The faculty mentoring program for new faculty is intentional, inclusive, relational, and holistic. It follows a cohort model, with tenured faculty members working with small groups of new faculty. These cohorts meet regularly, observe each other’s classes, and engage in dialogue about key issues at Rhodes and in higher education. Here are the faculty serving as mentors to the new faculty cohort this year:
Miriam G. Clinton is an active field archaeologist specializing in the architecture of the ancient world, especially Bronze Age Greece. Her research currently focuses on 3D modeling of Minoan (and other ancient) buildings for online and scholarly use as tools to study the ancient use of architecture. She has extensive fieldwork experience on excavations in both Greece and Italy and has served as an architectural and digital archaeology specialist for projects associated with the Institute for Aegean Prehistory’s Study Center for East Crete. Professor Clinton teaches courses in ancient art, including intermediate-level courses in Greek, Roman, Near Eastern, and Egyptian art and architecture, as well as seminars on classical archaeology and Pompeii.
In addition to courses in the basic and intermediate Spanish language/cultures sequence, Prof. Henager teaches a wide range of courses in the advanced literature and cultural studies curriculum. Most of the advanced courses he teaches are related in some form to his primary interests in contemporary Latin American narrative, popular culture in literature, and literary representations of transculturation. His current research focuses on Spanish-language fiction set in the US Midwest and on the roles literature and journalism play in Latin America in modifying meanings associated with imported US cultural products, especially baseball.
Becky Klatzkin (Psychology Department and Neuroscience Program) came to Rhodes in 2011 with a Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on understanding the psychological and physiological mechanisms underlying stress-eating in women. She teaches a range of classes including Neuroscience, Introduction to Psychology, and Clinical Neuroscience.
Shad Nasong'o is professor and former chair of the Department of International Studies. He has served on the Faculty Governance Committee, Foundational Curriculum Committee, and the Tenure and Promotions Committee. His prolific research and scholarship has earned him the Rhodes College's Clarence Day Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity and the Ali Mazrui Award for Research and Scholarly Excellence from the University of Texas at Austin.
Dave has been an astronomer in the Physics department since 2010. His research focuses on collaborative studies of galaxy evolution using telescopes on Earth and in space, and he actively involves Rhodes undergraduates in using data from some of the best observatories in the world. His teaching spans the very small (the quantum world) to the very large (cosmology), with the goal of challenging students to take charge of their own learning using active teaching strategies. He has benefited from generous mentorship from colleagues at Rhodes and elsewhere, and hopes to help other new faculty in the same way.
Sarah E. Rollens is the R.A. Webb Associate Professor of Religious Studies. She received her doctorate from the University of Toronto, where she studied early Christianity in the Roman Empire. Her current research focuses on the social history of the Jesus movement, exploring such topics as group formation, social networks, literacy and writing practices, and ideological production in early Christian texts. While most of her courses focus on biblical texts in conversation with other culturally important literature (courses include such topics as the Bible and the Afterlife, the Bible and Banned Books, and Introduction Apocalyptic Thought), she also teaches Methods and Theories in Religious Studies.