New Arrivals
From Kenyon News - August 21, 2018
The following six faculty members will assume tenure track positions at Kenyon for the fall semester, although several have previously taught at Kenyon in non-tenure track positions. Additionally, Kyoungjin Bae will join Kenyon’s faculty as the James P. Storer Assistant Professor of Asian History in spring 2019, and Catherine Mauck will join the Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor in fall 2019.
Krista N. Dalton, instructor of religious studies
2018 — Doctor of Philosophy from Columbia University
2012 — Master of Arts from Missouri State University
Krista Dalton is a cultural historian of religion, working primarily with the texts and traditions of ancient Judaism within the Mediterranean context. Her research focuses on ancient Jewish donors and the dynamics of solidarity and reciprocity in anthropological models of gift giving. Dalton offers courses exploring the history of Judaism from antiquity to modernity, as well as classes on special topics, such as poverty and charity, magic and miracles, and religion in popular culture. She is a founding editor of Ancient Jew Review, a non-profit web journal devoted to the study of ancient Judaism.
Anton Dudley, associate professor of drama
2001 — Master of Fine Arts from New York University
1996 — Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College
Anton Dudley’s Off-Broadway credits include “City Of” (Playwrights Realm), “Substitution” (Playwrights Realm), “Getting Home” (Secondstage Theater), “Slag Heap” (Cherry Lane Theater), “17 Orchard Point” [co-written with Stephanie DiMaggio] (Theater Row) and “Honor and the River” (Theater Row). Other productions include “A Dram of Drummhicit” [co-written with Arthur Kopit] (LaJolla Playhouse directed by Christopher Ashley), “Girlstar” (Signature Theater), “Cold Hard Cash” (Williamstown Theater Festival), “Honor and the River” (Walnut Street Theater), “Davy & Stu” (Ensemble Studio Theater), “Letters to the End of the World” (Theater Row, finalist for the 2012 Lambda Literary Award in LGBT Drama), “Second to Nun” [music by Michael Cooper] (American Dream Theater), and “The Lake’s End” (Adirondack Theater Festival). Anton has directed at Studio Theater Secondstage, Cherry Red Productions, American Dream Theater, Theater Row, Essential Theater, Franklin Stage and New Directions Theater. His plays, musicals and operas have been commissioned by Manhattan Theatre Club, Cherry Lane Theater, Houston Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Prospect Theater, Playscripts Inc., Baryshnikov Arts Center and Williamstown Theater Festival, and are published by Sam French, Playscripts Inc., Heinemann Press, Backstage Books, Heuer Publishing and Vintage.
Francis Gourrier, instructor of American studies and history
2012 — Master of Arts from University of Wisconsin–Madison
2008 — Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College
Francis Gourrier first joined the history faculty in 2016 as a Marilyn Yarbrough Dissertation/Teaching Fellow. He is a U.S. historian, broadly trained in African American history. His teaching and research interests are the civil rights movement, gender and American society, youth/ student activism, education, migration, and African-American cultural practices. Gourrier’s dissertation, “Civil Rights Husbands: A New History of Manhood in the Black Freedom Movement,” examines the various ways men challenged and reproduced gender hierarchies, aided their wives’ political leadership, and used activism to define their manhood. Prior to his career in academia, Gourrier taught middle school in Oakland, California. He is a native of New Orleans.
Erin R. Leatherman, assistant professor of statistics
2013 — Doctor of Philosophy from The Ohio State University
2008 — Master of Science from Bowling Green State University
2006 — Bachelor of Arts from Bluffton University
Erin Leatherman joined the Kenyon faculty in 2018 after spending five years teaching at West Virginia University. Her statistical research is related to an experimental methodology that incorporates deterministic computer simulators that implement mathematical models of physical processes. Additionally, she has worked with various collaborators on interdisciplinary projects that include subject areas such as biomedical engineering, workplace safety and medicine. Leatherman has enjoyed teaching a wide variety of statistics courses ranging from introductory- to Ph.D.-level courses, including theory, application and computational topics. In each of her courses, Leatherman seeks to empower students to be critical thinkers who are capable of solving hard problems and to be good communicators who can share results in written and oral forms.
Arianna L. Smith, assistant professor of biology
2014 — Doctor of Philosophy from Michigan State University
2008 — Bachelor of Science from North Carolina State University, cum laude
Arianna Smith joined the biology department as a visitor in 2014 and returned to the Kenyon faculty in 2018, following a postdoctoral fellowship with the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University. Her areas of interest include reproductive biology, developmental biology and immunology. The maternal environment during pregnancy has significant impact on immediate and long-term health of the fetus, and Smith uses mouse and cell culture models to investigate the effects of maternal prenatal exposure, such as prenatal stress or lead exposure, on fetal immune dysfunction. Her lab is particularly interested in how these exposures reshape fetal microbial communities and the effect of such alterations on immune development and disease.
Kai Xie, assistant professor of Japanese
2017 — Doctor of Philosophy from University of Washington
2010 — Master of Arts from University of Massachusetts Boston
2010 — Master of Arts from University of Massachusetts Amherst
2007 — Master of Arts from Beijing Foreign Studies University
2004 — Bachelor of Arts from Beijing Foreign Studies University
Kai Xie joined the Kenyon faculty in 2017. She teaches courses in Japanese language, literature, and culture, and also directs the Japanese program at Kenyon. With research interests and background in both Japanese and Chinese literature, Xie is especially interested in how “China” was conceptualized, transmitted, mediated, and manipulated by Japanese authors in their literary works. She has published articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Japanese Language and Literature and Asian Theatre Journal. Her current research project, tentatively titled “Remapping the Sino-Japanese Dialectic: Sino-Japanese Interplay in Linked Verse Compositions of Japan,” examines the juxtaposition, interaction, and integration of what Japanese authors conceived of as “Japanese” and “Chinese” elements in linked verse compositions of Japan from the 14th to 17th centuries.