214 Lawrence Center
West Chester, Pennsylvania 19383
(610) 436-2898
Fax: (610) 436-2600 learningcomm@wcupa.edu
FACULTY PROFILES
Dr. Maureen Knabb
610-436-2985
mknabb@wcupa.edu
Education:
BS Biology, St Joseph’s University
PhD Physiology, University of Virginia
Teaches introductory biology and physiology; interested in mechanism of diseases with specialization in cardiac physiology
Teaching/Research Interests:
Alterations in cell communication following viral infection.
Fun Fact / “About Me”:
Many family members: father- in-law, sister, and son were students @ West Chester University; played accordion and flute; Loves the beach and dancing
Education:
BA- Civil Engineering; MPL
Master of Planning-University of Southern California
PhD- University of Pennsylvania
Teaching/Research Interests:
land use planning and urban renewal related to housing, such as zoning and land use reevaluation and sustainable housing development.
Fun Fact / General Fact:
Serves on the Radnor Township planning commission. Also on the board of the Radnor conservancy and a local organization called “Home Aid for Africa” that funds initiatives to help AIDS orphans in Malandi
Edward I Pollak
610-436-3151
epollak@wcupa.edu
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/epollak/home.html
Education:
BA- Binghamton University
MA-University of Connecticut
PhD- University of Connecticut
Fun Fact/ General Fact:
playing fiddle in bluegrass bands, breeding old world chameleons and poison dart frogs, fishing.
Heather Wholey
hwholey@wcupa.edu
Education:
PhD in Anthropology from Catholic University of America
Teaching/Research Interests:
Assistant professor of anthropology and teaches courses in cultural anthropology and archaeology. Broadly trained as cultural ecologist and studies the interface between people, culture and environment. She specializes in archaeology, specifically environmental archaeology and the pre colonial history of Native America in the Eastern Woodlands.
Fun Fact/ General Fact:
Enjoys camping and vegetable and fruit gardening in the spare time.
Juanita R Comfort
jcomfort@wcupa.edu
610-436-2915
Education:
PhD in English-Rhetoric/Composition
The Ohio State University; BA
MA in English, Old Dominion University
Teaching/Research Interests:
General-education (WRT) and advanced writing; business & technical writing; African American women’s literature; essay genre (identity formation, subjectivity, ethos); rhetorical analysis & criticism.
Fun Fact/ General Fact:
Sons serving in Army (Afghanistan) and Air Force; Pittsburgh Steelers fan
Education:
B.A. and M.A. from West Chester University
Ph.D. from Ohio University
Teaching/Research Interests:
Dr. Brown is a rhetorical scholar with research interests in African American culture and communication, popular culture, and public communication. He teaches undergraduate courses in Public Speaking, Rhetorical Theory and Criticism, African American Culture and Communication, Communication Theory, and a graduate course in Culture, Media, and Representation.
Seth Kahn
610-436-2915
skahn@wcupa.edu
Education:
BA in History/Philosophy, Wake Forest University
MA in English, Florida State University
PhD in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric, Syracuse University
Teaching/Research Interests:
Composition; critical theory; propaganda theory; activism and activist rhetoric; Marxism Current Research Areas: Democracy in classroom practices; activism and rhetorical theory
Fun Fact / General Fact:
I have a dog called Shiksa--it's a long story; I listen to punk rock; my favorite movie of all time is "2001: A Space Odyssey"; I make really good vegetarian food for people who ask nicely
Hyoejin Yoon
610-436-2389
hyoon@wcupa.edu
Education:
B.A English and B.S. Biology, Virginia Tech, 1993
M.A. English, Virginia Tech, 1995
Ph.D. English, University at Albany, SUNY, 2003
Teaching/Research Interests:
Research interests in race, gender and sexuality studies; feminisms; technology and literacy; critical pedagogy; history of rhetoric and composition; emotion and labor; poststructuralist and Marxist theories. Writing in the Public Sphere; Writing the Multidisciplinary Imagination; Basic Writing; Writing and Computers; Theory Meaning Value; Asian American Women; graduate courses in pedagogy, theory, and research. Current research: affective history of the field of rhetoric and composition; the role of market pressures on the university; emotion and Asian Americans.
Fun Fact / General Fact:
Have two cats (Frida, Turkey) and one dog (Hector); writes poetry; surf boarded in Hawaii; black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Dr. Eleanor F. Shevlin
610-738-0499 (no voice mail); and 2nd campus phone: 610-436-2833 (voice mail that goes to email)
eshevlin@wcupa.edu
Education:
A.B. Georgetown University
Ph.D. English, University of Maryland.
Further coursework: Rare Book School, University of Virginia; Center for Electronic Texts in the Humanities, Princeton, and Institute for Editing and Publishing, University of Pennsylvania
Teaching/Research Interests:
Teaches courses in 18th –century British literature and culture, the Novel, postcolonial fiction, and print culture. Book-length study of he 18th-century publishing firm Harrison and Co. and the Making of the English Novel, an essay on the Booker Prize novels, and The History of the Book in the West (Vol. 3: 1700-1800).
Fun Fact / General Fact:
Have played in annual Hearts “tournament” for twenty years (have won four times); music tastes range from alternative rock to zydeco, with an especial fondness for Dylan; a cat-lover; live in Washington, DC when not at West Chester; visit London whenever I can
Dr. Joy Fritschle
610-436-3396
jfritschle@wcupa.edu
Education:
B.A. in Geography, Humboldt State University
M.S. in Geography, University of Memphis
Ph.D. in Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Teaching/Research Interests:
Biogeography and environmental conservation, with a specialization in historical ecology. Current research involves reconstructing past landscapes using historical vegetation records to facilitate ecological restoration of forests. Teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental geography, including Conservation of Natural Resources, Environmental Crises, Environmental Planning, and Field Methods.
Fun Fact / “About Me”:
Travels as often as possible; especially loves to visit national parks and the coast redwood forests in California.
Dr. Linda Stevenson
610-436-3580
lstevenson@wcupa.edu
Education:
B.A. in Political Science, College of Wooster
M.S. in Political Science, University of Pittsburgh
Masters' Certificate in Latin American Studies, University of Pittsburgh
Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Pittsburgh
Ph.D. certificate in Women's Studies, University of Pittsburgh
Fun Fact/"Acout Me":
Enjoys traveling, especially to places between Philly and Chile
Dr. Karin Gedge
610-436-2654
kgedge@wcupa.edu
Education:
B.A. in History, Lake Forest College, Illinois
M.A. in History, State University of New York at Brockport
Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University
Teaching/Research Interests:
Dr. Gedge's current research interests include nineteenth-century gender, education and religion and learning history through quilts. Her book Without Benefit of Clergy: Women and the Pastoral Relationship in Nineteenth-Century American Culture was published in 2003 by Oxford University Press. Dr. Gedge has ten years of teaching experience at WCU and she has decades of experience as a student and teacher in K-12 schools, public, private and religioius.
Fun Fact/General Fact:
Dr. Gedge has taught college courses such as Women in America; Religion in America; U.S. Intellectual and Cultural History; Secondary Social Studies Teaching Methods; Student-Teacher Supervision. Dr. Gedge reveals many facts about herself, her family, and her students, but only to the lucky students in their classes!
