UW-Superior welcomed 11 new full-time assistant professors and lecturers to campus this fall. The group represents seven academic departments: Communicating Arts; Department of Education; Music; Health and Human Performance; Human Behavior, Justice & Diversity; Social Inquiry; and Writing, Languages, and Literature. Each new faculty member brings their disciplinary expertise and student-centered approach to the UW-Superior liberal arts mission, teaching a range of courses, including both graduate and undergraduate, as well as online and on-campus courses.
Max Gatyas is a senior lecturer in philosophy in the Social Inquiry Department. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Cincinnati and an M.A. in experimental psychology. His areas of expertise are moral psychology, philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of emotion and ethics. His research concerns empathy, emotion sharing and the role that each plays in our ethical lives. He currently serves as associate editor for the Journal of the European Philosophical Society for the Study of Emotions.
Mollie Greenberg is the senior lecturer of sociology in the Department of Social Inquiry. She received her B.A. in both sociology and women and gender studies from Smith College, her M.A. in sociology from the University of Maryland, and will soon receive her Ph.D., in sociology from the University of Maryland. Her areas of expertise include stigma, deviance and disability. Her work focuses on how perceptions of social status and stigma affect marginalized groups, with an emphasis on people with physical disabilities. Greenberg is currently working on a project examining how origin and type of disability affect perception of people with physical disabilities.
Emilee Howland is a senior lecturer in English in the Department of Writing, Languages & Literature. She holds a doctorate in English with a graduate minor in medieval and renaissance studies from the University of Missouri - Columbia, an M.A. in English and a B.A. in English and sociology from the University of New Mexico - Albuquerque. Her research interests include the role of magic and witchcraft in medieval and early modern romance literature as well as the ways that contemporary creators use medieval ideas in film, books and games.
Jennifer Jackl is an assistant professor of communication studies in the Communicating Arts Department. She holds a Ph.D. in interpersonal and family communication from the University of Iowa. Her area of expertise is relationship communication broadly, with a focus on romantic relationship and family communication. Her research is currently focused on how individuals use narratives of their lives in order to construct and maintain their relationships, identity and relational identity. Specifically, Jackl seeks to better understand how narratives that often are difficult to tell impact relationships, families and sense of self.
Donna Kirk is a senior lecturer in the Education Department with a focus on math education. She holds a M.Ed. in educational technology and curriculum design & instructional development from City University in Seattle and a B.S. in mathematics from State University of New York at Oneonta. She also holds a 6-12 mathematics teaching license in Minnesota. Kirk’s research interests include brain development and best practice using the on-going discovery of how people learn. She is also interested in the history of mathematics, multicultural and multidisciplinary education and how they can enhance the educational experience.
Seo Hee Lee, Ph.D., CAPE is assistant professor (physical education K-12) in the Health & Human Performance Dept. Lee received her doctorate in adapted physical education and special physical education from Texas Woman’s University. She has five years teaching experience in teaching in public schools in California and has taught for four years in higher education. Lee has presented at more than 20 local, national and international conferences and written ten articles. Her research interests center on teaching children with autism, immigrant parents of children with disabilities, Asian parents, inclusion and social justice.
Priyanka Mehta is a senior lecturer for the psychology program. She received her doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and is now pursuing her passion of teaching full-time in higher education for the first time. She specializes in behavioral neuroscience. Her academic interests include cognition, decision making, animal behavior and computation.
Meg Muthupandiyan is an assistant professor in the Department of Writing, Languages and Literature. She holds a doctorate in contemporary poetics from Marquette University. A poet, essayist, and public humanities scholar, Muthupandiyan founded the open-source public humanities project Poetry in the Parks in 2019. She specializes in mapping land communities through place-based writing and digital storytelling.
Steven Siegel is an assistant professor of music serving as the director of bands and trumpet. He holds a DMA in trumpet performance from the University of Kentucky, a M.M. in performance from West Texas A&M University and a B.M. in music education from James Madison University. In addition to directing ensembles, teaching applied lessons and teaching several music education courses, he is an active performer. Siegel has performed as a soloist at the International Trumpet Guild conference.
Jennifer Vogler is a senior lecturer in the education department. Her area of specialty is in educational leadership. Volger earned her doctoral degree in educational leadership from Trident University International. She earned her master’s degree in educational leadership from Winona State University. The research she conducted for her dissertation was on the effectiveness of teaching strategies used in personalized learning environments to improve student achievement in reading. This topic of study contributed to her career experiences in leading and developing curriculum at the PK-12 level of education. Vogler has served as a public-school educator, in various roles, for over 20 years. She has educated adults through professional development communities, in school districts, to enhance the teaching and learning practices for educators and principals.
Angela Wood is a senior lecturer of teacher education in the Department of Education and is instructing at the undergraduate and graduate level. Angela is an alum of UW-Superior, where she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education, with a minor in special education. She holds a Master of Arts degree in education from Concordia University-St. Paul. Angela comes with 16 years’ experience teaching preschool through sixth grade, including special education. Her educational interests lie in environmental education and environmental integrated curriculum, differentiated instruction and co-teaching
