Meet Our Faculty & Staff
The Honors Program faculty and staff are here to help our students succeed in seeking out their passion. Get to know our dedicated team of advisors.
Director of the Honors Program
Professor of Political Science
Endowed Chair of International Studies
Director, International Studies Minor
Myer Hall
717-361-4749
dursuno@etown.edu
http://facultysites.etown.edu/dursuno/
Dr. Oya Dursun-Özkanca (University of Texas at Austin, Ph.D.) is the Endowed Chair of International Studies, Professor of Political Science, the Director of Honors Program, and the Director of the International Studies Minor at Elizabethtown College, USA. In Fall 2021, she served as a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, working on her next book manuscript on the Eastern Mediterranean regional balance of power. Her research interests include Turkish foreign policy, transatlantic security, European Union, Eastern Mediterranean, South East Europe, and peace operations. She is the author of two new books, Turkey–West Relations: The Politics of Intra-alliance Opposition, published by Cambridge University Press in November 2019 and The Nexus Between Security Sector Reform/Governance and Sustainable Development Goal-16: An Examination of Conceptual Linkages and Policy Recommendations, published as part of the SSR Papers flagship series of the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) by Ubiquity Press in May 2021. She is also the editor of two books – The European Union as an Actor in Security Sector Reform (Routledge, 2014) and External Interventions in Civil Wars (co-edited with Stefan Wolff, Routledge, 2014) as well as a number of scholarly articles in leading peer-reviewed journals, such as Turkish Politics, 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. She served as a Visiting Fellow of Research on South Eastern Europe (LSEE) at London School of Economics (LSE) in 2013, and received grants and fellowships from Georgetown University, the London School of Economics, the European Commission (multiple grants), the American Political Science Association (APSA), the University of Texas at Austin (multiple fellowships), Deutscher Academischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD), the European Union Studies Association, and the Mellon Foundation (multiple grants), the Elizabethtown College (multiple grants). She is the inaugural recipient of the Kreider Prize for Teaching Excellence at Elizabethtown College (2015), and the recipient of the Richard Crocker Outstanding Service to Students Award (2018, 2020), and the recipient of the Ranck Prize for Research Excellence at Elizabethtown College (2022).
Director of Prestigious Scholarships and Public Heritage Studies
Myer Hall
717-361-1110
benowitzj@etown.edu
An historian, Professor Benowitz teaches Honors 201: Elizabethtown History: Campus and Community. This Honors course counts for the Western Cultural Heritage Area of Understanding and Guided Writing and Research requirements for the Core Curriculum. The course counts for Community Based Learning, one of the Signature Learning Experience requirements. This Honors course is cross listed with Public Heritage Studies. Professor Benowitz is Director of Public Heritage Studies; he advises students pursuing the Public Heritage Studies Minor. Professor Benowitz has authored books and articles about local history, regional studies, and Elizabethtown College’s history. Based on this scholarship, Professor Benowitz teaches Honors 204: The Politics of Historic Preservation in Lancaster County. This Honors course counts for Western Cultural Heritage requirements of the Core Curriculum. This Honors course is cross-listed with Public Heritage Studies. This experiential learning course explores regional studies through the National Collegiate Honors Council pedagogy “City As Text.” He serves on the NCHC national Place At Text Committee and has given presentations at NCHC conferences and published chapters in monographs about Honors experiential learning and civically engaged research. Professor Benowitz has nationally taught NCHC Place As Text and City As Text Faculty Institutes and Faculty Master Classes. Professor Benowitz teaches Honors 220: Genealogy, Heraldry, Paleographical Studies, and The Public Historian. This course examines the historiography of biography, autobiography, and memoir through the lens of the historian and the genealogist. This course counts for the Humanities Core Area of Understanding, Guided Writing and Research, and the Supervised Research Signature Learning Experience. Professor Benowitz teaches Honors 205: Honors Leadership Theory and Personal Narrative. This Honors course counts for the Humanities Area of Understanding requirements for the Core Curriculum and prepares students who are applying for internships, study abroad, jobs, graduate programs, and competitive post graduate scholarships and fellowships. Professor Benowitz is Director of Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships. He has authored articles and chapters in monographs published by the National Honors Collegiate Conference (NCHC) about academic advising, teaching, and directing Honors Programs. He serves on the national Program Committee for NCHC. Much of Professor Benowitz’s scholarship and public presentations have focused on American History, U. S. Presidential History, U. S. Diplomatic History, Anabaptist and Pietist Studies in a political context. Professor Benowitz has received national recognition for his work in teaching and advising Honors students.
Assistant Director of the Honors Program & Program Assistant for Academic Affairs
Myer Hall
717-361-3758
mackeyl@etown.edu
Luke Mackey is a graduate of Elizabethtown College with both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. He provides administrative support for the Honors Program, Prestigious Scholarships & Fellowships, and Stamp Scholars Program. In addition, he provides advising support for the Honors Program's students. Luke supervises Honors Course registrations, reviews documents and requests, maintains and updates Honors student records, processes expenditure reimbursements and stipends, supports program communication, marketing, and event planning, oversees the Honors Center, supervises Student Assistants, and coordinates with the Honors Council. Luke also teaches an Honors First-Year Seminar about politics and religion which explores the intersection of these topics and why they are tough, but important, subjects to discuss. During the 2023-2024 academic year, Luke recieved the David C. Beidleman Exemplar Staff Award in recognition for his outstanding service and commitment to the College and community.
Dr. Oya Dursun-Ozkanca
Chair of the Honors Committee and Director of Honors Program
Tori Flores '26
President of Student Honors Council
Joys William '27
Representative of Student Honors Council
Prof. Erica Dolson
Faculty - Humanities
Dr. Terri Dennehy
Faculty - Professional Studies
Dr. James MacKay
Faculty at Large
Dr. Jean Pretz
Faculty - Social Sciences
Dr. Jeffrey Rood
Faculty - Natural Sciences
Ms. Sarah Sandberg
Admissions Representative
Dr. Sanjay Paul
Representative from Core Committee
Dr. Nobuaki Takahashi
Representative from Academic Council