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Health Studies Faculty


  • Department Chair

  • David M. Sarcone
    Associate Professor of International Business and Management (2001).
    Althouse Hall Room 218
    sarconed@dickinson.edu
    (717) 245-1261

  • Contributing Faculty

  • Suman Ambwani

    Suman Ambwani
    (on leave 2012-13)
    Assistant Professor of Psychology (2008).

    ambwanis@dickinson.edu | Visit Web Site
    B.A., Macalester College, 2003; M.S., Texas A&M University, 2005; Ph.D., 2008.

    Professor Ambwani received her Ph.D. in Psychology (Clinical) from Texas A&M University, and completed her clinical internship at the Medical University of South Carolina. Her scholarship has concentrated in the area of eating disorders and obesity, borderline personality disorder, and cross-cultural considerations in psychological assessment. Her current research focuses on personality factors and affective changes associated with maladaptive eating behaviors.

  • Amy E. Farrell

    Amy E. Farrell
    Professor of American Studies and Women's and Gender Studies; John J. Curley '60 and Ann Conser Curley '63 Faculty Chair in the Liberal Arts (1991).
    Denny Hall Room 306
    (717) 245-1869 | farrell@dickinson.edu
    B.A., Ohio University, 1985; M.A., University of Minnesota, 1988; Ph.D., 1991.
    Dickinson Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2005-06

    Her research includes 20th century U.S. culture, U.S. women's history, body politics, and the history of fat stigma. Her book FAT SHAME is forthcoming in fall 2010. She has also published a book on the history of Ms. magazine during the second wave of feminism, YOURS IN SISTERHOOD: MS. MAGAZINE AND THE PROMISE OF POPULAR FEMINISM.

  • Susan M. Feldman

    Susan M. Feldman
    Professor of Philosophy (1980).
    East College Room 211
    (717) 245-1226 | feldmans@dickinson.edu
    B.A., Case Western Reserve University, 1974; M.A., 1976; M.A., University of Rochester, 1978; Ph.D., 1980.

    Her interests include the history of modern philosophy, the problem of knowledge and skepticism, philosophy of science and ethics, both pure" and "applied" to such areas as the environment, the status of women, medicine and public policy."

  • Marie Helweg-Larsen

    Marie Helweg-Larsen
    Associate Professor of Psychology (2002).
    Kaufman Building Room 168
    (717) 245-1562 | helwegm@dickinson.edu | Visit Web Site
    B.A., California State University - Northridge, 1989; M.A., University of California - Los Angeles, 1990; Ph.D., 1994.

    Her research is in the areas of cross-cultural psychology, health psychology, and social psychology -- specifically why people do risky things that they should not. She is currently studying moralization and risk perception in smokers and non-smokers around the world.

  • James M. Hoefler

    James M. Hoefler
    Professor of Political Science (1989).
    Denny Hall Room 206
    (717) 245-1311 | hoefler@dickinson.edu | Visit Web Site
    B.S., Syracuse University, 1977; M.A., State University of New York at Buffalo, 1987; Ph.D., 1988.
    Dickinson Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2003-04

    Professor Hoefler specializes in American politics and public policy. His research areas are end-of-life decision making and the right to die, in both the U.S. and western Europe.

  • Gregory J. Howard

    Gregory J. Howard
    (on leave of absence 2012-13)
    Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies (2009).
    Kaufman Building Room 131
    (717) 245-1527 | howardg@dickinson.edu
    B.S., Yale University, 1992; M.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1994; MPH, Boston University School of Public Health, 2005; D.Sc., 2008.

    Greg Howard comes to Dickinson's Environmental Studies Department from the Boston University School of Public Health, where he earned his DSc and MPH degrees in environmental health. Previously, he studied astronomy and physics at Yale and at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. With training in both epidemiology and toxicology, Greg's primary research focus is on understanding how exposures to multiple toxic hazards can act together to cause adverse health effects -- a key concern for communities impacted by pollution. In addition, he has a longstanding interest in the relationship between urban design, transportation, and health, a focus driven in part by decades as a bike commuter. At Dickinson, Greg plans to continue teaching and research in both areas, drawing connections between public health concerns, equity, sustainability, and the environment.

  • Sharon Kingston

    Sharon Kingston
    Assistant Professor of Psychology (2009).
    Kaufman Building Room 170
    (717) 245-1076 | kingstos@dickinson.edu
    B.A., State University of New York at Purchase, 1989; M.A., University of Rhode Island, 1996; Ph.D., 2001.

  • Mesude E. Kongar

    Mesude E. Kongar
    Associate Professor of Economics (2003).
    Althouse Hall Room 210
    (717) 245-1529 | kongare@dickinson.edu
    B.S., Bogazici University-Turkey, 1996; Ph.D., University of Utah, 2003.

  • Sharon J. O'Brien

    Sharon J. O'Brien
    (on partial leave 2012-13)
    Professor of English and American Studies, James Hope Caldwell Professor of American Cultures (1975).
    Denny Hall Room 316
    (717) 245-1497 | obrien@dickinson.edu | Visit Web Site
    B.A., Radcliffe College, 1967; M.A., Harvard University, 1969; Ph.D., 1975.
    Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, 1985-1986.

    Sharon O'Brien teaches interdisciplinary courses in the American Studies and English Departments, looking at the multiplicity of American cultures through the lenses of race, class, gender, and ethnicity. The author of a biography of Willa Cather, she is now teaching and writing memoir and personal essay. Teaching and research interests include the politics of memory; illness and narrative; and lifewriting.

  • Kim L. Rogers

    Kim L. Rogers
    Professor of History (1983).
    239 W Louther St
    (717) 245-1517 | rogersk@dickinson.edu
    B.A., Florida State University, 1973; M.A., University of Minnesota, 1976; Ph.D. 1982.

    Her teaching interests center on recent U.S. history, urban America, and gender and family history. Research interests include biography and autobiography, oral history, and life-course analysis.

  • Susan D. Rose

    Susan D. Rose
    Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology, Director of the Community Studies Center (1984).
    239 W Louther St
    (717) 245-1244 | rose@dickinson.edu | Visit Web Site
    B.A., Dickinson College, 1977; M.A., Cornell University, 1982; Ph.D., 1984.
    Dickinson Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2000-2001.

    She is interested in life course studies and systems of socialization (family, education, and religion), with a particular emphasis on comparative family systems and the interaction of gender, class, and race. Other areas of interest include: violence, religion, sex education, stratification, and social policy.

  • David M. Sarcone

    David M. Sarcone
    Associate Professor of International Business and Management (2001).
    Althouse Hall Room 218
    (717) 245-1261 | sarconed@dickinson.edu
    B.S., Pennsylvania State University, 1975; M.B.A., University of Pittsburgh, 1978; Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 2008.

  • J. Daniel Schubert

    J. Daniel Schubert
    (on leave Fall 2012)
    Associate Professor of Sociology (1996).
    Denny Hall Room 314
    (717) 245-1227 | schubert@dickinson.edu
    B.A., Towson State University, 1983; M.A., University of Maryland, 1989; Ph.D., 1995.

    He is interested in social theory, cultural studies, gender, health and illness, and the sociology of knowledge. Publications have focused on the ethics of academic practice and poststructuralist thought. Current research focuses on the lives of adults with long-term chronic illness.

  • James A. Skelton

    James A. Skelton
    Associate Professor of Psychology (1981).
    Kaufman Building Room 160
    (717) 245-1309 | skelton@dickinson.edu | Visit Web Site
    B.A., Washington & Lee University, 1976; Ph.D., University of Virginia, 1981.

    His teaching interests are in social psychology and in the philosophy and design of psychological research. His research interests include self-perception of bodily states, interpersonal issues in health care, and psychology applied to social problems.

  • Wendell P. Smith

    Wendell P. Smith
    Assistant Professor of Spanish (2003).
    Bosler Hall Room 9M
    (717) 245-1326 | smithw@dickinson.edu
    B.A., Vanderbilt University, 1986; M.A., University of Texas at Austin, 1995; Ph.D., 2000.

    His primary scholarly interest lies in Spanish literature during the age of Spain's first national consolidation--the reign of Fernando and Isabel (1474-1504). His scholarly approach uses history, both political and social, to understand literature. Current projects include a series of papers on the Mediterranean projection of Spanish imperial ambitions, as found in books of chivalry.

  • Karen J. Weinstein

    Karen J. Weinstein
    Associate Professor of Anthropology (2001).
    Denny Hall Room 215
    (717) 245-1281 | weinstek@dickinson.edu
    B.A., Washington University, 1991; M.A., University of Illinois at Chicago, 1994; Ph.D., University of Florida, 2001.

    Human variation and adaptation, human osteology, human evolution with an emphasis on the evolution of body size and shape and postcranial anatomy in genus Homo, comparative primate skeletal biology, nutritional anthropology

  • Charles F. Zwemer

    Charles F. Zwemer
    Associate Professor of Biology (1995).
    James Hall - Rector Complex Room 1217
    (717) 245-1293 | zwemer@dickinson.edu | Visit Web Site
    B.A., Hope College, 1987; Ph.D., Indiana University Medical Sciences Program, 1993; Post-Doctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan Medical School, 1995.
    Ganoe Award for Inspirational Teaching, 1999-2000.

    He teaches courses in physiology, microanatomy, and vertebrate biology. His research addresses issues of cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal function in normal and diseased states.