Salem State University Learning Community Faculty

FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE

Learning Community and Passion Course

FACULTY The first year experience office is excited to offer learning

communities and passion courses for first year students. These unique offerings provide students with the opportunity to share a small, dynamic learning experience with a specially selected Salem State faculty member.

We are thrilled to introduce some of our faculty who are teaching in learning communities and passion courses.

Get to know a little bit about them and their areas of interest!

In addition, each of them has shared a piece of advice for your first year in college.

Check out our website at salemstate.edu/firstyear for more information about this year’s learning communities and passion courses!

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KIMBERLY POITEVIN

Assistant Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Professor Poitevin completed her undergraduate degree in English at Transylvania University and went on to earn her graduate and doctorate degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include ancient Greek literature and philosophy, the medical humanities, narratives of war and peacemaking, poetry, literary translation, and empathic teaching and learning. Professor Poitevin’s favorite memory from her first year of college was from her experience participating in a program called the First-Year Urban Experience that brought 20 first-year students to campus before orientation for an intense week of community service and discussion. She cites this experience as some of her closest friends are the members from that group.

ADVICE: “Embrace the opportunity you have to learn and to (re)invent yourself here. And if you’re a veteran, reservist or active-duty service member, join the Veteran Scholars Learning Community!”

JULLIE BATTEN

Visiting Instructor, English Professor Batten completed her Master of Fine Arts in fiction and poetry at Bennington College after having attended Mount Holyoke College to complete her Bachelor of Arts in English and theater. She is the founder and director of the Glass House Shelter Project, a grassroots organization that brings accredited college level reading and writing courses into homeless shelters.

She also enjoys painting portraits; she sees every face as a landscape, a place to travel through. Biking and poetry also put her in her happy place. Her favorite memory of her first year of college involves her dad, who was suffering from a terminal illness. Her dad had made a trunk for her to take to school. It was made of pine with brass nails and fittings, and inside he'd scrawled "To My Julie" along one edge with a carpenter's pencil. Her dad had become an American citizen just the year before, having immigrated here to gift his kids with a better education, and that trunk kept it real for her as a freshmen when it came to her studies. To fail would have been to fail her Dad. He passed away three months after she graduated with honors.

ADVICE: “Look, really look, at what is at hand and be so very, very grateful; it is in that gratitude that you will find the strength to give back!

ROOPIKA RISAM

Assistant Professor, English Risam, PhD, attained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in creative writing and South Asian studies, her master’s in English from Georgetown University and finally her PhD in English from Emory University. Her work is in the digital humanities, which blends computational and digital tools to analyze literature and culture. Specifically, she focuses on postcolonial and African diaspora literatures, with an emphasis on voices that go unheard and stories that are underrepresented in literary history and archives. She is also interested in using digital and computational tools while teaching. In college she joined the student activity board and planned the spring fling event for the school. They brought the band Ben Folds Five to campus, and she and her friends were hospitality girls. She now has a poster signed by the band that says, "Thanks, Roopsi, for your hospitality!"

ADVICE: Get to know your professors and the other students in your classes. The relationships you form at college will help shape your future.

CINDY VINCENT

Assistant Professor, Communications Cindy Vincent, PhD, has acquired a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from California State University, Sacramento, a master’s in communications from California State University, Sacramento, and a PhD in communications from The University of Oklahoma.

She studies civic media, which is the potential for community members and citizens to be civically engaged in their community via media production and grassroots social change. Her favorite memory from her first year of college was joining the college radio station and meeting her future life-long friends.

ADVICE: Go to class and/or read the syllabus. You never know when 20% of your grade will be dependent on attendance!

LISA JOHNSON

Associate Professor and BSW Program Coordinator, Social Work Johnson, PhD, received a bachelor’s in social work from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, a Master’s of Social Work from the University of Illinois, and her PhD from the University of Louisville. Within her discipline Johnson enjoys exploring issues of diversity, equity and social work with children and families. Outside of work she enjoys reading memoirs and biographies, traveling, cooking, and listening to music. Her fondest memory from college is getting to live in an international residence hall and meeting many interesting people from a number of places around the world.

ADVICE: Ask for help when you need it. There are so many resources and people on campus who are here to support your success.

SHANNON BUTLER-MOKORO Associate Professor, Social Work

Butler-Mokoro, PhD, received a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara, a master’s in social work from Clark Atlanta University, and her PhD in educational policy studies, higher education from Georgia State University. Within the discipline of social work she is interested in cultural competency, culture and society, the history of social welfare, the sociology of religion, and feminist issues. Her favorite memories from college are of her advisor who was supportive and always around to chat, and of the friends she made in her residence halls.

ADVICE: Communicate face-to-face with your professors early in the semester so they have a face with the name on their roster.

ANDREW DARIEN Professor, History

Professor Darien teaches modern United States history, with a focus on policing and oral history. A native of New Jersey, Darien received his undergraduate degree in history and economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he ran track and was an all-academic Big Ten selection. He came back home for graduate school, attending the doctoral

program in history at New York University where he focused on labor history, civil rights and feminism. He has written two books, Becoming New York’s Finest: Race, Gender, and the Integration of The NYPD and Building the Sacred and the Progressive: 75 Years at Temple Sinai. Since 2007 he has been conducting an ongoing oral history project with Salem State students who are veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He lives in Cambridge with his wife and two sons, and can be found running along the Charles River, listening to Jazz, frolicking with other history nerds, or watching his beloved New York Knicks. Professor Darien’s favorite memories from his first year of college include making new friends and celebrating the University of Michigan’s basketball team’s national championship win. Not to mention, the ‘profound intellectual enlightenment.’

ADVICE: “Major in history. Duh!” But really, major in something you’re passionate about!

JULIE KIERNAN

Full-Time Temporary Lecturer; Theatre and Speech Communication Professor Kiernan received a certificate in acting from the American Conservatory Theater before pursuing her undergraduate Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre at Salem State University. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from The University of California, Irvine.

When she is not teaching students at Salem State, she spends her time in Bulgaria and the Balkans running the organization Stone & Compass that she started with her husband. Stone & Compass is committed to steering strong economic growth and promoting cross-cultural connections in the Balkans by preserving natural and cultural heritage through collaborative education and tourism in the realm of arts and agriculture.

While in the Balkans or back stateside she enjoys spending time outside in nature, hiking and going to the beach. Professor Kiernan tries to do something creative each day such as painting, sculpting, decorating, baking, sewing, or gardening. Her fondest memories from her Salem State college experience include playing the role of Juliet in Romeo & Juliet and Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker.

ADVICE: “Enjoy the process and to take advantage of the events and activities, as well as the resources offered by the university.” She believes these things will “expand your network of friends, deepen your knowledge and allow you to relax and unwind.”

For more information about the exciting opportunities available to you as a first year student, go to salemstate.edu/firstyear.