Steering Committee

Virginia "Ginny" Higgins
Prof. Higgins has taught in the Department of Communication & Theatre since 1964. A "homegrown" product, she received her BSE in Speech and in English in 1962 and her MS in Speech in 1969 from Kansas State Teachers College and did post-master's work in Speech Communication at the University of Kansas. Ginny taught Speech and English and coached debate and forensics at Topeka High School in 1962-63. At ESU she has taught a variety of courses, including public speaking, interpersonal communication, group discussion, gender and communication, classroom communication, and contemporary issues in free speech.

For many years Ginny advised all the students who studied to be speech, theatre, and debate teachers and taught the methods course for the department. She also is the current chair of the university's AIDS Committee. During her years at ESU she has accumulated a long record of service, and among the honors she recalls most fondly are serving as president of ESU's Faculty Senate and being the campus chair for a major endowment campaign. Ginny was the first person to receive twice the Outstanding College Teacher of Speech award from the Kansas Speech Communication Association. She is also active as a community volunteer and currently serves as Chairperson of the Lyon County Chapter of the American Red Cross. An admitted animal lover, Ginny lives in Emporia with her two cats, Newman and Woody, and her field spaniel, Qasey.  When you can't find her at the office, check any farm pond in east central Kansas.

Elizabeth Locey
Elizabeth Locey is Assistant Professor of French at ESU.  She received her Ph.D. and MA in French Literature with a distributed minor in Women's Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Women's Studies minor from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  Her dissertation, entitled "Seducing the Reader: Violette Leduc and the Pleasures of the Text," was directed by Elaine Marks.  Her current research interests still include Violette Leduc and her mentor Simone de Beauvoir, as well as French and Francophone Women writers in general, and West African and Caribbean literature and culture, in particular the Cameroonian playwright Werewere Liking.  Since her arrival at ESU in the fall of 1997, Dr. Locey has coordinated the program in French: advising French majors, teaching all upper-division French courses, establishing ESU Summer in France (four weeks of intensive language and cultural study abroad), and sponsoring the French Club and Pi Delta Phi, the National French Honors Society.  In addition to serving on the Ethnic and Gender Studies Steering Committee, she has also served on the Regent-wide Tilford Diversity Council, and such campus-wide committees as the Council on Teacher Education, the General Education Council, and the Performing Arts Board.  She has given papers on Leduc, Beauvoir, Jean Genet, and Liking in San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Chattanooga, and Louisville.  Dr. Locey often teaches courses in translation that are cross-listed with Ethnic and Gender Studies, and welcomes the opportunity to discuss feminist theory with students of all stripes.

Ellen Hansen
I’m Ellen Hansen. I came to Emporia State University in 1999, and I teach World Regional Geography as well as a variety of upper division courses, including Geography of Latin America, Geography of the Great Plains and of Kansas. I also plan to teach a course on Gender and Geography in the future. 

My research interests include life at the U.S.-Mexico border, where I lived for a year while doing fieldwork for my doctorate. Having grown up in San Diego County, California, and lived in Tucson for many years, I thought I knew what it was like to live in a border city, until I actually lived there. I hope to teach a class on borders here at ESU in the future. I am also interested in gender issues in international development, especially in Latin America. I lived in Ecuador for over two years and worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Andes. 

The Kansas Board of Regents recently approved the Latin American Studies Minor at Emporia State University. Each fall semester, beginning in 2001, I will coordinate the required core course for the program, CW210, Introduction to Latin American Studies. 

Gary Holcomb
My name is Gary Holcomb.  I am Assistant Professor of English, and I have been at ESU since Fall 2000.  My teaching and scholarly interests focus on U.S. ethnic literatures, postcolonialism, and cultural studies, particularly nineteenth- and twentieth-century American literature, Black Renaissance, postcolonial Caribbean literature, and postmodern literature.  I have taught a wide range of courses in these subject areas, including U.S. Ethnic Literature, Black Renaissance, Ethnic Film and Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Postmodern Literature, World Literature, and African and Caribbean Literature.  My introduction to literature course focuses on "Social Reform Literature," including African American, Asian American, Latina/o, radical labor, feminist, and g/l/b/t literary arts, with a critical interest in analyzing how literary works can promote both social control as well as social reform.  I also have taught courses in Contemporary Critical Theory and American Cultural Studies.  During the academic year of 1998-1999 I was Senior Fulbright Lecturer in American Studies and Literature at the University of Bucharest, in Romania.  My scholarship addresses issues of ethnicity, gender, and sexuality; and I have published on such authors as Claude McKay, Jamaica Kincaid, and Shiva Naipaul, in scholarly periodicals like The Journal of West Indian Literature and The Journal of Caribbean Studies.  My web site is at http://www.emporia.edu/english/holcomb/, where one may find more information on my interests and background but no photographs of me.

Susan Kendrick
Oklahoman by birth, but Texan by nature and affinity, Dr. Kendrick completed her PhD at the University of Oklahoma. She is an Assistant Professor of English, specializing in English Renaissance Literature and British Women Writers before 1800. Her dissertation," 'Daughter of Zion': Elizabeth I and the Relationship of Virginity to Monarchical Power," analyzed the influence of Greco-Roman and early Christian ideologies of virginity on the political identity and iconography of Elizabeth I. Since her arrival at ESU in the fall of 2001, Dr. Kendrick has taught a variety of courses in her areas of interest: Shakespeare, The Cult of Elizabeth I, Milton, Tudor/Stuart Drama, Women's Literature, and The Female Hero: Text and Criticism.

Marie Miller
Dr. Miller is the Chair of the Music Department at Emporia State University.  She received her BM in Music Education from Silver Lake College, her MM in Piano Performance from Northwestern University, and her PhD in Music Education from Florida State University. 

Sophie Thayer
Sophie Thayer received her B.A. in Spanish Literature from New York University, her M.A. in Spanish Literature and Linguistics from the University of Minnesota, and her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Her doctoral program was in maternal and child health, child psychology, and early childhood special education. Her doctoral study was on the effects of in-utero exposure to a labor inhibiting drug on the postnatal behaviors of infants birth - 4 weeks. Her primary interest is in the area of infant mental health, and since coming to ESU in 1995, she has organized four infant mental health symposia featuring nationally known researchers and writers in that field. She teaches on-line graduate courses in early childhood special education, early intervention and infant mental health, working with families, and assessment. She is also interested in multisystem developmental disorder and has developed a course to help practitioners integrate current knowledge in this area. In 2002, she received the Teachers College Award for Excellence in Instruction. Sophie also serves on various Teachers College and University-wide committees. She taught Spanish at the University of Minnesota; was a teacher in a research and development program in Minneapolis for children birth to five with Down syndrome and their families; was lead teacher in a federally funded program for children with developmental delays and their families in the inner city of St. Paul, MN; and was co-owner of a microfilm service bureau in Minneapolis before pursuing her doctorate.

After living in Chicago, New York, Buenos Aires, and Minneapolis, life seems slower in Emporia. But, there's nothing anywhere like the Flint Hills and hte blue of the Kansas sky! Dogs have always been a part of Sophie's life. Her most recent is Emma, a rescued French Bulldog. Emma has had many problems, including seizures, skin problems, liver problems, neurological problems, and deafness. Because of her neurological problems, Emma has difficulty walking, so she has a baby stroller so she can enjoy walks in the neighborhood. The neighbors have gotten used to seeing a dog in a stroller! Shopie's Pug, Eddie, spent his last few months getting around with the help of a specially built mobility cart, so the household is used to dogs with special needs!

Nathaniel Terrell
Obtained his Ph.D. in Sociology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, August 1993. He obtained his BA and MA in Criminal Justice at the University of Central Oklahoma.  He is currently the Chair of the Division of Sociology and Anthropology.  His area of teaching includes criminology, social deviance, juvenile delinquency, social psychology, homelessness, research methods, introduction to sociology, and social stratification. His research interest includes homelessness, community correction, and criminology. 

Karen Manners Smith
Karen Manners Smith is a social historian who received her doctorate in American history from the University of Massachusetts. She has a degree in English and American literature from Brandeis University. She specializes in American women's history, but also teaches courses in immigration history, the gilded age and progressive era, and modern England. Professor Smith has taught a biography course and three film classes at Emporia State, and plans several others in the future. She prefers to teach history classes that focus on discussion and explore multiple approaches to historical subject matter through art, literature, and material culture. All her American history courses emphasize issues of race, class, gender, and ethnicity. Dr. Smith took the students from her Immigration class to New York in the Fall 1999 semester.  She plans future history field trips to Chicago and England, UK, in conjunction with upcoming history courses. 

Roberta Eichenberg
ONE PERSON EXHIBITION
2003   Capillary Attraction   Mellenic Gallery   Kansas City MO
RECENT AWARDS
2002  Mini-Grant   Kansas Art Commission   Topeka KS
LECTURES / WORKSHOPS
2003   Evolution   Pittsburgh Glass Center / TA   Pittsburgh PA
Transformation Redeer College / TA   Redeer Alberta CAN
2002   Glass Sculpting Pilchuck Glass School / TA   Stanwood WA
EDUCATION
1986  Master of Fine Art   Ohio State University   Columbus OH
1984  Master of Art   California State University   Chico CA
1981   Pilchuck Glass School   Flora Mace + Joey Kirkpatrick   Stanwood WA
1979   Bachelor of Arts   California State University   Chico CA

Malonne Davies
joined the ESU faculty in the Fall 2003 as assistant professor of chemsitry and science education. She received her Ph. D. in Chemistry from the University of Kansas. A native Kansan, Davies was a secondary science teacher prior to her doctoral work. She also has experience as an industrial research chemist. She has participated as a career discussion and workshop leader in the Expanding Your Horizons program (math and science conference for middle school girls) for several years. She helped organize the Beakers “n” Sneakers chemistry badge event for Girls Scouts in November 2003.

Malonne I. Davies, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Chemistry / Science Education Emporia State University Campus Box 4030 Emporia, KS 66801

Elizabeth (Betsy) Yanik
Elizabeth (Betsy) Yanik received her Ph D in Mathematics at the University of Kentucky and is now a Professor in the Division of Mathematics and Computer Science at Emporia State University.  Dr. Yanik is the Assistant Director of the Women and Mathematics Network, a national organization for directors of outreach programs for young women.  Dr. Yanik has recently been asked to serve on the Board of Directors of Women & Mathematics Education.  She is a co-organizer of SMASH -Summer Mathematics and Sciences Holiday- a nonresidential summer program for 9th grade girls which is funded by Tensor grant.  Dr. Yanik is also co-organizer of MASTER IT -Mathematics and Science To Explore caReers Investigating Together- which is a residential summer program for 24 rising 8th grade and 24 rising 9th grade young women.  This is funded by a National Science Foundation grant.  Her major contributions in the area of ethnic and gender studies include: 

Sonia Kovalesky Day A day of recognition for women in mathematics; 

Expanding Your Horizons A day-long conference for middle school girls which includes workshops and discussions aimed at helping young girls say interested in math.
Catching Your Dreams: An event for Girls Scout Brownies that centers around science and math activities.

Last Updated May 3, 2006