Experts at Elizabethtown College
You know your audience. Our experts know their stuff.
Elizabethtown College's faculty and staff experts are ready to answer media questions that relate to their unique areas of expertise.
Find your expert
Our experts list, below, is sorted by topic. Clicking on the topic takes you to a related expert. Alternatively, you can search the full experts list for a related topic. You also can read stories featuring our experts.
Expert Topics
Our faculty and staff experts can speak on the following topics:
Experts List
Sara Atwood
Associate Professor and Chair, Engineering & Physics Department
Contact Expert
- Design thinking for social impact
- Engineering and the liberal arts
- Engineering education
- Women in engineering
Sara Atwood teaches primarily mechanical engineering courses. Her research involves experimental, computational and failure analysis of materials and designs used in orthopedic devices. Also, she researches engineering education methods to improve the confidence and performance of underrepresented students in engineering, creativity as a factor in the recruitment and retention of engineering students and how engineers with a liberal education can positively impact society. Atwood earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering sciences from Dartmouth College and a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.
Jean-Paul Benowitz
Director of Student Transition Programs and Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships
Academic Affairs and Academic Achievement and Engagement
Contact Expert
- American history
- Local/regional history
- Political history
- Presidential history
Jean-Paul Benowitz teaches first-year and Honors seminars and courses in the History and Religious Studies departments. He earned a bachelor's degree n history at Eastern Mennonite University and a master's in history at Millersville University where he wrote his MA thesis on the history of the Horse and Buggy Mennonites of Pennsylvania. He served as a scholar in residence at the College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies. Benowitz is a Ph.D. candidate at Temple University. His dissertation is a biography of U.S. Congressman James Wadsworth Symington (D-MO).
David Bowne
Associate Professor of Biology
Contact Expert
- Climate Change
- Evolution
- Endangered Species
- Ecology
- Creative writing
David Bowne is an interdisciplinary ecologist and writer in the Department of Biology. He earned his doctoral degree in environmental science from the University of Virginia, his master's degree in conservation ecology and sustainable development from the University of Georgia, and a bachelor's degree in natural resource management from Rutgers University. He teaches a variety of courses including General Ecology, Conservation Biology, Geographic Information Systems, and Ecology in Short Fiction. Bowne conducts research on how land use impacts ecological processes in a variety of systems. He is a founding member of the Ecological Research as Education Network, an organization devoted to improving ecological research and education by building collaborations. In addition to his ecological research, he also publishes works of fiction and creative non-fiction.
.
Ambassador John B. Craig
Ambassador in Residence
Contact Expert
- U.S. National Security Policy
- National and international counter narcotics policy
- National and International counter terrorism policy
- Middle East Policy
- Middle East history, culture, politics and economics
Select appointments and accomplishments:
- 1998 appointed by President Clinton as US Ambassador to Oman
- 2001 Special Assistant to President George W. Bush
- 2002 Scholar in Residence at Elizabethtown College
- 2013 Ambassador in Residence at the Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking
- 2010 Ambassador in Residence at Elizabethtown College
- 2011 Director of the Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking
- 2013-present Executive Director of the International Working Group on the Plight of Christians and Religious Pluralism in the Middle East
Kurt DeGoede
Associate Professor, Engineering & Physics Department
Contact Expert
- Clinical and Sport Biomechanics
- Movement assessment
- Sustainable development
- Teaching engineering
Kurt DeGoede's research interests are in the areas of clinical and sport biomechanics. He has been developing low cost systems for movement assessment and therapy in occupational therapy and physical therapy clinics. DeGoede also has published biomechanics papers on falls and fall injury. These seven papers have been cited more than 340 times. Prior to teaching, DeGoede worked several years as a project manager at Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Michigan. He has developed a study abroad program in West Africa in which the program connects Etown engineering and business students with students at the University of The Gambia to develop technologies and social business plans. His pedagogical work has most recently focused on implementing mastery-based-grading systems in engineering science courses. DeGoede earned his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.
Oya Dursun-Ozkanca
Associate Professor of Political Science; Director, International Studies Minor; Professor of International Studies
Politics, Legal Studies & Philosophy Department
Contact Expert
- Turkish foreign policy
- European politics and the European Union (EU)
- International organizations
- Middle East politics and the Arab Spring
A doctoral graduate of University of Texas at Austin, Oya Dursun-Ozkanca's research interests include Turkish foreign policy, South East Europe, transatlantic security, European Union and peace operations. She is the author of two books -- The European Union as an Actor in Security Sector Reform (Routledge 2013) and External Interventions in Civil Wars (co-edited with Stefan Wolff, Routledge in 2014) as well as a number of scholarly articles in leading peer-reviewed journals, such as Foreign Policy Analysis, Civil Wars, European Security, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, French Politics, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, and Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, and various edited volumes. Dursun-Özkanca served as a LSEE Research on South Eastern Europe Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics in Summer 2013. During the 2015-2016 academic year, she was on sabbatical leave through a sabbatical research grant received from the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University to work on a book manuscript on Turkish foreign policy in the Western Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean.
J. Edward Frick
Lecturer/Clinical Supervisor, Education Department
Contact Expert
- Education
- Teacher preparation
- Leadership
- Ethics and Values
Ed Frick has 26 years of service in public and higher education. At the local level, he served as an administrator and teacher. His higher education experience includes work at Western Governors University (Utah), Drexel University (Pennsylvania) and Lamar University (Texas). Frick was recognized as Pennsylvania State Assistant Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary Principals in 2007. He has previously been published in the Pennsylvania Administrator; The Beacon - Journal of the Pennsylvania School Study Council; the Journal of Educational Alternatives - Principles, Practices and Leadership; Northwest Journal of Teacher Education; Education, Citizenship and Social Justice; Educational Leadership and Administration: Teaching and Program Development; Northwest Journal of Teacher Education, and the Impact Journal. Frick also serves as a school board director for a local school district in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His research has focused on connectedness, technology and social capital within the educational context.
Shannon Haley-Mize
Assistant Professor, Education Department
Contact Expert
- Special education
- Educational technology
- Autism and emotional behavior disorders
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Shannon Haley-Mize completed doctoral study in special education with an emphasis in emotional and behavioral disorders at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. Past experience includes work with students in a psychiatric day and inpatient treatment setting, federal grant administration, and service-learning program development. She also completed a graduate degree in early childhood education and served an educator, early interventionist and administrator in an inclusive early childhood education setting. Her research interests include new literacy studies, technology integration in P-16 education and use of technology to support successful teaching and learning.
Colin Helb
Associate Professor, Communications Department
Contact Expert
- Popular culture
- Popular music
- Internet culture
Colin Helb earned his doctorate from Bowling Green State University's American Culture Studies Program with emphases in critical media studies and popular culture. Helb is active with the Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) and the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association.
Kirsten Johnson
Associate Professor, Communications Department
Contact Expert
- Television news
- Citizen journalism
- Social media and news
Kirsten Johnson's research interests include citizen journalism, perceived credibility on websites and user-generated content, and she teaches courses primarily on video production and broadcast news writing. Johnson has presented nationally and internationally on citizen journalism, authored several papers on citizen journalism and user-generated content, and has written a chapter titled Citizen Journalism in the Community and the Classroom for the book Public Journalism 2.0: The Promise and Reality of a Citizen-Engaged Press. Also, she co-edited the book News With a View: Journalism Beyond Objectivity. Prior to teaching, Johnson worked for nearly a decade in local radio and television. She began her media career at KRNT and KIOA radio in Des Moines as an on-air personality and board operator. She then worked as a news producer at WOI-TV (the ABC affiliate in Des Moines), and at WGAL-TV (the NBC affiliate in Lancaster). She has a bachelor's degree in broadcast news from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa., a master's degree in telecommunications from Kutztown (Pa.) University, and a Ph.D. in information science and technology from Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Dmitriy Krichevskiy
Associate Professor of Economics
Contact Expert
- Big data
- Business decisions
- Economics
- Entrepreneurship
- Strategy
Dmitriy Krichevskiy earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Florida International University. Before coming to Elizabethtown, he taught at Miami Dade College.
Jeffery D. Long
Professor of Religion and Asian Studies
Contact Expert
- Hinduism
- Buddhism
- Inter-religious relations
Jeffery D. Long has been teaching at Elizabethtown College since 2000. He has expertise in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, as well as other topics related to meditation, spirituality and interfaith dialogue. He also teaches a course on the religious significance of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Long is the author of three books (A Vision for Hinduism, Jainism: An Introduction and The Historical Dictionary of Hinduism), as well as numerous articles, papers, and book reviews. He has presented in a variety of national and international venues and speaks regularly in India and Japan. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Charla Lorenzen
Associate Professor of Modern Languages
Contact Expert
- Education
- Teacher Preparation
- Heritage Language Learners of Spanish
- World Language Teaching Methods
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Community-Based Learning
- Service-Learning
- Teacher-Scholar Model of Student Mentoring
Charla Lorenzen, Associate Professor of Modern Languages, completed a PhD in Foreign Language Education at the University of Texas at Austin, where she wrote her dissertation on effective teaching methods for heritage learners of Spanish. She teaches Spanish and Spanish Language Teaching Methods and coordinates the Spanish Education major, which prepares future teachers of Spanish to teach foreign, heritage, and native speakers in inclusive ways from pre-kindergarten through high school. Dr. Lorenzen and her students donate their time to provide Spanish classes for local children through the Children’s Spanish Program, and her additional service to the community fosters language learning opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. Her research on world language teaching methods, community-based learning, and teacher preparation has been published in several journals and books, and has been presented at regional, national, and international conferences. Her teaching, scholarship, and service all derive from an unwavering commitment to student learning. She frequently travels to various Spanish-speaking countries to inform and enrich her teaching, and she strives to be a model teacher-scholar who inspires her students on their own lifelong learning journeys.
Susan Mapp
Professor of Social Work
Contact Expert
- Human trafficking
- Domestic minor sex trafficking
- Human rights
- child maltreatment
Susan Mapp has written a book on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking and two books in the area of human rights: Human rights and social justice in a global perspective: An introduction to international social work (currently in press for a second edition) and Global child welfare and well-being. She is the author of numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed articles on a variety of topics, including the impact of war on children, violations of women's human rights, law enforcement awareness of human trafficking, as well as issues relating to the child welfare system. She has presented her work at national and international conferences.
E. Fletcher McClellan
Professor of Political Science
Contact Expert
- American government
- Presidential studies
- American politics and popular culture
E. Fletcher McClellan has been a member of the Elizabethtown faculty for more than 30 years. He served in many leadership roles at the College, including dean of faculty from 2010 to 2016, interim provost on two occasions and department chair. He was a lecturer in political studies at the Queens University Bader International Study Centre in East Sussex, England, in fall 1999, and an American studies lecturer at the Dalian University of Foreign Languages, Liaoning Province, China, in spring 2008. He holds a doctoral degree in political science from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
McClellan teaches the senior capstone in political science and legal studies, as well as courses in American government, public policy and public administration. He has presented dozens of papers at professional conferences in such areas as the American presidency, politics and film, and teaching and learning in political science. His recent publications include a 2016 article on outcomes assessment for PS: Political Science & Politics and a chapter on curriculum models in undergraduate political science for the Handbook of Teaching and Learning in Political Science and International Relations (2015). Co-authored with Kyle Kopko, Christopher Devine and two Elizabethtown College students, his article on the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the New England Journal of Political Science was featured in the December 2015 New York Times.
In addition, McClellan is actively involved with the Political Science Education (PSE) section of the American Political Science Association, serving as a member of the PSE executive council from 2010 to 2014. He conducts external reviews for political science programs in the northeast and offers commentary on current politics for area media outlets, including a bi-weekly column for PennLive.com.
Mike Mitchell
Executive Director, The High Center
Contact Expert
- Family Business
- Strategic Planning
- Business Governance
Mike Mitchell is the executive director of The High Center at Elizabethtown College. Prior to joining the High Center, he was an owner of Amelia's Grocery Outlets and served as president and CEO of the company from 1997- 2012. He oversaw all aspects of the grocery chain's $50 million dollar business and a 100,000 square foot warehouse in Leola, Pa. Mike, his father, Melvin, and his brother-in-law Jeff, grew the business and expanded the concept from a couple of small Weaver Chicken Outlets into a full line grocery outlet chain. Mitchell is a graduate of Elizabethtown College and has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. Prior to joining Amelia's in 1996, he worked as a marketing manager for several packaged goods companies including Heinz, General Mills, and Unilever.
Emma Neuhauser
Professor of Finance
Contact Expert
- Finance
- Economic topics in China
- Chinese culture
Emma Neuhauser teaches in the areas of corporate finance, financial institutions and markets. Her research interests are corporate finance, corporate governance, financial engineering and securities, financial institution and markets, and investments. She has held a variety of positions at a number of institutions including Redback Networks Systems Canada Inc. and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. She brings with her experience as a quantitative research analyst, system verification engineer, business consultant and project manager. Prior to teaching at Etown Neuhauser taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is a member of the American Finance Association, Financial Management Association and Global Association of Risk Professionals and has earned several prestigious awards for her work. She has served as speaker to local communities on issues related to finance and economics, family culture, and social and economic developments in China. Neuhauser has lived and worked in Canada, China and Singapore.
Steven M. Nolt
Senior Scholar, The Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies
Contact Expert
- Amish
- Mennonites
- U.S. religious history
- U.S. immigration history
The author or coauthor of 14 books on Amish, Mennonite and Pennsylvania German history and contemporary life, Steve Nolt is widely recognized for his scholarship on Anabaptist groups across North America. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Notre Dame. His Amish-related research has taken him into several dozen settlements across seven states and Ontario and has focused on community formation and history, economic and social change and the role of technology in Amish life. He also has published articles on topics such as mental health care programs reaching Amish clients and on Amish involvement with international aid organizations. Nolt’s publications include The Amish: A Concise Introduction (2016); A History of the Amish (3rd ed., 2015); Seeking Places of Peace: A Global Mennonite History (2012, with Royden Loewen); and Amish Grace (2007, with Donald Kraybill and David Weaver-Zercher). With Donald Kraybill and Karen Johnson-Weiner, he wrote The Amish (2013), the definitive study of Amish society and cultural diversity.
Jean Pretz
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology
Contact Expert
- Creativity
- Decision Making
- Intuition
Jean Pretz focuses her research on creativity and intuition. She is interested in the relationship between creativity and critical thinking and success in college. She also studies decision making with an aim to understand when intuition is insightful and when it is irrational. Participants in her studies have included engineers, nurses, military leaders and soccer players. Pretz has published in many peer-reviewed scholarly journals including Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts and Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. At Elizabethtown, Pretz teaches courses in neuroscience, decision making and a seminar on intelligence and creativity. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and music from Wittenberg University and her master's degrees and doctoral degree in psychology from Yale University.
Brenda Read-Daily
Assistant Professor of Engineering
Contact Expert
- Environmental Biotechnology
- Environmental Engineering
Brenda Read-Daily teaches courses in the Engineering and Physics Department. Her research interests include biological nitrogen removal in agricultural and wastewater treatment systems. She is currently working to develop a passive, low-cost biological treatment system for improving nitrogen removal rates in agricultural drainage. Additionally, she investigates environmental engineering education methods. Read-Daily earned her doctoral degree in environmental engineering at the University of Notre Dame.
Michael David Silberstein
Professor of Philosophy
Contact Expert
- Science and Religion/Values
- Foundations of Physics - time travel, quantum mechanics, relativity theory
- Neuroscience and Society
Michael Silberstein's primary research interests are foundations of physics, foundations of cognitive science and foundations of complexity theory respectively. He is especially interested in how these branches of philosophy and science bear on more general questions of reduction, emergence and explanation. He also loves film and writing about film whenever possible. Silberstein is eclectic as a teacher. His regular course offerings include: philosophy of science, foundations of physics, introduction to cognitive science, philosophy of mind, philosophy and film, and science and values. He also is a founding member of the Cognitive Science program and permanent adjunct in the Philosophy Department at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he is also a faculty member in the Foundations of Physics Program and a Fellow on the Committee for Philosophy and the Sciences.
Professor of Finance and International Business
Director of International Business
Contact Expert
- Foreign Exchange Markets
- Foreign Direct Investments
Hossein Varamini joined the College in the Fall of 2000 as the Director of the International Business Program after holding a similar position at a different institution for over ten years. His primary teaching areas are International Business and Finance. In addition to his individual research publications in the fields of foreign direct investment and foreign exchange markets, Dr. Varamini has published articles with other colleagues and with his students. Some of his articles have been published in the American Journal of Business, Journal of East-West Business, Journal of Global Business, Journal of International Business and Economy, Journal of Economics, Journal of Applied Economics and the Journal of Current Research in Global Business. He is a member of the Academy of International Business, Academy of Finance and the Association for Global Business..
Jesse Waters
Director, Bowers Writers House
Contact Expert
- Creative writing
- 20th century American poetry
- 20th century American post-modern fiction
Runner-up for the Iowa Review Fiction Prize and a finalist in the DIAGRAM Innovative Fiction Prize, Jesse Waters is a recipient of a 2003 NC Artist's Grant to attend the Vermont Studio Center and a winner of the 2001 River Styx International Poetry Contest. Waters' fiction, poetry and nonfiction work has been nominated for multiple Pushcart Prizes and has appeared in such journals as 88: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry, The Adirondack Review, Coal Hill Review, The Cortland Review, Cimarron Review, Concrete Wolf, Iowa Review, Plainsongs, Magma, River Styx, Slide, Story Quarterly, Southeast Review, Sycamore Review and others. His first book of poems, Human Resources, was released by Inkbrush Press in February of 2011.