Honors Faculty

Fall 2024/Spring 2025

Abayomi Animashaun (English)

Dr. Abayomi Animashaun, Assistant Professor in the Department of English, is teaching WRT 110: Honors Composition (“The Immigrant Experience in America”) in fall 2024.

Michael Baltutis (Anthropology, Global Religions, and Cultures)

Dr. Michael Baltutis, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, Global Religions, and Cultures, teaches courses on the classical and contemporary Hindu and Buddhist traditions of India and Nepal. His research is connected to the years he spent living in and traveling through this region and includes articles on the use of political propaganda by the former king of Nepal during the 2006 People’s Movement (during which he was under house arrest for three weeks); the worship of the demonic deity Bhairav by the indigenous Newar people of Kathmandu; and the annual festival of the god Indra as it is celebrated in text and practice throughout South Asia.

Dr. Baltutis is teaching Global Religions 110: Honors World Religions (GC) (XC) in fall 2024.

Courtney Bauder (Social Justice Program)

Courtney Bauder is the Director of the Social Justice Program in the College of Letters and Science, where he teaches classes in social justice, issues of diversity, and global studies. He has traveled all over the world, including Central America, East Africa, Asia, and throughout Europe, and he has led study abroad programs in an array of locations that include Australia, Croatia, Greece, and New Zealand. He is passionate about helping students to experience the world through study abroad.

In 2014, Bauder received the College of Letters and Science Global Education Award, and he was the recipient of the 2016 Honors Outstanding Teaching Award.

This fall, Bauder will collaborate with Dr. Sabrina Mueller-Spitz from the Department of Biology to co-teach HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“Justice and the Environment”) (XS). He is also teaching “Global Issues,” one of the HNRS 475: Honors Senior Seminar offerings, in spring 2025.

Laurence Carlin (The Honors College)

Dr. Laurence Carlin is Dean of The Honors College at UW Oshkosh. His research focuses on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European philosophy and science.

In fall 2024, Dr. Carlin is teaching two sections of HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“Social Forces”) (XS).

Over J-Term, May-Term, and again in June 2025, Dr. Carlin will lead six-credit study abroad programs in London, England, where he will be teaching HNRS 275Q: Culture Connection (XC) along with Philosophy 106: Honors Ethics (XC).

Laura Carnahan (Geography)

Laura Carnahan, Department of Geography and Teaching Assistant Professor for The Honors College, is teaching GEOGRAPHY 121-A05L: Weather and Climate, an Honors-specific Lab component of a four-credit Honors Elective, in fall 2024.

Stewart Cole (English and Environmental Studies)

Dr. Stewart Cole is Associate Professor in the Department of English and the Environmental Studies Program. His scholarly research focuses on representations of animals, human animality, and ecological ideas in modern and contemporary British and Irish literature. Recent publications have appeared in the peer-reviewed journals Studies in the Novel, ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment, and LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory and in the essay collection Literature and Meat since 1900 (Palgrave, 2019). He is also a poet; his second poetry collection, Soft Power, was published by Goose Lane Editions in 2019. For more about Dr. Cole, visit his website at stewart-cole.com.

In fall 2024, he is teaching Environmental Studies 103: Honors Introduction to Environmental Studies (GC) (XS).

Jennifer Considine (Communication Studies)

Dr. Jennifer Considine, Professor and Chair in the Department of Communication Studies, is teaching Communication 112: Honors Introduction to Public Speaking in fall 2024.

Don Dingledine (English)

Don Dingledine, Professor of English, teaches courses in American literature (including a capstone seminar on Moby-Dick) and a Writing-Based Inquiry Seminar on the American Civil War. He also teaches literature, composition, and interdisciplinary courses across the curriculum for The Honors College and is a member of the University Honors Council.

Dr. Dingledine received his PhD in American literature from Temple University, and he has published essays on Kate Chopin, Stephen Crane, Rebecca Harding Davis, John William De Forest, Paule Marshall, and Ann Petry, as well as on the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He is a four-time recipient of the Honors Outstanding Teaching Award.

This fall, Dr. Dingledine is teaching English 229: Honors African American Literature (ES) (XC), HNRS 475: Honors Senior Seminar (“Leadership”), and WRT 110: Honors Composition (“The American Civil War”).

In spring 2025, he is teaching English 229: Honors African American Literature (ES) (XC), HNRS 275Q: Culture Connection (XC), and HNRS 475: Honors Senior Seminar (“A Year in the Life”).

Bryan Engelhardt (Economics)

Dr. Bryan Engelhardt, Associate Professor of Economics and recent recipient of the Penson Faculty Award, is teaching Economics 209: Honors Macroeconomics (XS) in spring 2025.

Dr. Engelhardt also represents the College of Business on the University Honors Council.

Robert Feldman (English)

Dr. Robert Feldman is Associate Professor in the English Department. In addition to English 228: Honors Modern American Literature (XC), which he is teaching fall 2024, he teaches American Romanticism and Modern Drama, two upper-level courses for English majors. Feldman was the 2020 Honors Outstanding Teaching Award recipient for English 228, the same class for which he received the award in 2014.

Kevin Garstki (Anthropology, Global Religions, and Cultures)

Dr. Kevin Garstki, Teaching Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Global Religions, and Cultures, is teaching Anthropology 202-A01L (XL), an Honors-specific Lab component of a four-credit Honors elective, in fall 2024.

Heidi Hansen (Nursing)

Heidi Hansen, College of Nursing, is teaching NUR 216: Honors Health Practices with Diverse Populations (ES) (XC) in fall 2024 and spring 2025.

Monika Hohbein-Deegen (Global Languages and Cultures)

Dr. Monika Hohbein-Deegen, Professor of German and the German Program Coordinator in the Department of Global Languages and Cultures, is teaching GERMAN 251: Honors Germanic Culture and History in Text and Film (GC) (XC) in spring 2025.

Michael Jasinski (Political Science)

Professor Michael Jasinski, Department of Political Science, is a scholar of international relations and comparative politics. He has a special interest in political conflict processes as well as the politics of Eastern Europe and former Soviet states, including Russia and Ukraine. He is a veteran of US Armed Forces who spent several years on assignments in former Soviet states in pursuit of nuclear disarmament and military cooperation.

Dr. Jasinski is teaching HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“International Conflict”) (XS) in fall 2024.

Samantha Looker-Koenigs (English)

Dr. Sam Looker-Koenigs, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of English, is teaching WRT 310: Honors Advanced Writing (XK) in fall 2024 and spring 2025.

Nadia Louar (Global Languages and Cultures)

Dr. Nadia Louar is Professor of French and Co-Chair in the Department of Global Languages and Cultures.

She is teaching and HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“Memory and Storytelling”) (XS) and HNRS 475: Honors Senior Seminar (“Pursuits of Happiness”) in fall 2024.

In the spring 2025, Dr. Louar is teaching HNRS 275Q: Culture Connection (XC).

Pascale Manning (English)

Dr. Pascale Manning is Associate Professor in the Department of English. Her research and teaching focus on nineteenth-century British literature and culture with an emphasis on the intersections of literature and science, as well as Native North American literatures from the nineteenth century to the present. Her work appears in a number of journals, including Victorian Literature and Culture, Literature Compass, Seachange Journal, and Studies in American Indian Literatures. She is the recipient of the 2015 Honors Outstanding Teaching Award.

Dr. Manning is teaching HNRS 275: Culture Connection (XC) both semesters (fall 2024 as well as in spring 2025).

Michelle Michalski (Biology)

Dr. Michelle Michalski is Professor in the Department of Biology. She is teaching Biology 108: Honors Biological Concepts, a five-credit Honors elective, in fall 2024.

Michelle Mouton (History)

Dr. Michelle Mouton, Professor of History, is teaching HISTORY 216: Honors Topics in History (“World War II through the Eyes of Children”) (XS) in spring 2025.

Sabrina Mueller-Spitz (Biology)

Dr. Sabrina Mueller Spitz, Associate Professsor in the Department of Biology, is teaming up with Mr. Courtney Bauder from the Social Justice Program in the fall to co-teach HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“Justice and the Environment”) (XS).

Adam Ochonicky (English)

Dr. Adam Ochonicky is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, where he serves as the Coordinator of the Professional Writing minor and is also the Director of the Advanced Writing program.

In the fall, he will team-teach HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“Mediated Lives”) (XS) with Dr. Mike Van Esler from the Department of Radio-TV-Film.

This fall and again in spring 2025, Dr. Ochonicky will also teach HNRS 275Q: Culture Connection (XC).

Justyna Olszewska (Psychology)

Dr. Justyna Olszewska, Associate Professor of Psychology, is teaching HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“Practical Psychology”) (XS) in fall 2024.

Christine Roth (English)

Dr. Christine Roth, associate professor of English and director of the graduate English program, regularly teaches courses on early modern British literature and Shakespeare. She also serves as dramaturge (most recently for the spring 2024 production of Twelfth Night) for the theatre department and teaches their history of theatre course. In 2022, she received a grant to create an anti-racist, decolonized pedagogy for UW Oshkosh’s general education, majors’, and graduate courses in Shakespeare. Though she began her academic career as the assistant to the Curator of Books and Exhibitions at the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1991, she is returning to early modern scholarship after focusing on nineteenth-century studies for most of her career.

In 2015, Dr. Roth received the President’s Award from the Nineteenth Century Studies Association for “sustained service to the association and significant contributions to nineteenth-century studies.” Her most recent scholarship contributes to the field of Victorian animal studies; it includes “The Zoocentric Ecology of Thomas Hardy’s Poetry” in Victorian Writers and the Environment (New York: Routledge, 2017) and “Grave Matters: Thomas Hardy’s Elegies for Dead Pets” in Victorian Pets and Poetry (New York: Routledge, 2021). She recently completed an essay on Queen Victoria’s Highland journals, and her current scholarly project focuses on the interplay between power and impotence in productions of Richard III featuring women in the titular role.

She is teaching WRT 310: Honors Advanced Writing in fall 2024 and spring 2025.

Lisa Schreibersdorf (English)

Dr. Lisa Schreibersdorf, Associate Professor in the Department of English, is teaching WRT 110: Honors Composition in spring 2025.

Andrew Smock (RTF)

Dr. Andrew Smock, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Radio-TV-Film, is teaching HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“Media Effects”) (XS) in fall 2024.

Kyle P. Steele (Educational Leadership, Literacy, and Social Foundations)

Dr. Kyle P. Steele, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Leadership, Literacy, and Social Foundations in the College of Education and Human Services, teaches courses on the history and philosophy of education, education policy, and education for social justice. He is passionate about working with future educators, in particular helping them reflect on how their work in schools is intimately connected to the communities they serve.

His own research is primarily on the history of the American high school, as both an educational and cultural institution, and the ways that high school systems have struggled with inclusivity since their beginnings. He is the author of Making a Mass Institution: Indianapolis and the American High School (Rutgers University Press, 2020) and the editor of New Perspectives on the History of the Twentieth-Century American High School (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). His work has also appeared in The Harvard Educational Review and Teachers College Record.

Dr. Steele is once again teaching HNRS 475: Honors Senior Seminar (“The American High School”) this fall. He also serves as the COEHS representative on the University Honors Council.

Anne Stevens (COLS)

Dr. Anne Stevens, Dean of the College of Letters and Science, is teaching HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“Satire and Society”) (XS) in fall 2024.

Sarinda Taengnoi Siemers (Economics)

Dr. Sarinda Taegnoi Siemers is Professor of Economics in the College of Business. She is the recipient of two Honors Outstanding Teaching Awards (2017 and 2022).

Dr. Siemers is teaching Economics 208: Honors Microeconomics (XS) in fall 2024.

Mike Van Esler (Radio-TV-Film)

Dr. Mike Van Esler, Associate Professor in the Department of Radio-TV-Film, is team-teaching HNRS 175Q: Honors Seminar (“Mediated Lives”) (XS) in the fall with Dr. Adam Ochonicky from the Department of English.

Dr. Van Esler is also currently serving his second term on the the University Honors Council.

Lisa Volkening (Communication Studies)

Dr. Lisa Volkening is Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies, where she teaches courses in argumentation, visual rhetoric, and public speaking. Her research interests include environmental communication and the rhetoric of social change.

She is teaching Communication 112: Honors Introduction to Public Speaking in fall 2024 and in spring 2025.

Robert Wagoner (Philosophy)

Dr. Robert Wagoner is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Philosophy. He is also a member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

Dr. Wagoner is teaching PHILOSOPHY 102: Honors Introduction to Philosophy (XC) in fall 2024 and PHILOSOPHY 206: Honors Ethical Issues in a Diverse Society (ES) (XC) in spring 2025.