made better by students sharing their diverse perspectives and experiences, I endeavor to provide my students with diverse perspectives in the content and material they are presented with. One way I do this is by bringing in the work of others, often now via video or written material, into my courses so they can share their knowledge and experiences directly. I cannot, and should not, speak to the specific experiences of Native students, or of students who are court-involved, or who qualify for special education services, or any number of other backgrounds. What I can do is bring their voices into my classes and use it to amplify their messages.

Why I chose SIU: I am very excited to be joining the faculty in the School of Education at Southern Illinois Carbondale. The opportunity to work at SIU and live in Southern Illinois is really a dream come true for me, and for my family. The great reputation of SIU, and of the faculty in the School of Education, is what initially drew me to the position. Then the more I learned about university, especially related to its goals and values, the more I knew I needed to be a Saluki. In addition to SIU being a great place to teach and work on my research, its location is really icing on the cake.