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A Guide to Women Faculty and Their Research Interests

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updated March 2005

Michelle S. Applebee, Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

Ph.D., University of North Dakota.
Research interests: Sensor development for both biological and environmental analytes and methods development.  Abstract of recent work: direct monitoring of petroleum hydrocarbons has been an important area of research in recent history, due to their toxicity and unfriendly environmental nature.  Mature methods in this area of study involve complicated and expensive equipment.  Application of a thickness shear mode resonator for the determination of petroleum hydrocarbons has been proven successful. The instrumentation is simple, inexpensive, rugged and field portable allowing for regular monitoring of possibly contaminated areas.

 

Marie Baehr, Professor of Physics, Associate Dean of the Faculty.

Ph.D., Ohio State University.
Research interests:  tipping cans; physics education; interdisciplinary education strategies; accreditation
.  Grants:  NSF ILI grant with Jon Johnson in 1996-1999 for computers to link mathematics and physics.  Recent work:  Foundations of Learning, third edition and Foundations of Learning Activities Book, second edition co-authored with Karl Krumsieg; Laboratory Manual for Liberal Arts Physics, 2nd Edition with Art Hobson and Earl C. Swallow; Faculty Guidebook:  A Comprehensive Tool for Improving Faculty Performance (section editor for Assessment and Evaluation) 

 

Cheri S. Carrico, Associate Professor, Communication Arts and Sciences; Director, Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic.

 Ph.D., Northwestern University.
Research interests: speech (articulation and phonological development), language (grammar, vocabulary, and pragmatic skills), and cognitive abilities of preschool-age children prenatally exposed to cocaine. Currently I am studying the speech, language, and feeding abilities of children with Cornelia de Lange syndrome.  Grants:  NCUR/Lancy Grant; Central DuPage Community Health Reinvestment Program Grant; Service Learning Grant; Faculty Development Travel Grant.                           

 

Dianne L. Chambers, Associate Professor of English.

Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Research interests: narrative voice in the novels of Edith Wharton; modernism and women writers; Chicago women’s clubs at the end of the nineteenth century; motivation, career satisfaction, and preparation of second-career teachers. Grants: Faculty Research Grant

 

Nancy Cheeseman, Family Involvement Specialist, Department of Education

B.A., Completing M.A. from Roosevelt University. 
Research interests:  families of young children with disabilities.

 

Rebecca Goetz Clancy, Adjunct Faculty, Department of Theology

M. A.,  M. Div. Chicago Theological Seminary. 
Scholarly interests:  feminist and other postmodern interpretations of Christianity; ancient Hebrew linguistics and Nazi ideology as a contemporary paganism.  Recent work: “Feminist Theology and the Mainline Protestant Church: A House Divided.”

 

Antoinette Countryman, Adjunct Faculty, Department of English

M.F.A., Wayne State University. 
Research/creative interests:  history of women in the labor movement; historical novel on a character from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula during a copperminers’ strike in 1913.

 

Catherine Crawford, Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Ph. D., Northwestern University. 
Research interests: pattern formation and localized structures in nonlinear systems.  Abstract of recent work:  In systems that exhibit a bistability between nonlinear traveling waves and the basic, zero-amplitude state, pairs of fronts connecting these two states can form localized wave pulses whose stability depends on the interaction between the fronts.  The localization of waves is investigated mathematically with equations describing the traveling-wave amplitudes.  In particular, we find that localized pulses can be stabilized by forcing the system periodically.

 

LuEllen Doty, Associate Professor of Education, Director of Special Education.

Ed.D., University of Kentucky.
Research interests: integrating technology for engaged learning; integrating technology and building technology competencies via a technology portfolio in preservice teacher education.

 

Judy M. Fiene, Assistant Professor of Education

Ed.D., National-Louis University
Research interests: Reading Comprehension.  Recent Work:  The ABCs of Reading Assessing Comprehension:  A Classroom-Based Process.  Awards:  Kappa Delta Pi, Honor an Educator Award

 

Janice Fodor, Director of the Learning Center, Assistant Professor of English.

Ed.D., Northern Illinois University

                       

Brenda Forster, Professor of Sociology

Ph.D., Northwestern University. 
Research interests: converts to Judaism; African Americans  through film; attitudes and experiences with diversity.  Recent work: study of Elmhurst College faculty, administrator, and staff attitudes and experiences with diversity.

 

Ann Frank Wake, Professor of English, Co-coordinator of Intercultural Studies.

Ph.D., University of Michigan.
Research interests: women and British Romanticism; intersections of race, class, and gender in literature, primarily U.S.; writing poetry.  Recent work: I have currently been focusing on working as the Poetry Editor of Elmhurst College's newly acquired literary journal River Oak Review
  

 

Ayanna Gaines, Assistant Reference Librarian, Assistant Professor.

M.L.I.S., Dominican University. 
Research interests:  Popular culture: fandom and fan culture; weblogs, online communities, and other web phenomena; the intersection between these two interests; how users interact with and assimilate forms of popular culture.
Librarianship:   graphic novels, and their acquisition, use, and dissemination within libraries and higher education.   Recent Work:  "Exorcising the Ghost of Marian the Librarian" ~ a paper presented at the 2004 Midwest Popular Culture Association Conference, discussing the librarian stereotype in popular culture.  "Blogging and the Chosen One:  A Look at Weblogs in the Buffyverse" ~ a paper presented at the 2003 Midwest Popular Culture Association, examining the use of blogs by fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"  Membership:  American Library Association, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, Midwest Popular Culture Association (Magazines and Newspapers Area Head)

 

Donna J. Goetz, Associate Professor of Psychology.

Ph.D., Loyola University.
Research interests: gender differences; spirituality; family relationships. Recent work:  Mother-daughter relationships in Japan and the U.S.                                        

 

Marjorie K. Goodban, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Department Chair.

Ph.D., University of Illinois.
Research interests: communication development in the Cornelia deLange Syndrome; fluency disorders; multicultural communication.

 

Donna Goodwyn, Associate Librarian, Head of Reference Services, Assistant Professor.
M.A.L.S., Rosary College.
Research interests: information literacy; U.S. Civil War; women’s history.

 

Judith E. Grimes, Associate Professor of Music, Director of Music Education.

M.S., Indiana State University

 

Heather L. Hall, Professor of Kinesiology.

Ph.D., University of Toledo.
Research interests: Effects of exercise on immune function, reproductive function, and other physiological parameters.

 

Lynn Hill, Associate Professor of Art.

M.F.A., The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Creative Interests: Digital imaging and multimedia.  Current series: Collaged digital landscapes containing images of women and their historically defined roles; Re-purposing and recombining “found” family films from anonymous familie
                                   

 

Carole D. Hillman, Assistant Professor of Education.

Ed.D., Northern Illinois University.
Research interests: brain research; constructing curriculum and management approaches for educators as well as for students.  Recent work:  “As a teacher who cares about children, how can I provide the best for all children?”;  “Training Preservice Teachers in Technology Approach” co-written with Luellyn Doty; writings for the Chicago Tribune.                                   

 

Abigail Hoit, Assistant Professor of Mathematics.

Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Research interests: Analytic Number Theory and Q-additive Functions.  Abstract of recent work:  Q-additive functions are a particular type of arithmetic function.  They are created by summing component functions defined on the digits of a number expressed in base-Q.  Our main result gives necessary and sufficient conditions for such functions to be uniformly (resp. non-uniformly) distributed modulo 1.

 

Jane A. Jegerski, Professor of Psychology.

Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago. 
Research interests:  pedagogy in the teaching of psychology; quantitative methods; interdisciplinary teaching.  Current work:  A Meta-analysis of Mentoring in the Workplace.

 

Lori Klose, Adjunct Faculty, Department of Sociology.

M.A., University of Chicago. 
Research interests:  women’s health; managed mental health care; workers compensation.  Abstract of recent work:  Descriptions of managed care and the changing role of Employee Assistance Programs.  It continues with a social and historical description of EAPs as described in the professional literature, and a description of alternative models presently In operation.  The role of managed care plans as providers of mental health and substance abuse care is reviewed, and the difference between EAP’s and managed care in this regard is discussed. Findings from interviews with administrators of EAP’s in the Chicago area are reviewed with their implications for public policy.

 

Patricia Kovar, Assistant Professor of Education.

Ph.D., Walden University.
Research interests: early childhood-special education program Development. Pat’s research resulted in the model Master’s program in early childhood-special education at Elmhurst College.  She also has been invited to present on the curriculum portfolio which she developed for the undergraduate early childhood program.

 

Phyllis M. Kowalke, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Information Systems.

Ph.D., Illinois Institute of Technology

 

Linda M. Krause, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Information Systems.

M.S.E.E., Illinois Institute of Technology.
Research interests: developing and teaching new courses for the Master of Science in Computer Network Systems.          

 

Kimberly Lawler-Sagarin, Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

Ph.D., Cornell University.
Research interests: Computational physical/inorganic chemistry; chemical education; improving students' comprehension and construction of arguments.  Recent Work:  Sagarin, B. J.;  Lawler-Sagarin, K. A. "Critically evaluating competing theories:  An exercise based on the Kitty Genovese murder."  Teaching of Psychology (in press).  Grants:  U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Instruction, "Improving Students' Comprehension and Construction of Arguments"  P.I. M. A. Britt (Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University);   Co-PI's C. R. Wolfe (Miami University, Ohio) and K. Lawler-Sagarin (Elmhurst College), $358,876, September 2002.

 

Nancy C. Lee, Associate Professor of Theology and Religion; Director, Niebuhr Center.

Ph.D., Union Seminary. 
Research interests:  lament genres in biblical literature and liturgy, and cross-cultural contexts (Croatia, Bosnia, South Africa); traditional oral poetry; biblical prophetic literature; religion & society.  
Recent work:  Introduction and Critical Notes on “Amos” in Renovare Study Bible(HarperSanFrancisco); Introduction and critical notes on “Lamentations” in Westminster Study  Bible (Westminster/John Knox); The Singers of Lamentations:  Cities under Siege from Ur to Jerusalem to Sarajevo (E.J. Brill); Editor, Between Despair and Lamentation, poetry by Borislav Arapovic.  Grants:  Fulbright Fellow; Lilly Endowment, Inc. grant; International Faculty Development Grant

 

Patricia A. Lynott, Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences.

Ph.D., Loyola University. 
Research Interests: listening; business communication; oral history. My methodological approach tends to be qualitative and historical.  My scholarship often incorporates a critical perspective, examining how communication oppresses or liberates  individuals and/or social groups.  Grant:  Faculty Alumni Committee of the National Alumni Association Grant

 

Sheila A. Mehigan, Assistant Professor of Education.

Ed.D., Loyola University. 
Research interests: Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences; critical thinking and inquiry and its infusion into the curriculum; performance of preservice, nontenured and tenured teachers.  Abstract of recent work:  This study was conducted to ascertain whether or not the multiple intelligences environment developed in a private secondary school had an impact on its female students.  It looked at the students involved in the multiple intelligences environment in terms of knowledge of their own intelligences, academic achievement in G.P.A., personal life at home and work, and participation in outside activities.  The research site for the study was private secondary school for female students with a curriculum, which had been in place for five years, formulated on the the Theory of Multiple Intelligences.  The students were from many cultural backgrounds and needed multiple avenues as part of their instructional process to express their intelligent behavior.  During this period when there is an emphasis on reform and schools are in the process of being restructured, this study has increased the knowledge about high school students’ motivation, achievement and pesonal growth.            

 

Debra K. Meyer, Professor of Education.

Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin.
Research interests: Classroom learning environments that enhance students' motivation to learn through the use of multi-method studies that involve classroom observation and experience sampling methods and discourse analyses
Recent work:  2004:  Are challenge and caring compatible in middle school mathematics classrooms? In P. Pintrich & M. Maehr (eds.) Advances in Motivation and Achievement (Vol. 13);  Is challenge in mathematics motivational and why?  A classroom perspective on the principle of moderate challenge.  Journal of Educational Research, 97.  2003: The importance of emotion in theories of motivation:  empirical, methodological, and theoretical considerations from a goal theory perspective.  International Journal of Educational Research, 39; How teachers establish psychological environments during the first days of school:  Inviting engagement or avoidance?  Teachers College Record, 105.  Grants:  2001 “Integrating Preservice Teacher Education & Inservice Teacher Professional Development  Through the Development of a Professional Development School”.  Awards:  Kappa Delta Pi Outstanding Teacher Award, 1999; Donald W. and Betty J. Buik Endowed Chair, 1999-2004; Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Advising by the National Academic Advising Association, 1999;  Dappa Delta Pi Outstanding Teacher Award, 1999; Advisor of the Year Award, 1998; President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1988.

 

Susan R. Moninger, Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Choral Music.

M.M., Northwestern University

 

Mary Kay Mulvaney, Assistant Professor of English; Director, Honors Program.

Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago; M. A., Loyola University, Chicago
Research interests: Academic Writing; Genre Theory; Writing-Across-the-Curriculum; Composition Theory and Rhetorical Theory; Chicago Theatre.  Recent Work: Academic Writing:  Gentres, Samples, and Resources -- An interdisciplinary composition textbook that presents a genre theory aproach to effective academic writing and features samples of student writing in 15 different genres of academic writing, collected from colleges and universities across the nation.  Grants:  EC Alumni Association Faculty Research Grant 2002.  Awards:  President's Award for Excellence in Teaching 2003-4; Nominated to Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, May 2004.

  

Linda K. Niedringhaus, Professor of Nursing, Director, Deicke Center for Nursing Education.

Ph.D., St. Louis University.
Research interests: critical care nursing; assessment of student outcomes in baccalaureate nursing programs. Recent work:  “Using Student Writing Samples to Assess Program Outcomes” (presentation);  “Comparison of two methods of managing gastric residual volumes from feeding tubes” (published).

                                   

Helga Noice, Professor of Psychology.

Ph.D., Rutgers University.
Research interests:  Theoretical and applied issues in human memory.  Expertise in the performing arts.  Her most recent work has focused on the interaction between memory and physical movement underlying theories of embodied cognition, improving the cognitive functioning of older adults, and specifying the mental representation of a jazz musician.
  Grants:  Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, The PEW Charitable Trust, the Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, Sigma XI, and Faculty Development Grants from Elmhurst and Augustana Colleges.  
Publications
:  She has over 40 book and journal publications (Cognitive Science, Memory and Cognition, Applied Cognitive Psychology, The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise, etc.)
                         

 

Bridget K. O’Rourke, Assistant Professor of English.
Ph.D., Purdue University.                                .

 

Elaine Fetyko Page, Assistant Librarian, Head of Technical Services,  College Archivist.

M.S., University of Illinois.
Research interests: Archives and manuscripts, digitization, College history, Hulda Niebuhr.  Grants:  EC Faculty Development Research Grant.  

 

Jennifer Paliatka, Assistant Librarian, Assistant Professor.

M.L.I.S., Dominican University.
Research interests: Information Literacy, Faculty-Librarian Collaboration.  Recent Work:  With the Elmhurst College Librarians, participated in a poster presesntation entitled "Academic Librarians for the 21st Century:  The Small College Library as a Crucible for the Future of the Profession", at Illinois Library Association Conference, Chicago, IL, September, 2004.  Grants:  Awarded $2075 from the Illinois Creative Collection Management Program, for media about the Holocaust.

 

Kathleen Rust, Associate Professor of Business Administration, Director of Intercultural Education.

D.B.A., Southern Illinois University.
Research interests: organizational downsizing; organizational restructuring; managerial ideologies; organizational change.  Recent work: considers how business ideologies impact the perception of breach of the psychological contract during downsizing.  I am also interested in determining if belief in ideologies impact the perception of  one’s own layoff and a person’s perception of layoffs happening to others.  Grant: Faculty Development Travel Grant

                                                                       

Kathleen Scanlon, Assistant Professor of Nursing.

M.S.N., University of Illinois at Chicago; M.A., Governors State University

 

Susanne Schmitz, Associate Professor of Economics

Ph.D., University of Kentucky

 

Janet Schreiber, Assistant Professor of Nursing.

M.S., Northern Illinois University

 

Kathy J. Sexton-Radek, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology.

Ph.D., Illinois Institute of Technology,
Research interest: Clinical  psychophysiological assessment and treatments, Correlates of headaches, Sleep patterns, Sport performance enhancement, Computer pedagogy, and Clinical psycopharmacology. Recent work: “Clinical Comparisons of Individuals Presenting with Sleep Disorders” (poster): Mentoring by Alumni and Faculty: A Winning Combination”; Cross-cultural leadership styles: United States and China”, “Interplay of Art Making Practices and Migraine Headache Pain Experience.” Grant: Two books recently published:  Violence in School:  Causes, Consequences and Expressions; Sleep Quality in Young Adults;  One Book Chapter:  "Hypnosis and Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Patients with Sleep Disturbance and Cancer Diagnosis" in 2005 book titled "The Clinical Use of Hypnosis in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:  A Practitioner's Guide"  Other: Goldsmith Scholarship Program

 

Lynda Slimmer, Professor of Nursing, Coordinator of Service-Learning Program.

Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago.
Research interests: effects of specific health promotion interventions to decrease substance abuse and early sexual activity in Hispanic ninth graders;  effects of specific health promotion interventions to increase literacy and access to health care information of Hispanic adults.  Abstract of recent work:  Healthy People 2010 Objectives for the nation challenge work sites to increase the proportion of employees who participate in employer  sponsored health promotion activities. The National Health Interview Survey reports that only 16% of Hispanic/ Latino employees presently participate in such activities.  The goal of a partnership among Marriott Hickory Ridge Hotel, Illinois Center for Teaching and Learning, and the Elmhurst College Service-Learning Program is to increase access to health promotion activities for the hotel’s Hispanic/Latino housekeeping staff through literacy skill and health education classes.  Presently 25% of the staff have participated in the literacy skill classes with a mean gain of 65% in the literacy rate.

 

Susan Swords Steffen, Director of the Library, Assistant Professor.

M.A.L.S., Rosary College.
Research interests: Faculty-librarian collaboration; children’s literature; adolescent literature; use of information technology in the improvement of teaching and learning.                                   

 

Mary Lou Stewart, Assistant Professor of Art, Director of Art Education.

M.F.A., Mills College.
Research interests: mixed media painting & collage/montage on paper; investigation into the tension between chaos and structure within an abstracted landscape through the use of pattern, grid, and gesture and recent inquiry into large cut paper constructions of chaos / structure; curriculum development for the beginning artist; teacher art education curriculum development.

 

Joan M. Vilim, CFA,  Assistant Professor, Center for Business and Economics.

M.M., Northwestern University
Research Interests:  Financial literacy among college students.  Recent Work:  Current work includes a paper, completed with Dr. Siaw-Peng Wan, entitled "Are College Students Clueless? An Analysis of College Students' Perceptions of Important Financial Knowledge."

 

Therese Wehman, AssociateProfessor of Education, Theophil W. Mueller Endowed Chair, Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Early Childhood Special Education.

Ph.D., The Erikson Institute, Loyola University.
Research interests: early intervention system change;  personnel preparation; creating parent-professional training partnerships; inclusion; team building.

 

Barbara A. Zak, Assistant Professor of Nursing.

M.S.N., University of Illinois

 

 

 

 

The scholar specialized in any field will find that the more she knows, the more she will have to learn...Art and science mean trying to understand.”

                                                            -Alberto Giacometti

 

 


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