Faculty

American and Native American Studies
Multidisciplinary Program

www.vassar.edu/american-and-native-american-studies

American and Native American Studies is an interdisciplinary field defined both by its objects of study - the processes, places, and people that comprise the United States - and by a mode of inquiry that moves beyond the scope of a single disciplinary approach or critical methodology. American and Native American Studies majors develop a rich understanding of the complex histories that have resulted from the conflict and confluence of Indigenous, European, African, and Asian cultures throughout the Western Hemisphere, and explore U.S. nation-formation in relation to global flows of American cultural, economic and military power. An individually designed course of study, which is the hallmark of the program, allows students to forge multidisciplinary approaches to the particular issues that interest them.

Professor of English on the Ethel and Alexander Klemin Chair in English and Director of American Studies
Molly McGlennen has long dark hair and blue eyes, smiling slightly wearing a purple shirt outdoors in a wooded setting.
BA, University of San Diego; MFA, Mills College; PhD, University of California-Davis
Assistant Professor of Italian
Sole Antrone with long dark hair smiling at the camera, wearing a maroon top and dark cardigan, standing in front of a bookcase filled with books and papers in an office.
BA, Smith College; MA, PhD, University of California-Berkeley
Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology
John Andrews wearing a black plaid shirt and beige jacket against a gray background.
PhD, CUNY Graduate School and University Center
Professor of Anthropology
April M. Beisaw
BA, Rutgers University-New Brunswick; MA, PhD, SUNY at Binghamton
Professor of Philosophy
MA, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-St Denis; PhD, Università degli Studi di Milano
Assistant Professor of American Studies and Asian Studies
BA, Cornell University; MA, Brown University; MS, University of Oxford; PhD, Brown University
Professor of Anthropology and Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies and Chair of Anthropology
Colleen Ballerino Cohen with short brown hair and glasses wearing a dark blazer over a white collared shirt, looking to the side against a plain white background.
BA, SUNY Empire State College; MA, PhD, SUNY at Albany
Professor of Art on the Sarah Gibson Blanding Chair
Lisa Gail Collins with dark, pulled-back hair, wearing a black shirt, standing in front of a bookshelf.
BA, Dartmouth College; PhD, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Professor of English on the Jean Webster Chair
Eve Dunbar smiling with voluminous curly dark hair, wearing a gray knit sweater and a necklace, standing in front of a brick wall.
BA, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus; MA, PhD, The University of Texas at Austin
Assistant Professor of American Studies
Smiling individual with dark hair and a necklace, against a brick wall.
AA, Niagara County Community College; BA, University at Buffalo; MA, Antioch University Seattle; MFA, Goddard College; PhD, University of York
Professor of Geography and Director of Urban Studies
Man with grey hair and a blue button-down collared shirt smiling
BA, Pomona College; MA, PhD, University of California-Berkeley
Assistant Professor of Art
Gordon Hall wearing a blue shirt with a black background.
BA, Hampshire College; MFA, MA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Professor of Sociology on the Jane Baker Nord '42 Chair
William Hoynes wearing a black collared shirt with a gray background.
BA, Tufts University; MA, PhD, Boston College
Professor of Religion
A person with short brown hair and a dark blue jacket smiles at the camera.
BA, Princeton University; MA, MPhil, PhD, Columbia University in the City of New York
Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair
Headshot of Amitava Kumar
BA, University of Delhi; MA, Syracuse University; MA, University of Delhi; PhD, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Professor of Education
Erin McCloskey smiling with wavy, multi-toned hair, wearing a black top and a striking silver necklace.
BFA, Pratt Institute-Main; MS, Long Island University-University Center; PhD, SUNY at Albany
Blegen Fellow in Greek and Roman Studies
0112-25-08-kr-morrison-vassar-0033-crop.jpg
BA, Denison University; MA, University of Kansas; PhD, University of California-Los Angeles
Associate Professor and Chair of Music
Justin Patch smiling, wearing a light blue pinstripe shirt and patterned tie, holding an electric guitar, with a music staff on a board behind him.
BM, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; MM, The University of Texas at Austin; MM, The Boston Conservatory; PhD, The University of Texas at Austin
Associate Professor of English
BA, University of Miami; MA, PhD, Columbia University in the City of New York
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art
BA, Duke University; PhD, University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Portrait of a person with long black hair and olive brown blouse smiling with a blurry stained glass window in the background.
BPhil, University of Oxford; BA, Princeton University; PhD, Columbia University in the City of New York
Assistant Professor of History
Portrait of Ashanti Shih
BA, University of California-Berkeley; MA, MPhil, PhD, Yale University
Associate Professor of English
Tyrone Simpson, II
BA, University of Virginia; MA, Boston College; MA, Xavier University; PhD, Indiana University-Bloomington
Assistant Professor of History
Headshot of Noel Smyth
BA, University of Iowa; MA, PhD, University of California-Santa Cruz
Professor of Anthropology
David Eduardo Tavarez wearing a light patterned shirt and black jacket in front of an archway.
BA, Harvard University; MA, PhD, University of Chicago
Adjunct Instructor in Science, Technology, and Society
Portrait of a person smiling with a soft, out-of-focus library background.
BA, MED, Manhattanville College; MPH, Monash University
Assistant Professor of Political Science on the Class of 1951 Chair
Portrait of a person with library shelves in the background.
BA, Ottawa University; MA, Carleton College; PhD, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Associate Professor of Education
Kimberly Williams Brown wearing glasses and a navy blue pinstriped top smiles while standing indoors, with blurred bookshelves in the background.
BA, Concord University; MA, Syracuse University; MS, University of Charleston; PhD, Syracuse University