Meet the Faculty - Bachelor of General Studies Program at Roosevelt University

Meet the Faculty

Bachelor of General Studies Program Go back to the College of Professional Studies

Michael Bryson	Laura J. Evans	D. Bradford Hunt	Amanda A. Putnam
Gregory A. Buckley	Keith R. Green	Julian Kerbis Peterhans	Lynette Washington
John A. Cicero	Daniel Headrick	Patricia Nebriba	Gary K. Wolfe
Maris Cooke	Jeffrey W. Helgeson	Karen Olesch-Williams
Shannon Ehmke-Reedy

	Michael Bryson • website • contact Associate Professor of Humanities Ph.D., State University of New York, Stony Brook, English Lit. A faculty member since 1996, Bryson teaches BGS 201, 290, 302, 391, and 392. His current research focuses on the environmental and literary history of the Chicago region, as well as city-based nature writing and the evolving notion of "urban wilderness." His other interests include American exploration literature, popular science writing, and the history of science. Bryson's recent book is Visions of the Land: Science, Literature, and the American Environment from the Era of Exploration to the Age of Ecology (University of Virginia Press, 2002).
	Gregory A. Buckley • website • contact Associate Professor of Natural Science Associate Dean, Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies Ph.D., Rutgers University, Geology Buckley teaches BGS 391, the Seminar in the Natural Sciences and is a Research Associate at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He has made important discoveries on the unique crocodiles of Madagascar, publishing his findings in Nature and the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
	John A. Cicero • website • contact Dean of the Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies Ph.D., Illinois Institute of Technology, Computer Science Dean Cicero joined Roosevelt University in the summer of 2007. He has extensive experience in adult, international, and professional programs. Prior to coming to Roosevelt, he served at Benedictine University for 22 years where he served as Professor of Computer Science and Dean of Academic Affairs. He has published over 20 technical journal articles and holds one patent. As a consultant, he helped developed aviation technologies and simulators.
	Maris Cooke • contact Instructor M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago, Anthropology Cooke has taught all courses in the BGS program in the past 13 years, though she currently specializes in teaching BGS 391, the Seminar in the Natural Sciences, in the online format. She also teaches in Roosevelt's External Studies program in a wide range of courses. Her professional interests encompass issues related to the environment, and she is currently working on a number of projects with students from her online courses related to sustainability, green design and environmental policy.
	Shannon Ehmke-Reedy • contact Instructor M.A., Illinois State Univ., Industrial/Organizational Pyschology Ehmke-Reedy teaches BGS 302, Methods of Critical Reasoning, and also serves as a Program Manager in the Department of Psychology at Roosevelt University, where she works closely with faculty and students in the Industrial/Organizational Psychology program. Shannon advises new and current students in the program and she is also working with faculty in the creation of the I/O consulting center and the newly forming I/O PhD program.
	Laura J. Evans • contact Professor of Organizational Leadership Ed.D. Indiana University Evans teaches BGS 201 and Organizational Leadership courses and is an expert in adult learning and academic program development. She served as dean of Roosevelt University’s Evelyn T. Stone University College from 1997-2006; previously she has been dean at the State University of New York at Purchase and Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. Evans' academic interests include adult learning; personal and organizational leadership; marketing, business management and planning strategies, and training in higher education as well as counseling and social work. She has earned numerous grants from public and private agencies including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the NYNEX Corp. and a $500,000 grant from the McCormick Tribune Foundation to establish Roosevelt's online learning program.
	Keith R. Green • contact Instructor Ph.D., University of Illinois, Chicago Keith Green teaches BGS 290, the Seminar in Technological and Quantitative Literacy, and BGS 202, Methods in Critical Reasoning. He is part-time faculty and teaches a variety of courses in history, comparative religions, and mythology at other local schools including Illinois Institute of Technology and Columbia College. His dissertation is entitled "A Fairy Tale World: The Myth of Childhood in Imperial Germany."
	Daniel Headrick • website • contact Professor of Social Science and History Ph.D., Princeton University, History Headrick teaches BGS 290, the Seminar in Technological and Quantitative Literacy. He is a prolific historian, writing in the fields of world history, imperialism, and technology. His books include The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century (Oxford, 1981), When Information Came of Age: Technologies of Knowledge in the Age of Reason and Revolution, 1700-1850 (Oxford, 2000) and a co-authored textbook, The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History (Houghton Mifflin, 2006).
	Jeffrey W. Helgeson • website Instructor Academic Success Center Coordinator, Chicago A.M, University of Chicago, English Helgeson has taught numerous BGS courses, including the Senior Thesis, and is a novelist and playwright. His plays have been produced in Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and New York, and his novel Thresholds was published in 2000. Since 1982, he has coordinated tutoring at the Academic Success Center. As an outgrowth of his teaching, he founded Collage Productions, a grass roots organization dedicated to affordable access to the visual and performing arts. He also co-founded both The Boxer Rebellion Ensemble and The Backstage Theatre.
	D. Bradford Hunt • website • contact Associate Professor of Social Science Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, History Hunt teaches BGS 302 Methods of Critical Reasoning and BGS 390 The Seminar in the Social Sciences. Hunt has written extensively on the history of public housing in Chicago and nationally. He has helped produce a book of oral histories of public housing residents and an exhibit of photographs from the early years of the Chicago Housing Authority. He is currently the Programming Committee chair of the nascent Public Housing Museum.
	Julian Kerbis Peterhans • contact Professor of Natural Science Ph.D., University of Chicago, Anthropology Kerbis Peterhans teaches BGS 391, the Seminar in the Natural Sciences. He is an Adjunct Curator at the Field Museum of Chicago. His research has helped uncover the mysteries surrounding the man-eating lions of Tsavo, Kenya, and he has documented small mammals species diversity on mountain tops in central Africa. His work has been featured in print (Science, Journal of Zoology) and in film (National Geographic, A&E, The History Channel).
	Patricia Nebrida • contact Instructor M.A., Loyola University of Chicago, English Nebrida teaches the Pro-Seminar in Critical Skills, Methods in Critical Reasoning, and Senior Thesis in the BGS Program. She is in Training & Organizational Development for a healthcare system in Chicago. In this capacity, she coaches leadership and designs professional development classes. She has published in the areas of training & organizational development as well as in Asian-American literature and Seventeenth Century British literature.
	Karen Olesch-Williams • contact Instructor M.A., Philosophy, University of Kent, Cantebury, England An adjunct faculty member in both the BGS program and English Composition program since 2001, Olesch teaches Senior Thesis, English 101, 102 and Liberal Studies courses. Her current research focuses on the experience of self in communication styles and combines philosophical ideology with Zen Buddhist principles in the philosophical counseling environment.
	Amanda A. Putnam • website • contact Associate Professor of Humanities Ph.D., University of Nebraska, English Literature Putnam teaches both introductory critical thinking and interdisciplinary humanities courses in the BGS program. She specializes in women’s literature with a focus on transnational black women’s literature. Her interests include the rhetoric of public memory within museums dedicated to terrorist victims and the gendered spaces of reality and sci-fi television. Two recent articles focused on the depiction of women in Survivor and the Star Trek series.
	Lynette Washington • contact Instructor M.A., Roosevelt University, Training and Development Washington teaches BGS 290, the Seminar in Technological and Quantitative Literacy. She has worked for the Bachelor of Professional Studies Program at Roosevelt University in various capacities since 2003. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science at Chicago State University. She holds several graduate certificates in e-learning, instructional design and training and development.
	Gary K. Wolfe • website • contact Professor of Humanities and English Director, Bachelor of General Studies Program Associate Dean, Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies Ph.D., University of Chicago, English Literature Wolfe directs the Bachelor of General Studies Program and teaches BGS 392, the Seminar in the Humanities. He has received numerous awards for his critical writings in the literature of science fiction, including the World Fantasy Award. His books include Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever (with Ellen Weil, Ohio State, 2002) and Soundings: Reviews 1992-1996 (Old Earth Books, 2005), a collection of Wolfe's review essays.