Lecturer Promotions

The College wishes to congratulate the following CAS lecturers on their promotion.

The following Lecturers will be promoted to Senior Lecturer, effective July 1, 2022:
Abbas Attarwala, Computer Science: Abbas Attarwala teaches introductory and intermediate-level courses in data structures, algorithms, and programming languages. Dr. Attarwala regularly conducts extracurricular workshops that are designed to enkindle his students’ passion for computer science. He has partnered with BU Academy to teach seminars to their ninth- and tenth-graders, and to develop an outreach program for middle-school students in Boston public schools in which BUA students serve as mentors to the younger students. His creative applications of technology in his classes were recognized with the 2020 Gitner Award for Innovation in Teaching with Technology.

Heather Barrett, Writing Program: Heather Barrett teaches writing seminars on topics in nineteenth-century American literature, Gothic fiction, queer theory, and gender and sexuality studies. She also leads the CAS Writing Center, teaches Tutoring in the Global University, and mentors the Center’s staff of consultants. In 2021, she was the recipient of the College of Arts & Sciences Award for Distinction in First Year Undergraduate Education, as well as a Mentor of the Year award from the Student Employment Office for her work as Writing Center coordinator.

Dora Erdos, Computer Science: Dora Erdos teaches introductory and intermediate-level courses in algorithms and data science, including a new course that she co-developed on the foundations of data science. Dr. Erdos has advised hundreds of computer science majors and minors, originally as undergraduate program director and now as director of undergraduate studies in computer science. She has also been instrumental in curriculum revision, including her leadership of efforts to expand and strengthen the introductory course sequence for CS majors. Dr. Erdos continues to contribute to the larger academic community as a reviewer for scholarly journals and a program committee member for academic conferences.

Max Greenberg, Sociology: Max A. Greenberg teaches courses on political sociology, youth and families, and gender. His most recent book, Twelve Weeks to Change a Life: At Risk Youth in a Fractured State, examines the reorganization of state power around short-term grants and fleeting programs. His research has been published in Social Problems, Sociological Perspectives and International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 

Laura Harrington, Religion: Laura Harrington explores the history of Mahayana Buddhism, with a focus on its intersections with politics, art and material culture. In addition to her numerous published journal articles and book chapters, she is currently working on a book about the impact of covert CIA funding on Buddhism in Cold War America. She teaches for the Department of Religion and the Core Curriculum program.

V. Sophie Klein, Core Curriculum: Dr. Klein’s research focuses on the ways in which themes and devices from Greek and Roman theater pervade and influence other ancient and modern art forms. Her projects have explored Horace’s use of dramatic material in the Sermones and Epistles, the chorus in Sophocles’Ajax, mute characters in the plays of Plautus and Terence, parallels between Roman comedy and modern television sitcoms, and the similarities between the comedic formulas employed by Greek satyr drama and the American cartoon, Animaniacs. She is the author of a guide to Plautus’ Menaechmi, published in 2022, part of the Bloomsbury Ancient Comedy Companions series.

Christine Papadakis-Kanaris, Computer Science: Christine Papadakis-Kanaris teaches introductory courses in programming and data structures, as well as a graduate-level course that she developed in object-oriented software principles. She has advised hundreds of masters students in her role as director of masters studies in computer science. Ms. Papadakis-Kanaris is developing a summer bridge program for new masters students who come from fields other than computer science, and she is involved in efforts to expand and strengthen the introductory course sequence for CS majors. Her teaching is informed by her work as a software engineer before she began teaching.

Shilpa Parnami, World Languages & Literatures: Dr. Parnami has played a significant role in singlehandedly coordinating and giving shape to BU’s Hindi-Urdu program. She teaches both language and culture courses on South Asia. She also is a pioneer teacher in the Cross-College Challenge (XCC), the Hub’s signature interdisciplinary project-based program She is keenly interested in pedagogical issues and received funding from the BU Center for the Humanities for the Boston Area Pedagogy conference and was an effective co-organizer of two successful conferences. She is a leader and facilitator for instructors of Hindi around the US and has been involved in a number of STARTALK programs across the years.

Malavika Shetty, Writing Program: Malavika Shetty brings her background in linguistics and her understanding of and commitment to global education to writing seminars for English language learners and on topics related to language and society. An expert in teaching with technology, she uses Wikipedia in her classroom as a way to develop her student’s research and information literacy skills. She is also a creative writer. She has written an award-winning children’s book and her work has been published in The Kenyon Review and in other places.

Blair Szymczyna, Chemistry: Blair’s expertise is at the junction chemistry, biology and physics. Annually he teaches the Principles of General, Organic and Biochemistry course series, Principles of Biochemistry, Biochemistry I and Physical Biochemistry to students who are interested in pursuing healthcare professions. His goals are to engage and pique students’ interests and to provide them with the chemical literacy and critical-thinking skills necessary to tackle biochemical problems and communicate their results. Blair employs several active and inquiry-based learning techniques in his courses and strives to create an inclusive learning environment in which students with diverse educational backgrounds are on-track to success.

Didem Vardar-Ulu, Chemistry: Dr. Vadar-Ulu is an experimental biophysical chemist, who specializes in protein biochemistry and spectroscopy. She is interested in designing and implementing student-centered, interdisciplinary curricula and novel competency-based assessment strategies in both lecture and laboratory chemistry courses. Her current chemistry education projects focus on studying the learning benefits of engaging students in reflective assignments and activities focused on enhancing visual literacy. She is a two-time Biology and Mathematics Educators (BIOME) Fellow and a faculty member on the national initiative in “Engaging Educators in Developing and Using Molecular Case Studies at the Interface of Biology and Chemistry”.

The following Senior Lecturers will be promoted to Master Lecturer, effective July 1, 2022:

Mira Angrist, World Languages & Literatures: Ms. Angrist is an outstanding teacher and coordinator of BU’s Hebrew program. She has developed and teaches several language and culture courses. She has been unstinting in her service, having served as Lecturer Coordinator in the department to mentor lecturers, facilitated professional development meetings, and raised funds for conference attendance. As an affiliated faculty at the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies (EWCJS), she serves on committees and helps organize cultural events and discussions. She is a member of several professional organizations for foreign language teachers and has presented at multiple international conferences. She has published articles on current issues in language pedagogy.

Jessica Bozek, Writing Program: Jessica Bozek teaches WR classes on a range of topics at the intersection of poetry and politics. She is the author of two full-length collections of poetry, The Tales (Les Figues, 2013) and The Bodyfeel Lexicon (Switchback, 2009), as well as several chapbooks, including How to See the Wind (2018) and Squint into the Sun (2010). Winner of the 2012 NOS Book Contest, The Tales is based largely on the Reading Disaster seminar she taught at BU from 2007-2012. Jessica also teaches in the Kilachand Honors College and the Cross College Challenge.

María Datel, Romance Studies: María Datel earned a combined BA/MA at the University of Buenos Aires with a focus on Argentine and Latin American literature. She has been teaching Spanish at BU since 1999, serving as course coordinator for first-year, second-year and third-year courses. She also created advanced language courses with the themes of “Crime Writing”, “Sailing with Darwin to Patagonia”, and “La Frontera/The Border”, an advanced course for heritage speakers. She has taught Romance Studies’ course on language-teaching methodology, is the co-organizer of the Second-Language Learning and Disabilities Conference, and is interested in inclusive pedagogy, working to create curricula that represent all students. 

Sean Desilets, Writing Program: Sean Desilet’s teaching and research interests include film, religion, queer theory, poststructuralism, and intersectional feminism. He is author of Hermeneutic Humility and the Theology of Cinema: Blind Paul (Routledge, 2017), and his essays have appeared in Camera Obscura, Film Criticism, Literature/Film Quarterly, and Studies in French Cinema. His current book project is entitled A Theology of Media: Migration, Expenditure, Revelation. He teaches courses Women’s and Gender Studies, the Core Curriculum, and the Kilachand Honors College as well as in the Writing Program.

Lilian Duséwoir, Romance Studies: Liliane Duséwoir teaches French and Spanish language, has served as course coordinator, and has designed language courses focusing on the graphic novel, gender in cinema, and horror in French film. With MA degrees in anthropology and linguistics (BU and Université de Mons), Duséwoir brings a culturally-engaged approach to language learning. A proponent of student-centered pedagogy and inclusive methods and a mentor and advisor inside and outside the classroom, she has been faculty adviser to the Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism and to the award-winning French Club, and serves as Faculty-in-Residence, winning the 2019 Award for Outstanding Service to BU’s Residence Life.

Gwen Kordonowy, Writing Program: Gwen Kordonowy teaches interdisciplinary writing seminars that focus on cultural studies, cultural geography, and migration as well as the Writing Program’s first upper-level undergraduate course, “Public Writing.” She has also taught literature and writing courses in the English Department and the Kilachand Honors College, as well as WR 698 and 699, which prepare Graduate Writing Fellows to teach in the program. Her scholarly interests include cultural studies, genre studies, innovation in the classroom, and public writing. She is currently serving as Associate Director of the Writing Program.

Katherine Lakin-Schultz, Romance Studies: As Overall Coordinator of the French Language Program, and coordinator of fourth-semester French Kate Lakin-Schultz has been integral in shaping curriculum and program objectives. With a PhD from the University of Virginia and a specialization in Francophone African literature and civilization, she seeks to share the diversity of the Francophone world, focusing on the relationship between West Africa and France in her more advanced courses. She frequently presents on campus and at national conferences on best teaching practices, the effective use of technology, and integrating culture in the language classroom and recently contributed to the publication of Défi Francophone, a new French language textbook. 

Anna Panszczyk, Writing Program: Anna Panszczyk brings together expertise in writing pedagogy, material culture, art, and children’s literature in writing seminars including “Boston and Children’s Literature,” “American Boyhood,” and “Childhood in Three Disciplines.” Her work has appeared in Children’s Literature Association Quarterly and Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. She co-founded the Writing Program’s Collaborative Mentoring Initiative and has published on mentoring. She also teaches in the English Department and the Cross College Challenge.

Kelly Polychroniou, Classical Studies: Kelly Polychroniou is an accomplished teacher of Modern Greek at Boston University, and an advocate for Greek culture and pedagogy in America and abroad. She is the co-founder of the Boston University Philhellenes and leader of the summer study program in Athens. She is particularly interested in contemporary Greek writers, and has co-organized an international conference of Greek women authors and translators to be held on campus in Fall 2022.

Lesley Yoder, Writing Program: Lesley Yoder combines expertise in language acquisition, visual rhetoric, and French to her teaching throughout the Writing Program full sequence of  ELL and non-ELL courses, with writing seminars centering on graphic memoirs, topics of translation, immigration, and creativity and madness. Other research interests include visual literacy and graphic narratives, drawing to learn, nineteenth-century French literature and the figure of the poète maudit, and self-writing and the journal intime.