The College of Arts & Sciences congratulates the seven faculty promoted to senior lecturer and eleven faculty promoted to master lecturer.
Senior Lecturer Promotions
Brandy Barents, Writing Program, teaches writing seminars on poetry and film, primarily centering on Boston and New England themes with authors as varied as Emily Dickinson, Nick Flynn, and Dennis Lehane. She has been an active leader of the program’s curricular innovations, including those focused on place-based learning and creativity and innovation. She has also presented and published on the role of peer mentoring in academia, and co-leads the Writing Program’s Collaborative Mentoring Initiative.
Maria Bobroff, Romance Studies, teaches courses across the French curriculum, coordinates LF212 Fourth-Semester French, and serves as the advisor to the French cluster at Global House. In AY 2022-2023, she organized a working group to study non-binary language use in French with support from BU D&I’s Learn More Together Grant, and she participated in BU’s inaugural Inclusive Pedagogy Institute. She is currently a fellow in BU’s Designing Antiracism Curricula Program. In addition to presenting on best practices in language pedagogy, Dr. Bobroff has published on eighteenth-century French literature and Francophone African women authors.
Kristen Bushell, Neuroscience, received her PhD in Pharmacology in 2010 from BUSM and joined the BU faculty in 2019. She teaches NE 101 and designed NE/BI 556, her seminar course on neuroscience drug discovery. She also teaches and serves as Lab Director for the Integrated Science Experience sequence, offering Biology, Neuroscience, and Chemistry majors an introductory lab curriculum that integrates theory and techniques from all three disciplines, mimicking modern biomedical research. Outside the classroom she collaborated with colleagues to modernize the NE 203 and ISE lab curricula and develop the Neuroscience Writing Plan in collaboration with the CAS Writing Program, the first for any CAS unit.
Kyle Gobrogge, Neuroscience, received his PhD in Neuroscience in 2010 from Florida State University and joined the BU faculty in 2019. He teaches NE 101 and designed NE/WS 456, his seminar course on the behavioral neuroscience of sex and aggression. He also teaches laboratories for NE 102 and NE 203, serving as Lab Director for the latter course, where students use modern techniques such as optogenetics to investigate the neural basis of behavior in fruit flies. Outside the classroom he led the effort to modernize the NE 203 curriculum and collaborated on the development of the Neuroscience Writing Plan with the CAS Writing Program, the first for any CAS unit.
Elif Kafali, Economics, earned a PhD in Economics at Boston University in 2012 before receiving a BA in Economics from Cornell in 2007. She started her career as a health researcher at Harvard Medical School. She became a full-time lecturer in the Economics department in 2018 after serving as a part-time instructor. Dr. Kafali teaches critical intermediate courses, particularly Intermediate Microeconomics and Empirical Economic Analysis 1. She taught two new courses this year, Intermediate Microeconomics for our new quantitative track of classes and a new advanced course in econometric analysis focusing on cross-sectional techniques and causal inference with an emphasis on independent research. Students highlight Dr. Kafali’s clarity, organization and willingness to help students. Dr. Kafali is committed to engaging students of all skill levels. Dr. Kafali is also participating in a university initiative on transforming large courses. She is a leader in evaluating the teaching of other instructors and she served on the department committee to enhance education in empirical work throughout the curriculum.
John Tullai, Neuroscience, received his PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 2001 from Mount Sinai School of Medicine NYU and joined the BU faculty in 2019. He teaches introductory and advanced courses in Biology and Neuroscience including NE/BI 589, his seminar course on the neural factors that influence cancer progression. He also teaches laboratories for NE 102 and NE 203, serving as Lab Director for the former course, where students learn core lab techniques through a semester-long project exploring the cellular/molecular basis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Outside the classroom he has secured funding to modernize the neuroscience teaching lab and collaborated on the development of the Neuroscience Writing Plan with the CAS Writing Program, the first for any CAS unit.
Lillie Webb, Romance Studies, teaches intermediate French courses on street art, public art, and cinema, as well as all levels of the French language sequence. She is the Director of Global House, BU’s living-learning community for language learning and cultural exchange. She also teaches a Hub co-curricular on intercultural communication and developing a global worldview. She has expertise in 19th century French literature and art, with a focus on women’s sexualization and embodiment. In 2023, she received a Fellowship in Developing Anti-Racist Curriculum.
Master Lecturer Promotions
James Baldwin, Earth & Environment, is the Director of Master’s programs in the Department of Earth and Environment. He oversees the promotion, development, and operation of the department’s three master’s programs. He teaches a range of topics in environmental science and sustainability such as Energy Sustainability, Environmental Modeling and Statistics, Geography, Geographic Information Systems, and International Economics. His current research interests include climate change impacts and adaptation, energy sustainability, and human-environment interaction.
Kirby Chazal, Romance Studies, brings expertise in applied linguistics to the Department of Romance Studies, with research interests in second language acquisition and conversation analysis. Demonstrating a commitment to excellence, she teaches and designs both French language and Language Pedagogy courses. Her leadership roles in course coordination have significantly shaped the French language program, fostering innovative assessment strategies and empirically based, inclusive approaches to teaching. Her recent contributions to the profession include presentations at national conferences and a scholarly publication in applied linguistics. She is currently pursuing certification as an ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Oral Proficiency Interview examiner and has recently been awarded professional development leave on the basis of a program designed to promote students’ conversational skills and intercultural competency in French.
Viktoria Hackbarth, Romance Studies, (Ph.D., Indiana University), teaches Spanish at all levels, Spanish for heritage speakers, and beginner Hebrew. She has served as course coordinator for Third-, Fourth-, and Advanced Level Spanish courses, and designed and taught upper-level Spanish courses, including specialized subjects on the Spanish Civil War, and language through visual arts. She researches integrating arts and language education, diversity and inclusion, and heritage and native speakers’ education. She received the Boston University Excellence in Teaching Merit Award twice and a Core Faculty Fellowship. She regularly presents and leads workshops at professional organizations like ACTFL and NECTFL.
Jungsoo Kim, World Languages & Literatures, is a masterful language teacher who creates a supportive and welcoming learning environment for students. She uses effective pedagogical approaches and is continuously improving and updating her teaching. To meet the demands of today’s world, she has created multiple courses and thematic units to enrich the Korean language program. She has served as the coordinator of the Korean program for many terms. Together with her other colleagues, she helped build a thriving Korean language program at BU. She served as Program Director of the Boston University STARTALK Online Korean Teacher Training Program from (2017-2019).
Catherine Klancer, Core Curriculum, is interested in the intersection between religion, politics and ethics. Her first book, Engaging Our Complexity: Thomas Aquinas and Zhu Xi on Power and the Common Good (SUNY Press, 2015), explores these areas from the perspectives of medieval Christianity and Confucianism. She is currently at work on a project that explores what the Confucian virtue of intellectual humility has to offer in an era of religious pluralism. She teaches in Core’s humanities and social sciences courses as well as the new Core Public Speaking course. She currently serves as the advisor for the Core Minor.
Christopher McVey, Writing Program, teaches writing seminars on dystopian literature, post-apocalyptic fiction and film, creative nonfiction, the poetry of witness, and, most recently, the philosophy and ethics of artificial intelligence. He has been an active leader in developing writing portfolios for all WR students and in providing pedagogical guidance to the university on generative artificial intelligence. Dr. McVey has written, presented, and published essays on among other subjects, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and generative AI in higher education.
Mario Muscedere, Biology, is an integrative biologist with expertise in the physiology, neurobiology, and evolution of social behavior. He teaches courses in all of these areas, especially BI 315 Systems Physiology, taken by 700+ students each year. Dr. Muscedere serves as Director of the Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, which administers the Neuroscience and Philosophy & Neuroscience degree programs and supports the 450+ students enrolled in these majors. Dr. Muscedere also collaborates with Dr. James Traniello’s lab on an NSF-funded project investigating how the metabolic costs of the brain may impact social organization and its evolution in ants.
Bjorn Persson, Economics, earned a PhD in Economics in 2001 from the Stockholm School of Economics. He served as a visiting scholar and lecturer in the Economics Department and then in the private sector before coming to the Department as a full-time lectuer in 2008. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2019. Dr. Persson teaches introductory microeconomics and mathematical economics in the Master’s program where he has guided generations of students through their first steps in economics. He also teaches several advanced elective courses in the undergraduate curriculum, such as a course on risk and uncertainty, particularly in the context of financial markets, and a course in health economics, the subject of his dissertation. Dr. Persson is known for his humor, his ability to communicate complex ideas, and the way he engages students with connections between economic models and real-world phenomena. He has also served as an adviser to honor theses and is a long-time participant in administering the master’s program, working on both MA admissions and designing the comprehensive exam.
Thomas Oller, Writing Program, is a TESOL expert who teaches both classes for English language learners and writing seminars on topics including Jefferson & Hamilton and the local jazz scene. He has made curricular contributions to information literacy instruction and has partnered with the BU libraries to meet the information literacy needs of international students. Dr. Oller is a founding and board member of the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society and presents frequently on Alexander Hamilton.
Borja Ruiz de Arbulo, Romance Studies, has taught all levels of Spanish in the Romance Studies Department and has served as a multi-section course coordinator during his time at BU. He has also been actively involved in various committees and has collaborated closely with the Geddes Language Center to enhance technology implementation in language classes. His areas of expertise include proficiency-based instruction and differentiated pedagogy, on which he regularly presents at conferences both nationally and internationally. Borja is also committed to fostering connections with our local community and is a co-creator of the Spanish for Educators course offered at Boston Public Schools.
Susanne Werk, World Languages & Literatures, is an outstanding German language educator. She teaches with passion, dedication and enjoys a wonderful rapport with students. She has served as the coordinator of the German program for multiple terms and helped in mentoring new incoming coordinators. Her service as the department’s lecturer coordinator was exemplary. To enhance the learning experience among the students studying German and to raise the visibility of the German language program, she helped organize for many years Kaffeestunde and Global House events. She has dedicated much effort to strengthen connections with community partners like the Goethe-Institute, initiating annual “German Day” for high school students at BU.