FACULTY & STAFF

A Neumann University graduate, lifelong learner and educator, Sr. Corinne currently uses this experience to provide academic advice to students in the Division of Arts and Sciences.

Amanda Breen earned her PhD in psychology from Temple University in 2010 and her MPH from Drexel University in 2013. Her research focuses on stereotyping and discrimination and person perception using an intersectional approach. She teaches social psychology, psychology of gender and scientific reading and writing in psychology. In her free time, she enjoys running, spending time with her son and playing softball.

Sarah received her PhD at Bryn Mawr College where she studied the synthesis of complex natural products. It was here that Sarah developed her passion for teaching and mentoring undergraduate students in a small, liberal arts environment. Prior to teaching at Neumann University, Sarah was a post-doctoral researcher at University of the Sciences where she investigated the synthesis of anti-HIV drugs. Her interests remain in the development of novel treatments for diseases. When Sarah is not teaching science, she likes to spend time traveling, watching football, and enjoying the outdoors with her husband Nick, their son Alex, and their dog Buddy.

Janis Chakars currently serves as head of the communication and digital media program. Prior to joining the faculty at Neumann University, he taught at Gwynedd Mercy University, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and East Siberian State Technological University. His professional experience spans from Mongolia’s state news agency to Philadelphia’s WHYY. His research interests center on international communication and media history and he has published in the International Journal of Communication, Journalism History, American Journalism, International Research in Children’s Literature, the Central European Journal of Communication, and elsewhere. An active musician, he has toured North America, Europe, and Japan and played on over a dozen records.

Dr. de Gordon lived in Spain where she taught English at the Universidad de Granada and brings many dynamic cultural aspects to the classroom. Over the years, she has been an advisor to the HOLA club bringing cultural events to the campus such as the Latin Thanksgiving Dinner, salsa lessons, and Spanish cooking classes. Her research interests include stereotypes, perception, multicultural issues, language acquisition, and pedagogy.

Dr. DiMarco knew he wanted to be a college math professor since the ninth grade. A Graph Theorist in graduate school, he has shifted his research interest to statistics. David has consistently sought to further mathematics education at Neumann University.

Dr. Glass has been involved with journalism and public relations since childhood- if you count his Red Bank Register route.

Founder of the Neumann University Criminal Justice Program, this retired Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) brings reality to the classroom through his law enforcement experiences and knowledge of the subject areas taught. He considers his most important job to be preparing Neumann University students for their chosen careers in criminal justice.

Dr. Brinda Govindaraju taught Anatomy and Physiology as an adjunct at Neumann for seven years. In 2012, she received the Part-Time Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. Before coming to Neumann, she was a general practitioner in India after earning her degree from Coimbatore Medical College. She has volunteered as a teacher for a local Indian association for six years. She’s an avid reader and often donates blood. In her free time, Brinda enjoys gardening and spending time with her two daughters.

Dr. Havis teaches a variety of criminal justice courses, including Criminology, Writing for Criminal Justice, Research Methods, Restorative Justice, and Multicultural Issues in Criminal Justice. She also teaches a section of INT 101, the Neumann Experience, and she loves having the opportunity to meet first-semester freshmen and discuss their academic and career goals with them. Her research interests are primarily in the area of the scholarship of teaching and learning, including student engagement techniques, classroom assessment, and metacognitive strategies, and she has also published in the areas of prosecutorial discretion, juvenile violence, and corrections. In her spare time, Dr. Havis enjoys volunteering at Assisi House and running around after her toddler twins.

Professor Holmstrom is an artist whose work has been exhibited nationally. He currently serves on the College Art Association (CAA) Education Committee. His work has been exhibited at Tyler Art Gallery, SUNY, Oswego; Mint Museum Uptown, Levine Center for the Arts; Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts; The Hoyt Institute of Arts; Rosenthal Gallery, Fayetteville State University; The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA; Omaha Center for Contemporary Art; Montclair State University Art Galleries; Chautauqua Art Association Galleries, Chautauqua Institution; Erie Art Museum.

Being born and raised in Japan, educated in Canada for her Honours BA and PhD, and now having worked in the U.S. for twelve years, Dr. Hoshino-Browne has a unique cultural and ethnic background. She has extensive experiential insight into the inner-workings of three cultures. Taking advantage of this unique and privileged position among North American researchers, she has a passionate interest in examining cultural influences on social psychological processes. She also has a great interest in studying prejudice, stereotyping, and intergroup relations. Her published research includes an investigation of stereotype activation and application processes as well as cross-cultural examinations of social psychological concepts such as cognitive dissonance and social perspective taking. More recently, she published several chapters in the edited books about international conflict, war and peace, and reconciliation processes. Her ongoing research projects include gender biases in the STEM fields, prejudice reduction, and grit in the face of academic challenges.

Kerry Hustwit earned her MFA in Film Production from Ohio University. Prior to joining Neumann’s faculty, she worked as a multimedia producer in the corporate video world, a freelance producer/director, and a crew member on independent film productions. Additionally, she taught film courses at media arts centers and Gwynedd Mercy University. She has a special interest in studying and creating documentary films, particularly those that transcend the conventions of the form. She enjoys helping her students express their voices through the medium of film.

An internationally known coloratura soprano who has performed in the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, "Dr. Yuki" shares international teaching techniques with Neumann students as a result of her involvement with the International Chamber Music Festival in Evian, France, and her lectures in Japan. Dr. Yuki is also director of the Neumann University Concert Chorale. Her joy in music inspires both beginning and experienced singers at Neumann University, and her professional achievements as a soloist and lecturer enrich the learning experience for her students. According to Dr. Yuki, "Singing offers a challenge to all singers: How do we express our feelings with our voices? My role is to help voice students convert their internal feelings into external expressions via their voices. Everyone who has a voice can polish their instrument and create music if they wish to."

Dr. Johnson has been teaching undergraduates in some capacity for the last 25 years. He has taught courses ranging from Russian grammar and conversation, Psychology and Literature, The Art of the Short Story, and innumerable sections of first-year writing and composition. He believes that if one stops learning, one stops living. His interests outside of academics include watercolor painting and pen and ink, reading, spending time with his two children, and serves as a course rater for Golfweek magazine.

Jim Kain teaches writing and literature because he thinks it can change our lives and our world – in a good way. He believes in the influence of the creative arts in developing our potential as vital members of the human community; and writing is one of the creative ways to find our voice and vitalize our world. He teaches core writing, creative writing, and nature writing, and loves to teach the Romantic, Victorian and Modern British & Irish authors. He is the author of three books of poetry, Coming to my Senses, Curved Space & the More Delicate Times, and Conversing with the Spirits, and one novella, Sweet Tempo.

This statistician teaches courses such as mathematical statistics, business statistics, and college algebra in addition to introductory statistics. In 2007, he received Neumann University’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

Former dean of the Division of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Kovach serves as Executive Director of the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Catholic Scholastic Honor Society DESNational@neumann.edu. She has published and presented internationally on writers such as Isabel Allende, Margery Kemp, Voltaire, and Amy Tan; she accords special attention to the medieval (and timeless) Tristan legend and its possibilities in tandem with contemporary literary theory. Her avocations include Chinese folk dance, competitive figure skating and ice dancing, and Tang Soo Do karate.

Dr. Mastropaolo was an adjunct at Neumann for two years teaching a variety of courses such as Physical Science, Environmental Studies, Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Microbiology. He also served as the Science Laboratory Manager at Neumann University for one year. Before his time at Neumann University, Dr. Mastropaolo received a PhD from Virginia Tech where he studied bacterial interactions during an infection and spent four years working on soil microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Mastropaolo has an interest in working with undergraduate students in a laboratory setting in order to prepare them for careers in science. He will be working with other Neumann and SEPCHE (Southeastern Consortium of Higher Education) faculty to expand undergraduate research opportunities for students in the Sciences. When he is not teaching science he likes to spend his time with his three children swimming and doing karate.

Dr. McMonagle, also known as "Doc" by many of his students, served as Deputy Legislative Director for a US Congressman on Capitol Hill before running for Congress and later for Delaware County Council. Dr. McMonagle earned his PhD in Political Science from Temple University and his MPP in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago. An expert in American Government and Public Policy, this educator brings a wealth of practical and scholarly experience into the classroom -- preparing students for a variety of skill-based careers or for graduate studies starting in their freshman year at Neumann. His book, Caribou and Conoco, explains the political and social variables that have been driving important public policy debates on energy and the environment.

Mr. Miller has taught at Neumann since 2000 and been the full-time History instructor since 2013. A native of Delaware County, Mr. Miller attended college at Villanova University and earned teacher certification from Widener University. He started his professional career as a newspaper reporter. He also has worked at West Virginia University, Messiah College, Widener, and Delaware County Community College. Mr. Miller has published a novel on the Civil War (2004) and a history of Williamson College of the Trades (2017). He is a volunteer interpreter at the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation, and an associate member of the Marine Corps League.

This multidimensional teacher sees mathematics, like music, as a creation. It is not found or discovered, but created. It is not a creation that we can hold or see, but it is there--like music. The difference: music is fed through feeling, through the heart; mathematics, instead, is music of the mind.

This semi-professional musician writes in the areas of metaethics, evolution and ethics, and environmental ethics. He is the author of five books, and his work has appeared in a wide variety of scholarly journals. He teaches a broad range of philosophy courses, including the Philosophy of Music. About one of his courses, a student recently wrote: “Before I took his class, I was just like ‘the sky is blue and it’s blue because I see blue,’ and now after taking his class I’m like, ‘the sky is blue, but why and what is blue?’

This instructor of Spanish and American Sign Language once lived in Valencia, Spain, studying Spanish and the Spanish culture. She also formerly taught Spanish in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District at both the high school and middle school levels. She developed, implemented and taught the elementary foreign language program before joining the Neumann University faculty.

After completing his undergraduate degree Dr. Pegan worked for some years in a L’Arche community for people with developmental disabilities. While he found this work immensely fulfilling he had a strong desire to continue his education and become a teacher. Though his dissertation was in the philosophy of language he has long had a deep interest in many of life’s big questions, such as questions about human nature, freedom and moral responsibility, ethics and morality, and the existence of God and an afterlife. He enjoys thinking and writing about these questions, and exploring them with students both in and outside of the classroom.

Sister Linda Marie Sariego, OSF is a member of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Philadelphia. She has taught on the elementary and university levels and received the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016. She served in archdiocesan administration in Philadelphia and worked in pastoral ministry in Philadelphia and Puerto Rico. She has done simultaneous Spanish translation for diocesan events and pilgrimages; and has translated written materials at the parish and diocesan levels. Her doctoral specialization is Spanish Golden Age Literature, particularly the Pastoral Novel. She has also presented on humor in Spanish literature; has other book and article publications; has done book and manuscript reviews and translated liturgical materials into Spanish for issues of the Pastoral Music magazine.

This mathematics and statistics instructor follows the philosophy that curriculum and pedagogical methods should always be student-focused. In his spare time, Ryan can be found running, cycling, swimming, and watching Law and Order on TV.

Recipient of the Lindback Foundation Award for distinguished teaching, Richard Sayers is active both in the classroom and beyond its confines. Teaching interests include popular music and its connections to the culture of which it is a part; music theory and analysis; and seminars in the University Honors Program. Dr. Sayers directs the NU Jazz Band, and has served as musical director and composer for various theatrical productions staged by the Neumann University Players.

Dr. Fallest-Strobl believes that a major benefit of teaching science courses comes from the opportunity to further explore certain topics within the laboratory setting. Because science is everywhere to explore, she strives to share her views with her students. It also gives her a chance to get to know her students better and everyday to learn something new from them.

Dr. Yönten received his PhD in Political Science and International Relations from University of Delaware in 2011. He got his BA and MA degrees from Bogazici University (Istanbul/Turkey) in 1999 and 2002 respectively. His research interests include international migration, multilateralism, and Turkish foreign policy. Since 2003, Mr. Yönten has been involved in a large scale project aiming to build a dataset of all multilateral treaties since the establishment of the modern nation-state system. The dataset is useful to examine distributional aspects of institutionalized cooperation over time and space, and hegemony and leadership in institutionalized cooperation. Mr. Yönten teaches a range of courses in international relations and comparative politics including Current Problems in World Politics, US Foreign Relations, Politics of Developing Nations, and Research Methods in Political Science.