About the English & Humanities Faculty

Full-Time Faculty

Joe Allen -- Department Chair, Professor of English
Teaches: ENG 226: Popular Culture and ENG 233: Introduction to Cultural Studies
Research interests: Music, documentaries, television, subway graffiti, non-fiction, and podcasts, especially "texts" that address power structures and inequities.
Publications: A chapter on The Wire, appeared in Teaching The Wire: Frameworks, Theories, and Strategies for the Classroom. Columns for the music journal Wax Poetics and other music publications.

Kevin Cavanaugh (BA in English, James Madison University; MA in English, SUNY New Paltz; PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, University at Albany)
Teaches: ENG 101, ENG 102, ENG 212 - Greek and Roman Literature, ENG 208 - Modern Dramatic Literature
Faculty Assessment Leader

Dr. Lucia Cherciu — Professor
PhD (English) Indiana University of Pennsylvania; graduate work (American Studies) University of Colorado at Colorado Springs; MA (American Literature) University of Bucharest; BA (English) University of Bucharest.
Teaches: ENG 101: Composition I, ENG 003: Composition I Module, ENG 102: Composition II, ENG 223: Women's Literature, ENG 210: Creative Writing, Poetry.
Research interests: Women's Literature, Latinx Literature, Contemporary American Literature, Creative Writing.
Publications: Train Ride to Bucharest (Sheep Meadow Press, 2017), which received the Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize, Edible Flowers (Main Street Rag, 2016), Lalele din Paradis / Tulips in Paradise (Editura Eikon, 2017), Altoiul Râsului / Grafted Laughter (Editura Brumar, 2010), and Lepădarea de Limbă / The Abandonment of Language (Editura Vinea, 2009).

Navina Hooker (Ph.D. St. Andrews University (English); BA McGill University (English)
Teaches: Composition II, Women in American Literature, Introduction to Women's Studies, The 18th and 19th Century Novel
Research Interests: Gender, Race, Class, Sexuality, Intersectionality
Coordinator of the LAH Program
Adviser, Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society

Tina Iraca – Associate Professor of English
Ph.D. (English) University of Connecticut; M.A. (English) SUNY New Paltz; B.A. (English) SUNY New Paltz
Teaches Literature: English Literature: Pre-Renaissance to the Eighteenth Century (ENG 201), The Romantic Poets to the Modern Era (ENG 202), Literature of the U.S.: Colonial to the Civil War (ENG 203), Literature of the U.S.: Civil War to World War II (ENG 204), The Short Story (ENG 216)
Teaches Writing: Composition I Module (ENG003), "Movies & Memoir" Themed Composition I (ENG 101), "Monsters & the Monstrous in Literature" Themed Composition II (ENG 102)
Research interests: Eighteenth-century English Literature, Shakespeare, American writer Elizabeth Madox Roberts, memoir and film, literary and cinematic monsters, composition studies, gender, ecocriticism

Melanie Klein — Professor
M.F.A. (Creative Writing) City College of New York; M.A. (English) California State University, Hayward; M.F.A. (Sculpture) Stanford University; B.A. (English and Fine Art) Newark College of Arts and Sciences — Rutgers University
Teaches: English 003, English 101: Composition I, English 102: Composition II, English 210: Creative Writing — Poetry (online and in person), English 232: Graphic Narrative (online and in person)

Kevin Lang (BBA University of Texas at Austin; MA New York University; MA SUNY New Paltz)
Teaches: ENG003, ENG 101; "Real News vs. Fake News" Themed ENG101; ENG 102; "Literature of Tyranny" Themed ENG102; ENG211: Introduction to Journalism; PHI107 Honors: Introduction to the Art of Reasoning
Adviser to student newspaper: The Falcon Press

Dr. Ornella Lepri Mazzuca — Professor, Concurrent Courses Supervisor
PhD (Hispanic Literature) SUNY Albany; MA (Spanish) SUNY Albany; Doctorate (English) University of Urbino.
Teaches: Spanish (all levels), Italian (all levels), and French 1 & 2.
Professional affiliations and community service: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI); Gardiner Library volunteer.
Research Interests: OER curriculum, Foreign Languages Pedagogy
Publications: "Alternative ‘Pasts' in the Post-Pinochet Chile: the Relation History/Fiction and the Subjectification of History." In Democracy in Chile: The Legacy of September 11, 1973 (2005)

Willie Morris (MA (English) Eastern Illinois University)
Teaches: ENG 101 and ENG102
Research Interests: African/African American Literature, Race, class gender & sexuality, and Latina /o/x literatures and technologies in writing composition.

Keith O'Neill - Professor
Ph.D. (English)- The University of Georgia; MA (English) and BA (English and Philosophy) Binghamton University
Teaches: Composition II; Creative Writing — Fiction; Literature of the United States — Colonial Period to the Civil War; The Short Story
Research interests: Creative writing; science fiction; pulp fiction; Herman Melville; Thomas Pynchon

Patricia Phillips – Assistant Professor
MFA (Creative Writing/Nonfiction) The New School University; BA (English/Writing, Minor in Theater) Marist College
Teaches: The Fundamentals of Writing, Composition I Module, Composition I, Composition II, Writing Creative Nonfiction (ENG 214)
Research/Other Interests: British and American Noir Mystery/Detective Fiction of 1930s and 1940s; 19^th Century British Literature; 20^th century Memoir classics; book edition collecting of British Classics
Professional Service: Department Library Liaison, Creative Writing Committee, Writing Program Committee, DCC Foundation Scholarships Committee, Committee for Academic Integrity, Women's History Month "Reading Women"

Brenda Squires—Associate Professor
Ph.D. (Creative Writing and Modern Literature) University of Missouri; M.F.A. (Fiction Writing) University of Iowa; M.A. (English) University of Missouri; B.F.A. (Creative Writing) Stephens College
Teaches: Developmental Writing, Composition I, Composition II, Advanced Expository Writing/Peer Tutoring, Introduction to Creative Writing, Creative Writing — Fiction, Literature of the United States — Colonial to Civil War, Contemporary Literature of the U.S., Asian Literature in Translation, Films and Literature
Research Interests: Creative Writing, American literature, multicultural literature, film, nature writing

Dr. Craig R. Stokes — Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese
PhD (Hispanic Linguistics) State University of New York at Albany; MBA (International Business) Long Island University; MA (Spanish) Bowling Green State University; BA (Spanish) Bowling Green State University.
Teaches: Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced Spanish and Elementary Portuguese.
Adjunct faculty and concurrent course supervisor.
Research interests: Spanish and Catalan languages in contact, sociolinguistics, and the Spanish Civil War.

Jennifer Yanoti — Assistant Professor of English
MA (English), MAT (Secondary Education: English), BA (English) Binghamton University
Teaches: English 003, 101, 102 (online and in person)
Part-Time Faculty Supervisor