Affiliates

Affiliates

Affiliated Faculty, Staff, and Partnerships

Dr. Robert Albrecht 
Professor 
Media Arts
The arts and everyday life, the social impact of media, the music and cinema of Latin America.

Dr. Gabriel Alegría
Director of NJCU Jazz Studies Program
Music Dance and Theater
Afro-Peruvian jazz music, Afro-Peruvian folklore, music business, online marketing.

Dr. Michael Arbitblit
Assistant Director
Institute for Dispute Resolution
Educational technology, entrepreneurship, organizational leadership, professional development, mediation

Dr. Nurdan S. Duzgoren-Aydin
Professor
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Associate Provost for Academic Affairs
Environmental geochemistry, medical geology, student success in higher education.

Hugo Xavier Bastidas
Associate Professor 
Art
Painting, drawing, art theory.

Dr. E. Shaskan Bumas  
Professor  
English
Pan-American literature, influence of the Spanish colonization of the Americas on the English colonization of the Americas, creative writing, prison writing, translation, utopian discourses.

Dr. Katherine Careaga
Adjunct Professor
Health Sciences
Medical anthropology and Indigenous health; U.S.-Mexico border and migrant health; women's health and empowerment; social medicine and Latin American health systems; international education and exchange between Latin America and the U.S.

Dr. Denise Carvalho
Adjunct Professor
Art
Cultural studies, feminist theory, cultural anthropology, art and art history of Latin America, Brazilian art and film.

Dr. J. Christopher Cunningham
Associate Professor
English
World literature, ethnic U.S. literature.

Claudia Del Río
Adjunct Professor
World Languages and Cultures
Spanish.

Dr. Sonya Donaldson
Associate Professor
English
African diasporic literatures, global Anglophone literatures, digital humanities, music, film.

Dr. Jacqueline Ellis
Professor
Women’s and Gender Studies
Gender and visual/popular culture, girlhood studies, working-class studies.

Dr. Antoinette Ellis-Williams
Professor and Chair
Women’s and Gender Studies
Social justice, Black feminism, women’s leadership, civic engagement, immigration.

Dr. Joshua Fausty
Professor
English
Creative nonfiction, especially the essay; U.S. literature and culture; literary and cultural theory; multiethnic diaspora literature; narratives of cross-generational trauma.

Yesenia Fernández Selier
Adjunct Professor
Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies
Media studies, performance studies, African diaspora, dance.

Dr. Liza Fiol-Matta
Professor
Women’s and Gender Studies
Latinx studies; Puerto Rican studies; Latina cultural production: literature, art, music; U.S. Latina feminisms; LGBTQIA+ studies.

Dr. Marcelo E. Fuentes
Assistant Professor
World Languages and Cultures
Medieval Iberian literatures and cultures, early modern literature in Spanish and Portuguese, Iberian imperialism and colonialism, race and ethnicity in the Middle Ages and Early Modernity.

Dr. Venessa Garcia
Associate Professor
Criminal Justice
Violence against women, women police, feminist criminology, crime & media, intersectionality in crime and justice (sex, race/ethnicity, age, income, religion)

Dr. Edvige Giunta
Professor
English
Creative writing (memoir, flash nonfiction, essay); Italian America literature; literatures of immigration and diaspora; women writers and gender issues in literature; working class studies.

Dr. John Grew
Professor
Biology
Cell biology, connective tissue biology, success among underrepresented minority students in STEM, impacts of learner tvs in STEM student success.

Ben Jones, MFA
Professor Emeritus of Art
Artist/activist
Art, Afro Cuban culture and politics.

Dr. Daniel J. Julius
Former Provost and Senior Vice President
Professor of Management
NJCU School of Business
Visiting Fellow, School of Management, Yale University
Industrial labor relations, organizational behavior, management sciences, human resources.

Dr. Maria Lynn
Professor
Psychology
Teaching pedagogy and qualitative and narrative research.

Dr. Jason D. Martinek
Interim Associate Dean of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences
Inclusive teaching and pedagogy, history of social movements.

Dr. Jermaine McCalpin 
Assistant Professor and Chair
African and African American Studies 
African history and politics, Caribbean political thought, transitional justice, reparations, genocides.

Dr. Jennifer A. McDevitt
Adjunct Professor
Latin American, Caribbean, & Latino Studies and Political Science 
Conflict resolution; cultural and ethnic studies; Latin American, Caribbean, & Latinx studies; political science; qualitative research.

Dr. Jorge Medina
Assistant Professor
Economics
Health economics, public health, the economics of inequality.

Dr. John Melendez
Professor
Educational Leadership
Higher education administration, community college leadership, student development, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).

Nelson E. Montoya
Adjunct Professor
World Languages and Cultures
World language and culture education, Colombian literature, linguistics

Martha Mooke
Multi-Style Strings Program Director
Strings Coordinator
Music, Dance, and Theatre
Electro-acoustic multi-style string performance and education, composition/improvisation, mentor for Latin American student chapters of Audio Engineering Society, consultant for Eventide Latin America

Dr. Fran Moran
Professor 
Political Science
Political theory, American politics.

Dr. Frédéric Mynard
Professor
Mathematics
Topology, analysis, categorical methods.

Dr. Virginia Ochoa-Winemiller
Associate Professor
Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies
Maya archaeology, culture geography, GIS, ethnicity, pottery analysis.

Dr. Gerald Onukwugha
Adjunct Professor
Professional Security Studies 
Terrorism, national security, culture, cultural and human relations.

Dr. Laura Pannaman
Professor 
Biology
Plant science, evolution, ecology

Hugo Potes
Adjunct Professor
World Languages and Cultures
Latin American literature

Ellen Quinn
Associate Professor
Art
Graphic design of books and data, digital illustration, curriculum planning in the arts, student community engagement, urban planning

Dr. Mirtha Quintanales
Associate Professor
Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies
Cultural anthropology; Spanish-Speaking/Circum Caribbean; Latino communities in the U.S.; social change/social movements; women, gender and sexuality; religion; immigration; literary studies

Tracy Riley
Adjunct Professor
Women’s and Gender Studies and Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies
Queer theories, gender and class studies, postcolonial studies

Dr. Sabine Roehr
Associate Professor
Philosophy and Religion
Modern philosophy, especially German Enlightenment philosophy; ethics; literary autoethnography; animal studies

Dr. Jonathan Rosen
Assistant Professor
Professional Security Studies
Mexico, Colombia, Central America, security, drug trafficking and organized crime

Dr. Natoschia Scruggs
Assistant Professor
African and African American Studies
Director, Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center
Global migration, refugee studies, race/ethnicity/identity, international organizations, diplomacy.

Dr. Louise Stanton
Associate Professor
Political Science
Civic participation

David Weiss, JD
Assistant Professor
Management
Founder and Director
Institute for Dispute Management
Mediation, entrepreneurship, law, business, policy

Dr. William Westerman
Assistant Professor
Sociology and Anthropology
Coordinator, Ethnic and Immigration Studies program
Migration, refugees, museums, immigrant communities, sociology of culture, indigenous oral history and language preservation.

Dr. Timothy R. White
Associate Professor
History
Director
Honors Program
Comparative urban history, modern urban history, education abroad, New York City history, intercultural learning.

Dr. Midori Yoshimoto
Gallery Director
Associate Professor of Art History
Art
Contemporary art, women artists.

Dr. Romanovski Zéphirin
Adjunct Professor
Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies
Population-migration, inter-American migration, foreign policy

Dr. Jacob A. Zumoff
Assistant Professor
History
Labor and political history; Afro-Caribbean migration; Mexico-United States border region; Mexico, Central America, and the Greater Caribbean.

Andrés Acebo, Esq.
Interim Chief of Staff
Office of the President
U.S.-Cuba relations; U.S. identity politics; race, law, and policy; critical race theory.

Jennifer Aitken
Director
Office of Specialized Services and Supplemental Instruction
Disability tv services, providing opportunities and tving underrepresented populations in STEM disciplines.

Dr. Jodi Bailey
Vice President for Student Affairs
Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Student leadership, housing, student concerns, dining, student success, crisis response.

Jose Balda
Director of University Admissions
Admissions
Recruitment of an intellectually driven and diverse student body dedicated to learning and succeeding.

Kathleen Quinlan Banks
Academic Advisor for Humanities and Political Science
University Advisement Center
Academic advising, first-generation college student mentoring, student success, Orientation to College professor

Dr. Danielle Beam
Senior Associate Director of Athletics
Athletics/Advancement
Holistic student development; under-resourced student populations; diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging; college readiness for diverse communities; student-athlete tv in urban settings.

Dámaris A. Castillo
Budget Manager for Academic Affairs
Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President
Budget, scheduling, enrollment management.

Ivelisse Cruz
Assistant Director
Pre-College Programs

Tamara Cunningham
Assistant Vice President for Global Initiatives
Global Initiatives
Strategic internationalization, international partnerships and programs, Confucius Institute, education abroad, joint degree programs, American English Program.

Madelynne Dela Rama
Graphic Designer
Office of Marketing and Communications
Print and web design, illustration, project management.

Jeffrey Dessources
Director
Center for Leadership and Engagement
Latinx student leadership development, cultural programming.

Dr. Michael Edmondson
Dean and Director
NJCU @ Fort Monmouth
U.S.-Mexican Relations, modern Latin American history.

Dr. Gail H. Fernandez
Associate Provost
Academic Affairs
English as a second language, curriculum, assessment, general education, transfer/articulation.

Randi Fontanez
Assistant to the Director
Military and Veteran Services
Military benefits for veteran students, students returning from active duty or basic training.

Dr. Adrian Franco
Executive Director
Guarini Institute for International Education and Economic Mobility
Economic tv of Latinx communities, international education, business in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Elaine Gargiulo
Director
Office of Military and Veteran Services
Veterans’ educational benefits; student veterans tv; community resources.

Rosa Angelica Garcia
Coordinator of Embedded Tutoring and Social Media
Office of Centralized Tutoring and Academic Support Programming

Veronica Garcia
Director
Student Outreach and Retention (SOAR)
Peer mentoring, student financial resources, proactive outreach.

Nancy Gomez
Professional Specialist IV
Career Services
President, Council on Hispanic Affairs (CHA)
Administration, Union Branch President of CWA Local 1031.

Dr. Ángel González
Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Office of the President
Diversity, equity, and inclusion; broadening participation in higher education; student engagement and success; intercultural engagement; culturally responsive mentoring.

Lorena Laverde
Interim Director
University Advisement Center
Academic advising, first-generation students, student success, DACA and Dreamer advocacy

Sabrina Magliulo
Director
Opportunity Scholarship Program/EOF
Trauma-informed care in educational settings, mental health of traditionally marginalized groups, first-generation student success, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).

Gail A. Marquis, MBA, OLY
Director of Development
University Advancement
Advisement, mentoring, student success, networking, development

Chrystal Mateo (she, her, hers)
Program Assistant
Speicher-Rubin Women’s Center for Equity and Diversity
Adjunct Professor, College of Education
Public Relations, Council on Hispanic Affairs.

Jennifer Nyeste
Associate Director
University Admissions
Recruitment of a diverse graduate and undergraduate student body; enrollment marketing and communications.

Robert Quiñones
Assistant Director, Community Engagement
Center for Community Engagement 
Community engagement, community service, student development, leadership development, student travel, food insecurity, student tv services.

Chantell Rivera
Assistant Director of Staff Development
Housing and Residential Life
Student development, higher education administration, clinical mental health counseling, licensed associate counselor, leadership. development

Venida C. Rodman Jenkins
Director                       
Speicher-Rubin Women’s Center for Equity and Diversity
President, Black Alumni, Administrator, Faculty, Staff and Student Organization (BAAFSSO)
Diversity and inclusion, gender-based violence advocacy and prevention.

Tatiana Reyes (she, her/s, ella)
Assistant to the Dean, College of Education
Interim Assistant Director, New Pathways to Teaching New Jersey
Higher education leadership, critical race theory in education, preservice and novice teacher identities, teacher residencies

Nelson A. Rodriguez
Director
Pre-College/GEAR UP Programs
First-generation experience, developing Latinx student leaders, mentoring Latinx students, immigration education and advocacy.

M. Christina Rolon
Director
TRiO Learning Community
Psychology, first-generation students, college success, TRiO.

Mabel Sanchez
Graduate Assistant 
Student Outreach and Retention (SOAR)

Dr. Lourdes M. Sutton
Associate Dean 
College of Education
Literacy education, higher education leadership, curriculum development, social justice in education.

Cynthia Vazquez
Assistant Director and Certification Administrator
Center for Teacher Preparation and Partnerships/College of Education
ESL certified, B.A. in Puerto Rican studies and English literature, philanthropist, Vice President of Jersey City Rotary Club.

Crystal Gail Villavert
Academic Advisor for School of Business & Economics
University Advisement Center
Academic advisement, student development, First Year Experience – Orientation to College professor.

For information on how to become a Center affiliate, please contact co-director Dr. David Blackmore at dblackmore@njcu.edu .