WCU Faculty

The teaching staff for the Masters and Certificate programs in Holocaust/Genocide Studies

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Jonathan Friedman, Ph.D.

Director of the Holocaust/Genocide Education Center

Jfriedman@wcupa.edu

Phone: 610-436-2972

 

(History)

Dr. Friedman is an associate professor in the Department of History. He has served as historian at the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. and Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation in Los Angeles. His first book, The Lion and the Star: Gentile-Jewish Relations in Three Hessian Communities, 1919-1945 (University Press of Kentucky), was declared one of 1998's "outstanding academic books." His most recent publications include Rainbow Jews:  Gay and Jewish Identity in the Performing Arts and Performing Difference:  Representations of the ‘Other’ in Film and Theater (both by Rowman and Littlefield Publishers).

 

Dr. Friedman received his B.A. in history from Kent State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Maryland.  

 

Mary Brewster, Ph.D.

mbrester@wcupa.edu

 

(Criminal Justice)

 

Dr. Brewster, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, received her Ph.D. from the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice.  Dr. Brewster’s areas of specialization include domestic violence, criminological theory, research methodology, and alternatives to incarceration.

Kevin Dean, Ph.D.

kdean@wcupa.edu

 

(Communication Studies)

Dr. Dean is Professor of Communication Studies and a scholar of speech, with a particular interest in political communication. For many years he was the department's Director of Forensics and has headed WCU's Honors Program. Dr. Dean joined the WCU faculty in 1991 having earned a B.A. from Bowling Green University, an M.A. from Miami University of Ohio, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

Brenda Gaydosh, M.A.

bgaydosh@wcupa.edu

 

(History)

Ms. Gaydosh is currently ABD in History at American University.  Her area of expertise is modern German history and church history, and she is currently completing her dissertation, under the direction of Richard Breitman, on Father Bernard Lichtenberg, the prelate of St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin who protested against Nazi policies towards Jews and persons with disabilities.  Father Lichtenberg was ultimately sent to Dachau for his opposition to Hitler’s regime, and he died on a cattle car on the way to the camp.

William Hewitt, Ph.D.

whewitt@wcupa.edu

 

(History)

Dr. Hewitt, Professor of History and a graduate of Wyoming University, has published numerous articles on minority topics and has worked as a writer on educational videos. He became interested in Holocaust and Genocide studies in the 1970's and 1980's when he taught the subject in the schools of Colorado. His interest in the Holocaust led him to study the other genocides of the twentieth century and he is currently teaching courses on genocides. Dr. Hewitt played an important role in the development of the masters and certificate programs in Holocaust and Genocide studies at West Chester University.

Lisa A. Kirschenbaum, Ph.D.

lkirschenb@wcupa.edu

 

(History)

Dr. Kirschenbaum is an Associate Professor of History at West Chester University.  She received her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.  Primarily a historian of Russia and the Soviet Union, her teaching and research has focused on war, gender, childhood, and memory.  Her current research focuses on memories of the World War II siege of Leningrad. Publications include the book Small Comrades:  Revolutionizing Childhood in Soviet Russia, 1917-1932 (Routledge Falmer, 2001) and articles on gender and World War II in the Soviet Union. Her teaching of Women and the Holocaust has won wide praise. 

Dennis Klinzing, Ph.D.

dklinzing@wcupa.edu

 

(Communication Studies)

Dr. Klinzing chairs the Department of Communication Studies. His scholarship is in the field of communication education with a particular interest in the health care field. He holds a B.S. from Clarion University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. He joined the faculty of West Chester University in 1976.

Margarethe Landwehr, Ph.D.

mailto:mlandwehre

 

(Foreign Languages)

An Associate Professor of German at West Chester University, Dr. Landwehr received her her B.S. in German languages and linguistics from Georgetown University, her master's in German literature from Harvard University, and her Ph.D. from Harvard in 1987. Her publications include articles on works by Heinrich von Kleist, Arthur Schnitzler, Josef Roth, pedagogy, postwar German film, and postwar German writers. Her current areas of interest are postwar German film and literature, literature and psychoanalysis, and women writers of Austria and Germany. A current book project deals with trauma, mourning and creativity in postwar German literature and film which will also include a study of Holocaust literature.

Deborah Mahlstedt, Ph.D.

dmahlstedt@wcupa.edu

 

(Psychology)

A Professor of Psychology, Dr. Mahlstedt received her B.S. from the State University of New York at Brockport and her M.Ed. and Ph.D., Temple University.  Her research and and teaching interests are in social psychology, small group processes, the psychology of women, dating violence, and models of social change. Dr. Mahlstedt is a nationally recognized figure in the area of dating violence and the roles of all-male organizations in facilitating as well as helping to curb such violence.

Jasmin McConatha, Ph.D.

jmcconatha@wcupa.edi

 

(Psychology)

Professor of Psychology, Dr. MConatha received her B.A. from the University of Utah, her M.S. from  Jacksonville State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in 1986. She teaches courses on adult development and aging, personality, and cross-cultural psychology. Her research focuses on social and cultural factors affecting the quality of life in adulthood. She has presented papers and written numerous research articles on the ways in which social and emotional support, depression, and spirituality impact well-being in adulthood. Her most recent work addresses the ways in which immigrants struggle to maintain a sense of integrity and a positive sense of self while coping with stress and trauma. She joined the West Chester University faculty in 1990.

Brian F. O’Neill

boneill@wcupa.edu

 

(Criminal Justice)

Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Professor O’Neill holds a M.S.W. degree from John Jay College of the City University of New York and is currently completing his doctorate there.  His areas of expertise include the juvenile justice system, delinquency prevention, and criminological theory.  

Jack Orr, Ph.D.

jorr@wcupa.edu

 

(Communication Studies)

Dr. Orr holds a Bachelor of Arts from Messiah College and a Bachelor of Divinity from the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  After earning a Master of Arts from Northwestern University Dr. Orr pursued his doctoral research at Temple University on the psychology of unquestioned obedience to authority. He has contributed work on the psychology of prejudice to the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Delaware. His essays on the philosopher Karl Popper emphasize the need for vigilance against authoritarian power.  His work on Persuasive Influence investigates the reasons that people obey authoritarian appeals, critical antidotes to those appeals, and effective strategies for democratic persuasion. 

Yury Polsky, Ph.D.

ypolsky@wcupa.edu

 

(Political Science)

Dr. Polsky, a Professor of Political Science, completed his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. A native of the USSR, Dr. Polsky has taught subjects dealing with the government and politics of the Soviet Union as well as international relations. He has chaired panels at international conferences, delivered scholarly papers throughout the United States, and written extensively on various subjects including life in Eastern Europe after WWII and politics in the Middle East. His most recent book is, Russia during the Period of Radical Change, 1992-2002.

Frauke Schnell, Ph.D.

fschnell@wcupa.edu

 

(Political Science)

Dr. Schnell, an Associate Professor of Political Science, completed her Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Linguistics is from the Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany. She has published extensively in the areas of political communication and public opinion. Her most recent articles examine the roles the mass media, interest groups, and social movements play in shaping citizens' policy attitudes. Her current book project is an analysis of media influence and political communication in contemporary democracies. Dr. Schnell joined West Chester’s faculty in 1992. 

Joan Woolfrey, Ph.D.

jwoolfrey@wcupa.edu

 

(Philosophy)

Professor Woolfrey teaches ethical theory and applied ethics.  Her specialty is bioethics, and her current research interests focus on the reproductive technologies industry and issues of informed consent.  She has published on physician-assisted suicide in the Hastings Center Report, on human cloning, and most recently, on feminist virtue ethics.

 

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Consultants

 

Philip Rosen, Ph.D.

Dr. Rosen, former Educational Director of the Goodwin Holocaust Museum, Cherry Hill, New Jersey is the author of several books and chapters on the Holocaust and ethnic topics. He has served as a lecturer at Villanova University and Gratz College in Philadelphia and currently serves as co-chair of the New Jersey Curriculum Committee.

Jack R. Fischel, Ph.D.

As Chairperson of the Department of History at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Fischel is also a renowned writer and reviewer of books and articles on the Holocaust. He has contributed in great measure to Holocaust literature and studies throughout the United States.

Saul S Friedman, Ph.D.

Dr. Friedman, Professor of History at Youngstown State University in Ohio is the author of ten books and numerous articles dealing with Jewish history and the Holocaust. He has received five Emmy Awards for documentaries he helped write and produce. Recognized as one of the leaders in Ohio in the development of Holocaust material and studies. He has helped with conference, organizations and evaluation of the masters program at West Chester University.

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