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Honors Faculty Bios Francis Byrne Dr. Francis Byrne has been with Shawnee State University since 1987, and currently teaches courses in Composition, Composition and Research, Introduction to Language and Linguistics, Patterns of English, History of English, Topics in Linguistics: Pidginization/Creolization, Language Acquisition, English Language in Society, and Senior Seminar. Professional organizations that he is affiliated with include the American Dialect Society, Fulbright Association, Linguistic Society of America, Shawnee Education Association, Society for Caribbean Linguistics, and the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics. He has also been published in numerous articles. Dr. Byrne was born in Denver, CO, and is married to Julia Coll Byrne, with whom he has two children, (Francis and Sean). E-mail: fbyrne@shawnee.edu Monique Diderich Dr. Diderich teaches Gender Socialization, Sociology of Family, Sociology of Work, Sociology of Aging, and Research Methods. She got her Master’s degree in Social and Organizational Psychology from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands.) Her Ph.D. in Sociology is from the University of Nevada (Las Vegas.) She also taught at University of Nevada (Las Vegas,) and at Hunter College (New York). Her book manuscript about step-families entitled Sibling Relationships in Contemporary American Families will soon be published. In addition to writing, reading, and researching, Dr. Diderich loves photography, fashion, hiking, and going to the gym. She also loves to travel—her favorite places to visit are California, New York, France, and the Netherlands. In addition to speaking English, she is fluent in Dutch, German, and French. Darren Harris-Fain Darren Harris-Fain (Associate Professor, English) has taught at Shawnee State University since 1995. He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religion from the Honors Tutorial College of Ohio University and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in English at Kent State University. He teaches composition, Civilization and Literature courses, American film history, Women and Film, Children’s Literature, and a variety of courses on modern British and American literature. His research interests include science fiction, fantasy, comics, and film. E-mail: dharris_fain@shawnee.edu Isabel Graziani Isabel Graziani teaches many of SSU's Introduction to
Art classes, and also teaches upper-level art history courses. Professor Graziani, who is a native of Italy and who now divides her
time between her residences in Portsmouth and Athens, Ohio, plans to
offer other Honors Art History courses in the future.
Most recently, she organized a special topics study
abroad course to Britain for March 15-23, 2008. Janet Holtman Dr. Holtman teaches freshman composition and American Literature courses. She came to SSU in 2007.
She received her doctorate at
Pennsylvania State University. Recently, her
work has appeared in the journal
Postmodern Culture. Her dissertation, is
an interdisciplinary project titled "'White
Trash' Discourses: American Literature,
History, Social Science and Poor White
Subjectivity." Email:
jholtman@shawnee.edu
Shannon Lawson Robert Mendris Dr. Robert Mendris, Assistant Professor in
Mathematical Sciences, has taught at SSU since 2004. After earning his
B.S. from Comenius University, Dr. Mendris received his Ph.D. from the
Ohio State University. Nicholas Meriwether Dr. Nicholas Meriwether, Associate Professor of Philosophy, has taught at SSU since 1996. After receiving his B.A. from Hendrix College, he obtained his M.A. from Trinity Evangelical Div. School, and then earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University. Dr. Meriwether resides in Portsmouth with his wife, Janet. E-mail: nmeriwether@shawnee.edu Chip Poirot Dr. Chip Poirot graduated cum laude with a B.A. in
Economics and Political Science with a Spanish Minor from Guilford
College, Greensboro, North Carolina, 1984. His undergraduate thesis was
on the political economy of violence in Guatemala from the Spanish
Conquest through the early 1980's. He received my PhD in economics from
the University of Utah, 1991 with primary fields of emphasis in labor
economics and economic history. Dr. Poirot's doctoral dissertation was
on the political economy of rural social change in pre-industrial
England. Tim Scheurer Dr. Kurt Shoemaker In his Honors courses, Dr. Shoemaker takes the approach of examining controversy as it applies to science – both controversy within the sciences as well as controversy about science. His Honors students spend a lot of time debating two of the most controversial scientific ideas – global climate change and human evolution. Dr. Shoemaker grew up in Canton, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor’s in Geology at Mount Union College, and his Ph.D. in Geology at Miami of Ohio. He taught Geology and Environmental Science at Saint Joseph’s College in Indiana for six years before he came to SSU; he has been here for three years. His academic interests seem pretty diverse – environment, volcanic systems, and human evolution – but actually, he says, there’s a sensible explanation for how it all ties together. Dr. Shoemaker also likes to read, mostly nonfiction on all sorts of topics. He also love movies – everything from Oscar winners to comic-book adaptations. He appreciates tattoos as an art form. He collects Pez dispensers. IHe's also been known to brew his own beer on occasion. He loves to travel; anyplace of geological or historical significance is of particular interest to him. He's been lucky to be able to travel all over the United States as a geologist. Some of the most isolated and desolate, but beautiful, country that he has ever seen is on the Owyhee Plateau, where Oregon, Idaho and Nevada come together; he did my dissertation research there. And he always has a lot of fun in St. Louis, of all places. Someday Dr. Shoemaker would like to be wealthy enough to have a place on one of the Lake Erie islands. Assistant Professor Patricia Spradlin
Professor Spradlin
received her Bachelor’s Degree in English and Fine Art at Marshall
University in 1984 and a Master’s Degree in English Humanities, also
from Marshall University in 1988. Her special interests are contemporary
poetry and painting. She taught both English and visual art for
seventeen years in the public schools, in grades ranging from six to
twelve. Prior to coming to SSU, she also taught composition at both SSU
and Ohio University’s Southern Campus. She then spent time as a full
time instructor at Ohio University in Athens, and returned to public
school teaching before coming to Shawnee State. Dr. John Valentine, SSU Professor of Philosophy,
obtained his A.B. degree from Harvard University. Dr. Valentine earned
both his M.A. and Ph.D. from Michigan State University, and has taught
at SSU since 1990.
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