Additions to the Antioch Community

By Nicholle Smith '06

In the fall of 2003, four new female faculty members happily joined the community in educating the independent minds of Antioch's student body. Julie Gallagher, Colette Palamar, Christine Smith, and Heather Wright come from a variety of backgrounds, yet they all possess a similar optimism about and passion for Antioch College.

The new historian, Julie Gallagher, earned her MA and PhD from the University of Massachusetts. She focused her graduate work on the US history of women, politics and African Americans. Her dissertation is titled "Women of Action, In Action: The New Politics of Black Women in New York City, 1945-1972." This piece includes the amazing story behind politician Shirley Chisholm.

Before coming to Antioch, Julie taught women's studies at the University of Massachusetts. She also had experience teaching in Washington DC at the Congressional Youth Leadership Council and in the public school system - both in New York City and Boston. When discussing teaching at Antioch, Julie happily commented, "I'm getting spoiled - there's a certain level of maturity and thoughtfulness that even first year students here are demonstrating."

Colette Palamar, the new Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, has earned an assortment of intertwined degrees. "It's a joy to be in an institution that supports diverse scholastic studies on the part of students and faculty. The community here has been supportive of my diverse background and has provided me with a place where I can do what I love: teaching AND learning." Colette has a MFA in ceramics as well as an MA and PhD in applied philosophy, all from Bowling Green University. Colette also received an MS from the University of Idaho, where she studied environmental science; did her undergraduate work at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania in environmental studies; and earned an AA from Penn State University in letters, arts and sciences. Colette has maximized four institutions to combine the arts with environmental science and philosophy. She feels that, "Antioch is an amazing place because of the creativity that it both allows and fosters on the part of students and faculty." Her artwork can be viewed via the internet at www.homepage.mac. com/cpalamar.

The newest member of the Self, Society and Culture department is Christine Smith, a leftist activist academic who holds a MA and PhD in Social and Personality Psychology, with a graduate concentration in women's studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Christine was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Minnesota State University Moorhead before she came to Antioch. She also taught at six other institutions including Portland State University and Lewis and Clark College. Christine, after teaching here one term, feels she has "died and gone to academic heaven." Activism work is an important aspect of Christine's life. Direct action techniques, like having fed the MTV model search prospects fattening cookies while handing out body image/eating disorder materials, keep Christine working toward social change. "You have to keep yourself entertained. Activism is fun. I have no idea what the meaning of life is, but either you're part of the problem, or you're part of the solution," she said.

Christine is highly involved in her work on and off campus. She is on the editorial board of the journal "Sex Roles." She also wrote chapters in 2 books "Lectures on the Psychology of Women" and "Lesbian Loves and Relationships. " She has over a dozen other publications. Visit her web page, www. drchristinesmith.com to learn more about this amazing woman.

Heather Wright, the new Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, earned her MA from Fordham University and as an ABD expects to earn her PhD from the same university in May of 2004. She received her BA from Smith College. Heather's research and teaching specialties are political philosophy, American politics, European politics, feminist theory, literature, and public policy.

Heather is currently working on a book, grown from her dissertation, that compares Plato and the contemporary novelist Don DeLillo. This book will study the intersection of life in Athens, portrayed by Plato, and contemporary life in the US, as captured by DeLillo, exploring themes such as political mediation (poet vs. television) and the function gender plays in each thinker's work.

Heather has taught at Barnard College, Montclair State University and Albion College. She also worked as Assistant Deputy Director in the Office of Education and Alternative Resources at the New York City Housing Authority. "Antioch has an enormous amount of potential; it's a fantastic place," Heather enthusiastically declared. "One of the things I've grappled with as a thinker, as a teacher and as a person, is the tension between theory and practice. The flow back and forth between academic study and the co-op experience should ideally be helpful in the growth of the individual person in intellectual terms," she added.

These women have already been embraced by and immersed in the Antioch community. As Heather Wright stated about the faculty, "I feel like we are all on this ship together, sailing in the same direction…committed to making the world better."