New faculty members begin academic year at North Central College

North Central College has appointed several new faculty members for the 2012-2013 academic year, which begins Sept. 10.

Five new full-time, tenure-track faculty members are:

Xiaoye (Sherry) Chen, assistant professor of marketing. Previously, she served as visiting assistant professor of marketing at Williams School of Business at Bishop’s University in Quebec, Canada. Her teaching interests include corporate social responsibility, marketing research, consumer behavior, brand management and more. She holds a B.A. in marketing from Beijing International Studies University in Beijing, China; an M.A. in tourism policy and planning from the University of Waterloo, Canada; and a Ph.D. in marketing from McGill University, Canada.

Jennifer Fredette, assistant professor of political science. Previously a visiting professor in the department of political science at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany, she specializes in the fields of public law, comparative politics and political theory. She holds a B.A. in political science and French from the University of the Pacific and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Silvia Goldman, assistant professor of Spanish. Previously a visiting assistant professor at Boston College, her teaching and research interests include 19th to 21st century Latin American poetry, testimonial literature and film, performance studies and more. She holds a B.A. in teaching of English as a foreign language at Instituto Nacional de Docencia IPA in Montevideo, Uruguay; an M.A. in Hispanic literary and cultural studies at the University of Washington in Seattle; and a Ph.D. in 20th century Latin American literature from Brown University.

Matthew Kirkpatrick, assistant professor of English. Previously a professional Web developer and instructor at the University of Utah, he recently published a short story collection titled “Light Without Heat.” He holds a B.A. in English literature from Pennsylvania State University, an M.A. in writing (fiction) from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing (fiction) from the University of Utah.

Brandon Sheridan, assistant professor of economics. Previously an instructor at the University of Kentucky, his areas of interest include economic growth, international economics, economic education, macroeconomics and public economics. He holds a B.S. in economics and government from Centre College and an M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Kentucky.

One new full-time, non-tenure-track faculty member was also named: Kay O’Donnell as assistant professor of journalism. Previously an assistant professor and coordinator of the mass communication program at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, she has held positions as editor, designer and writer for various news publications. She holds a B.A. in English/journalism from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, an M.A. in drama and communications from the University of New Orleans and a Ph.D. in journalism from Southern Illinois University.   

In addition, North Central welcomes Augustine Afullo as Visiting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. From Nairobi, Kenya, Afullo will teach at North Central College and give public lectures while serving as a resident scholar. He is a senior lecturer, researcher and consultant in environmental and occupational health and management, is affiliated with Kenya Methodist University and has more than 20 years of teaching experience. He holds an M.S. in water and environmental management from the Water, Engineering and Development Centre at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, an M.S. from Moi University in Kenya and a Ph.D. from Commonwealth Open University, based in the British Virgin Islands.