2010 Echoes and Reflections Professors’ Study Tour
Participant Profiles
Michael Berson
Michael is a Professor in the Secondary Education Department at the University of South Florida and a Senior Fellow in The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship. Dr. Berson instructs courses in Social Science Methodology and is the coordinator of the doctoral program in social science education. His award–winning courses have been acknowledged for integrating emerging technologies into instruction and modeling dynamic and fluid pedagogy.
Dr. Berson has extensively published books, chapters, and journal articles and presented worldwide. His research on child advocacy and technology in social studies education has achieved global recognition.
Ruth Callahan
Ruth teaches in the English Department at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona, where she arrived after travelling with her husband for seven months through Europe and Turkey over the winter of 1989—1990 when the Wall came down.
At Glendale, Dr. Callahan teaches in both the developmental and honors programs, offering classes in mythology, banned books, and modern fiction. Her dissertation interpreted some of the works of Franz Kafka in light of Jewish mystical thinking, so when in 2008, she led a group of selected Maricopa District faculty to Prague, she ensured that the Jewish Quarter was a “required” visit. There she has a Czech colleague, who works very closely with the archivists of Theresienstadt, and who has offered her specialized access there.
Having visited Dachau for the first time on the day the Israeli athletes were slaughtered at the 1972 Olympics, Ruth has since undertaken an increasing commitment to studying the Holocaust and is preparing to create and teach a course for the Maricopa District titled “Introduction to Holocaust Literature.”
James Dick
James is a Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska–Omaha where he teaches general methods and social studies methods classes for undergraduates and a trends-in-education class for Master’s students. In addition, he supervises student teachers in the Omaha metropolitan area and is the Co-Director of the UNO Center for Economic Education.
For over a decade, Dr. Dick has participated in EconomicsInternational®, a program developed by the Council for Economic Education to assist in the economic transitions occurring throughout the former Soviet Union and in emerging countries. Other international experiences include a Fulbright teaching assignment in Ukraine and study tours to Japan, Israel, Egypt, and Poland. In 2008, he received the Council’s Bessie Moore Service Award recognizing his 25 years of contributions to economic education at the state, regional, national, and international levels. His work has appeared in Social Education; Theory and Research in Social Education; and The Journal of Economic Education.
Prior to coming to UNO, James was a high school teacher in Northern Indiana and an Assistant Professor at the State University of New York College at Buffalo. He has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Ball State University and an Ed.D. from Indiana University–Bloomington.
Catherine Emihovich
Catherine is Professor and Dean of the College of Education at the University of Florida. She previously served as Dean of the College of Education at California State University–Sacramento, and has held academic positions at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she also earned her Ph.D.; Florida State University; and the University of South Carolina.
Dr. Emihovich has published over fifty papers and monographs in the areas of culture, language, and gender issues, school-based integrated services, qualitative research methods, and teacher education. Her books include Transforming schools and schools of education: A new vision for preparing educators. She is the past editor of Anthropology and Education Quarterly, and serves on the editorial board for the American Educational Research Journal.
Catherine has held leadership positions in the American Educational Research Association and the American Anthropological Association, where she was the president of the Council on Anthropology and Education. Currently, she is president of The Holmes PartnershipTM, a national organization focused on transforming teaching and learning through the development of university/school/community partnerships to serve the public good.
Robin Gordon
Robin is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Secondary Teacher Preparation Program at Mount St. Mary’s College. She teaches secondary teacher candidates and a research methods course. Dr. Gordon began her career as a secondary science teacher in Southern California. She completed a Ph.D. in Education at the Claremont Graduate University and a second Ph.D. in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute.
Dr. Gordon’s area of research is multi–disciplinary. Recent publications include: “Finding the philosopher’s stone: An essay on teaching,” in D. Slattery & J. Selig (eds.) Ensouling Education, New Orleans, LA: Spring Journal Books, 2009; “My encounter with the women alchemists,” Alchemy Journal, 10(2); “Making use of story to teach science and mathematics,” Ladder, 2007; and Dupuis, A.D. & Gordon, R.L. (expected publication spring 2010), Philosophy of education in historical perspective (3rd edition), Lanham, MA: University Press of America. Dr. Gordon is also writing a book on women alchemists that crosses the fields of women’s studies, history of science, and depth psychology. It is due to be published fall 2010.
Ann Morrow Heekin
Ann is Director of Programs and Publications for the Center for Christian–Jewish Understanding (CCJU) of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. The CCJU was founded in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and its call to foster greater understanding between Christians and Jews through theological dialogue. In addition to promoting new research and publication in the field, the CCJU conducts annual institutes for future religious leaders and educators to probe the historical, philosophical, and theological issues in the dialogue.
CCJU has worked with ADL and the University’s College of Education to offer Echoes and Reflections Holocaust education workshops to middle and upper school teachers/preservice teachers. Dr. Heekin also teaches in Sacred Heart’s religious studies department, including courses on the history of Christian–Jewish relations. Her most recent publication is Educators in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (2009). She is an active member of the Council of Centers for Christian–Jewish Relations, an association of Christian and Jewish organizations committed to advancing new scholarship in the dialogue.
Sandra N. Kaplan
Sandra is an Associate Clinical Professor, Learning and Instruction at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education. Dr. Kaplan has served as the lead consultant for the Carnegie Middle Schools Project, Texas Education Agency, from 1993 to the present. A member of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) board since 1982, Sandra served as president from 1997–2000. She was president of the California Association for the Gifted (CAG) from 1979 to 1982, and again from 1990 to 1994. Her most recent research includes “Strategies to Differentiate the Curriculum Content” and “NAGC Parallel Curriculum Model.” Dr. Kaplan co–authored this model with Dr. Carol Tomlinson, University of Virginia, and Dr. Joseph Renzulli, University of Connecticut.
Being one of the world’s foremost authorities in the field of gifted education, Sandra has conducted presentations for the World Congress of the Gifted and at CAG, TAGT, and NAGC conferences. Recent honors include the Award of Achievement from the CAG and the Distinguished Service Award from NAGC.
Kevin Leander
Kevin is Associate Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. He teaches courses in new media education, methods of teaching literature, critical discourse analysis, and social theories in literacy studies. Dr. Leander brings a social–spatial lens to understanding issues of diversity and identity in and out of classrooms, considering how social difference and power relations are actively produced through face–to–face and online interactions.
Kevin is currently involved in ethnographic research on spatial analysis and modeling, and is also studying immigration and digital literacies with colleagues at Utrecht University. This year, Kevin was Co–Lead Editor of the 58th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, and also recently guest edited a special issue of English Theory, Practice, and Critique on digital literacies (with Catherine Beavis and Julia Davies). His publications include research articles published in Reading Research Quarterly; Research in the Teaching of English; Ethos; Cognition and Instruction; Mind, Culture, and Activity, and other venues. Kevin and colleagues have also recently completed a review article on how youth are learning through mobile social practices for the Review of Research in Education.
Shira Lubliner
Shira is Associate Professor of Teacher Education at California State University, East Bay. She has been an educator for more than thirty years, working as a Hebrew School teacher and principal, a public school teacher, and a teacher educator in the general education and Jewish educational fields. Dr. Lubliner teaches graduate students in Reading and Curriculum Development and Multicultural Education and is the Teacher Performance Assessment Coordinator for California State University, East Bay.
Shira is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and books, including A Practical Guide to Reciprocal Teaching (Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, 2001), Getting Into Words: Vocabulary Instruction That Strengthens Comprehension (Brookes, 2005), and Nourishing Vocabulary, (Corwin Press, 2008). She conducts research and presents workshops for teachers on vocabulary instruction and reading comprehension. Her current scholarly interests focus on literacy and second language development.
Shira is a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the Contra Costa Jewish Day School and serves on the Editorial Review Board for California Reader.
Jeffery Mangram
Jeffery is Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education in the Department of Teaching and Curriculum at Syracuse University. He also currently teaches an international relations course at a local independent school. Dr. Mangram’s research revolves around media education, social studies teachers, and U.S. democracy. He has recently published a piece in Theory and Research in Social Education. In addition, the journal Urban Education just announced that they would publish “School Rules and Popular Culture Matters: Social Studies Teachers’ Talk about Authority” in their upcoming editions.
Jeffery distinguished himself in the classroom as a social studies teacher before returning to the School of Education to complete his Ph.D. degree, including being named a finalist for the New York State Teacher of the Year award. He holds a B.A. degree in policy studies/political studies, a M.A. degree in social studies education, and a Ph.D. in Teaching and Curriculum, all from Syracuse University.
Anita Meinbach
A full–time Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Miami’s School of Education (S.O.E.) specializing in language arts and childrens literature, Anita is also Director of the Rosenfeld Foundation Program in Jewish Education. A former director for the U.M./Miami–Dade County Summer Reading Institute, Dr. Meinbach also co–directed the U.M./Miami–Dade County Summer Holocaust Institute (with Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff) for several years, and speaks nationally on topics including: Holocaust education; integrated curriculum; and using literature in the classroom. An elected member of the S.O.E.’s School Council, Anita is faculty advisor for the Future Educator Association and sits on the Commissioner of Education’s Holocaust Task Force (Florida).
Prior to joining the University of Miami’s faculty eight years ago, Anita worked with Miami–Dade County Public Schools as a teacher, teacher trainer, and curriculum writer. In 2003, she was honored with the “Francisco Walker Teacher of the Year Award” for Miami–Dade County Public Schools and selected by U.S.A.Today for its “All–Teacher Team.” Anita has authored/co–authored fifteen books for teachers and preservice teacher training, including: Memories of the Night: Studies of the Holocaust (co–authored with Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff).
Gerry Melnick
Gerry’s undergraduate study was at Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey, and his graduate study at Columbia University and the New School for Social Research, New York. His undergraduate major was Political Science and his graduate major was International Law. Gerry is currently a professor at Kean University, Union, New Jersey, teaching graduate courses in Holocaust, genocide, and prejudice reduction.
Additionally, Gerry is the director of the Kean University Holocaust Resource Center and Director of the Kean University Diversity Council, a consortium of 74 New Jersey School districts, who in partnership with the University work together to address issues of tolerance, prejudice reduction, and diversity.
Current and past professional activities include working with the NJ State Department of Education and the NJ Commission on Holocaust Education, and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office on Bias Crimes. Present affiliations include the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, the Association of Holocaust Organizations, and the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.
Heather Merrill
Heather is a faculty member of the Teacher Education Program at Glendale Community College in Arizona. Presently she facilitates courses for pre– and inservice teachers predominately in the areas of multicultural education and special education.
In addition to her teaching duties, Heather is a school board member, a member of the Phoenix ADL education committee, and assists GLSEN with professional development workshops designed to reduce bullying and harassment in public schools. Heather is a Return Peace Corp Volunteer and a graduate of Northern Arizona University.
Gretchen Polnac
Gretchen taught AP literature and film for thirty–one years in the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas, where she received numerous teaching awards. She now teaches full time at The University of Texas at Austin in UTeach Liberal Arts, guiding preservice teachers though their professional sequence of methods courses.
Gretchen’s undergraduate work was completed at The University of Texas and her graduate work at Texas State University and The University of Texas. She is a consultant for both AP Literature and Language and reads the literature exam.
Harriet Sepinwall
Harriet has been Professor of Education and History at the College of Saint Elizabeth since 1980. She was founding co–director, with Sister Kathleen Flanagan, of the College of Saint Elizabeth Holocaust Education Resource Center in 1994. She has been involved in teacher education for many years, and received her doctorate in educational foundations including study of history, sociology, anthropology, and philosophy of education from Rutgers University.
Dr. Sepinwall’s teaching has included multicultural, human rights, and Holocaust education for undergraduate students and inservice teachers. Following a study trip to Poland and Israel in 1991 to study the Holocaust and Jewish resistance, she has been involved in Holocaust education on campus, statewide, and nationally. She has developed conferences, commemorations, and workshops for teaching about the Holocaust to diverse students and to the community, and has been invited to provide Holocaust workshops for educators for many years, including at the fall conferences of the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies and in annual presentations at the National Catholic Educational Association. In 2008, she presented a workshop at the Yad Vashem International Education Conference related to her work.
Kris Sloan
Kris is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. He teaches courses on culture, curriculum, and educational policy at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. In particular, Dr. Sloan focuses on content related to anti–oppressive education, White racism, heterosexism, and masculinity studies. In the summers, he teaches at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in the Leadership Academy, an innovative, arts-based, social justice-focused program that prepares educators to become school– and district–level administrators.
Dr. Sloan has worked as a curriculum designer and has taught in the United States and abroad. He is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters on the ways curriculum policies influence the classroom practices of teachers and learning experiences of children, in particular children of color. His most recent book, Holding Schools Accountable: A Handbook for Educators and Parents, offers parents and teachers straightforward information about current accountability policies and offers them clear advice about ways to demand accountability policies that lead to genuine improvements in educational quality and equity.
Robert L. Stevens
Robert is a Professor in the School of Education at The University of Texas at Tyler. Dr. Stevens received his Ed.D from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and continued his studies in International Relations and Government at the Kennedy School at Harvard University.
Robert has thirty–five years teaching experience in both public and private institutions including the University of Massachusetts, Washington College, The University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, Georgia Southern University, and currently UT–Tyler.
Among his numerous publications and projects, Crying Out in Protest: The Formative Years of the Art of Seymour Fogel and Master is under contract with DRage Media Group as a documentary and film. His articles have appeared in Social Education; OAH Magazine of History; The Social Studies; Social Studies and the Young Learner; NELMS; Social Studies Review; The Social Studies Texan; and Wisconsin State Reading Journal.
Other accomplishments include being a Malone Fellow, which provided an opportunity to study in Syria sponsored by the National Council on U.S. Arab Relations; Director of the State of Georgia’s “We the People Summer Institute” sponsored by the Center for Civic Education; and presenting at national conferences including The Institute of Art in Chicago and the James Madison Fellowship Institute.
Robert Vogel
Bob is a Professor of Education and Co–Director of Leadership and Global Understanding at La Salle University in Philadelphia. He received his doctorate from Temple University in Educational Psychology and Organization Development. After teaching in the School District of Philadelphia, he began his tenure at La Salle University. Dr. Vogel has been on the undergraduate and graduate faculty training teachers in the areas of elementary, special, and secondary education. He has taught travel study courses and has traveled with his students to many countries examining education systems and ways these systems prepare youth to be globally competitive.
Bob has been a consultant to over forty schools around the country in the areas of instructional design and strategies, assessment, instructional leadership, and flexible scheduling. He has authored numerous articles and co–authored Methods of Teaching: Applying Cognitive Science to Promote Student Learning, published by McGraw-Hill. His book has been translated into Chinese and has been adopted by many Chinese universities. His most recent book, published in 2008 by the National Middle School Association is Voices of Teens: Writers Matter.
Dr. Vogel is the recipient of the 2007 La Salle University Provost’s Distinguished Service Award and the 2008 Distinguished LaSallian Educator’s Award.
Julian Weissglass
Julian is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of California–Santa Barbara and Director of the National Coalition for Equity in Education. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has written about education and educational change and led workshops on learning and educational change in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Mexico. Dr. Weissglass has worked extensively doing professional development on how different forms of oppression affect teaching and learning.
Julian has taught courses on racism in U.S. education; educational change; culture, learning, and development; and studying and teaching the Holocaust. In his courses and professional development he incorporates opportunities for participants to process their emotions about acts of oppression and genocide.
Julian has led four international workshops in Poland on healing from World War II, which incorporated trips to Auschwitz and Birkenau. These workshops enable people from countries that were enemies to build friendships and understanding. He has also led healing—from–war workshops in El Salvador, Japan, Australia, and the U.S. Julian's workshops focus on helping people heal emotionally from the distresses caused by war and passed on, often unconsciously, from generation to generation.
