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Connecticut College welcomes new faculty

This fall, the College welcomes nine new tenure-track faculty members, including an Emmy-winning computer science instructor, an alumnus and a history professor who hosted a weekly video broadcast for the XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano City. Ten visiting professors and lecturers, two Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellows, and two coaches are also new to campus this year.

"This talented group of individuals is extremely diverse in area of study and expertise, as well as in terms of race and ethnicity," Dean of the Faculty Roger Brooks says. "They will have a major impact on the curriculum and on the campus climate."

The new tenure-track faculty member are:

- Christine Chung, instructor of computer science, who earned her B.A. and a master's in engineering at Cornell University and an M.A. at Columbia University's Teachers College. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh. Her interests include algorithmic game theory and algorithm design and analysis.

- Ann Marie Davis, assistant professor of history, who earned her B.A. at the College of William & Mary. She holds two master's degrees, from Harvard and the University of California-Los Angeles, and earned her Ph.D. at UCLA. Her interests include early modern and modern Japan, the history of gender and sexuality, and science and technology studies.

- Mohamed Diagne '97, the Oakes Ames Associate Professor of Physics, who is filling the post of his former mentor, retired Oakes Ames Professor of Physics Arlan Mantz. After receiving his undergraduate degree at Connecticut College, Diagne went to Brown University, where he earned his M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. His interests include semiconductor device physics, system design and integration of opto-electronics components, and free-space optical communication.

- Nathalie Etoke, assistant professor of French, who earned degrees at the Université de Lille III and Université de Cergy-Pontoise before going to Northwestern University, where she received her Ph.D. Etoke's interests include French and Francophone literature, film and comparative, cross-cultural analysis of literature, film and popular culture.

- Cherise Harris, assistant professor of sociology, who received her undergraduate degree from Seton Hall and her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Georgia. Her interests include race, class and gender, marriage and the family and social psychology.

- Afshan Jafar, assistant professor of sociology, who earned her B.A. at Ohio Wesleyan University and her Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts. Her interests include globalism, gender and development, religious nationalism and Islamic feminism. Jafar joined the College last year as a visiting professor.

- Purba Mukerji, assistant professor of economics, who also joined the College last year as a visiting professor. She earned her B.A. and M.B.E. at the University of Delhi and her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her interests include international finance and trade and applied econometrics.

- Caroleen Sayej, assistant professor of government, who earned her undergraduate degree at Fordham University and her M.A. and Ph.D. at New York University. Her interests include persistent authoritarianism in the Middle East, modernization and identity politics and contemporary Islamic political thought. She will begin teaching in the spring 2010 semester.

- Dana Wright, assistant professor of education, who received her B.A. from Vassar College and her M.A. and Ed.D. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Her interests include curriculum design and instruction, youth-led participatory action research, and education and schooling.



September 14, 2009