Dr. Robert T. Allen serves on the music faculty at Mary Baldwin College, where he was head of the music department for nineteen years. A native of Marion, Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, Allen holds two degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a Morehead Scholar — the BA with Honors in English and Philosophy, and the MM in Choral Art; an MA in English from Cornell University; and a PhD in Musicology from the University of Michigan (with special emphasis in 19th Century Music). His special areas of interest and research include Bach Cantatas, Music Aesthetics, the Lieder of Franz Schubert, and the works of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Dr. Allen’s main mentors at UNC were O.B. Hardison, Jr, and Maurice Natanson. His thesis advisor at U. of M. was Roland John Wiley. His longtime voice teacher was Rolf Sander. He studied conducting with Richard Cox, Lara Hoggard, and Jürgen Jürgens, founder and former director of the Monteverdi Chor of Hamburg, Germany.
Dr. Allen directed the Mary Baldwin College Choir in the 1980s; and he started and directed the small vocal groups Baldwin Charm and Madrigal Singers (now Bella Voce) in the 1990s. Since 1982 he has served as manager of the Carl Broman Concerts, organizing six concerts each season at the college. Beginning in 1989, he has taught on-scene spring courses on a regular basis in New Orleans (History of Jazz) and in Vienna, Austria (Music in Vienna). His hobbies include gardening and genealogy.
Amy Diduch earned her MA and PhD in economics from Harvard University and her BA in economics from the College of William and Mary. Her research interests are in the fields of labor economics and public finance. She recently published an article entitled “Global Strike Patterns, Macroeconomic Variations and Industrial Relations” in the International Review of Comparative Public Policy. Dr. Diduch is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa.
Associate Professor of Communication Bruce Dorries also serves as faculty-in-residence at the Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement. In addition to teaching public speaking, mass communication, media writing, principles of public relations, principles of advertising, communication theory, and senior seminar in communication, he also co-teaches the semester of service, a six-hour course with Steve Grande, which includes civic leadership and social entrepreneurism. Dorries earned his BA in journalism and history at Baylor University, his MA from University of Corpus Christi (now Texas A&M at Corpus Christi), and his PhD in communication from University of Missouri.
Marlena Hobson has a PhD in art history from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Her dissertation focused on the work of the Novecento group of painters in 1920’s Italy and their relationship to Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Party. Marlena’s minor concentration was in Pre-Columbian art and architecture. She takes frequent trips to Mexico, including the Yucatan, Chiapas, Campeche, and Oaxaca regions to study ancient Mayan and Zapotec archeological sites. In May 2004 Marlena took a group of Mary Baldwin College art students to Oaxaca as part of an interdisciplinary May Term abroad course with the Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. Marlena began teaching at Mary Baldwin College in fall 1987. She teaches courses in modern art, women in the arts, history of photography, American art and architecture, pre-Columbian art and architecture, and twentieth century Latin American art. She has published exhibition reviews in the New Art Examiner and the Art Papers Magazine.
jklein@mbc.edu
www.mbc.edu/faculty/jklein/
Judy Klein has a PhD in economics from London Guildhall University, an MS in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in Economics from the College of William and Mary. Her research interests include the history of economic statistics; she is the author of Statistical Visions in Time: A History of Time Series Analysis 1662-1938, published by Cambridge University Press, and co-editor of The Age of Economic Measurement, published by Duke University Press. Dr. Klein is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and has received research grants from the National Science Foundation and National Humanities Center.
Assistant professor Sarah H. Ludwig (Sally) practiced law with the firms of Smeltzer & Hart in Roanoke, Virginia, and Ludwig & Ludwig in Staunton, Virginia, before joining the Mary Baldwin faculty in 1992. Ludwig teaches Business Law I and II, Constitutional Law I and II, Mass Media Law and Ethics, and Judicial Process. She also serves as the Pre-legal advisor for Mary Baldwin students interested in law school or law related careers. Ludwig received a BA from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, VA, and a MA in English from the University of Virginia. After teaching 11th and 12th grade English at Fairfax Hall School in Waynesboro for four years, she returned to school and received a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. In addition to teaching part-time in the Residential College for Women, Dr. Ludwig also offers her courses as independent tutorials for Mary Baldwin Adult Degree Students. Her areas of special interest are First Amendment and Equal Protection law.
dmetraux@mbc.edu
Dr. Métraux's website
A professor of Asian Studies, Métraux has been teaching in his field for more than 30 years. His specialty is modern Japan and China, but he teaches a full spectrum of Asian Studies courses. Métraux is the author of 14 books, many book chapters, and articles on the field. He serves as editor of the Southeast Review of Asian Studies and the Virginia Review of Asian Studies. Twice a Fulbright scholar, he has lived, taught, and studied in Japan for five years. He received his doctorate in East Asian Studies from Columbia University. He has also taught at Doshisha Women’s College in Japan and was a visiting fellow at the Australian National University in 2002.
Catharine O'Connell holds three degrees in American Studies, her BA from Amherst College and her MA and PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. At Mary Baldwin College she serves as Professor of English, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Dean of the College. Her area of academic specialization is nineteenth- century American literature, with a focus on women's fiction and the literature of American slavery. She has published on Harriet Beecher Stowe, Herman Melville, and Mark Twain, among others. She has also written on the pedagogy of civic engagement and community-based learning. She teaches the Introduction to American Studies course.
This Associate Professor of Sociology’s research includes work on educational attainment, race, religion, and environmental issues. His areas of interest include social movements, environmental sociology, community service, social inequality, sociology of education, sociology of religion, and mountaineering. Stuhlsatz received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Wichita State University; a master’s degree in sociology from University of Wyoming, and a PhD in sociology from University of Virginia.
Amy Tillerson-Brown is a native of Prince Edward County. For her dissertation, Tillerson-Brown researched the activism of Black women in Prince Edward County, Virginia between 1930 and 1965. Prince Edward County is most well known for the school crisis that closed public schools for five years. Before accepting her position at Mary Baldwin College, she was director of African American Heritage Program at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities at UVA. She has taught in the history departments at University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Morgan State, and Piedmont Virginia Community College. She has also been a public school teacher and counselor in Roanoke City Public Schools and Baltimore City Public Schools. She is the advisor to Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society.
Originally from South Carolina, Carey Usher came to MBC in 2001 after completing her graduate work at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her dissertation research examined effects of neighborhood context and social capital on physical and mental health. Current research extends this study, focusing on social capital and community investment in high poverty areas. Her research and teaching interests include medical sociology, community and urban sociology, and research methodology. She is a strong supporter of single-gender education, having completed her undergraduate degree at Converse College. Her community service includes work with Habitat for Humanity, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, the Staunton City Council as a member of the Landscape Advisory Board, and the Virginia Cooperative Extension as a Master Gardener. Her service to these organizations involves building resident investment in and appreciation of community environment and greenspace. Drs. Usher and Stuhlsatz are currently serving as Co-Principal Investigators on a gang-assessment initiative with the Office on Youth. In her spare time, Dr. Usher likes to read, drink coffee, garden, knit, and spend time with her family and pets. She lives in Staunton with her husband Bryan, their 4 boys, and too many animals.
jwells@mbc.edu
Dr. Wells' website
BA, Tusculum College; MA, East Tennessee State University; PhD, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Areas of interest include Drugs and Society, Sociology of the Family, Sex Roles, Popular Culture and ..... golf. Dr. Wells has authored several works during his tenure in the Sociology and Social Work Department.
A visiting assistant professor of anthropology, Wightman received a BA in history and anthropology from Miami University of Ohio, an MA in anthropology from University of Oklahoma, and a PhD in anthropology from University of Oklahoma. After completing her doctorate in May 2009, Wightman joined the faculty at Mary Baldwin College for fall semester. Her dissertation, “Honoring Kin: Gender, Kinship, and the Economy of Plains Apache Identity,” addresses the complicated articulations and lived experiences of contemporary Native-American identities. Wightman’s research interests also include the culture and history of Oklahoma, regional American identities, the relationship between gender ideologies and cultural/national identities, the history of anthropology, and the lived experiences of marginalization in native communities and beyond.
Professor of political science Laura van Assendelft has been teaching at Mary Baldwin College since 1994. Currently serving as chair of the political science department, van Assendelft teaches American Government, State and Local Politics, U.S. Congress, U.S. Presidency, Women and Politics, Political Parties and Interest Groups, Political Behavior, and Senior Seminar in American Politics. Her research interests include state and local politics and women and politics. She has published numerous journal articles and several books, including Governors, Agenda Setting, and Divided Government, The Encyclopedia of Women in American Politics (co-edited with Jeffrey Shultz), and two editions of Women, Politics, and American Society (co-authored with Nancy McGlen, Karen O’Connor, and Wendy Gunther-Canada). She received her BA in political science (cum laude with honors in political science) from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee (1989) and her PhD in political science from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia (1994). She was recognized by Who’s Who Among American Teachers in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Outside of teaching and research, her interests include spending time with family, running, hiking, horseback riding, reading, and photography.
