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Professor Connect

First-Year Student Mentoring Program

Moravian’s Professor Connect is a 16-week experience during which curious and ambitious first-year students from all backgrounds are invited to work with and be mentored by select Moravian faculty.

During their first semester at Moravian, students in the Professor Connect experience will engage with a faculty member on research projects, creative work, or class production, and meet weekly for mentorship, academic guidance, and reflection. This is a perfect chance for students to explore their passions and learn about the academic opportunities at Moravian. 

Students do not need any special knowledge or skills in the field of the professor's scholarship or creative work. We invite students of all areas of study, including and especially welcoming those who are exploring their academic options. This experience does not count for academic credit. 

Eligibility

You must meet the following requirements to participate in Professor Connect: 

• Be an incoming first-year student
• Have a minimum high school GPA of 3.0
• Able to commit 2-3 hours per week during the fall semester
• Have decided on your major or are still exploring your options and passions
• Have a curious and open mind

If you are interested in participating in Professor Connect or have any questions, please contact Josh Tehonica, Director of Recruitment at 610-861-1328 or tehonicaj@moravian.edu,

Professor Profiles

Akbar Keshodkar

Professor of Anthropology
Expertise: Politics of identities, Globalization and transnational mobility, Indian Ocean world, Tourism
Current Projects: East African Transnational trade networks in the Arabian Peninsula and China; Tourism directed involuntary immobility in rural communities
What you will be doing: You will engage in research analyzing emerging trends and developments tied to issues of mobility and immobility across different social landscapes and participate in weekly mentoring and analysis meetings with Dr. Keshodkar

Find out more about Dr. Keshodkar and his work >

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Anastasia Thévenin

Assistant Professor of Biology
Expertise: Cancer Biology 
Current Project: Science Children’s Books
What you’ll be doing: Help with outreach events at local schools and with curating the book collection. In addition, you’ll learn about Dr. Thévenin’s biochemistry and cancer biology research by shadowing her senior research students.

Find out more about Dr. Thévenin and her work >

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Angela Fraleigh

Professor of Art
Expertise: Intersectional feminist read of art history, painting, and drawing. 
Current Project: Site-specific exhibition at the Weatherspoon Art museum inspired by the famous collecting Cone sisters 
What you’ll be doing: Participate in weekly meetings with other students collecting and interpreting various forms of visual language. You’ll attend mentoring sessions and experimental studio practices that may include printmaking, paper making, digital processes for an interactive digital video, painting, drawing, and more. 

Find out more about Professor Fraleigh and her work >

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Louise Keegan

Associate Professor of Speech-Language Pathology
Expertise: Communication after Traumatic Brain Injury
Current project: Virtual communication skills groups for individuals with TBI
What you will be doing: Participate on a team of students examining the linguistic/communication skills of individuals with TBI. You'll learn about common acquired communication difficulties and the interventions, as well as the processes involved in conducting applied clinical research. 

Find out more about Dr. Keegan and her work > 

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Natasha Woods

Assistant Professor of Biology
Expertise: Plant Ecology
Current Project: Investigating impact of grass density on shrub encroachment into grasslands
What you’ll be doing: Attending weekly lab meetings with research students and assisting them with research projects.

Find out more about Dr. Woods and her research >

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Heikki Lempa

Professor of History
Expertise: History of the body, history of emotions, most recently author of the book Spaces of Honor (2021)
Current project: A book-length study on a Global History of the German Dance, Sports, and Medicine 
What you’ll be doing: Join a team of students collecting materials for the upcoming book, and a class on the history of the body. You’ll attend weekly individual mentoring meetings with Dr. Lempa. 

Find out more about Dr. Lempa and his work > 

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Rebecca Malinski

Assistant Professor of Sociology
Expertise: Criminology, Bullying and Cyberbullying, Surveillance and Society
Current projects: Examining the use of location sharing applications (LSAs) as a tool of surveillance. In particular, we are examining the use of location tracking by parents of their adult children enrolled in college.
What you’ll be doing: You will be assisting with research examining the use of LSAs among university students, their parents, and their peer networks. This would involve assisting with recruitment, data collection, coding and analysis, and the development of peer-reviewed publications. You would also participate in regular meetings with the rest of the research team, which will include faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students at 3 institutions (ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ«, Ohio University, California State University Stanislaus Campus).

Find out more about Dr. Malinski and her work > 

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Jamie Paxton

Associate Professor of History
Expertise: Indigenous history, Early American history, Canadian history, Experimental Archaeology
Current projects: The Land of the Flint: An Ethnogeography of the Eighteenth-Century Mohawk Valley
What you’ll be doing: Contribute to an ethnogeography of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Mohawk Valley, New York, and Upper Canada (Ontario) and assist with developing a course on ethnogeography. You will research the ways people understood, used, and shaped the land in accordance with cultural values. Help with developing a course on ethnogeography. Identify and evaluate free software for presenting geographic information.

Find out more about Dr. Paxton and his work > 

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Sandra Aguilar

Associate Professor and Chair
Expertise: Latin American history, women, race, class, food and foodways.
Current Project: Nutritional policies, cooking and eating practices in Mexico (1920-1960)
What you’ll be doing: Explore and find out alternative sources of information (podcasts, blogs, documentaries, films, images, social media) in addition to traditional writing about the Latin American and LatinX experience to reflect critically upon it.

Find out more about Professor Aguilar and her work >

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Nate Shank & Shannon Talbott

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Contact

Josh Tehonica

Director of Recruitment
610-861-1328
tehonicaj@moravian.edu

Heikki Lempa

Professor of History
610-861-1315
lempah@moravian.edu