News
Hamilton welcomes 27 new faculty members, including nine tenure hires
By Patrick McConnell '19
September 1, 2016
Tags news
Most of the excitement surrounding the new school year focuses on the arrival of the incoming freshmen. However, the faculty members joining the Hill have just as big an impact. This year, 27 new professors have joined us on the Hill, including nine tenure-track hires. Throughout the year, these professors will educate, mentor and collaborate with students and serve a crucial role in the Hamilton community.
Alexsia Chan, Assistant Professor of Government, is excited about the opportunity Hamilton gives her to “work in an environment where students get to engage deeply with both the professors and the material.” Her research focuses on the political economy of development, authoritarian governance and Chinese politics. She is currently studying the provision of public services for migrant workers in China, as well as analyzing methods of social control that are used by authoritarian governments. Chan hopes she can help her students “become engaged global citizens and to develop their voices” as well as work to support student initiatives.
Assistant Professor Kristen Burson of the Physics department is thrilled to join a faculty that “values the interactions that they have with students and loves the subjects that they teach.” She specializes in understanding how the nanoscale structure and electronic properties of materials impact their functionality in applications, which has led her to study the atomic scale structure of glass. She has also explored potential new materials for nanoelectronics and solar cells. Burson values the kinds of connections that small liberal arts colleges encourage between students and professors due to her past experiences studying and teaching at schools like Hamilton. “Hamilton gives me the opportunity to pursue my teaching, be an active scholar, and work with great students.” she stated.
The Government Department welcomes Assistant Professor Kira Jumet whose focus on Middle Eastern studies has been informed by her five year stay in Cairo. She has previously published research on the Saudi political transition process as well as Palestinian economic development. Currently, she is looking at protest mobilization during the 2011 uprising and 2013 coup in Egypt, as well as ISIS mobilization and recruitment methods. She also appreciates the close faculty-student relationships Hamilton fosters: “Some universities focus more on research than on teaching and teaching is secondary, whereas at Hamilton, there’s a strong push for research but also a real care for the students and that’s important to me.” She is also excited about the College’s open curriculum, “It lets the students take courses that they really want to be in, and it lets faculty teach students who really want to be in the classes,” she said.
Six additional faculty members are joining the College as tenure track appointments: Angela Blum, Assistant Professor of Chemistry; Viva Horowitz, Assistant Professor of Physics; Vikranth Bejjanki Rao, Assistant Professor of Psychology; Siobhan Robinson, Assistant Professor of Psychology; Pavitra Sundar, Assistant Professor of Literature & Creative Writing; and Rachel White, Assistant Professor of Psychology. The other new faculty members include 17 visiting professors and instructors, two teaching fellows and five lecturers.