Maine Perspective Front Page
New Faculty at the University of Maine
The University of Maine's 1999-2000 academic year has begun with 34 new members of the faculty. As a means of introduction to the University community, Maine Perspective surveyed them concerning their academic, research and public service activities. This is the second of two features on the new faculty of the University of Maine.
Michele Alexander, assistant professor of psychology, received her Ph.D. in psychology from Texas A&M in 1996. In her research, Alexander studies relationships between groups, with specific emphasis on intergroup conflict, prejudice, and the association between stereotyping and behavior. Currently, she is developing and testing a functional model of generic outgroup stereotyping. The long-term goal is to determine the specific relationships that underlie the content of group beliefs and the conditions under which these beliefs can be changed. Research funding has come from the Mershon Center for the Study of International Security and Public Policy. She is teaching general and social psychology, and a senior seminar in stereotypes and prejudice.
Marcia Douglas, assistant professor of theatre, has a master's degree in directing from the University of Washington and an M.F.A. in acting from Southern Methodist University. Douglas has choreographed, directed or acted in more than 100 productions, and has performed her one-woman show, Story Soup/Myth Pie in the U.S. and abroad. Her current research interests are in the use of video in the performance classroom, and on producing and performing Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, a play originally written for Pat Carroll. In March, she will direct the Maine Masque production of Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet.
Elizabeth Dove is assistant professor of art. She received an M.F.A. from Vermont College this year, and was a guest artist at UMaine last January. Dove has been actively involved in research to develop safer, less toxic materials for use in printmaking. Since 1995, she has taught and researched non-toxic printmaking materials at the Canadian School for Non-toxic Printmaking in Alberta. Dove's prints and installations are exhibited internationally. This year, she has two installations and prints in two other shows; she has been selected to represent the province of Alberta in an upcoming print exchange exhibit with Japan in Tokyo. At UMaine, Dove is teaching drawing and printmaking.
Steven Evans, assistant professor of English, completed a Ph.D. in English literature at Brown University this year. His research focuses on contemporary American poetry, modernist and avant-garde literatures, and philosophy and critical theory. Evans received fellowships from the Mellon Foundation in 1989 and 1994, and the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1995. He has presented plenary lectures on American poetry in the U.S., England, and Belgium, and is founder/co-editor of The Impercipient Lecture Series. Evans is teaching advanced composition and contemporary American poetry, and is working in collaboration with the National Poetry Foundation.
Benjamin Friedlander, assistant professor of English, received a Ph.D. in English from SUNY-Buffalo this year. His research and teaching focus on American poetry and poetics. He has edited the critical essays of Larry Eigner and Charles Olson, and produced essays on such writers as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Emily Dickinson. Friedlander, a published poet, is teaching American Literature and Postmodern Poetry. He also is collaborating with the National Poetry Foundation.
Alla Gamarnik is assistant professor of chemistry. In 1993, she received a Ph.D. in chemistry from UCLA, where she worked on matrix isolation of short-lived organic intermediates. She has been a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA, Georgetown University and the University of California-Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on surface chemistry and organic materials, particularly the synthesis and testing of molecular electronic devices and the study of intermolecular structure of surfaces and bulk materials. At UMaine, she is teaching organic chemistry.
Ivan Gotchev is visiting associate professor of mathematics. He received a Ph.D. in mathematical sciences from Sofia University, Bulgaria, in 1989, and has taught mathematics as an associate professor at the American University in Bulgaria since 1992. At AUBG, he also serves as Science Division chair. Gotchev's research, which focuses on general and categorical topology, has been funded by Bulgaria's National Science Fund. At UMaine, he teaches pre-calculus, calculus, and applied mathematics for business and economics.
Scott Lasley, assistant professor of political science, is completing a Ph.D. with a dissertation that develops a theoretical framework from which to understand the interaction between ambition and political behavior, and whether differences in attitudes toward ambition have an effect on behavior in a legislature. In his research in American government, elections and political parties, Lasley also has studied statewide elections and third-party success. At UMaine, he is teaching Introduction to American Government and Political Parties.
James Moreira is assistant professor of anthropology and director of the Maine Folklife Center. He received a Ph.D. in folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1995. He did post-doctoral research at York University as a member of a multidisciplinary team examining the competing levels of narrative in policy debates on sustainable agriculture in Cape Breton. Moreira was an assistant professor at Memorial University, teaching folklore, anthropology and sociology prior to joining the UMaine faculty. He specializes in narrative folksong research, with emphasis on fictional landscapes in ballad narratives, and on the impact of literacy on oral culture. His interests also include maritime ethnography. Funding for Moreira's research has come from the Institute for Social and Economic Research, and Memorial University. At UMaine, he is teaching folklore, and oral history and folklore field research.
Suneeti Nathani is assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders. She received a Ph.D. in speech-language pathology from Purdue University in 1998. Her research interests include infant vocalizations, childhood language development and disorders, and phonology. At UMaine, she is teaching courses in Language Development, and Introduction to Communication Sciences and Disorders.
James Berg is cooperating assistant professor of English and director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. In 1996, Berg received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 20th-century British literature. He taught writing, literature and film at his alma mater. Prior to coming to UMaine, Berg was program and marketing director for the Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning, which provides programs and services to improve undergraduate education at Midwest higher ed institutions. This spring, he will teach a course in 20th-century gay and lesbian literature.
Capt. Stephen Szewc is assistant professor of military science. Szewc received a bachelor's degree in wildland recreation management from the University of Idaho, where he was commissioned in 1990. His military career includes assignments in Somalia and Haiti. He was last stationed at Fort Richardson, Alaska, where he commanded the 572nd Military Intelligence Company, Airborne Detachment. At UMaine, Szewc is teaching ethical decision making and orienteering, and is serving as faculty advisor for the University's chapter of Scabbard and Blade National Honor Society.
Master Sgt. Michael Olsen is senior enlisted instructor of military science. He received a bachelor's degree in forestry from Washington State University in 1976 and enlisted in the Army in 1978. Olsen served several years in Germany. He comes to UMaine from Fort Sill, Okla., where he was assigned to the Field Artillery Proponent Office. He is teaching Introduction to Leadership.
Maj. James Campbell is assistant professor of military science. Campbell received a bachelor's degree in history from Colby College and was commissioned at UMaine in 1986. He was assistant professor of military science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1993-95 before leaving the Army and entering the Maine Army National Guard. For the past four years, he has been a Ph.D. student at UMaine, focusing his research on British military history. He is teaching junior-level courses and managing the student training program.
Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Houzah is a military science instructor. He enlisted in 1982. Houzah comes to UMaine from Korea, where he was assistant operations sergeant with the 2nd Battalion 9th Infantry. On campus, he is teaching courses in leadership and tactical skills.