The College of Liberal Arts had another successful year of hiring an impressive group of new colleagues. Starting this academic year are 25 new faculty members in eight departments. In addition, the College has hired nine staff members since the start of 2019.

Among these new hires are chairs of two departments. Professor Joseph Squier joints the Art Department as chair. Squier is a photographer and painter, and his creative work and research focus on the intersection of art and technology. Carolyn Warner joins the Department of Political Science as chair and Vail Pittman Professor of Political Science. Her current research includes a project on the politics of sex abuse in the military and in the Catholic Church.

The English Department had a particularly active year of hiring with seven hires. Among these are five new lecturers who will assist, in part, with teaching Core Writing courses and thus advancing the President’s Writing and Speaking Initiative. This Initiative has the goal of ensuring that all graduates of the University have effective writing and speaking skills. In addition, Todd Ruecker, Associate Professor, joins the department as the Director of Core Writing. James Cherney, hired as an Associate Professor and Director of Basic Courses in Communication Studies, will help with the expansion of oral communication throughout each student’s education at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is also a specialist in disability studies.

Please welcome all our new colleagues to campus.

Regular Lecturers, Teaching Assistant Professors and Tenure-Line Faculty

Art, Professor and Chair

• Hire: Joseph Squier
• Degree: MFA, Photography, San Francisco Art Institute
• Focus: Art and technology

Basque Studies, Assistant Professor

• Hire: Larraitz Ariznabarreta
• Degree: Ph.D., international and intercultural studies, Universidad de Deusto
• Focus: The analysis of various expressions of Basque culture and its relations with power

Communication Studies, Lecturer

• Hire: Amy Arias
• Degree: M.A., Speech Communications, University of Nevada, Reno

Communication Studies, Associate Professor

• Hire: James Cherney
• Degree: Ph.D., communication and culture, Indiana University
• Focus: The rhetoric of ableism, particularly as it operates around sport and visibility

Communication Studies, Teaching Assistant Professor; Assistant Coach of Debate Team

• Hire: Benjamin Krueger
• Degree: Ph.D., communication, University of Maryland
• Focus: Rhetorical criticism, argumentation, communication education

English, Teaching Assistant Professor, Writing studies

• Hire: Casey Bell
• Degree: MFA, creative writing, University of Nevada, Reno
• Focus: Core writing

English, Teaching Assistant Professor, 20th Century British and American Literature

• Hire: Seth Cosimini
• Degree: Ph.D., English, University at Buffalo, SUNY
• Focus: Literature, culture and thought of the African diaspora; American literary and cultural history; and cultural studies and critical theory

English, Assistant Professor, 20th Century American Literature and Film

• Hire: Pardis Dabashi
• Degree: Ph.D., English, Boston University
• Focus: The intersection of affect, politics and form in the Euro-American novel and cinema of the 19th and 20th centuries

English, Teaching Assistant Professor, Writing studies

• Hire: Katie Miller
• Degree: Ph.D., English (Rhetoric and Composition), University of Nevada, Reno
• Focus: Programmatic writing assessment and developmental writing

English, Teaching Assistant Professor, Writing studies

• Hire: Angela Moore
• Degree: Ph.D., Rhetoric and Composition, Texas Christian University
• Focus: Rhetorical strategies for inspiring understanding and empathy across differences and rhetorical strategies for inspiring critical examination of relationships

English, Associate Professor, Director of Core Writing

• Hire: Todd Ruecker
• Degree: Ph.D., University of Texas at El Paso
• Focus: Investigating issues surrounding the increasing linguistic and cultural diversity of education worldwide and working to transform educational institutions and writing classrooms into more welcoming spaces for all students

English, Assistant Professor, Creative Writing

• Hire: Jared Stanley
• Degree: MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry), University of Iowa
• Focus: Creative writing (poetry), contemporary poetics, interdisciplinary practice

English, Teaching Assistant Professor, Writing studies

• Hire: Blake Watson
• Degree: Ph.D., University of Nevada, Reno
• Focus: Arguments about public space and professional and technical writing in landscape architecture and urban planning

History, Assistant Professor, Modern Europe

• Hire: James McSpadden
• Degree: Ph.D., History, Harvard University
• Focus: The histories of political culture, of power and politics, and of international networks

Music, Teaching Assistant Professor, Collaborative Piano

• Hire: Daniel Fung
• Degree: DMA, The Juilliard School
• Focus: Collaborative piano

Music, Lecturer, Recording Arts

• Hire: Tom Gordon
• Client list includes: Ozzy Ozbourne, Beach Boys, Dr. Dre and more

Music, Assistant Professor, French Horn

• Hire: Natalie Higgins
• Degree: DMA, University of Missouri-Kansas City
• Focus: Horn performance

Music, Assistant Professor, Jazz Trumpet

• Hire: Joshua Reed
• Degree: DMA, University of Colorado, Boulder
• Focus: Jazz studies

Political Science, Assistant Professor, American Politics and Research Methods

• Hire: Christina Ladam
• Degree: Ph.D., Political Science, University of Colorado, Boulder
• Focus: American politics

Political Science, Chair and Vail Pittman Professor of Political Science

• Hire: Carolyn Warner
• Degree: Ph.D., Political Science, Harvard University
• Focus: Religion and politics, gendered violence and political corruption

World Languages and Literatures, Assistant Professor, Spanish

• Hire: Samuel Lopez Alcala
• Degree: Ph.D., Universidad Pontificia Comillas (Madrid)
• Focus: English into Spanish translating and interpreting

World Languages and Literatures, Professor, Chinese Literatures

• Hire: Robert Joe Cutter
• Degree: Ph.D., Asian languages and literatures (Chinese), University of Washington
• Focus: Early and medieval Chinese literature and history

World Languages and Literatures, Lecturer, Spanish for the Professions

• Hire: Roberto Ortiz
• Degree: M.A., foreign language and literature, University of Nevada, Reno
• Focus: Teaching and advising Spanish heritage language learners

World Languages and Literatures, Assistant Professor, French Linguistics

• Hire: Elena Shimanskaya
• Degree: Ph.D., second-language acquisition, University of Iowa
• Focus: Second-language acquisition, French linguistics

Administrative Faculty

Music, Technology Operations Supervisor

• Hire: Ray Silva

Classified staff

Criminal Justice, Administrative Assistant

• Hire: Dora Martinez

Dean’s Office, Grants and Projects Analyst

• Hire: Angus Quinlin

Dean’s Office, Personnel Analyst

• Hire: Spencer Schultz

Fabrication Lab, Manager

• Hire: Nicole Miller

History, Administrative Assistant

• Hire: Mikki Johnson

Judicial Studies and Grant Sawyer Center, Administrative Assistant

• Hire: Heather Lara

Latino Research Center, Administrative Assistant

• Hire: Marie Recinos-Lopez

Political Science, Administrative Assistant

• Hire: Karen Braun

School of the Arts, Administrative Assistant

• Hire: James Cavanaugh