Eight New Faculty Join Albright

Eight new full-time faculty members from various parts of the United States joined Albright College this year. Record enrollment of traditional students, as well as growth of the Graduate Division and the Accelerated Degree Program, has prompted the need for additional faculty. Albright’s new faculty members are:

Jon Bekken, Ph.D. of Boston, Mass. has been appointed associate professor of communications. Previously, he served as associate professor of communication and journalism at Suffolk University where he taught courses in media history, newswriting, reporting, desktop publishing, media and society, communication law, feature writing and research methods. He is also editor of Industrial Worker, a monthly labor newspaper. Bekken’s research interests include the political economy of communication industries, with emphasis on the retail book industry and distribution processes, as well as the history of Chicago newspapers and their place in the broader media ecologies. He received his Ph.D. in communications from the University of Illinois.

Lisa Bellantoni, Ph.D. of Quincy, Ill. joins Albright as assistant professor of philosophy. Bellantoni previously served as assistant professor of philosophy at Quincy University, and specializes in ethics and social philosophy. She recently published a book titled, Moral Progress: A Process Critique of MacIntyre, as well as several articles and reviews such as “What Good is a Pragmatic Bioethic?” which appeared in the September 2002 Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University.

Fouad Kalouche, Ph.D. of Buffalo, N.Y. joins Albright as assistant professor of philosophy. Kalouche last served as research associate assigned to publications for the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York (SUNY), where he also taught Africana studies and philosophy. His areas of specialization include ethics, social and political philosophy, 19th and 20th century continental philosophy and Nietzsche. He is also fluent in English, French and Arabic and has a reading knowledge of German, Ancient Greek, Italian and Spanish. Kalouche received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Binghamton University, SUNY.

Anthony F. Lang Jr., Ph.D. of New York, N.Y. joins Albright as assistant professor of political science. Lang previously served as program officer for The Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, and taught a course at Yale University during the spring 2003 semester. He also taught for four years in the Political Science Department at the American University in Cairo (Egypt). He is author of Agency and Ethics: The Politics of Military Intervention, and has expertise in the areas of: ethics & international relations, international & national security studies, global governance & international organizations, international relations theory, international political economy, Middle East international relations, and Egyptian foreign & defense policy. He received his Ph.D. in political science from The Johns Hopkins University.

Loraine Mellor of Fleetwood, Pa. joins Albright as an artist in residence in the Department of Fashion, Merchandising, Textiles and Design. Mellor has worked for many years in the fashion industry, most recently serving as design and marketing consultant for Elite Sportswear LP in Reading, Pa. She has designed clothing for H. Warshow & Sons, Inc. and Chaps by Ralph Lauren in New York, N.Y., and was design director/co-owner of The Knit Resource Center in New York where she worked with clients such as Dupont fibers, Pierre Cardin, Christian Dior, Bill Blass Accessories, Liz Claiborne, Macy’s and Talbot’s. She received her B.A. in textile design, fine art and management studies from the University of Leeds in England.

Kennon J. Rice, Ph.D. of Raleigh, N.C. joins Albright as assistant professor of sociology. Most recently, Rice taught sociology and criminology courses at Elon University and North Carolina State University. He also served as a co-principal investigator with the North Carolina Center for Crime and Justice Research and received a $50,000 grant from the Charlotte-Mechlenberg Police Department to conduct an analysis of law-enforcement arbitrary profiling decisions. The research was completed in June. Rice received his Ph.D. with specialty areas in criminology and inequality from North Carolina State University.

Gerald Ronning, Ph.D. of Denver, Colo. joins Albright as assistant professor of history. Ronning last served as instructor in the History Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he taught courses in U.S. history, the American working class, World War II and the Vietnam Wars. He is co-coordinator of the Labor History Network, Social Science History Association, and served as assistant coordinator of the Roadside Interpretation Project, Colorado Historical Society. He has reviewed and co-authored several publications, including, “Marking Time: The Sand Creek Massacre and Historical Interpretation,” which appeared in the November 2002 issue of Colorado History NOW. Ronning received his Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Alison C. Shook, Ph.D. of Homestead, Fla. joins Albright as assistant professor of education. Shook previously served as adjunct faculty at the University of Miami, School of Education where she taught a master’s level disabilities course. She also served as a research associate for a funded school-based research project called Project SUCCEED (School University Community Coalition for Excellence in Education). Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Miami, she taught middle school for several years and was a counselor working with the developmentally disabled, substance abusers and emotionally disturbed adolescents. Shook received her Ph.D. in special education from the University of Miami.