Local partnership work with an international focus
Walter Commons for Global Study and Engagement
Lauren O’Leary
Coordinator Blaustein Humanities Center
Email: loleary@conncoll.edu
Phone: 860-439-2358
Directors & Steering Committee Members
Virginia Anderson
Associate Professor of Theater, Public Health Pathway Coordinator, Interim Director of the Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy
Virginia (Ginny) Anderson joined the theater faculty in 2013 after four years at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she directed for the main stage and taught a variety of theater history courses including theater history survey courses, Women in Theater, African American Theater History, Children’s Theater, Theater in the United States, and LGBTQ Theater.
Sunil Bhatia
Lucy Marsh Haskell '19 Professor of Human Development, Chair of the Department of Human Development
Professor Sunil Bhatia is a globally recognized professor specializing in psychology and human development, particularly in cultural psychology, race, and identity formation. His research encompasses narrative psychology, racism, migration, and globalization, focusing on how cultural contexts shape psychological growth. He frequently explores the interplay of culture, identity, and human development within diverse sociocultural settings. Bhatia teaches courses including “Globalization and Cultural Identity,” "Media, Self, and Society,” "Qualitative Inquiry and Ethnographic Methods,” and “Language, Narrative, and Self."
Ana Lilia Campos Manzo
Associate Professor of Sociology
Ana Lilia Campos-Manzo, PhD, formerly Campos-Holland, teaches general courses in sociology and specialized courses in criminology, critical childhood, public health, and ethnic studies, such as:
Principles of Sociology (Soc 103) and Research Methodology (Soc 354)
Law and Society (Soc 227), Drugs and Society (Soc 215), and Punishment and Society (Soc 419)
Childhood and Adolescence (Soc 320)
Children’s Health (FYS 1026), Health and Society (Soc 238), and Adolescent Health (Soc 430)
Mexican-American Communities (Soc 300)
She also offers optional sections attached to these courses for the Foreign Languages across the Curriculum Program in Spanish. Moreover, Campos-Manzo is one of the core faculty members for the Public Health Pathway.
David Chavanne
Associate Professor of Economics, Chair of the Department of Economics, Entrepreneurship Pathway Co-Coordinator
David Chavanne teaches courses in behavioral finance, experimental economics, law and economics, and microeconomic theory. He is interested in how economics can be integrated with other social sciences, philosophy and law – and how economic ideas can be communicated to people unfamiliar with, and resistant to, the economic way of thinking. His research focuses on the ways in which people's policy preferences are affected by perceptions of how luck and personal responsibility shape life situations.
Sheetal Chhabria
Associate Professor of History
Sheetal Chhabria is Associate Professor of History at Connecticut College. She is a historian of South Asia whose research and teaching focus on the production of poverty and inequality.
Amy Dooling
Professor of Chinese
A scholar of modern Chinese literature, Amy Dooling has published books on 20th century women’s writing and feminist literary culture.
Danielle Egan
Dean of the Faculty, Fuller-Maathai Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality Studies
R. Danielle Egan, the Fuller-Maathai Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality Studies at Connecticut College, is Dean of the Faculty and Chief Academic Officer. The highest-ranking officer after the president, the Dean of the Faculty is responsible for providing academic leadership for the College and its faculty.
Leo J. Garofalo
Virginia Eason Weinmann '51 Professor of History, Social Justice and Sustainability Pathway Coordinator
Leo Garofalo teaches a first-year seminar: Castro, Che Guevara and Fifty Years of the Cuban Revolution, Introduction to Latin American and Caribbean History, Modern Latin American History: Nation and the Poverty of Progress, Rebellion and Revolutions in Latin America: Tupac Amaru to Subcomandante Marcos, History of Gender in Mexico and the Andes, Migration and Immigration in Latin America, and "Race" in Colonial Latin America.
Noel Garrett
Dean of academic support, Executive Director of the academic resource center, Entrepreneurship pathway co-coordinator, Adjunct assistant professor of economics
Professor Heredia’s teaching and research interests include Latin American and Caribbean literary and cultural production, Caribbean intellectual history, Haitian visual arts and literature, the Haitian Revolution, comparative postcolonial studies in light of ancestral communities in Latin America, and the African Diaspora. She has authored three books, De la recta a las cajas chinas: la poesía de José Kozer, La representación del haitiano en las letras dominicanas, Providential Narrative en la isla de Santo Domingo. She has published scholarly articles that explore the philosophical, historical and literary interpretations of colonial plantations in the Americas. In addition, her written work examines the interplay between history, legal systems and spiritual conscience anchored in social justice.
Professor of Psychology, Data, Information, and Society Pathway Co-Coordinator
Jason Nier is a social psychologist whose research focuses primarily on intergroup relations. As a result, he is concerned with the psychological processes that are responsible for prejudice and discrimination, and the processes through which biases may be reduced.
Vandana Shiva Associate Professor of Gender Sexuality and Intersectionality Studies
Ariella R. Rotramel joined the College in 2012 and is the Vandana Shiva Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality Studies. They are an interdisciplinary scholar committed to bridging theoretical and practical engagements of identity and social justice issues. Ari served as as the Interim Dean of Institutional Equity and Inclusion August 2021-January 2022.
Joseph A. Schroeder
Professor of Psychology, Director of the Neuroscience Program
Joseph Schroeder has a diverse background in psychology, neuroscience, cell biology, neuropathology and pharmacology. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of behavior has been the unifying theme of his research interests from the beginning of his career.
Jefferson A. Singer
Faulk Foundation Professor of Psychology
Jefferson A. Singer, Faulk Foundation Professor of Psychology, also served as Dean of the College from 2015-2021. He is the author of six books and over 100 articles, chapters, and book reviews in the fields of personality, autobiographical memory, and clinical psychology.
C. Mara Suttmann-Lea
Associate Professor of Government
Mara Suttmann-Lea hails from the Midwest, growing up in Leland, Michigan, and earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Chicago, Illinois. She studies American politics, and is primarily interested in the relationship between election laws, political parties and campaigns, and political participation. Her research aims to develop concrete ways to improve the electoral process and increase access to participation in politics, particularly for vulnerable populations.
Rebecca McCue
Associate Director, Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy
