The Office of the Provost recognizes the following faculty members for tenure and promotion:
Tenured and Promoted to Associate Professor
Claudia Calhoun
College of Arts and Sciences
Visual and Performing Arts Department
Dr. Claudia Calhoun is a historian of American media whose work explores the intersections of media history and U.S. cultural history. Her book, Only the Names Have Been Changed: Dragnet, the Police Procedural, and Postwar Culture, argued that franchise functioned — across radio, television, and film —to instruct Americans in their responsibilities as citizens. In addition to her work on Dragnet, Dr. Calhoun has written for academic and popular outlets on a range of subjects, including George Stevens's 1956 epic Western Giant, gender in the academy, and teen idols. Her next scholarly project, Faces in the Crowd, looks at narratives of race and integration in postwar film and television.
Christa Esposito
Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies
Nursing Department
Dr. Christa Palancia Esposito is a Certified Nurse Midwife and expert in the holistic gynecologic, reproductive, obstetric, sexual, and primary healthcare of women. She teaches in the Egan School’s undergraduate nursing and doctoral nurse midwifery programs. Dr. Palancia Esposito publishes on contraception, notably the intrauterine device, sexually transmitted infections, and nutrition. Dr. Christa Palancia Espositio maintains her clinical midwifery practice in Trumbull, Conn.
Laura Gasca Jiménez
College of Arts and Sciences
Modern Languages and Literatures Department, Spanish
Dr. Gasca Jiménez’ research focuses on Spanish as a heritage language (HL) in the United States. She is particularly interested in the ad hoc translation experiences of heritage language speakers. She is the managing editor of Translation and Interpreting Studies (John Benjamins). Her first book, Traducción, competencia plurilingüe y español como lengua de herencia/ Translation, Plurilingual Competence, and Spanish as a Heritage Language (Routledge), which is based on an empirical study, identifies strategies to represent the linguistic experiences and practices of Spanish HL speakers in the context of professional translation and interpreting training. It is the first book written in Spanish that explores the connections between heritage language research and translation and interpreting education. Her latest publication, a chapter included in The Routledge Handbook of Translation, Interpreting, and Bilingualism (2022), explores the existing disconnect between language brokering (i.e., the language practice whereby plurilingual individuals with no formal training in translation or interpreting linguistically mediate between two or more parties) research, and translation and interpreting education.
Helena Glebocki Keefe
Dolan School of Business
Economics Department
Dr. Glebocki Keefe is an international economist, with a focus on emerging markets and developing countries. Her work covers topics on foreign exchange markets and intervention, international transmission of macroeconomic shocks, and financial integration and development. In 2022, she was awarded the Dolan School of Business Award for Outstanding Research. Her most recent papers explore the impact of US-originating shocks during Covid-19 on remittance flows to emerging and development countries, and the experimentation with quantitative easing by emerging market policymakers during Covid-19. Her research has been published in the top peer-reviewed journals in the field of international economics, including International Finance, Journal of International Financial Market, Institutions and Money, International Journal of Central Banking, and Emerging Markets Review. Dr. Glebocki Keefe is currently the co-director of International Business for the International Business program.
Steven Kozlowski
Dolan School of Business
Finance Department
Dr. Steven Kozlowski is a financial economist specializing in financial institutions, corporate finance, and stock market anomalies. His research has been published in many prestigious peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Banking & Finance, Journal of Financial Stability, The Financial Review, and Accounting & Finance. In April 2023, he received Dolan’s Outstanding Research Paper Award for his work on the stock market response to discretionary financial reporting by U.S. bank holding companies. Dr. Kozlowski frequently incorporates his research into classroom discussions, particularly in his graduate research methods course where he helps students develop their own research questions and answer them using modern econometric techniques.
Rob Nazarian
College of Arts and Sciences
Physics Department
Dr. Rob Nazarian is a geophysicist with particular expertise in the physics of the ocean, atmosphere, and climate. Specifically, Rob’s scholarship revolves around the use of computational models to study physical processes in the ocean and climate systems, such as the role of ocean mixing on ocean circulation as well as future trends in extreme precipitation, and the application of such studies to further improve climate models. Rob’s scholarly work has been enriched by the involvement of terrific undergraduate researchers, who have been co-authors on several manuscripts, international presentations, and funded by the CT NASA Space Grant. Rob is also engaged in physics education research projects in which he explored the role of explosive, in-class demonstrations and social media on student learning.
Jennifer Schindler-Ruwisch
Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies
Public Health Department
Dr. Ruwisch is an advocate for health equity, and is especially passionate about maternal-child health. Her research focuses on reducing maternal health disparities, factors that influence breastfeeding initiation and duration, and mobile health (mhealth) as a means of health promotion, particularly in pregnant and postpartum populations. She hopes to continue this line of breastfeeding work and to highlight external factors and biases that drive inequity. She also enjoys community-engaged learning and community-based participatory research grounded in social justice. She enjoys working with Caroline House in Bridgeport, Conn. on dynamic wellness initiatives and serving on the Board of the Connecticut Breastfeeding Coalition advocating for policies and support for breastfeeding families.
Emily Shamash
School of Education and Human Development
Education Studies and Teacher Preparation
Dr. Emily Shamash is the co-director of the Special Education graduate program, as well as the co-creator and co-director of the minor and fifth-year program in Special Education. Her teaching and scholarship includes special education teacher training and effective communication with families of individuals with disabilities. Dr. Shamash partners with the Kennedy Collective and Westport Public Schools to create meaningful inclusive learning opportunities for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Intellectual Disabilities (ID) and accessible fieldwork experiences for her students. Her peer reviewed publications and presentations center on collaboration with families of children with disabilities and transition programs for individuals with ASD/ID. She recently published an article on the use of technology applications to communicate with families of students with disabilities in the School Community Journal.
Promoted to Professor
Gwendoline M. Alphonso
College of Arts and Sciences
Politics Department
Dr. Gwendoline M. Alphonso is a political scientist and legal scholar with expertise in the field of American political development. Her scholarship centers on family as an evolving political institution, imbricated within American politics, law, and social practice, and shaping intersectional relations of race, gender, and social class. Her research, which has received several academic awards and honors, includes: the book, Polarized Families, Polarized Parties (University of Pennsylvania Press); book chapters in edited volumes; and multiple articles in journals, such as Studies in American Political Development, Polity, Journal of Policy History, and The Columbia Journal of Race and Law. Her teaching and research have been featured as part of the American Political Science Association's Educate Series, History News Network, FiveThirtyEight and in Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education. She is the current chair of the Politics Department.
Katsiaryna Bardos
Dolan School of Business
Finance Department
Dr. Bardos is the chair of the Finance Department. Her research interests include corporate finance and real estate. Her award-winning research was published in top journals such as Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Financial Research, Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, and Journal of Behavioral Finance, among others. She has presented at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and referenced in a U.S. Treasury white paper and top tier academic journals. Her research has also attracted media attention and has been discussed on World Economic Forum, CFO.com magazine, and Harvard, Columbia, and Duke Corporate Governance Forums. She has served in numerous leadership positions at Fairfield University including chair and executive secretary of the Academic Council and has organized several international conferences. She is currently serving as a faculty advisor to students competing in the CFA Investment Research Challenge, Real Estate Club, ESG Club and Women in Finance.
Audrey Beauvais
Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies
Nursing Department
Dr. Audrey Beauvais is a nurse educator and researcher with expertise in leadership and mental health nursing. She has published multiple peer-reviewed manuscripts and two books, Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: An Interpersonal Approach (3rd edition) and Leadership and Management Competencies in Nursing Practice. The latter was awarded first place for the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year award in the Nurse Management and Leadership category. Dr. Beauvais also serves as an editorial board member for Nursing Education Perspectives and was a recent guest editor for special issues on the Future of Nursing Report and Educating During Times of Crisis. Given her leadership during the pandemic, Dr. Beauvais was the recipient of several honors and distinctions including the Connecticut League for Nursing President’s Award and Leadership Award. Nationally, she serves on the National League for Nursing Board of Governors. Dr. Beauvais is an associate dean in the Egan School.
