Directory

Anne Cubilié moved to CWU in August of 2013 following 10 years working for the United Nations. Dr. Cubilie was Director of the William O. Douglas Honors College (DHC) for two years, moving to the position of Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Extended Learning in 2015. After two years as Associate Provost, Dr. Cubilie returned to her position at the DHC to work more closely with students and faculty on the shared educational mission of the university. At the United Nations, Dr. Cubilie worked in humanitarian response and development policy both at headquarters and in the field. She joined the United Nations from Georgetown University, where she was an assistant professor. Throughout her time at the United Nations, Dr. Cubilié maintained close ties to the academy and consistent interest in bridging the gap between academic research and the political and policy considerations of international aid.

Dr. Cubilie has lived and worked in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Egypt. Her book, Women Witness Terror: Testimony and the Cultural Politics of Human Rights, reads a testimony by women survivors of war and human rights abuse through critical frameworks of ethics, trauma, and witnessing. While most people consider testimony to be that of an individual telling her story to give voice to the stories of all those who experienced the event, Dr. Cubilié considers the very instability of the narrative testimonial voice to be a generative source for a more engaged and less purely juridical consideration of human rights. In her work for the United Nations – ranging from the collection of survivor testimony in Afghanistan to policy guidance for an emergency response to major reports and funding documents – she maintained an insistence on remembering the individual within the broadest international discourses. She has co-edited a special issue of the journal Discourse on "The Future of Testimony," has given numerous lectures both in the US and internationally on testimony, ethics, human rights and trauma, was awarded a Fulbright Research Fellowship and has served as a joint United Nations/American University of Cairo visiting scholar conducting research into women’s relationships to state structures. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA from the University of Oregon, graduating from the Robert D. Clark Honors College.

Christina Denison, a first-generation college student, is a Wildcat through and through having earned both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Central Washington University. Before becoming part of the team in the Douglas Honors College, Christina worked as a legal assistant; however, when CWU offered her an opportunity to do something a bit different she jumped at the chance. Starting as an office assistant in the Honors College, Christina took every opportunity she could to learn and do more which resulted in becoming the Academic and Student Success Coordinator and finally the Assistant Director of the DHC. She is currently working on her PhD in Education Leadership at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho.

Christina enjoys spending time with her two daughters and her husband Jim, a local attorney. In the winter months, when not spending time with her family, you will find her shushing down the runs at Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort in Wenatchee. All the other months she spends time wishing it was winter.

Matt Martinson was born and raised in Washington state. He has earned degrees at four different schools in the state, focusing on literature and religion, though he is also fascinated by art and history. He teaches a wide variety of courses for the DHC, where he is also the Writing Curriculum Coordinator. 

Dr. Allyson Rogan-Klyve holds a BA in chemistry and religion from Hamline University, a M.Ed in science education from the University of Massachusetts, and a PhD in science education from Oregon State University.  Dr. Rogan-Klyve joined CWU as an assistant professor in 2016. Dr. Rogan-Klyve is a faculty member in the Science Education Department and serves as the Upper Division Coordinator in the William O. Douglas Honors College. Dr. Rogan-Klyve’s research focuses on understanding high leverage teaching practices in the K-12 science classroom as well as developing pedagogies to teach these practices to novice teachers.

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Kimberly is an out-of-state student from Hawai’i. She is majoring in elementary education and minoring in child development. A fun fact about Kimberly is that she lives a few streets away from twenty-four recently active volcanic fissures!

Elijah is entering his fifth year at CWU and fourth year as DHC personnel. His studies include actuarial mathematics (BS), music theory (BA), computer science (minor), and vague nostalgia for a childhood plagued by anthropomorphized vegetables. Sometimes -- if you listen very intently on a Thursday afternoon -- you can hear him sadly attempting witty banter with comedy podcasts. He is not lonely; please stop asking if he is lonely. 

Noah is a fourth-year in the honors college and is working as an office assistant and DHC ambassador. He is from Anchorage, Alaska and grew up on a peony farm. Noah is Craft Brewing major; for his Upper Division Capstone Project he is creating a mini series of instructional videos on how to brew beer from home

Outside of academics, Noah plays for our CWU Rugby team. Aside from that he enjoys brewing, being outdoors, and hanging out with friends.

Michael is from Port Orchard, Washington and is a majoring in political science and computer science. He is an avid hiker, backpacker, gamer and much more. He is currently a member of the CWU Robotics club, the Student Legislative Action Committee, and works as the Programming Director for the ASCWU Office of Legislative Affairs on campus. Michael represents the Douglas Honors College in the Student Academic Senate.

Maggie Higgins is a Secondary Education and English Education major. She has been in the William O. Douglass Honors College for four years, all of which were spent in the Learning and Living Community (LLC). Maggie is here to provide support both academically and emotionally. That being said, math does not agree with her. Maggie and her large collection of succulents work hard to lift students' spirits.

David is a sophomore pursuing a major in Integrated Energy Management. He's an out of state student from the Big Island of Hawaii. One fun fact about David is that he has acquired enough tickets to earn a coffee maker at an arcade.

Lenny is a fourth-year honors student who works as both an ambassador as a videographer for the Douglas Honors College. His was born and raised on Oahu, and is going into his final year at CWU studying film production. Aside from academics, Lenny also enjoys surfing, hanging out with friends, and making movies. 

Torrance Blaisdell (Tenor) has appeared on opera stages across the US, Europe, and Asia. His professional career spans over 15 years, singing with such companies as Opera Monaco, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Lyric Opera Dublin, Michigan Opera Theatre, Philadelphia Opera, Arizona Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Opera Boston. For two years Mr. Blaisdell appeared in the Broadway company of "Phantom of the Opera" as a member of the ensemble and in the principal role of the Italian Opera Singer, Piangi. He received a Bachelors degree from Dartmouth College and a Masters in Vocal Performance and Opera from the New England Conservatory of Music. His post-graduate training includes apprenticeships with Des Moines Metro Opera, Sarasota Opera, Central City Opera and Glimmerglass Opera. Mr. Blaisdell studied opera and opera technique with Mr. John Moriarty and voice with Susan Clickner and, most recently, Jane Olian of Manhattan.

Tamara Caulkins is a historian of science who researches the intersections of science and culture and the visualization of knowledge, particularly in the eighteenth century. Her research has focused on developments in eighteenth-century France, studying bourgeoisie values in Buffon’s encyclopedic L’Histoire Naturelle (Natural History) and the use of scientific notation systems for court dance and military drill. Her current book project on Diagrammatic Notations for Dance and Drill in the Enlightenment examines the implications of graphic visualizations in the sciences for new ways of measuring and understanding the movement of human bodies.

A second book project, Icons of Artifice: A Cultural History of Eighteenth-Century Greenhouses, underscores the connections between technology, culture, and science. Glass hothouses proved instrumental in locating Europe as a central metropole against a plethora of supposedly peripheral places, but greenhouses played many roles in the early modern world: from defining hardiness and fragility to fostering optimism with regard to controlling climates to promoting a new sense of the value of horticulture. Through the lens of the greenhouse, one finds networks of exchange that illuminate the development of an increasingly diverse and interconnected natural world.

Dr. Caulkins’ classes include “The Nature and Culture of Natural History,” “The Nature of Beasts: Animals in History and Science,” “Sites for Science: A History of the Laboratory,” “Environmental History,” and “Science and the Sea: Ocean History from the Age of Sail to the Twenty-first Century.” She recently presented a paper on “Geometry for Nobles: The Math of Self-Fashioning in the Age of Enlightenment,” at the 9th International Conference of the European Society for the History of Science (ESHS).

Ruthi Roth Erdman lived in Portland, Oregon her first 28 years. She very nearly went to law school there, but decided that working with university students held much more appeal than practicing law, so she came to CWU in 1988. 

Ruthi began by teaching English, but eventually branched out into interdisciplinary courses in Humanities, WGSS, and the Honors College. 

When she's not teaching, Ruthi fights for a more just world, attending many protests and marches. She also enjoys traveling abroad, reading, singing, taking long walks, and spending time with her grandchildren.

Kayla Jeffress lectures in English and the Humanities at CWU. She has studied Art History, Literature, and Film, and graduated with an MA in English Literature from CWU in 2017. Before coming to Ellensburg, she did administrative work at a tribal college in Alaska for 5 years, taught English in South Korea, and was an intern at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. As a teacher, Ms. Jeffress enjoys helping students improve their communicative skills and explore their curiosity about the world through a liberal arts education. In her spare time, she loves music, movies, museums, cats, and camping.

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Albert Miller has been an instructor at CWU since 2010, teaching courses on History, Humanities, and the History of Science. His research focuses on the history of science and exploration, especially within the context of empire. He loves to travel, and in his spare time he teaches karate at the local school of karate. 

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Dr. Shawn Reichert earned his Associate of Arts at Carl Albert State College in Poteau, OK; his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK; a Master of Arts in Political Science at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR; a second Master of Arts in Political Science at Rice University in Houston, TX; and his Ph.D. in Political Science also at Rice University.  His published research includes work in political economy, the European Union, European politics, and Latin American politics.  At the DHC, Dr. Reichert teaches courses in Social and Behavioral Dynamics and Integrated Learning including, Conspiracism, Conspiracy Theories, and American Politics; Difficult Decision Making: Individuals, Groups, and States; and Democracies and Democratic Theory.  He also teaches the upper-division Honors Seminar: Elements of Research and the Honors Capstone Seminar.  In addition, Dr. Reichert serves as the CWU Institutional Effectiveness Research Coordinator.  His responsibilities include working with colleagues from across the university to refine research questions and determine the data required and the methods of analyses to be employed to answer those questions.  He provides support for retention, progression, and degree completion reporting and for the enhanced understanding of the impact of various programs housed in Student Success, the William O. Douglas Honors College, and the other four academic colleges. In his free time, Dr. Reichert enjoys spending time outdoors, reading, and spoiling his three cats.

Christopher Schedler was born and raised in California, with a quick detour east to pursue his B.A. in English and Religion at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He returned to the west coast to earn his M.A. and Ph.D. in English at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He joined the English Department at CWU in Fall 2003. His teaching and research interests include American Literature , Multicultural Literatures (particularly American Indian and Latino/a), Latin American Literatures, Modernism, and Border Theory. He has published one book, Border Modernism: Intercultural Readings in American Literary Modernism (Routledge 2002) , as well as articles on Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather, Américo Paredes, Alejandro Morales, Gerald Vizenor, and John Joseph Mathews. He was honored with the Outstanding Faculty Service Award for 2013-14 and Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award for 2008-09 from the College of Arts and Humanities and the Excellence in Teaching Award for 2005-06 given by the Alumni Association of CWU. He was Co-Director of the Latino and Latin American Studies program from 2010-12 and served as Faculty Director and Executive Director of Multimodal Learning from 2012-18, overseeing online learning, distance education, and the Multimodal Education Center on campus.