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Honors Faculty
The Frederik Meijer Honors College features seven permanent full-time faculty, three half-time Faculty-in-Residence, the Meijer Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and dozens of exceptional faculty drawn from departments and programs across campus.
Full-time Honors Faculty
These faculty all teach the majority of their classes in Honors and have their offices in the Niemeyer suite.
Coeli Fitzpatrick
Chair and Professor of Philosophy in Honors
Office Address: 125 Niemeyer
Phone: (616) 331-3748
Email: fitzpaco@gvsu.edu
Coeli Fitzpatrick is Professor of Philosophy in the Frederik Meijer Honors College and Chair of the Honors Faculty. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, Professor Fitzpatrick received her B.A. in Philosophy from Regis University in Denver, Colorado and her Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She teaches several courses in the program, including the first-year sequence The Middle East Beyond the Headlines and a Junior Seminar on Islamophobia. Her publications include the award winning edited volume Muhammad in History, Thought and Culture as well as writings on Edward Said and Orientalism. Professor Fitzpatrick's current research focuses on the transmission of Arab intellectual history in the West, Muslim Spain and Orientalism.
Ellen Adams
Associate Professor, Honors College and GVSU Art Gallery
Office Address: 126 Niemeyer
Phone: (616) 331-8134
Email: adamsell@gvsu.edu
Ellen Adams is Assistant Professor of Art History in the Frederik Meijer Honors College and has a joint appointment with the GVSU Art Gallery. Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Professor Adams received her B.A. in Art History from the University of Delaware, her M.A. from Hunter College (City University of New York), and her Ph.D. in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She teaches several courses in the program, including the first-year interdisciplinary sequence Europe: The Center and the Margins, Art and Money, and Modern Art and Modernity. Her publications and presentations concentrate primarily on modern and contemporary artists. Prof. Adams’ current research project focuses on American women artists active during the New Deal.
Craig Benjamin
Professor of History in Honors
Office Address: 130 Niemeyer
Phone: (616) 331-3469
Email: benjamic@gvsu.edu
Craig Benjamin is a Professor of History in the Meijer Honors College. Craig was a professional musician for 25 years in his native Australia before gaining his PhD from Macquarie University in Sydney and taking up an academic career. He teaches two Foundational Interdisciplinary Courses in Honors: Big History and Focus on Asia. Craig’s recent publications include Big History: Between Nothing and Everything (McGraw-Hill 2014); Cambridge World History Vol IV (CUP 2015); and Empires of Ancient Eurasia. The First Silk Roads Era 100 BCE-250 CE (CUP forthcoming 2018). Professor Benjamin’s current research focuses on ancient Eurasian globalizations, big history, and world history historiography.
Rosalynn Bliss
Meijer Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Office Address: 129 Niemeyer
Phone: (616) 331-2493
Email: blissr@gvsu.edu
Mayor Rosalynn Bliss became the first female mayor of Grand Rapids when she took office on January 1, 2016. She previously served as a Second Ward City Commissioner for 10 years. She earned bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Criminal Justice from the University of South Alabama and a master’s in Social Work from Michigan State University. She has over twenty years of experience in the fields of domestic violence and child welfare. She is past president of the Michigan Municipal League and serves on the boards of the Downtown Development Authority, Experience Grand Rapids, Convention Arena Authority, Economic Club of Grand Rapids, Mayor’s Innovation Project and Interurban Transit Partnership, and other organizations. Mayor Bliss has been recognized and honored locally as well as statewide for her commitment, dedication and work in the field of child abuse and neglect and for her leadership in the community. She teaches HNR 312, a junior seminar on leadership and problem-solving.
Jeremiah Cataldo
Associate Professor of History in Honors
Office Address: 121 Niemeyer
Phone: (616) 331-3470
Email: cataldoj@gvsu.edu
Jeremiah Cataldo is Associate Professor of History in the Frederik Meijer Honors College. He earned his Ph.D. from Drew University, a Master in Philosophy from Drew University, a Master in Ministry from Bethel College, and a B.A. in Religious Studies from Bethel College. He is the author of numerous books and journal articles, including Biblical Terror (Bloomsbury, 2017) and A Social-Political History of Monotheism (Routledge, 2018). A strong supporter of cultivating well-roundedness in mind and body, he enjoys woodworking, backpacking, running ultramarathons, and training in Taekwondo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He teaches Alliance and Conflict, Prophetic Critique, Terror of Monotheism, and Textual Tease.
Kurt Ellenberger
Professor of Music in Honors
Office Address: 123 Niemeyer
Phone: (616) 331-8075
Email: ellenbek@gvsu.edu
Kurt Ellenberger is a pianist, composer, and author from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. His writings include a jazz theory book, pedagogical articles, and many essays that appear in his arts and culture blog entitled Also Sprach FraKathustra, which is published by The Huffington Post–Arts and Culture. He has recorded on Innova Recordings, Ghostly International, and Challenge-A Records (the Netherlands). He performed on Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble’s recordings of Terry Riley’s “IN C: Remixed” and Steve Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians” which have been featured in The New York Times and other leading publications. Ellenberger teaches a variety of music-related courses including “Music, Culture, and Aesthetics,” Jazz History, and Rock History. He is also a Fulbright Scholar who taught in Austria at the Kunstuniversität Graz (University of the Arts in Graz) and serves as artistic advisor on the Board of Trustees for the city of Mannheim, Germany.
Rob Franciosi
Professor of English and Faculty-in-Residence in Honors
Office Address: 131 Niemeyer
Email: francior@gvsu.edu
Rob Franciosi earned his BA from New York University and his MA and PhD from the University of Iowa. His current research interests center on American cultural responses to the Holocaust. He is completing a study of John Hersey's epic novel of the Warsaw Ghetto, tentatively titled Imagining the Ghetto: Hersey's The Wall and American Holocaust Memory. He has also escorted groups of Honors students to Germany and Poland as part of a seminar on Holocaust museums, memorials, and sites.
Gary Greer
Professor of Biology and Faculty-in-Residence in Honors
Office: 127 HON
Email: greerg@gvsu.edu
Gary Greer earned his BA from the University of Northern Colorado, his MA from Humboldt State University, and his PhD from Ohio University. His research interests span a wide range of topics in plant ecology all centered on evolutionary process:
- Factors influencing the structure of epiphytic communities;
- Pteridophyte (seedless vascular plant) biology, ecology & evolution;
- Invasive species ecology (principally that of Ailanthus altissima (“Tree-of-Heaven”)).
Amy McFarland
Associate Professor of Food and Agricultural Studies in Honors
Office Address: 136 Niemeyer
Phone: (616) 331-8156
Email: mcfarla1@gvsu.edu
Amy McFarland is Assistant Professor of Food and Agricultural Studies in the Frederik Meijer Honors College. Originally from Houston, Texas, Professor McFarland received her B.A. in Psychology from Rice University and her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. She teaches several courses in the program, including the first-year sequence Food for Thought and a Junior Seminar on Controversies in Food and Agriculture. Her current research focuses on the intersections of humans and the environment, primarily through gardening, food, and agriculture.
Joel Stillerman
Professor of Sociology and Faculty-in-Residence in Honors
Office Address: 124 Niemeyer
Phone: (616) 331-3129
Email: stillejo@gvsu.edu
Joel is a Professor of Sociology and Faculty-in-Residence in the Honors College and is originally from Chicago. He received his BA (1986) in Philosophy and Political Science at Bennington College and PhD (1998) in Sociology and Historical Studies at the New School for Social Research. Prior to arriving to Grand Valley, he taught at the University of Arizona. Joel co-teaches (with Prof. Heather Van Wormer) an introductory sequence, "Culture, Power, and Inequality," a junior seminar, "The Sociology of Consumption," and several courses in the Sociology Department. He is the author of The Sociology of Consumption: A Global Approach (Polity, 2015) and coeditor of Qué significa el trabajo hoy?: Continuidad y cambio en una sociedad global (Catalonia, 2012). Joel's publications on labor activism, consumer culture, and middle classes in Chile and Latin America appear in Poetics, Latin American Politics and Society, Journal of Consumer Culture, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, and other journals and edited volumes.
Peter Wampler
Professor of Geology in Honors
Office Address: 134 Niemeyer
Phone: (616) 331-3302
Email: wamplerp@gvsu.edu
Peter Wampler is a broadly trained environmental geologist and geomorphologist with a background in both academic and government regulation of mining and storm water. He received his PhD in 2004 for work on human- and climatic-induced changes along the Clackamas River in Oregon. As a professor at GVSU, he has worked with undergraduate and graduate students on applied geoscience research: 1) evaluating GVSU’s storm water runoff footprint and assisting in designing Best Management Practices (BMP) for GVSU; 2) investigating water resources and groundwater contamination pathways in rural Haiti; 3) evaluating human impacts to river systems resulting from dams and other structures; and 4) Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to create household radon hazard maps for Michigan using geologic data. He has traveled to Haiti numerous times since 2007 to work on water resources issues and safe water interventions. Since 2016 he's been leading groups of GVSU students on a 4-week study abroad to Haiti.
Honors Associates
Honors also draws many exceptional faculty from around campus.
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Christopher Harper
Accounting
ACC 212: Principles of Financial Accounting (Honors)
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