College Welcomes A Dozen New Tenure-Track Faculty in Fall 2016

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences welcomes 12 new tenure-track faculty to its ranks this fall. Their research interests range from the ethics of emerging science and technology to early identification and prevention services for emotional and behavioral health. Meet these stellar scholars, researchers and teachers below, and at a reception in Caldwell Lounge on Thursday, September 8, at 4:30.

Grant Bollmer, Communication

Grant Bollmer joins the Department of Communication as an assistant professor in communication media.

• Ph.D., Communication Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2011
• M.A., Communication, Wake Forest University, 2006
• B.A., History, Wake Forest University, 2004

Grant Bollmer’s research examines a wide range of issues related to the history and theory of digital media. He is the author of Inhuman Networks: Social Media and the Archaeology of Connection (Bloomsbury, 2016), and is completing a book titled Theorizing Digital Cultures (Sage). He has taught at universities in Australia and New Zealand before returning to North Carolina. His most recent research examines the history of affect in psychology and its relationship to digital models of the face used in social media, videogames and animation.

Veljko Dubljevic, Philosophy and Religious Studies

Veljko Dubljevic joins the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and the Program in Science, Technology and Society (STS) as an assistant professor in the area of ethics of emerging science and technology.

• D.Phil., Philosophy, University of Stuttgart, Germany, 2013
• Ph.D., Political Science, University of Belgrade, Serbia, 2011
• M.S., Economics, Educons University, Serbia, 2008
• B.A., Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, 2001 

Veljko Dubljevic comes to NC State from McGill University, where he spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the IRCM Neuroethics Research Unit. His research focuses on the ethics of neuroscience and technology and the cognitive neuroscience of ethics. He has published over 20 articles, plus a co-edited book on the ethics of cognitive enhancement. He is working on a monograph called Neuroethics and Justice: Public Reason in the Cognitive Enhancement Debate, which is under contract with Springer. Dubljevic is based in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, but half of his teaching duties are in STS.

April Fernandes, Sociology

April Fernandes joins the Department of Sociology and Anthropology as an assistant professor in sociology, in the area of community and crime. She will teach courses in the Sociology of Deviance, the Sociology of Social Control, Criminology, Community and Crime, as well as Law and Society.  

• Ph.D., Sociology, University of Washington, 2015
• M.A., Sociology, University of Washington, 2010
• B.A., Sociology and Psychology, University of Southern California, 2003

In her research, April Fernandes focuses on the broadly defined health consequences of Criminal Justice System (CJS) contact.  For example, she studies a range of related topics including how inmates’ health is affected in jail; how jail affects job prospects; and how arrests affect the fear of crime in a neighborhood. Her general research interests are in stratification, inequality, race and ethnicity, health, and the sociology of education. She received a National Science Foundation dissertation support grant for her doctoral work on the social and economic consequences of “minor” contacts with the CJS. 

Frederico Freitas, History

Frederico Freitas joins the Department of History as an assistant professor in the Visual Narrative cluster.

• Ph.D., History, Stanford University, 2016
• M.A., History, Stanford University, 2012
• B.A., History, University of São Paulo, 2009

Frederico Freitas teaches and researches in the area of digital history, with a special emphasis on the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) in the production of historical knowledge. Most of his research is done in modern Latin American history, particularly Brazil and Argentina. Freitas utilizes historical mapping and remote sensing to study the history of the national park systems in the two South American countries in the 20th century. Another project deals with the spatial aspects of the Brazilian society in 19^th century Rio de Janeiro. In his digital history scholarship, Freitas draws from his previous experience working as an art director in the advertising industry in Brazil.

Christopher Galik, Public Administration

Christopher Galik joins the School of Public and International Affairs Department of Public Administration as an associate professor in the sustainable energy technology and policy cluster.

Jean Goodwin, Communication

Jean Goodwin joins the Department of Communication and the new Public Science cluster as a professor.

• Ph.D., Rhetoric, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996
• J.D., University of Chicago, 1984
• B.A., Mathematics, University of Chicago, 1979

Jean Goodwin’s research and teaching focus on how citizens who deeply disagree can nevertheless manage to coordinate a productive exchange of reasons. Her work on argumentation has included inquiry into the basic principles for making arguments that are both good and effective; case studies of debates such as that over entry into the first Gulf War; computer-assisted argument analysis; and research into how students learn to argue well. Recently she has begun examining the special challenges scientists face when they enter into the sometimes harsh controversies characteristic of our democracy, with ongoing studies of scientists’ talk about climate change and GMOs.

Verena Kasper-Marienberg, History

Verena Kasper-Marienberg joins the Department of History as an assistant professor in the area of Jewish and early modern history.

• Ph.D., History and Historical Museology, University of Graz, Austria, 2009
• M.A., Rhetorical Studies and History, University of Tuebingen, Germany, 2005

Verena Kasper-Marienberg’s research focuses on the intersection of Jewish and Christian communities in the early modern period. She is especially interested in questions of legal practice, gender relations and socio-economic structures in early modern societies. Currently, she is completing a book about the daily life of the Frankfurt Jewish community in the 18th century as well as working on a new study on the rural Jewry of Bohemia after the Thirty Years’ War. She has published on a number of topics like Jewish female litigation, criminal history, Jewish-Christian shared spaces, and the media (re)presentation of early modern political events. In her teaching, Kasper-Marienberg focuses on pre-modern minority history, early modern autobiographies, the history of museums and the rhetorical structures of political texts.

Eui Kim, Psychology

Eui Kyung Kim joins the Department of Psychology as an assistant professor in the area of school psychology.

• Ph.D., Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2016
• M.A., Mental Health Counseling, Boston College, 2011
• B.A., Psychology, Korea University, 2009

Eui Kyung Kim’s research interests focus on early identification and prevention services for emotional and behavioral health. Particularly, she is interested in the use of a dual-factor approach to assess and promote children’s complete mental health in school settings. She also conducts research internationally, examining social emotional development and bullying experiences of Korean students. She received the 2014 Center for School-Based Youth Development Award for Student Leadership in School-Based Research for her work “Exploring the Relative Contributions of the Strength and Distress Components of Dual-Factor Complete Mental Health Screening.”

Nicole Lee, Communication

Nicole Lee joins the Department of Communication as an assistant professor in public relations.

• Ph.D., Media and Communication, Texas Tech University, 2016
• M.A., Mass Communication, San Diego State University, 2013
• B.A., Journalism, San Diego State University, 2010

Nicole Lee’s research focuses on the intersection of science communication, public relations and digital media. Her primary program of research examines how public relations practitioners can utilize online dialogue to more effectively communicate about science with lay audiences. She is particularly interested in communication about politically polarized topics such as climate change. Lee has professional public relations experience in a variety of industries, including the sciences, which informs her research and teaching.

Jessica Liao joins the Department of Political Science in the School of Public and International Affairs as an assistant professor.

• Ph.D., Politics and International Relations, University of Southern California, 2013
• M.A., Asia Pacific and Mainland China Studies, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan, 2006
• B.A., Mass Communications (minor-Japanese), National Chengchi University, Taiwan, 2002

Jessica Liao’s research focuses on the Chinese political economy and its impact on China’s relations with the world. Her recent book, Developmental States and Business Activism (London: Palgrave Macmillan, November 2015), analyzes trade disputes between the United States, China, Taiwan and South Korea. She has served as a Visiting Fellow at Monash University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and as a researcher with the National Intelligence Open Source Center. Liao will teach an undergraduate course on East Asia Politics as well as a graduate course in the Master of International Studies program.  

Douglas Walls, English

Douglas Walls joins the Department of English as an assistant professor in technical and scientific communication.  

• Ph.D., Rhetoric and Writing Michigan State University, 2011
• M.A., English University of Nevada, 2006
• M.A., Speech Communication, University of Nevada, 2002
• B.A., Speech Communication / Theatre, University of Nevada, 1999

Douglas M. Walls’ research interest is in digital rhetoric, especially in the user experiences of social networks and traditionally marginalized groups. His current research is focused on leveraging rhetorical studies to design such experiences. His work has appeared in both traditional and new media forms in Computers and Composition; Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy; and the Journal of Business and Technical Communication as well as various edited collections. Recently, his article entitled “Access(ing) the Coordination of Writing Networks” received Honorable Recognition for the 2015 Ellen Nold Award for the Best Article in Computers and Composition Studies.    

Intae Yoon, Social Work

Intae Yoon  joins the Department of Social Work as an associate professor in the areas of social welfare policy and financial literacy.

• Ph.D., Social Work, University of South Carolina, 2005
• M.S.W., Social Work, University of South Carolina, 1999
• B.A., English Literature, Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea, 1997

Intae Yoon’s research focuses on economic independence among low income families, community capacity building, community organization and development, nonprofit organizations and management, as well as international social work. He has a forthcoming book chapter entitled, “Mutual Aid and Saving Associations among Asian Americans” and he is an expert in the areas of parental guidance for Korean-American children and the development of healthy racial identity. Yoon was recently recognized for excellence in service by the College of Human Ecology at East Carolina University.