|
|
|
Related Links
|
Faculty and Staff ExpertsOverviewDrew University faculty and staff can provide authoritative background information and insightful commentary on many different issues --from the American Presidency to murders in America, classical Jewish thought to modern political thought. Members of the media are invited to draw upon the rich and diverse academic and practical backgrounds of Drew University's faculty and staff. Not every topic or university expert is included in this list. For assistance in identifying experts, providing general information, setting up interviews with Drew students, or getting photographs, contact Tom Harris at 973/408-3206 or via e-mail at tharris@drew.edu. Experts List
Expert BiographiesFor experts in other fields, please contact Tom Harris at 973/408-3580 or via e-mail at tharris@drew.edu. Jill Cermele
A clinical psychologist, Cermele has researched women's mental health issues and beliefs about gender and mental illness. Her training includes practical experience working with women with eating disorders and victims of domestic violence and rape. Cermele has given presentations on relationship violence and trauma, and can offer definitive information to stories about women's mental health. Tom Evans
Evans brings twenty-three years of police experience as a member of the New Jersey State Police force to the Drew University campus. An expert on community policing and public safety on college campuses, Evans is also an authority and lecturer on terrorism and anti-terrorism activities. He can add insight and experience to many stories. Jim Hala
Hala specializes in medieval English literature. His expertise provides the basis for some of the language issues about which he has been consulted and gives public talks, including the history of English, English as a national language, gender and language, political uses of language as well as the language of politics, and popular conceptions and attitudes toward language. He is an advisor to the student-run That Medieval Thing, and speaks about medieval/renaissance fairs as well. J. Perry Leavell
Leavell specializes in the study of the American presidency as well as the history of American business and of New York City. He has developed a walking tour of New York City that combines the benefits of healthy sightseeing with historical facts and folklore. Leedom Lefferts
Co-author and associate curator for Textile Museum (Washington, DC) volume and exhibition, "Textiles and the Tai Experience in Southeast Asia." Dr. Lefferts has written many articles on Theravada Buddhism, women's work, material culture (textiles, other objects used in daily life) for peoples of Thailand, Laos, northern Vietnam, and southern China. He has conducted extensive research in Thailand since 1970, returning frequently -- as often as twice a year for extended visits. Lefferts is especially interested in the role of Thai-Lao people in Thailand's government, economy, and history. He is a Vietnam veteran who returns to northern and southern Vietnam for frequent research. John R. Lenz
Lenz specializes in Ancient Greek history, literature, and archaeology, and also Roman History. He is interested in all aspects of ancient Greece, where he participated in several archaeological excavations, studied as a Fulbright scholar, and led a Drew University tour. He has also authored four articles about ancient archaeology and architecture for the recently published, The Dictionary of Art. He has given public lectures about these areas of expertise as well as the period of the Trojan War, the Sea Peoples and the end of the Bronze Age, and the epics of Homer. Lenz also serves as the President of the Bertrand Russell Society and has lectured widely on both ancient and modern humanism. Norman Lowrey
Lowrey specializes in composition, theory, mask making, and multimedia presentations. His most recent work has been collaboration with the Delaware Riverkeeper and a team of internationally-known artists in a project he designed called "River Sounding," which initially involved a series of 7 listening events along the length of the Delaware River. Since those events, participants have been creating works in response to their listening to the river. Three of Lowrey's works have been presented publicly: "riverdream through us," "Scripture of the Lotus Blossom," and "Into the River of Longest Night." Lowrey has also created for his students a computer program that takes the place of a textbook when teaching music theory, allowing the students to hear their pieces on computer and to send their homework to him via e-mail. Otto Maduro
Maduro is the author of five books and nearly 200 articles on issues of Christianity, social conflicts and social justice. After many years working on Latin American Liberation Theology, he is increasingly interested on religion among U.S. Latinas/Os Born and raised in Venezuela, Maduro loves to address and challenge people involved in ministry among Hispanics, be it in English or in his native Spanish language. William Messmer
Messmer specializes in two areas: Latin America and Western Europe, especially Britain, the politics of NATO, and the European Union. He has written on political parties and European security. Phil Mundo
Areas of study include the Presidency, Congress, interest groups, and public policy. Dr. Mundo is the author of Interest Groups: Cases and Characteristics, and is working on a book called The Domestic Foundations of U.S. Trade Policy. Frank Occhiogrosso
Professor Occhiogrosso, formerly chairman of the English Department and dramaturg for the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, is an authority on William Shakespeare and his works. He is also an authority on all forms of drama, ancient and modern, especially American drama and the plays of Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Edward Albee. In addition, he also lectures on the Broadway musical and has recently developed a course of lectures on "The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: the great American lyricists," on Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Lorenz Hart, Yip Harburg, and Oscar Hammerstein. His articles and reviews have appeared in Shakespeare Quarterly, Shakespeare Bulletin, Literature/Film Quarterly, Modern Language Studies, The Armchair Detective, The Journal of Popular Culture, The Dictionary of Literary Biography, and The New Republic. James O'Kane
O'Kane focuses on issues of crime, ethnicity, and urban studies. Also a criminologist, O'Kane is an expert on patterns of urban crime, especially murder. In addition, O'Kane specializes in the study of American Catholicism and population studies. Drew's resident pop sociologist, he has been quoted in USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, The Miami Herald, The Boston Globe, and by The Associated Press and was the focus of an in-depth look at crime by MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. His book, The Crooked Ladder, deals with gangsters, ethnicity, and The American Dream. Philip Peek
Peek has been involved in African and African American Studies since he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria, 1964-66, and conducted research in the Niger Delta, 1970-72. In recent years, he has taken student groups to Eritrea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Ghana. He edited African Divination Systems: Ways of Knowing and has published widely on African visual and verbal arts. Peek is also involved in a variety of concerns such as the destruction of native peoples and multiculturalism in the United States. Peek specializes in African art, music, and literature as well as issues involving African-Americans. He is also an expert on folklore, oral history, and native populations whose cultures are threatened. William Rogers
Jonathan Rose
Rose is a specialist in the history of books, publishing, and reading. He founded the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP). His book The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes won the Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History and the Longman-History Today Historical Book of the Year Prize. He also edited The Holocaust and the Book: Destruction and Preservation. Rose teaches modern British and European history. He edits the scholarly journal Book History, and he reviews books for the Times Literary Supplement and the London Daily Telegraph. He is now writing a book on Winston Churchill's literary career. Douglas W. Simon
Simon concentrates on American foreign policy, national security, intelligence operations, the United Nations, and international terrorism and political violence. A U.S. Air Force intelligence officer in Vietnam, he is a specialist in the history and popular conceptions of the Vietnam War. Dr. Simon is co-author of the book The New World of Politics, and has written numerous articles for various publications, the latest on U.N. Peacekeeping for The Harvard Journal of World Affairs. He has been quoted in USA Today, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, the Bergen Record, the Newark Star-Ledger and other publications. He is deeply involved in curriculum development projects including an innovative real-time simulation of the U.S. National Security Council. Sara Webb
A specialist on ecology and environmentalism, Webb's focus is ecology. She has published on natural vegetation, biodiversity, biological invasions by introduced plants, and forest change over time. Carlos Yordan
Yordan specializes in the Middle East, the Balkans and Western Europe . His research includes terrorism, civil war termination, and post-war peace building. He has published op-eds for newspapers in the U.S. and the U.K. His doctorate is in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Connee Zotos
Dr. Zotos, whose teaching, coaching, and athletic administration experience has been at the university level, has written extensively about and given presentations on gender equity issues in athletics (Title IX), athletic department program models, and coaching evaluation. She has also been a television color commentator for women's basketball games for a regional sports network in the Southwest. |
| DREW UNIVERSITY * 36 MADISON AVENUE * MADISON, N.J. 07940 * 973/408-3000 * WEBMASTER@DREW.EDU |
Articles