August 22, 2008

Holy Cross Hires Three New Faculty Members with Mellon Grant

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Office of the Dean at the College of the Holy Cross announces the hiring of three new teaching fellows through an $800,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Over a five-year period, the Mellon funding will bring six teacher-scholars to the College.

The Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows Program at Holy Cross offers these young educators the opportunity to develop a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching while being exposed to a wide range of pedagogical techniques and an awareness of how to balance continued scholarly growth with full participation in the wider life of a liberal arts college.

The teaching fellows are:

Katherine A. Grandjean (Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, history), received her B.A. (summa cum laude) from Yale University and her Ph.D. from Harvard University. While at Harvard, she was the Lead Teaching Fellow in the history department during the 2007-08 academic year and was awarded the Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching in 2004.  Her other accomplishments while at Harvard include a Dissertation Writing Fellowship, the Artemas Ward Fund Research Fellowship and the Phillips Fund for Native American Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society. Her research and teaching interests include early American history and literature, early modern travel and communications, and Native America.  She is currently working on a book titled Reckoning: The Communications Frontier in Early New England.

Scott Malia (Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, theatre), earned his B.A. from Florida State University, his M.A. from Emerson College, and his Ph.D. from Tufts University. He has previously taught at Emerson College, Northeastern University, Bridgewater State College, and Tufts University. He has taught courses in theatre education, acting, directing, theatre history and play analysis; his research interests include directing, history and theory, 20th-century Italian theatre, early 20th-century American theatre and melodrama and 19th-century theatre. He has directed and performed in numerous plays including Grease, The Heidi Chronicles and A Day in Hollywood.

Mika Natif (Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, visual arts), received her B.A. from Tel Aviv University in Israel, an M.A. in Central Asian history at Indiana University, an M.A. in art history (Islamic art and architecture) and a Ph.D. in art history at Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Before coming to Holy Cross, she was a visiting scholar in the Central Eurasian studies department at Indiana University, a visiting lecturer in the art and archaeology department at Princeton University and a Hagop Kevorkian Fellow in the Islamic art department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Lecturing throughout the U.S. and abroad, Natif specializes in Muslim art history, with particular emphasis on Central Asia, Iran and India in the post-Mongol era.

With offices in New York City and Princeton, N.J., the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation currently makes grants in six core program areas: higher education and scholarship, scholarly communications, research in information technology, museums and art conservation, performing arts, and conservation and the environment.

For additional information contact Cristal Perriello at 508.793.2419